Recent content by A.T. Hagan

  1. A.T. Hagan

    What did you do in the garden today?

    Well, the meteorologists said what we got over the weekend was a "backdoor cold front" as it blew in from the Atlantic rather than off the Gulf as they usually do. It dropped the temperature enough to be pleasant, but not chilly. What it really did was blow a near constant 30mph all day...
  2. A.T. Hagan

    What did you do in the garden today?

    Went into town to get a new poultry waterer. They had every size Little Giant makes except for the five gallon one that I wanted. As I was walking in the door I saw they had just got a new shipment of vegetable starts and allowed myself to be pulled in. Walked out with no poultry waterer, but...
  3. A.T. Hagan

    Transitioning from Starter to Grower Feed Help

    It's been so long since I read their story that I now am not sure which is the one who owns the company and the other merely licenses the name, but one part makes the pet food, the other makes livestock feed. Both labeled Purina, but actually two different companies.
  4. A.T. Hagan

    Bear attack--Only one hen left

    I'm sorry to hear about your bear attack! My tractors and coops will keep out pretty much any predators (not egg eating rat snakes though!) but bears are another thing altogether. Our state law recently changed so that I can now legally shoot a bear that was tearing up my henhouse, but I'd...
  5. A.T. Hagan

    What did you do in the garden today?

    Our overnight lows are now only dropping into the forties so yesterday I hauled everything back out into the sun again. I've had to do it so much this year it only took a half-hour to get everything back to where it should be. Unfortunately I've also moved them so much that the oldest pots are...
  6. A.T. Hagan

    Transitioning from Starter to Grower Feed Help

    Over the years I've tried every brand of feed I could find in my local area. DuMor poultry feed just did not give me the results I was seeing from other brands so I stopped using it. Unless things have changed Purina is the one making it, but it's not the same blend as their Purina branded...
  7. A.T. Hagan

    How do you use egg shells?

    I keep an old #10 can in my oven that I toss our egg shells into. When I have been using the oven I put the can back in after I turn it off and the residual heat thoroughly dries them. When it gets full enough I crush them up with a potato masher, but not so fine as to say they have been ground...
  8. A.T. Hagan

    Steak

    1-3 for me. Look away if you must! (laughing) Just so long as it is not actually cold in the middle. Cold beef fat has an unpleasant texture. Bring it up to blood temperature at least!
  9. A.T. Hagan

    What did you do in the garden today?

    Early Spring in North Florida can be as trying as anywhere else in the country. Will it be hot? Will it be cold? YES to both and probably within a few days of each other! Plant Math is also as much of a thing as Chicken Math. We're coming out of our hardest winter since 2010 so the biological...
  10. A.T. Hagan

    Egg washing myth

    There are a lot of reasons for why some settings of eggs hatch well and others do not and they can be difficult to suss out at times. For myself I have never put anything but washed eggs in my incubator. I did once have a paltry 60% hatch rate (shipped eggs) but at the same time I've had more...
  11. A.T. Hagan

    What did you do in the garden today?

    My garden at present is all containers. Lately I've been getting my citrus trees ready for the season by repotting the ones in need of it. These last several weeks the blossoms have been coming on so it smells heavenly and the honeybees have been working them. Looks like a nice crop of lemons...
  12. A.T. Hagan

    ISA Brown not laying 4 months after molt - is she done?

    ISA Browns are my favorite brown egg layers so I've kept a lot of them. This is unusual in my experience for one to take such a long break given that she is relatively young. Of course once in a while strange things happen too. If she seems otherwise healthy I'd wait a bit longer. She may come...
  13. A.T. Hagan

    Poisonous Plants You Should Never Expose To Your Flock

    As a general rule chickens will not eat any plant that is toxic to them, mostly because poisonous plants taste bad. If they're not starving and thus forced to eat them they will ignore poisonous plants. I have free ranged birds for many years and have never seen them show any interest in the...
  14. A.T. Hagan

    What's your favorite source for heirloom seeds?

    My two favorites are Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and R.H. Shumway with occasional orders to Sand Hill Preservation Center. I'm in Florida so I look for varieties that are known to do well in our climate.
  15. A.T. Hagan

    Transitioning from Starter to Grower Feed Help

    I stopped bothering with grower feed long ago. I now just keep them on starter feed until I find the first pullet egg then begin transitioning them over to layer feed. I do this by mixing the starter and layer half and half until the starter is gone. I'm in n/c Fl and use exclusively FRM feed...
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