Recent content by MontanaChickDoc

  1. MontanaChickDoc

    I ordered a Nestera coop, never received the third package, and they refuse to refund me!!!

    Right? I try my best to support small businesses and pay a bit (or a lot) more because I want people to stay in business to provide me with choices where I shop, but in exchange I expect to be treated well. I am very patient as long as the company is really making an effort to do the right...
  2. MontanaChickDoc

    Has anyone used this product before?

    I also use PDZ and I like it a lot. A bag lasts a long time and I have 3 chicken coops and a duck house.
  3. MontanaChickDoc

    I ordered a Nestera coop, never received the third package, and they refuse to refund me!!!

    I wanted a quick to assemble, no fuss chicken coop for a new batch of chickens. I ordered a Nestera wagon coop on Dec 1st. I finally received 2 of the 3 packages on Dec 17th (we had a snow on Dec 5th that caused delays). The third part with the hardware and wheels never arrived. I contacted...
  4. MontanaChickDoc

    Anyone else find Sasso meat to be tough and stringy?

    Yes, I usually age them a few days in the fridge before they go into the minus 10 freezer in their shrink wrap body bags.
  5. MontanaChickDoc

    New to BYC - *NEW* Chick owner

    I use a combination of pelleted horse bedding and fine flake shavings inside my coops. The pellets break up and become fine sawdust which is very absorbent - they are especially good for ducks. The shavings are easier on their feet though, and less treacherous for me to walk on, as the pellets...
  6. MontanaChickDoc

    Cornish cross birds get weak and die

    I like the idea of spacing the water and food so they have to get a little exercise ;) I take food out twice a day (7am and 3 pm) but I put out quite a bit at a time so it lasts several hours. Their crops are always stuffed to full capacity whenever I handle them.
  7. MontanaChickDoc

    Cornish cross birds get weak and die

    I processed my 14 remaining birds yesterday. They dressed out between 6 and 7 lbs, with only one at 5 lbs 5 oz. Three had hydropericardium and 1 had ascites. Of course I don't know if it's genetic or something infectious or how I fed them, but I don't think I will order from this hatchery again...
  8. MontanaChickDoc

    Keeping my meat birds warm during this cold snap

    Yes they are. They are coming on 8 weeks old. They are growing more slowly then ones I have raised in the summer and fall, so I don't think I will butcher for another 2 weeks. I like to get 5-6 lbs dressed weight as long as the birds are still walking and moving comfortably.
  9. MontanaChickDoc

    Keeping my meat birds warm during this cold snap

    So I have 15 meat birds outside in a 8x10 dog kennel on a concrete pad, with a fenced yard around the outside. The run is tarped, and there are 2 large dog kennels for sleeping time inside. We just got 5 inches of snow so they are hanging out in their kennel area which I bedded with pine straw...
  10. MontanaChickDoc

    Cornish cross birds get weak and die

    I admit, it's a weakness, I like to mix and match and try out different things to see what makes a difference, what the hens like or don't like etc. I agree about the 24% meat bird food being too high in protein. Sometimes it's hard to find an 18 or 20% feed that's pelleted. I hate mash because...
  11. MontanaChickDoc

    They are eating their own eggs!

    I just caught a hen red handed (and yolky beaked) as she was eating eggs out of one of the nest boxes. I hope she's the last one. It makes me so mad!!!
  12. MontanaChickDoc

    Cornish cross birds get weak and die

    I spoke with an avian pathologist last night at the University of KY Vet Diagnostic Lab (where I did my pathology residency) and she says a lot of times on the post mortem they don't really find anything, or maybe just some cardiac muscle degeneration. So apparently this is a "thing" in some...
  13. MontanaChickDoc

    What is this under my chicken's tongue?

    Are there crusted lesions on her comb as well? or any other crusted sores on her skin? If so, fowl pox is also a differential. It's hard to see in the photo whether the lesions on her comb are sores or frostbite, peck wounds, etc.
  14. MontanaChickDoc

    2024 Meyers Cornish cross issues

    I also like Cackle's CCX and all their birds in general. They just don't always have the availability I need. My CCX from a different hatchery are also not doing well this time around. I have lost 6 of 25 with sudden onset of weakness, inability to stand, and weight loss at 5-6 weeks old. I am...
  15. MontanaChickDoc

    Crap. I found the remains of an egg today.

    I was able to figure out a couple of egg eating hens by looking for dried yolk on their face feathers and nostril holes.
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