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  1. LarryP2

    coop ideas....

    The brown eggs are copper Morans. And yes, this is my first experience with "Easter Egg" chickens. And I have several Buff Orpingtons and Silkies. I do worry about predators, so I had enough chain link fencing to cover the floor of the runs and then attached the "floor" to the chainlink "sides"...
  2. LarryP2

    coop ideas....

    I think it is far more important to keep chickens totally dry than it is to keep them warm. This picture shows the output of 30 chickens in one week, with temps well-below zero every night. I have over 1000 square feet of chain-linked run covered with metal roofing. They have maximum fresh air...
  3. LarryP2

    ONE WEEK OF EGGS FROM 30 Chickens in Dead of winter!!! Without artificial lighting!

    I think I have discovered how to maximize winter egg production, without resorting to artificial lighting. The key I believe is to keep the chickens absolutely bone dry, but allowed to run free in a covered run that maximizes air circulation and miserly winter light. My artificial run is in two...
  4. LarryP2

    Totally new to meat birds....Help?

    I have 50 CX that were placed in a covered run at 2 weeks old when they outgrew their brooder. It is getting down into the 50's here at night and they huddle together for warmth and are really growing feathers fast and slowing down their growth. This is a good thing in my mind.
  5. LarryP2

    Feed requirements for CX and other questions

    why are you guys using heat lamps on your cx? Mine were three weeks old yesterday, and have been in a new covered run since they were two weeks old. We have been having a tropical monsoon rain season here lately with lows in the high 40's at night. They huddle together for warmth, even though...
  6. LarryP2

    3 week growth for broilers and broad-breasted bronze turkeys

    my 50 cx birds are 3 weeks old today, and you bring up and excellent point about the heat lamps, I had heat lamps on my SL Wydandottes (65) until they were more than three weeks old. My CX went into an outside fully-covered pen when they were two weeks old, and it has been a tropical monsoon...
  7. LarryP2

    3 week growth for broilers and broad-breasted bronze turkeys

    My CX and BB and white turkeys are not even putting on CLOSE to the amount of weight claimed by the professional growers. In my mind, that is a GOOD thing. And they are extremely healthy and active birds that are living ethical and happy lives, which is far more important to me than the speed...
  8. LarryP2

    Baby chicks dying =( HELP! Can't figure out why!

    I had similarly alarming losses with my first batch of chicks this year, they were dying like flies at about day 4 and 5. With the chicks that are still there, I would forcibly dip their beaks in the water mixture that you have, which sounds like my latest mix. The last two batches, I used sand...
  9. LarryP2

    Switched to sand in brooder...

    it doesn't seem to bother their eyes. They are doing really well.
  10. LarryP2

    Switched to sand in brooder...

    I had about a 40 percent mortality rate with my first attempt at day old chickens this year (SLWs), I believe because I started them on pine shavings. Those little chicks think it is food, and it kills them. My second batch (50 CX) I started on sand and added ACV to their water and have none die...
  11. LarryP2

    Apple Cider Vinegar: The chick miracle

    On my second lot of chicks (50 Cornish x), I have been adding a tablespoon of ACV to their waterers, each time I fill them. I started with 50 (Dunlap Hatchery sent me 52), and the two that died obviously died of being trampled. They are now 9 days old and very very healthy. Additionally, instead...
  12. LarryP2

    Who else got some 2013 chicks?!

    LOL.....the best way to deal with the Cornish X "smell" is to be an incompetent carpenter. Take myself for instance. I built my outdoor brooder, and unintentionally installed the roof rafters in such a way that there is tremendously-good ventilation. Actually, it is very weatherproof and has...
  13. LarryP2

    Who else got some 2013 chicks?!

    I raised 60 SLWs and about 15 silkies and other banties on my first go around with chicks this year, and all of them are now in the general population (an 80x8 foot covered run with attached coops), along with the four turkeys that were little tiny poults just three months ago. They are massive...
  14. LarryP2

    Dandelions

    my birds go ape sh!t over a plant that looks like dandelions, but is called Prickly Lettuce. My turkeys insist on me hand feeding it to them though. I think it makes it easier for them to tug off a hunk when i am holding it firm.
  15. LarryP2

    Gonna try some Cornish X

    I should have added that the chicks brooder barn is attached to the gigantic run, which is sectioned off so that they do not have to physically interact with the older birds until they are full-size. They have a 20' x 8' area in the great outdoors whenever they want, but usually they choose to...
  16. LarryP2

    Gonna try some Cornish X

    First time with meat birds, just ordered 50 Cornish X chicks, will be here on next Tuesday. I guess I am feeling cocky after successfully raising 60 SL Wyandottes and some silkies and bantiesj from day old chicks, as well as four turkeys from day old babies. The SLW & company are now about 6...
  17. LarryP2

    Give me the dirt on turkeys

    We have raised four turkeys this year from Poults, and they are doing fabulously in with our chickens. They are very interesting birds and grow at an astonishing rate. We throw boxes full of weeds in to them off of our 1/2 acre, and they gobble them down like they are starved.
  18. LarryP2

    A bulletproof coop and run

    There is a pretty big space between the chicken wire and the barbed wire, but thanks for thinking about it. Probably will use some spacers to keep the two layers of fence apart.
  19. LarryP2

    A bulletproof coop and run

    This is my first post. I was told the way to start with chickens is to start the run and coop and THEN get the chickens. So that is what I am doing.....sort of. We started with 8 copper moran chicks and a broody rhode Island red "mother" with a chickenwire coop with an "upstairs" roost and...
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