Recent content by Happy Chick Home

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    Rinsing vs Washing

    Hi again folks. I love having my chickens and love ve that you are all here helping me. Now I hope to sell eggs and am working hard to get it right. I've learned that in my area eggs from small backyard flocks sold to friends / neighbors do not need to follow the same procedures as large volume...
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    Feeding suet as a treat in winter (once in a while)

    Unfortunately, my intent was to feed more fat because I thought some of my hens were too skinny. BYC was right again! Scruffy looking because of molting. They are beautiful hens today. Also right about fatty liver... Thank you BYC responders.
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    Feeding suet as a treat in winter (once in a while)

    It has been quite a while but I want to thank you for the fatty liver comment. It brought me to my senses - at least about that issue.
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    Feeding suet as a treat in winter (once in a while)

    Ok, thanks! I can put together a spice mix tonight for in the morning and top dress.
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    Feeding suet as a treat in winter (once in a while)

    Various breeds but mostly Black Sex-link which are clearly of Marin stock. And a reddish kind that I don't remember now. They look like my older Comets but they are Golden-something. The reddish hens tend to be skinny. These two groups are the same age - about 9 months. The Marin-type are...
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    Feeding suet as a treat in winter (once in a while)

    Thank you. I will add the anti-parasitic spices. This is not molt and I'm not judging from looks. Every chicken that I've culled over 15 months has been without appreciable fat. I can feel the skinny ones and occasionally am surprised to pick up a hen with some substance. Some of the variation...
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    Feeding suet as a treat in winter (once in a while)

    How much is too much? I just started feeding tallow because my chickens are so skinny. A few are okay but most just are bony.
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    When to feed scratch

    Thank you. I am aware that in mammals protein is heating so I was surprised to read that starch raises a chicken's body temp. Glad that little thing, at least, is the same. 😄 We are in the high desert. It doesn't usually get at all cold until about 4 am with the coldest about 7am. Our lows...
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    When to feed scratch

    I understand that grains, being starchy, raise a chicken's body temp and help keep them warm. I am wondering how long it takes for this effect. We are in the desert where the coldest time is generally about 7am. The temperature drops about 3am until about an hour after sunrise. If the chickens...
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    Hen with cracked rib? Strain/sprain?

    I do have some vitamins here. I'll give her some. I have yogurt too and raw acv. Agree about too much acv. Will do the rest. I did give her a little yogurt and pumpkin when I brought her in. I think it's weird that she wouldn't eat the grains but maybe she hadn't been able to get herself to the...
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    Hen with cracked rib? Strain/sprain?

    Thank you. I am not able to spend enough time right now with the chickens to watch them. Right now, I see that she moves as little as possible. Since I have had to hand feed her I can best do that with her close to me rather than me close to her. I have a small run (bigger than a crate) inside...
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    Hen with cracked rib? Strain/sprain?

    My 7 - 8 month old hen has an injury. I found her unable to roost 2 evenings ago. I put her on a roost and she, squawking the whole time, just fell off. She wasn't eating I think because she was in pain with every movement. She is a black sex-link, (looks Marin like and maybe RIR). One of these...
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    A strange egg

    Wow! Thanks for the link. Very helpful. I expect it doesn't matter - this little egg had no yolk at all. The "embryo" is white not yellow; the yellow being an artifact from the poor quality camera. Makes sense that a meat spot might be excreted like this. An embryo should have some yolk -...
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    A strange egg

    More pics
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    A strange egg

    I found this egg the other day when collecting eggs. It is tiny and the fragile shell had a hole. Inside is what looks like an embryo. The pictures aren't great but best I can do. What appears to be a blood spot in the pics doesn't look like it really. Appears to be an embryo body, head and red...
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