"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[Jtabor1387]

I'm new to this forum, I am a louisianian from south louisiana, I raise bantam show quality wyandottes and Cochins. Just wondering who in my area raises similar breeds?

 

[mzstre]

Hello, all! I've been so busy that I haven't had much time to visit here. I sure have missed my daily dose of the La-yers! Julie - I'm very sorry to hear of all your losses. I understand the sadness. I lost one of my favorite hens and 2 juvenile Basque last week. It was all my own fault that I lost the Basque and that makes it so much worse. I left an empty bucket in their run and it filled with water in an overnight deluge. The 2 Basque drowned.

I started feeding all my birds ff a couple of months ago. They love it! When I bring it out you'd think they hadn't eaten in a month.

It really is a win-win way to feed your flock. There is sooooo much less waste because they're not scratching half of the feed out onto the floor. I probably use less than half of the feed I used to go through when I fed it dry. FF is much healthier for the flock with its probiotics and all so that's good and they love it. What's not to love? I will say that I have a small flock - 11 birds. I don't know if this would be practical for large flocks.

I feed FF and have 91 birds right now. It takes a while to get quick at it, but now it doesn't take me much longer than feeding dry. It does help that I have 2 sons to assist though.

PLEASE do not wish for anymore. You DO NOT WANT THAT! I have waterfowl, so they need dishpans to place their heads under the water for cleaning and pools for bathing and wasting my water when they splash around all day while increasing my water bill !!!!!!!!!!! :/

I have automatic waterers set up with 2.5 - 5 gallon buckets, PVC, and nipples. I do have cement mixing tubs with water for the geese and ducks. They use the tubs to clean their faces and splash, but they still mostly drink from the waterers.

 

[LemonMeringue]

Are there ever any Chicken Swaps in the center of the state?

 

[mzstre]

I'm new to this forum, I am a louisianian from south louisiana, I raise bantam show quality wyandottes and Cochins. Just wondering who in my area raises similar breeds?

Welcome! What color Cochins and Wyandottes do you raise? I have large fowl BLRWs (breeding group directly from Jerry Foley) and a handful of bantam Cochins from a couple of breeders. I love both breeds!

 

[luvmychicken]

It wasn't too bad. I started it yesterday and it was good and bubbley this morning. I just replaced the wet with the same amount of dry and will see how it goes.

It is when you have 3, 4, or 5 hundred head to mix up that mess for(huh Julie?) it would be big ol barrels at a time + nasty to dole out, not one itty bitty five gallon bucket at my place. It just doesn't seem feasible to me, much less worth the effort. I can go sling out the dry feed amounts for the day in a very few minutes for each group or pen and go on. What I find spending the most time on, is the watering and keeping clean water in front of these numbers. I don't have time to stir up a witches kettle of brew daily, me. J/S but for the ones with the small numbers I can see this working out for ya'll.

Jeff

Yeppers! I'm with you Jeff on that. I ain't fightin with all of that. No way. No can do. :/

You are right about the time in watering and keeping clean water. I thought I was the only one that had that headache. Man, that kills me on some days but I know it's gotta be done. :/

LOL @ witches kettle of brew. That pretty much sums it all up Jeff.

And I agree, for those with smaller flocks that can make this work, PLEASE do so. I have heard nothing but great comments about the FF. If the feed store sold buckets of FF, then I would be all on that. And I would bring you a few buckets too Jeff.

Wish I could have more but I am over my limit now. As far as the water situation goes I have an automatic system in place. They can't poop in it so it stays clean.

PLEASE do not wish for anymore. You DO NOT WANT THAT! I have waterfowl, so they need dishpans to place their heads under the water for cleaning and pools for bathing and wasting my water when they splash around all day while increasing my water bill !!!!!!!!!!! :/

I went out tonight (10:45) after work to check the girls. 1 egg from 9 hens. Good thing is I can see a good change in there poo now that I am feeding ff. hope it helps on egg production. We shall see!

 

[Angelicisi]

Ya my girls are giving me one outta 4 the last week :/ got 2 today! Lol

I went out tonight (10:45) after work to check the girls. 1 egg from 9 hens. Good thing is I can see a good change in there poo now that I am feeding ff. hope it helps on egg production. We shall see!

 

[chickenbelle]

Been crazy here everyone! I am happy to hear about new babies, greating work fermenting, and new chicken friends. Julie - soo sorry for the losses at your place. Seriously, though, you've got to stop posting cute baby lamb pics. I could just melt from the cuteness and hubby refuses any sheep until the pea pen is finished.

I'm going to have to find a day to come hang out at your place following little lambs everywhere.

I only got one pea to hatch and it was a horrible ordeal for me. I am sickened. Pipped early and didn't go any farther. I waited a bit and then broke off some shell to check the membrane, which was still filled with blood. I left it to absorb. Well on the third day after the pip I could see the baby moving, but not attempting to come out so I finally caved and intervened. Beautiful little pea --with wonky legs. Nothing I did would correct the right leg. And it would never eat. It would drink like it should but we were having to force feed it mash. Poor baby finally gave up. I should have intervened earlier like I would have with a chicken, but it was A PEA and I was afraid I'd make it worse.

On a better note --Got 6 new pens finished and birds moved into them. Three brooders of babies moved into a grow out pen. My basque cockerel made a break for it during the move--it took me, hubby, and my pregnant daughter almost 20 minutes of running through 10 acres of field and bamboo to catch the little monster! We only got him because HE finally got tired enough to stop for a drink. Ha! He was panting so hard from his run I wondered if he wasn't going to survive. Needless to say, it took my daughter all evening to recover from the exercise and I have scratches and bruises from wading through 30 foot tall cane after a runaway!

I have lavender orpington, heritage rir, and a few d'Uccles (and wyandottes for PSJ) hatching this weekend if anyone near me is interested. This new Hatchcraft Incubator works like a dream! This will be my first hatch out of it --I'm praying for good results. More of the same hatching next weekend. I will be setting more eggs on Monday - lav orps, rirs, d'Uccles, buff orps, black wyandottes, and bbs marans--and a green egger or two.


Went for another ultrasound for my daughter Friday. The doctor is still sticking with the theory that she is around 13 weeks (It was 12.2 on Friday). However, I'm watching the monitor and seeing that the measurements are showing a week to two weeks larger. Daughter did not want to know babies gender, but we agreed that I would check to buy her nursery things for when it was born. Hmmm...can I keep all that stuff hidden for months? Anyway, doctor is going along taking measurements.....when I saw it. No possible way. The doctor stopped and backed up. Looking very surprised, he turns to my daughter and asks if she wants to know the gender of her baby. No kidding! At 12 weeks! She said no and turned her head so he went back to the baby's lower region and my oh my...that kid is already fully genitally developed. I'm saying no way is she only 12 weeks. I thought all along she was at least two weeks more. So we leave his office and head for the car. We sit down and as my daughter buckles her seatbelt, she says calmly, "Okay, I can't take it. You might as well spill it. I know I just saw a pe*&$ (is that word allowed here?) growing in me!" LOL...I refused to say a word. I just told her that if she was that desperate she could look at the picture he handed me. She went to digging and pulled it out. Then I hear her get louder --"Oh my Gosh! It's huge! My kid is a freak!" I was totally confused until I leaned over at a red light and asked what she was talking about. She said --"It's huge! How can it be that big?" as she POINTED TO HIS LEG!!!!!

I laughed so hard I think I wet my pants.

So, we've been busy buying boy things. I haven't even browsed baby things in 9 years.

 

[Jtabor1387]

Welcome! What color Cochins and Wyandottes do you raise? I have large fowl BLRWs (breeding group directly from Jerry Foley) and a handful of bantam Cochins from a couple of breeders. I love both breeds!

I raise Mille fleur cochin bantams, and in the bantam wyandottes I breed partridge, silver laced, gold laced, dun laced, and I have whites on the way. I lost my blrw bantam rooster for my breeding group, so if anyone has a spare blrw bantam rooster let me know.

 

[chickenbelle]

I also have ducks that just started laying. We had all of the juveniles together while we finished the new pens so there are pekins and swedish together. Some of the eggs are fertile and some aren't. The pekin drake isn't doing anything yet, but the black swedish is. So, if I pop some in the bator, I could get a swedish/pekin mix or a pure swedish. My question about the duck genetics is --if the drake is black and he is over a blue female, will it sex link like a chicken or will she throw a random combination of blue and black swedish ducklings?

I love our ducks--I just hate brooding them. If I'm going to hatch any I need to do it soon so I can brood them in an outside brooder. I refuse to brood any ducks in any of the inside brooders ever again!

 

[stefansmomma]

Are there ever any Chicken Swaps in the center of the state? 

I've been looking and I have yet to find one.