calling any one from missouri - Page 350

Hi guys!! Im from the bootheel of mo, southeast mo. :) will be starting to raise chickens soon! Want to stick to only black australorps for now. 

That looks just like Mr. Hen only older. I got him as a suprise in a batch of pullets from Estes. We didn't get any specific breeds, so I have been looking at breeds and comparing them to what Estes sells. My best guess is that is a New Hampshire red. He is a very nice rooster at the moment. He has a funny crow though. Maybe he is still developing. My chickens are about ten weeks.

I'm just outside of Springfield.

we are from the northwest corner of Missouri

Hello fellow Missouri Guys and Gals.   In my quest to live a more healthy and natural lifestyle, I've recently taken on the role of chicken keeper.  In February, I bought four black sex link chicks to give me healthy eggs.  With four dogs of questionable chicken love, I decided to get four chicks (even though only two would have been enough), just in case.  As they are about to begin laying, I have been on a quest to find organic, non-gmo, non soy chicken feed.  I know, I'm probably more likely to find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, but I was just wondering if any of the other mid-missourians on here might have a good source for that kind of food.  The local feed store doesn't carry any, but possibly can order it, although it's not real convenient (even if it is what I'm looking for...) and with only four chickens I don't need 50 lbs. of it.  I'm placing an order today for the Scratch and Peck non-soy Layer Chicken Feed - 25 lbs., but with $19 in shipping, it's painful to order.  If anyone buys any or makes any or would be interested in going in halves or whatever on a 50# bag, please let me know.  I'm in the Columbia/Kingdom City area.  The organic, non-gmo corn is really the trickiest part of the equation.  Finding just the corn is nearly impossible and finding it a good price IS impossible.  At this point, I'm looking at growing a few stalks of my own heirloom corn to use in my own recipe.  Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, warnings, etc., are welcome.  :)

Update on what's going on in Black Jack Mo.

 

http://fox2now.com/2012/06/19/black-jack-rethinking-urban-chicken-ban/

 

 

Here is Mr. McCourt's contact info for all that would like to contact him and request that ChickenCanoe be allowed to keep his birds with no further harassment.

 

Mayor

Norman C. McCourt

13579 Old Jamestown Rd.

63033

314-355-2375

 

 

Info Glened from this link, it also has the other city members listed.

http://ww5.stlouisco.com/scripts/communities/muni.cfm?City=Black%20Jack

Welcome Happyville,  I'm also in Mid-MO...Brazito (Jefferson City) to be exact.

 

As for chicken food, I buy at Payway feed store (cheapest but have to use cash or check - no debit or credit card and they close at 5pm M-F/noon on Sat so I have to really plan my trip) or Orschlens (open longer hours and can use card) in Jefferson City.  Tractor Supply is my closest option (similar hours to Orschelns and I have a couple of coupons so I might buy a couple of bags there) and there is also Stockman feed store on Brooks St (but I didn't see that their prices were worth the trip).  There's also the MFA across the river and they might be your best bet for special blend feeds.  I tend to go for cheap  (I do that for my food too) so I hear you on the $19 charge on top of the "normal" feed price. (ouch!)  My chickens are getting to free range, and eating lots of table scraps (they love that corn on the cob - almost makes me want to leave more behind for them when I eat it) so it helps to stretch my feed dollar.

 

Good luck if you decide to grow corn.  You might have better luck north of the MO River than I do; my side of the river seems to be very rocky and all my attempts to grow trees, food or flowers have resulted in nothing (except for the trees that are volunteer growing where I don't want them - next to the foundation or in the ditch).  That's one of the biggest differences I've noticed from where I grew up in Northeast MO to here...the lack of crops and flat land. Also, I can imagine finding non-genetically modified corn would be hard because I bet every farmer has some kind of seed that is resistant to bugs, fungus or whatnot. 

 

Well, I mostly just wanted to welcome you to the MO Chicken thread here.

CG

 

 

 

Hello to all of you,   , welcome to "chickening" , and welcome to our Missouri thread! 

I would also like to invite you to our Chicken Swap of Missouri Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/225021300913860/

 

You will learn a lot both here on BYC and there in the Facebook group. Both places are full of knowledgeable and friendly folks.  

And, Happyville, that may be a difficult goal, but I wish you the best in your search. 

lol yup,Hello Amy! The red with black is a mix (we think) Dad got him years back for $1 at the fairplay swap.  Brett thinks he is a new hampshire.If you send me a picture of yours on facebook I could tell you :) I'm pretty good at breeds....so what are you up too?

Hi Cg,

 

Thanks for your input.  I actually went to Lowe's yesterday and bought some 18 gallon totes to plant a few stalks in (probably about 4-6 stalks per tote x 4 totes) and some bags of garden soil.  I have plenty of land for growing, but no tiller and frankly, no ambition to go that route.  Totes are easier!  lol   After I harvest the corn, I plan to just put the lids on and let them be outside until spring.  They'll be too heavy with soil in them to be moving around all the time and because they are behind my house next to a fence row, they won't be noticed by any guests.  I really don't want to go the tractor supply or orscheln's route, although my parents buy that feed (Orschelns) for their chickens (along with lots of table and garden scraps) and their eggs are 100% better than anything I've ever bought at any grocery store.  I just really want to go 100% organic, non-soy, non-gmo.   I just received and opened my 25# bag of Scratch and peck non-soy layer feed and was kind of disappointed to find quite a bit of fine crumbs that are going to be wasted by the chickens.  Yet another reason to make my own food with whole grains, not crumbs/powder.  

 

There is a Natural Grocer in Columbia that carries a lot of bulk seeds and stuff and I've bought 1 lb. organic flax seed for $1.50 and I've been looking online on ebay and stuff for some of the other seeds.  When I get close to finishing this bag I just bought, which will be a while (since bugs are their primary diet currently),  I'm going to focus more on making my own food.  Hopefully by then I'll at least have the corn part.....  :)   I know it is not going to be the cheapest or easiest route by any means, but it's just something I'm kind of passionate about, and it's also not quite as daunting only having four chickens to feed.  :)