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I know there are other threads on weak shells and the response seems to always be lack of calcium. Well in my case the feed is said to be balanced with all the calcium they need, and in addition they have free access to a feeder full of oyster shell. I also toss back all the eggs shells that I...

Yes I could switch back feeds, and may if the production doesn't recover. I don't know, maybe temps did make a sharp increase about two weeks ago. To me it seems like the best has been more gradual but I think the humidity really shot up lately which certainly compounds the heat.

I know there are other posts around here, but couldn't find one I thought was spot on with my situation. Like others, I have 17 laying hens, and was getting a steady 14-15 eggs per day, even got 17 twice so far. They are only about 9 mos old, a mix of Ameraucana, Barred Rocks, and Golden Sex...

Very nice, thanks to all for the replies. Indeed there is no such thing as a stupid question, but it seems rather silly to ask what material to use to make a dust bath..."uh...dust!" I suppose I can just whip up a batch of wood shavings and DE for them. I was just concerned that pure DE...

This May sound silly, but what do people use for internal dust baths? Obviously the bird will just dig a hole outside where they want, but I'd like to get them a basin in the coop. Would pure DE be overkill, or too fine? If like some DE for the parasite removal, but what else to mix in?

Oh boy, now you got me thinking. I got a few lbs of beef liver that I can't seem to cook right. Time to start chopping!

Thanks, this is very helpful. No worries about disease? I would think freezing kill it off, but with some bacteria, it just goes dormant at cold temps, but doesn't actually die. For rapid feeding, I'd just as soon freeze as well. Then again, for long term storage I still want to consider...

Yeah, I was thinking on some sort of large pot. I have a 30-40 quart pot for crawfish boils. That should be enough to do I would think 20+ lbs at time. I can easily freeze or can it, but my freezers are pretty well prime real estate and already occupied with a bunch of beef. I really like the...

Funny how things aren't really "free" when you figure in time. But I think if I can get a big enough pot to do 40-50 lbs of burger at a time then it may be worth it. Especially if I can find a way to basically make it cook itself (stirring) while I work on something else. Maybe if I boil it then...

I sprouted some fodder on accident from a bag of feed, but it got me thinking about it more. I had a bag of all natural feed get rained on, because I'm an idiot and left it in the truck one night. I salvaged some of it still dry, but tossed most of it out wet. I tossed it on the garden for...

This is just another reason why the commercial guys like to keep them all indoors under managed lighting conditions. Not that I promote that, but if you are in need of eggs, you could put a light in the coop on a timer so that it kicks on before daylight and stays on afterwards, to give that...

Thanks. I'm aware of that. I guess I was looking for first hand thought on people that have intentionally cooked/processed large volumes of meat with the intent of using it as feed or a subsidy along with the usual grains and scratch. I'm thinking if I cook it down and brown it, that I'll...

I had this thought, and I hope it is as logical and sound as I feel. But I want others' input here. First off, we all know that chickens are not shy to eat meat. But who has a whole lot of extra, cheap, meat laying around for chicken feed? Texans! Along with plenty of other midwestern folks...

Haha, I wouldn't feed the bloody heads, that was just joke. I just had that comical visual in my head so I figured I'd toss it in. I have considered running the larger bones/feathers through a garbage disposal more or less to grind it all down to a pulp and then freeze or dehydrate it in...

I'll revive this thread. I was thinking not so much about the chicken meat scraps, but perhaps the guts and other waste from butchering chickens. I'd like to keep the liver, gizzard, heart (if big enough) and maybe even the cods if he were a big guy, just for fun. But what about the intestine...

The plans are open to whatever, both eggs and meat. I know plenty of people that want/need the eggs, so even if it's a "losing" effort, I don't mind. My philosophy is that I don't give money away, but will gladly feed the hungry. Honestly I just want to get back in the habit of having...

My run is already 1" mesh wire, so I suppose if they are confined to the run, then a coop for security is not needed, unless a varmint digs under the fence. I'm designing to prevent that. I could build a inner coop with something like 1/4" hardware cloth. Thanks to the Canadian that weighed...

The run itself will be 5'x8 footprint by 6' head height. The coop will hang on the wall of the coop. In order to have a 3' walkthrough space, that allows only 2' to one side for the width of the coop. Sorry, the 3' doorway was referring to the access to the run. To actual doors to access the...

I'm thinking for noise control I can hang a series of baffles. I'll find some way to incorporate it into landscaping or something to hide it. I'm still not sure of open air as I want good protection from varmints. Most of that activity takes place at night, so for now I'm closing up the coop...

Any reason why I can't use lime dust for smell control? Ideally I'll keep things cleaned up on a regular basis but there is only so much you can do. My neighbors are OK with me having chickens, but I don't want them to change their minds! Is there any concern with respiratory issues using the...