ruth tomorrow is 2 weeks i cant wait....i havent touched them LOL......im excited though..... ill candle them sunday night to see who will be ready for lockdown and ill let you know then
wow you guys are all so busy when i am not at work!! gald to see the babies and that all is well, I had 6 chicks hatch from my Charlie, poppy cross and i love them!! one chick from Bills pullet and charlie, they are all so neat in color!!
How often do Seramas lay eggs? Mine laid a couple eggs right before she shipped and then one the day she arrived, but no eggs since then (about a week ago). Is that normal? I was thinking it could be stress from the shipping, unless Seramas don't lay eggs very regularly...?
Next question: how do you keep the smell from cages down? Holy cow, chickens are stinky! I thought ducklings were bad. I'm afraid to put them outside because of the cold, so they're in the house. Maybe I'm being overly cautious?? They are used to So Cal weather and I didn't wanted to stress them even more by having them get cold after shipping. I change the pine shavings in their cages every night when I get home from work. The trio is particularly bad. For some reason my pair doesn't smell nearly as much.
Anyhow, there's a product that you can sprinkle or spray in horse stalls to keep the small down. It contains enzymes that break down the organic matter to reduce odor. I've used it in stalls and I do notice a difference (the form I've used was powdered). Here's a link to one brand of this type of product:
Has anyone ever used this type of product with chickens? It's advertised in the poultry section.
MTA: do you think I'm being too cautious about putting them outside? The lows right now are in the low 50's, but we live close to the water and the wind really picks up at night.
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I use sand in my indoor cages now. I got tired of shavings all over the house, and yes, you cannot clean the shavings without dumping everything out. With sand, you can scoop the poop right out easily, and keep the cages pretty clean.
As far as weather, I bring my birds in at night, and I'm in So Cal.. lol. I'm sure they are much hardier than we give them credit for. I just tend to baby my Seramas.
I have two laying right now, one is pretty consistent, but she's also 3 months older than the other. My young one is very inconsistent.