Recent content by IMDeggman

  1. IMDeggman

    How do I feed my retired layers?

    I have 6 hens and a rooster, all going on 5-1/2 years old, the production is down to about 4 eggs a week total. I am not going to butcher them but would like to economize on feed. Scratch is about half the cost of layer feed. I think they would eat it up. But would they be OK on this and...
  2. IMDeggman

    Does anyone else Free Range?

    I have 6 hens and a rooster, who overnight in a 4' x 8'coop, and spend the whole day outside, in an area roughly 2000 square feet, mostly shaded. They do pretty good as far as I can tell, and the egg yield is about 60% a day. They go into the coop around dusk. One time, though, the wind blew...
  3. IMDeggman

    Mr. Not so welcomed friend Kill or not?

    I have killed a few rat snakes who have eaten eggs and also killed three pullets by swallowing them head first and then regurgitating them, dead. Killing snakes is no picnic. I would consider relocating them if I knew how to capture them. And- will they come back via some homing instinct...
  4. IMDeggman

    Weird egg

    One of my hens laid this egg the other day, and as you can see, about 3/4 of the length of the egg is a light olive color, which is normal for one of the birds. But then, near the pointy end, the color changes abruptly to a light greenish blue, and there is a clear line of demarcation between...
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  7. IMDeggman

    How much do your chickens eat? :D

    I was recently looking online and on feed sacks for guidance (foolishly, not on BYC), and all I could find was to feed 1/4 lb. layer feed per bird per day. What I could not find was the volume taken up by 1/4 lb. of feed. I have 8 birds, so that would be 2 lbs. a day, which would mean a 50 lb...
  8. IMDeggman

    Ok really! WHO IS SICK OF IT?! ~UPDATED!~

    Mine starting laying at just about 4 months and a week or so, and pretty soon going full tilt. I have 7 hens (barred rock, golden, Americauna) and a rooster, also Americauna. With the 7, I average 5 or 6 eggs a day, even getting 7 at least once a week. Could it be that the presence of the...
  9. IMDeggman

    Important News For Hens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Egghead Jr. says that according to Avalon (who put up the first reply in this thread), battery cages will be outlawed by 2012 in the U.S. But if you check back, they were talking about Germany and/or Europe. I would suggest that the market is not going to come to the rescue of the chicken...
  10. IMDeggman

    Important News For Hens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Can someone tell me exactly what a battery cage is? Is this where the hen is confined in a very small space where it eats, poops and lays, with no opportunity to leave? And what is an enriched cage system? And- does the increased space requirement (67 then 144 sq. in. per bird) pertain to...
  11. IMDeggman

    Commercial chicken regulations proposed by Humane Society

    I received an email a couple days ago from the Humane Society of the United States, which I include below; I apologize for the length. My initial pleased reaction at the headline quickly dissipated, as I saw in the details what amounts to only very slight improvements to chickens' living...
  12. IMDeggman

    new order of baby chicks dying fast!!!

    I bought a dozen chicks, newly hatched, from a store that just took delivery of them this morning. Out of 12 to start, 1 was dead by the time I got home about 9 hours later. No sign of injury or disease to my untrained eyes. But all looked good and active and feeding when I left them. I saw...
  13. IMDeggman

    new BYC member from south TX

    Hi, I have just today gotten my 4th batch of baby chicks in about 8 years. They have a large coop and about a 50 x 80 foot yard with plenty of shade and sun to run in and hunt bugs. Have 3 Barred Rocks, 2 Golden, and 5 Americaunas, plus one whose breed slips my mind, back markings like the...
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