Does anyone else hate 50 pound bags of feed?

[adkhunter1590]

Move to WV! My parents got a 130 acre farm for about $200k. That is where I'm living.

WV is a nice area. A little hillier than I think I want though. I’ve grown up fighting with the hills and rocks of NY and really miss that flat fertile Midwest land. We are looking for big acreage also, like 800-2000 acres and possibly more depending on prices at that time. Last time I looked around at WV land I didn’t see that many large solid chunks of land like that. Not any that wasn’t mostly a mountain at least lol. The taxes alone on big acre tracts in Ny would kill me but almost everywhere else the taxes are almost nothing compared to here.

 

[Kruchti]

For me the weight isn't yet an issue as I am almost 50 but not quite. It is just the fact that my birds refuse to eat anything I offer them but scratch, and then only the milo(this week).

I am starting to truly believe they get all they need from free ranging and pasture feeding grass. After all I am raising a heritage breed that arrived in the US in the 1850's.

What type of chickens do you have?

 

[AllenK RGV]

Oh I forgot to mention the lack of tornadoes and we have like 2 seasons per year, summer and not really summer. Harvey barely passed us by though.

 

[AllenK RGV]

What type of chickens do you have?

They were heritage bred black sumatras until a rescue dog project we took on killed them all. We are now sitting on 10 new Sumatras that just passed into the 2 day age range.

 

[Bobby Basham]

They were heritage bred black sumatras until a rescue dog project we took on killed them all. We are now sitting on 10 new Sumatras that just passed into the 2 day age range.

How did the dog end up killing them ALL? Dogs and chickens don't mix unless they're intensely trained and monitored constantly.

 

[AllenK RGV]

How did the dog end up killing them ALL? Dogs and chickens don't mix unless they're intensely trained and monitored constantly.

We only had 4 the dog was fine with them for our first 2 weeks, she apparently found her comfort zone with us. She obviously got bored while I napped and went on a killing spree.

 

[BillW77]

Tractor supply and Runnings will carry 40 lb bags sometimes.

 

[Bobby Basham]

We only had 4 the dog was fine with them for our first 2 weeks, she apparently found her comfort zone with us. She obviously got bored while I napped and went on a killing spree.

Well, so sorry that it did happen and wiped out your heritage breeds, they are not cheap. It's illegal to chain dogs here, so do what you can to provide some type of barrier/protection to avoid a repeat scenario.

 

[AllenK RGV]

Well currently replacing them restarting this year with a new flock, and my breeding plans are delayed by just a bit. This dog's life will be spared she just is still young enough (2-3 years) to have hyper manic dog episodes from time to time due to 1+ acre of fenced in area not providing enough stimulation for her. She is a heeler mix, or Australian Cattle Dog who needs a job to do or they get bored. She got bored when I took a nap I thought she was safe around them so wasn't looking out properly. I hope she finds herself a ranch going forward.

Our bird dog was trained off of our birds but still wants to kill the hawks. We have two terrifying pitbulls that are sweet and leave the birds alone and treat the birds fine. The cat who kills birds on occasion is deathly afraid of chicken for some reason.....I am just very new to the Austrailian Cattle Breed and don't know how they tick after finding my dead flock. Thankfully she fears the cat unless he runs.

 

[coloradojen]

I DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Since I am by myself, several years ago I bought a collection of 5-gallon buckets from the feed store and would empty the bags of food into the buckets before I load them in my car. I put half a bag in each and this almost fills the buckets up but makes it so much easier to carry because of the handles plus is a great way to keep the food dry for storage. Then once I need more food, I just load the empty buckets in the car and repeat. So much easier on my back.