INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[JanetMarie]

Production Red rooster.

Production Red hen.

RIR rooster.

Rose comb RIR hen.

 

[JanetMarie]

I might be getting a ayam cemani rooster. My friend has one she doesn't need! Would they make cute chicks?

They may make an interesting mix!

 

[Nyla]

The people I got the hens from said they are RIR's. They got them from Big R's as day old chicks in June of this year. I've been getting 3-4 eggs a day since I got them, till today I only got 1 egg. Temps here were -3 ° F for most of the day. But they are darker then my neighbors production reds and my hens combs kind of fold over. Her hens have combs like your first hen pic. My hens also have dark tail feathers her hens tails don't have the dark tail feathers. But I love them the same. I always thought RIR and Production Hens were the same thing. Thank you for the information!
Sadly my friend decided to keep her rooster.. Asked if I could barrow him.. Waiting the reply from her!

View attachment 1219836
Production Red rooster.

View attachment 1219831
Production Red hen.

View attachment 1219837
RIR rooster.

View attachment 1219838
Rose comb RIR hen.

 

[wheezy50]

Curious what everyone feeds their chickens (or ducks, turkeys, quail etc) as extra "treats" in the cold weather?

I've been feeding a lot of extra cracked corn with extra table scraps. I also have been feeding them hotdogs and anything else I find on the cheap at the grocery store. I'll pickup any fruit and veggies I can find that are on sale. The chickens love the hot dogs! Im thinking about heating some upnfor them today.

Just curious about some other good cold weather treats you all may use!

 

[Dayrel]

Heating them up (not too hot) is a good idea. I rotate their treats, but one new one I've added to the mix is cooked instant oatmeal + meal worms.

 

[kanina]

Yes, my chooks love cooked oatmeal. I ran out of chicken food a few weeks ago right before pay day and made them 2 cups of oatmeal (cooked in water) with fresh garlic and a dozen eggs with ACV, honey, onion, garlic, red pepper and lavender. They loved it.

 

[Indyshent]

Heated and softened foods--even if it's hot water over layer pellets--is a good cold weather food. We give extra corn and kitty food, too, especially since some haven't finished molting.

Yup, I know the difference between heritage and production fowl. Nobody should buy hatchery birds expecting show fowl. Hatcheries breed for quantity, which means production. It's not so much that they're separate breeds, but that they've diverged substantially from the ideal.

A Cockerels spaniel that nips children and pees everywhere is still a Cockerels spaniel, even if it's a terrible specimen of the breed. Hatchery birds are like puppies from puppy mills. That doesn't mean that excellent quality animals never come from mass production, but that the emphasis on mass production causes substantial shifts in quality overall.

Hatchery RIR will be a lighter color due to a likely combination of genetic and production factors (frequent laying depletes nutrition used for feather quality, thus they tend to be less shiny and even washed out), weigh less (more nutrition in the eggs again), and lay bigger eggs more often than their heritage counterparts.

I'm not exactly sure why RIR get the special moniker when anyone could see that the same divergent process is happening with every very popular breed. Hatchery buff Orps, barred Rocks, light Brahmas... yup, all lay more, weigh less and generally follow their SOP less every year, but nobody's hung this particular stigma and title on them

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I find the heated softened foods freeze quickly in these temps. My girls don't always get to eat all of it.

Do the Isa Browns come from reds? They seem to be pretty content and not aggressive with my EE.

 

[Dayrel]

I find the heated softened foods freeze quickly in these temps. My girls don't always get to eat all of it.

That's why you use it as a treat, not a staple food. Just feed about what you think they will eat quickly. I think of it as hot cocoa for chickens.

Do the Isa Browns come from reds? They seem to be pretty content and not aggressive with my EE.

Partly. Isa Browns are a hybrid of multiple breeds including RIRs.

 

[Faraday40]

cooked instant oatmeal + meal worms.

Yum!
DH once caught me making a similar special treat for my 15 yr old iguana's birthday. I sprinkled her kale salad with sweet potato baby food & a few superworms. Poor DH thought I was making him lunch until he saw it move. He was so relieved to see that particular salad go into the iguana enclosure.


After over 20 years, DH has gotten used my odd critters and even bought me my own special fridge. He has also learned to ask before sampling any food in the kitchen.....