Recent content by Altairsky

  1. Altairsky

    Need good recipe for gluten/soy free feed

    Please read the whole thread before sounding insensitive. OP is anaphylactic to gluten. Anaphylaxis isn't a joke. Gluten dust alone, maybe from the clothes, could be fatal. For someone allergic to gluten, chicken feed is as scary as asbestos dust for normal people. It's not something you fix...
  2. Altairsky

    First time broody hen question

    Let the hen do her job. Let her be a mom. Don't candle, and don't trash the eggs you think might be dead because they might be alive. Trashing good eggs is a mistake I made and it still hurts me to this day. Don't make the same mistake.
  3. Altairsky

    Ferragosto adopt-an-egg hatch-a-long

    LOL Mario had a very bad tail shape. I don't like roosters with partial rumps as a personal taste, plus I had no guarantee that with such rear end he would manage to mate with a 100% success rate so the choice was obvious for Caruso.
  4. Altairsky

    How to make scrap bread more nutritious for chickens

    I'm lucky to work in a dairy farm so there is abundance of colostrum during the calving season (winter). The cheese factory that buy our milk doesn't want it so all the colostrum that the calves don't drink goes to waste.
  5. Altairsky

    Need good recipe for gluten/soy free feed

    Chickens are not vegan. They eat bugs, lizards and mice. Animal protein includes healthy low salt diary and fish. It doesn't have to be meat.
  6. Altairsky

    How to make scrap bread more nutritious for chickens

    Just an update. A new bakery opened in town this year and they make true handmade healthy sourdough bread with whole flour and seeds. They're as nerdy as me about healthy food. In fact they ask me for my eggs and they give me some old leftover bread for them to enjoy during winter. My chickens...
  7. Altairsky

    At what age can chicks have scratch?

    My broody hens will introduce seeds to the chicks as soon as they leave the nest. No matter how much chick starter they have, the broody will always introduce to them a wide variety of different foods. I witnessed a 3 day old eat a stinkbug whole.
  8. Altairsky

    What are these white round seeds?

    I also feed my flock a natural homemade diet based on grains and legumes. To boost protein I add some race pigeon mix, and it has these whitish round peas and those ginormous black faba beans. My chickens have zero issues swallowing them. Raw soy is toxic so soy seeds are never added to bird...
  9. Altairsky

    Favorite Chicken Breed?

    I wish I could send some eggs! It's a rare Venetian breed with just a few hundreds individuals alive in the world, and it's so pretty it really deserve to be known outside of my country! If you're interested in rare native breeds from venice, I made this thread some time ago. Some photos are...
  10. Altairsky

    This chicken is not dead

    14F is exceptionally cold where I live. I think 8F is the lowest I can remember.
  11. Altairsky

    Breaking a broody in the winter

    I'd try to take her out of the nest when it's dark and put her on a roost bar so she roosts at night. Id try for a few days and see if she breaks. I'd let her hatch at around 30F. I did last year with a broody pullet and all went nicely.
  12. Altairsky

    Hens dying

    If I were you I'd just add riboflavin-rich treats, 3 times a week. Cheap foods rich in riboflavin are sardines, beef liver, cottage cheese.
  13. Altairsky

    does anyone bring their chickens inside?

    I'd love to bring Peach in, she'd be a great couch bird, but I'm afraid it would be too stressful for her and she probably wouldn't enjoy to be in a weird place.
  14. Altairsky

    This chicken is not dead

    Her name is kiwi, she's a legbar x favaucana mix. She lays sage green. Her mother was born from a perfectly blue egg but she came out 95% salmon faverolles and lays pink! I have very weird mutts! None of my roosters were able to fertilize Kiwi in so unfortunately I can't select for her unique...
  15. Altairsky

    This chicken is not dead

    Wiki page Robusta Lionata is a rare local breed from Venice, it probably never left Italy. Though my absolute favorite is Robusta Maculata.
See more
Back
Top Bottom