Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[Leahs Mom]

Feed... well...

-No soy or GMO.
-Currently made fresh at a feed mill with organic live grains, fish meal, low percentage of alfalfa pellets and Organic Fertrell Nutribalancer as the mineral mix.

That feed gets lacto-fermented.


Some whole grains and BOSS sprouted (All grains are either fermented or sprouted.)

Raw meats: more during winter when they can't find their own or get bugs. And now getting to range every day. (If I had my way they'd be able to get all their protein from an animal source.)

And - whatever we throw into the compost pile.

(Forgot to say the feed is formulated at all-flock level for calcium with free-feed calcium available at all times.)

 

[jbarrett]

Bloodline 1


Bloodline 2 plus one really ugly turken! the person who gave me an egg to hatch will be getting this thing back! I cant stand to look at it!

 

[Bulldogma]

Well - I REALLY DID get an egg (and now 3) from a 17 week old pullet. Started last week and I've had a total of 3 since. Since I haven't been here to observe, I don't know if it was just ONE of them or more than one, but at least one of those girls if producing eggs!

That's really eggciting! Yours just may be a record-holder on this thread! Go her!

Bloodline 1


Bloodline 2 plus one really ugly turken! the person who gave me an egg to hatch will be getting this thing back! I cant stand to look at it!

Lovely birds - - and LOL on the Turken! For a moment I thought you had put a cooked chicken in their feed to eat! (They would have loved it - LOL)

 

[jbarrett]

That's really eggciting! Yours just may be a record-holder on this thread! Go her!


Lovely birds - - and LOL on the Turken! For a moment I thought you had put a cooked chicken in their feed to eat! (They would have loved it - LOL)

Really?? they will eat meat? wont that make them want to eat each other? or was that a joke?

Not really thinking clearly, just got over being so sick....ugh and my head still hurts!

 

[Bulldogma]

Really?? they will eat meat? wont that make them want to eat each other? or was that a joke?

Not really thinking clearly, just got over being so sick....ugh and my head still hurts!

Chickens (especially SFH) need meat - like raw liver. No - it won't make them want to eat each other. Cannibalism is a result of stress or overcrowding... or even because they aren't getting enough meat protein in their diet.

Check out This Link to answer your questions on chickens and meat.

 

[LauraNJ]

So when I cleaned the chicks water container, I forgot to put the rocks (use pebbles instead of marbles) back in.

I remembered about 2 minutes later and ran in and what do I see? The 2 smallest chicks in the water, like splashing and jumping up and laying back down and having a grand time.

The other 3 chicks were just standing out of splash range watching. I ended the fun and put the pebbles in but boy were the chicks soaked. They are dry and fluffy now, no harm but I really wasn't expecting them to dive in with such enthusiasm.

 

[LauraNJ]

jbarrett- I thought it was a rubber chicken in there, lol. .You have great birds, and it is awesome you have the bloodlines separated. I hadn't thought about doing that but it is an excellent idea.

 

[ki4got]

My SFH (my first and only SFH) from ki4got....hopefully a pullet, either way a cute little red head!

she's one of dahlisgram's chicks actually, I just hatched the eggs. 8)

 

[ki4got]

Quote: pork neck bones when they're on sale work well too.. LOL they stole the dog's breakfast this morning (well, part of it). and yes, i feed him raw meat/bone. so now i'm finding bits of pork bone in the yard (buried in the mud actually)...

I put sonny's 'pile' out, he took the biggest piece, the chickens rooted thru the rest and squabbled over the bits. sunny took what he wanted away from them and kept eating till he was done.

I won't put a cooked chicken in the yard tho, I worry about the dog and cats getting the bits of cooked bones. they can eat raw bones just fine but cooked become brittle and can splinter. so i'll stick with cut up pieces of meat/bone for the chickies. a turkey neck was also a big hit a couple weeks ago. sunny didn't want it. (yeah, he's picky too).

 

[SunnySkies]

When we have a chicken for dinner, I put the leftovers in the yard. It's a feeding frenzy. We do not have outside cats or dogs, so I don't worry about it. If I did, NO WAY would the cooked bones go outside. I suspect my neighbor's dogs have come over and stolen the remnants a couple times, but the neighbors keep refusing to fence their dogs to their property. I have my place fenced for livestock, not dogs. Our critters stay on our side. I'd feel bad if their dogs get sick, but they should not be on my property. Anyhow, the chickens love it and swarm the pan.