Okay. I've got my own thinking on this. I think that changing feed all the time gives my meat birds (freedom rangers) diarrhea and is bad for them. I prefer to keep my birds on the same feed, dictated by age and outcome (egg vs. meat) and supplementing with scratch, cracked grain, table scraps...
Welcome to my Back Yard Chickens page!
I am quite new to raising chickens domestically and am dragging my reluctant husband along behind me...I tell the story to my friends that it took a year of him saying "hell, no" every time I mentioned chickens for him to finally just roll his eyes and...
Thanks to all who have posted so far. Had I known what a conversation starter this was, I would've posted earlier.
Really, I'm finding that it is about finding balance between being cautious and being a freak. I would naturally go to the side of freak, so I always have to keep myself in check...
I mean when we really think about it, and this is what my husband just said, most people historically grew up on farms and had less than modern ideals of cleanliness, so it's mostly fine, otherwise we would never be here!
All the mom's should agree here, you get bombarded with SO MUCH stuff...
Yes, I have totally gotten out of the cat poop scooping detail! I do the deep litter method in the hen house, so don't think cleaning out the coop is gonna be a concern and so far, all I have read speaks to what you awesome people have said - wash your hands, etc, etc, etc...
Good to know. I...
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Dude. Yeah, I know. I've had a flock for a while now.
I've heard that salmonella is a concern for people with compromised immune systems and pregnant ladies. So I was soliciting advice from people who have kept chickens while they are pregnant.
But thanks for the, uh, chicken sex-lesson.
My ladies got very loud about two weeks before they started laying - at about 4.5 months. They made these long, slow squawking noises - lots of noise. Also, when I would come near the oldest one, she started to squat - wings ruffled out, back end up, because she thought I was a rooster... (we...
I have a small 1/4 acre fenced back yard - I let my three girls run around every night when I get home from work and then on the weekend. Not much happenin' in suburbia when it comes to predators during the day - save house cats who are curious, but a couple of well placed small rocks on the...
Hey members,
I'm curious about when your hens lay during the day. My gals are getting close (becoming exceptionally noisy, "squatting" when I come near them, and rearranging the nesting boxes).
~Also~, do they lay better when nesting boxes are covered on top or open?
~And~ How long do you find...
I have been mixing grower feed with layer feed (and adding cayenne pepper and DE) into a big jug - about half and half - and giving that to my ladies. They like the big grit of the layer, but won't be laying for another month, maybe sooner, so still need the grower.
They are about 16 weeks old...
Don't laugh at me - does SSS stand for Shoot, Shovel and Shut up?
I've been sitting here with my co worker trying to figure it out! (and feeling blonder by the minute, By the way!)
I know my mom lives in Seattle and her neighbor has two roos' and they wake the neighborhood up in the morning, so instead of calling the cops (we all know they have better things to do - like catching drunk drivers and meth dealers) they are going to make a small committee to go talk to owner...
I have three ladies. I put their feeder on a little round raised platform (the dish that goes underneath a big pot) I put it upside down and they spill alot on the platform and get a chance to eat it up a bit before it get's spilled on the floor. They also scratch around the floor by their...
I started giving them treats at dusk when I moved them into their coops when they were small - an ear of corn, or some carrot foliage or something and I use the same tone of voice and words every time - so they know the tone matches with the words matches with treats.
They come bounding across...
I put a heat lamp on them for about a week when I moved them outside, but really - it does depend on where you live. I'm in the Puget Sound region of WA and they don't need a heat lamp anymore - however, they are also 2 months old now and have their feathers.
Depends on weather and how old they...
I have a 6x9 (apprx - I should really measure it one of these days!) coop for my three ladies and I use the deep litter method where I start with 2 inches of hay and pine shavings and a dusting of DE (mix it up a little) and then every two weeks I add a dusting of pine shavings and DE (mix it...
I put paver sand in a new cat box, filled it up about half way, and added a couple of cups of DE. So far, and interestingly, they have only pecked at it and are taking dust baths in their floor shavings.
But mine are about 7 weeks old and doing fine.
I have to admit that watching them taking...
yeah - they have a heat lamp at night and sleep on a small roost under the lamp. It's during the day! And it's not strictly huddling - it's more like - sitting all together in a corner with that deer in headlights look about them (I know I am anthropomorphizing it, but that's really what it...
I moved my ladies from a small (4x2) brooder into their giant coup (at least 5x9 x 8 feet tall) and they are so bumfuzzled by this that they just huddle in the corner.
Will they get used to the new coup? (It's so big b/c I am counting on getting more than three chickens in the future!)They are...