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Checked this morning and mom had the little guy I hatched under wing! The little guy did run out by my hand when I stopped by so that was cool. The last few days before hatch I was bringing mom food and water to her nest and I seem to have won some brownie points because she lets me hang out with babies. Definitely turning out to be a good momny!
 
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@fisherlady: I'm still trying to figure this out. Thanks for the advice. I tried what you told me but havent gotten the icon on my home page yet... Eventually I'll do it. Unfortunately, it's frustrating me enough that I don't check in, I love stopping here first thing in the morning and checking on what everyone's been up to. I hope I get back to that. In the mean time, I've been really enjoying my baby goats.

 
One of our Past 4-H Members posted this on his Facebook page about why chickens should NOT be fed a vegetarian diet, it was in the Washington Post:


Many of the largest U.S. sellers of organic eggs boast that their hens are vegetarian, and for an increasingly food-curious public, this may be great advertising.

A carton of Eggland’s Best advertises that the company uses “vegetarian fed hens.” Horizon promises that their eggs “come from hens that are fed a 100% organic, vegetarian diet.” Land O Lakes hens have a diet with no animal fat or by-products.

Yet for the chickens, who are natural omnivores that readily devour bugs and small animals when they’re available, the forced vegetarianism can be a disaster.

Chickens on an unsupplemented vegetarian diet typically fall short of an essential protein-based amino acid known as methionine, and without it, they fall ill. Worse, the birds will also turn on each other, pecking at each other in search of nutrients, and these incidents can escalate into a henhouse bloodbath, farmers say.

“They’re really like little raptors - they want meat,” said Blake Alexandre, the owner of a 30,000 chicken operation in far northern California that keeps its birds on pasture. “The idea that they ought to be vegetarians is ridiculous.”

“This is one of those problems caused by the fact that most Americans are so far removed from their food supply,” said Tracy Favre, a farmer and organic inspector who serves on the federal advisory board for organic products. “When I see eggs in the supermarket being advertised as vegetarian this and that, I cringe.”

Now the vegetarian diet for chickens is provoking one of the most contentious issues within the burgeoning world of organic food: How should farmers make sure that their vegetarian birds get enough methionine?

The market for organic eggs and chickens has been expanding rapidly, according to USDA figures. Tens of millions of organic chickens are raised in the U.S. a year, counting both those for laying eggs and those for eating.

The vast majority of those organic chickens are fed a ration of corn and soy beans that is supplemented with a synthetic version of methionine.
 
yoopergirl1211 said:
Nevermind. I just got home. Had kids watching temp for me for an hour and somehow it jumped to 118. Its dead. :(
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I'm really sorry about that one. It happens. In the chicken world we have to deal with many losses.

Blarneyeggs said:
One of our Past 4-H Members posted this on his Facebook page about why chickens should NOT be fed a vegetarian diet, it was in the Washington Post:


Many of the largest U.S. sellers of organic eggs boast that their hens are vegetarian, and for an increasingly food-curious public, this may be great advertising.

A carton of Eggland’s Best advertises that the company uses “vegetarian fed hens.” Horizon promises that their eggs “come from hens that are fed a 100% organic, vegetarian diet.” Land O Lakes hens have a diet with no animal fat or by-products.

Yet for the chickens, who are natural omnivores that readily devour bugs and small animals when they’re available, the forced vegetarianism can be a disaster.

Chickens on an unsupplemented vegetarian diet typically fall short of an essential protein-based amino acid known as methionine, and without it, they fall ill. Worse, the birds will also turn on each other, pecking at each other in search of nutrients, and these incidents can escalate into a henhouse bloodbath, farmers say.

“They’re really like little raptors - they want meat,” said Blake Alexandre, the owner of a 30,000 chicken operation in far northern California that keeps its birds on pasture. “The idea that they ought to be vegetarians is ridiculous.”

“This is one of those problems caused by the fact that most Americans are so far removed from their food supply,” said Tracy Favre, a farmer and organic inspector who serves on the federal advisory board for organic products. “When I see eggs in the supermarket being advertised as vegetarian this and that, I cringe.”

Now the vegetarian diet for chickens is provoking one of the most contentious issues within the burgeoning world of organic food: How should farmers make sure that their vegetarian birds get enough methionine?

The market for organic eggs and chickens has been expanding rapidly, according to USDA figures. Tens of millions of organic chickens are raised in the U.S. a year, counting both those for laying eggs and those for eating.

The vast majority of those organic chickens are fed a ration of corn and soy beans that is supplemented with a synthetic version of methionine.
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Thank you for sharing this! Very interesting to read. I'm really glad I have not had to buy eggs from a store in over a year now. I wish I could stomach raising meat birds but I hate it when it comes to butchering. Perhaps some day... Honestly I'd rather be a vegetarian but hubby won't.
 
Morning all!

Well, I showed my chick picks on the "cockerel or pullet" thread and was told that 4 of my 6 Ameraucanas appeared to be cockerels. It is certainly not what I wanted to hear since that would mean just 5 out of 12 were pullets. :hit I have ZERO luck! Last year I bought 6 pullets and 4 straight run and ended up with 5 hens and 5 roosters from the bunch...1 "pullet" was a cockerel and all the straight run were! :barnie

In the end this would give me 5 hens (4 BSL and 1 RIR), 5 pullets (3 BO and 2 Amer.) and a BO cockerel, a fine size for a backyard flock but a little smaller then I was secretly hoping for.

I guess I'll just have to get more next year...replace the 2 year old hens and add in more!:wee
 
Blarneyeggs said:
View attachment 1019553 @fisherlady: I'm still trying to figure this out. Thanks for the advice. I tried what you told me but havent gotten the icon on my home page yet... Eventually I'll do it. Unfortunately, it's frustrating me enough that I don't check in, I love stopping here first thing in the morning and checking on what everyone's been up to. I hope I get back to that. In the mean time, I've been really enjoying my baby goats.
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Love baby goat pics! Note are the poults doing?

MotorcycleChick said:
View attachment 1020133 View attachment 1020134 View attachment 1020135 View attachment 1020136 Guess who emerged about an hour ago?!
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Aww! Adorable! There's just something super cute about a turkey Mom and a fluffy yellow duckling lol
 

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