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  1. polychickens

    OT: Is there a backyard GOAT site??

    My chicken operation has worked out well thanks to this site. I may have the use of a nice fenced pasture within walking distance and would like to get the low-down on raising some goats for milk. Any links appreciated. PW
  2. polychickens

    Where to buy leg bands?

    I'm looking to buy about 50 of the aluminum leg bands for my flock so that when my 12 weekers are full grown I'll know who is who. Where can I buy these? Does anyone want to sell me 50? Thanks! Polychickens
  3. polychickens

    when to replace flock to keep production high

    For those of you who update your flock periodically for maximum egg production, at what age does this make the most sense? I have heard that a chicken can lay for years, but that peak production is around 28 weeks and slowly declines after that. So, how long do you keep paying their upkeep vs...
  4. polychickens

    42 hens, who is laying?

    I am getting around 24 eggs per day from my 42 hens. Some of the hens are a year old and I'm wondering if there is a practical way to determine who is still laying consistently without spending 10 hours/day in the coop for a week. I am in this for the eggs and would like to move any...
  5. polychickens

    BR sitting on 24 eggs

    OK, one of my barred rocks started sitting on half dozen eggs 2-3 weeks ago. She sits night and day except occasionally gets some food or drink. There's the problem. Her nest box seems to be a favorite of many hens and they opportunistically hop in if the BR ever leaves. Today, I see eggs...
  6. polychickens

    Rooster=hens=how long til chicks?

    I have one 10-11 month old RIR rooster who has been mixed with 40+ hens of various breeds. If I seperate 8 RIR hens and the RIR rooster today, how long would it be before I could expect RIR chicks? They have food/water, bedding, shelter, outside run, and nest boxes. What else should I be...
  7. polychickens

    Rooster with hens, breeding questions

    Today I seperated 8 RIR hens and my only rooster (also a RIR) from the rest of my breeds. What is the best way to get some RIR chicks? Should I leave all the eggs produced for a certain amount of time and see what happens? I'm wondering what would be the most efficient way of getting some...
  8. polychickens

    old shavings to run

    The run attached to the coop is bare, wet and muddy. Winters here are wet and nasty. The shavings in the coop itself are pretty damp and have pretty much turned to dirt after around 3 months(deep litter). I had planned to add new shavings on top and change the whole deal twice/year, but it...
  9. polychickens

    How to get them laying again?

    With the weather change, my egg production has gone from over 30 daily to around 5 per day. First, the ameraucanas quit...no green eggs for well over a month. Next the brown leghorns gave out--haven't seen a white egg in 2 weeks and they used to lay every single day. Even my brown egg layers...
  10. polychickens

    free choice feeding--no go!

    I am planning a January vacation, and have someone who can look in on the chickens 2-3 times in 9 days. I didn't think food would be a problem since my feeder can hold 30# and I could get a second. However, I am finding that chickens are like dogs in the sense that they will eat what is...
  11. polychickens

    Solve this winter problem

    We are planning a family vacation after the first of the year, but have nobody to tend to the 45 chickens. At best, someone will be able to come once, maybe twice in nine days, and I am needing a plan to have food/water in place even if that falls thru. The food is easy enough. My feeder...
  12. polychickens

    scraps/free range/comm feed

    My layer ration says NOT to feed additional grains. I assume this is so that they sell more of the processed feed. It also says to feed 85# per bird per year...AND to offer it free choice and keep bowls half full. Is there a rule of thumb whereby scraps and foraging decrease the commercial...
  13. polychickens

    What if eggs freeze

    I feel like an idiot for asking this, but what happens if eggs freeze in the winter before they are collected? We check for eggs several times per day, but surely many will freeze hard as a rock when it really gets cold here. How do you all deal with that? Thanks! Poly Not planning to...
  14. polychickens

    Inside out...HELP!

    One of my hens has poop all over her back end and is acting just like when I had one die from an egg getting stuck. The stuck egg ended in death after I helped remove the egg manually on the one hen. Now this poor girl has apparently passed an egg, but it left her... inside out--for lack of...
  15. polychickens

    incubating costs?

    I'm considering making my own 'bator like those in threads here to keep costs down. Can anyone approximate the cost of buying fertilized eggs and incubating assuming some realistic hatch rates. Is this generally cheaper than buying day old sexed chicks from hatcheries? Say I want a...
  16. polychickens

    What's going on with production?

    Just when I figure my egg production is about to double, I get lower numbers than ever... My nineteen oldest hens are around 29 weeks. Sixteen more are 25 weeks...so I figured I'd have lots of eggs for the past couple of weeks, but production is down to just 12-14 per day lately. ????? I...
  17. polychickens

    Most cost effective egg laying breed

    Which breed of chicken is the most cost effective in terms of producing eggs? Since feed is the biggest expense, lets assume that we want very economical eaters who produce the most possible eggs. Egg size is also a factor for me, so bonus points if a breed meets the above criteria and...
  18. polychickens

    rotate litter into run?

    Does anyone toss their old pine shavings from the coop into the run for some more mileage or to ammend the soil in the run. My run is hard dirt and there is hardly a spot where the chickens scratch. On the other hand, the corner of my garden where the poop and litter get composted is...
  19. polychickens

    Corn

    The fields are being harvested around me and my kids have collected many free ears of 'left behind' corn. Is whole field corn ok to feed the chickens? I remove it from the cob, and they go crazy for it much like scratch. I am also wondering about making corn the sole ration for older...
  20. polychickens

    Decreasing the financial burden of raising chickens

    As far as the expense of raising chickens goes, I understand that these eggs will be considerably more expensive than store-bought. The fact that they are healthier must be weighed by the fact that I could buy similar 'healthy' eggs from a number of farmer kids for $1.50/dozen. I don't...
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