Arizona Chickens

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

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Thanks - they are laying pretty poorly right now, except for my Blue Andalusian that just started laying a couple week ago. What brand is Egg Maker? I tried googling it and came up with "Land O'Lakes Egg Maker", "Pen Pals Egg Maker", and "Blue Seal Egg Maker". There may be more too. I was hoping to look it up to see the content before purchasing switching feeds. Are the egg yolks just as dark on the Egg Maker as they are on Purina?

Sonoran Silkies - Why do you recommended the feed barn? Cheaper prices on feed? Better feed? or Both? Which is your favorite, if you've tried more than 1 brand?

 

[Mahonri]

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Did they lay during the change over? All of mine abruptly stopped laying. The blue polish haven't startrdaying again yet. The americanas started laying again but slow producing and the SLW never really skipped a beat.

The Ameraucanas went through a molt, but most of those girls were hatched the end of April so I'm not expecting big numbers from the main coop until the first of November... but for the older girls, by putting in more of the egg maker, it made all of the difference. Even my non-fertilie polish is laying better than she ever has.

Mary Ann, I checked the labels of both, Egg Maker just has a little bit more nutrition than layena in most aspects. and it's only $13.65 a bag at The Feed Barn. Worth the drive for me.... and on the way back I stop at the Pet Depot for Flock Raiser as The Feed Barn doesn't sell grower, only a "Triple T" feed that isn't as good. I still have those chicks from my broodies that hatched the 4th of July.

Anyone want to buy a couple RIR?... or a Black and White EE roo from NoSkiveez?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Last night at our board meeting for the Arizona Poultry Organization we discussed feed. We all agreed that Manna Pro is an excellent brand. I like it MUCH better than other feeds I have used; it seems much fresher, both by smell and look. I have not had the problem with bugs in the feed with the Manna Pro that I have had with other brands. Kelley's (carried at Ray's Feed Store) is another good brand. I do not know anyone who thinks Arizona Feeds is any good. I like the Manna Pro Trip-L-Duty, and I like supporting a small business owner who makes a point of listening to her customers and maintains a clean, well-stocked store. To make a point, The Feed Barn is almost 40 miles from my home. There must be at least a dozen feed stores that are significantly closer.

One thing I like about Manna Pro over most other brands is that they provide a complete list of ingredients rather than simply "grains" or "grain products." I really do not want the marigold additives that Purina feeds include; it stains white birds yellow, which seems to me no better than adding food colouring to the egg yolks.

I used to use Hi-Pro layer rations carried by Higley Feed. The last few times I bought them (it's been well over a year ago) they were old, dusty & smelly. The second time I returned the bags, the owner's wife told me that I could not return any bags I opened. How am I supposed to know that a bag of feed is bad if I have not opened it?! Over the years I had done a LOT of business with them, but they pretty much lost me as a customer at that point. They had also started carrying more Az Feeds than Kruse, which I complained about to them. Also, they were often out of stock. How should they have handled things? Send bad feed back to the company and demand better quality, or find a different supplier of a quality feed. Order and maintain sufficient stock to supply your regular (weekly) customers. Customer service is IMPORTANT.

Any sort of drastic change in feed is likely to result in a change in laying or a molt.

 

[pimachickens]

Hi there!

I'm in Tucson and new to posting here, but have been lurking for a while. Thanks for all the great information! I was wondering if anyone here knows of a woman in Avra Valley that sells Australorp mixes and Barred PR's. I bought my first chickens from her about a month ago and need to replace one. I can't find her contact info, and her ads aren't on craigslist anymore. I know it's a long shot, but thought I'd try.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Mahonri - I thought you might like to see what a few of those Ameraucana mixes (now Easter Eggers) grew into.

The Black one is from your Blue Wheaten roo and the little Dark Blue pullet - she is dark, shiny black with just a little brown on her chest:

This pretty Blue EE is from the same mix as the black one - she also has a tiny bit of brown on her chest. Unfortunately, this one is a scaredy cat - most of the others from that batch love attention and want to picked up - this one is a true 'chicken'.

This is the clean faced pullet from your Blue Wheaten and the Splash Ameraucana - much prettier in person (colors looked more washed out in these photos):

You can see the Wheaten/Blue Wheaten pullets by clicking on this link:


https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=4905089#p4905089


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[mydog8it]

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I don't really know much about poultry nutrition as I'm a chicken newbie, so please forgive the intrusion. Assuming I found the right website (starmilling.com) I would not want to feed this. When I pulled up the ingredients for Kelley's Feed, I noticed it contains "meat and bone meal." Meat & bone meal is the by-product "junk" produced by rendering. It can contain what people refer to as the 4D's: dead, diseased, dying or disabled mammals of any type, including roadkill, euthanized dogs and cats, "deadstock" animals that have died on farms, and decomposing or spoiled tissues.

The only reason I'm mentioning it is because I know most people don't know what meat meal actually is. I can't imagine feeding it to my chickens and then eating their eggs.

 

[ltdmom]

Yay! I'm going to pick up my eggs this weekend! I'm doing the happy dance!

Thank you Mahonri!



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[Beckyhsinglsc]

I had my meal worms all set up on the back porch in a small glass aquarium.
They did great for a couple of weeks then the ants found them.
I'm pretty sure they are all dead.

I thought they'd be safe in glass.

 

[gckiddhouse]

I watched an episode of Animal Cops Phoenix today (I didn't know until today that we had a local version of the show). They raided a cock fighting operation in South Phoenix and had to euthanize 102 roosters that were being kept. I recognized a lot of beautiful breeds. Breeds many of us have or have had. A beautiful GCM was taken out alive and rescued. He is now at the horse rescue in New River. This is why I won't put my unwanted roosters on CL or sell them to anyone (except you guys of course) or even drop them at the feed store. Unwanted roosters are unwanted. I have said it before. No one wants extra roosters. This is the type of situation they end up in. Who do you think is purchasing roosters from the feed stores?

Hate me if you want to, but I will say it again. The best way to respectfully, humanely deal with unwanted roosters is to dispatch them yourself. It is not easy to do, but it is one of the responsibilities that comes with the territory - especially if you are hatching eggs.

Seeing the razor blades that they attach to the roosters' spurs, their combs that had just been cut off, the bleeding faces... It was disgusting. There were no hens on the property, no incubators or brooders. They were not breeding those chickens, so where did they get them? I can tell you that they didn't get them from me. And they never will.

 

[dofnup]

Ugh. I knew there was a Phoenix version of the show but frankly I can't bring myself to watch ANY of the versions. It's too depressing. I am not trying to stick my head in the sand, but I just can't deal with seeing animals suffering like that. I am so glad we have "animal cops" that will arrest the people doing this and rescue animals, though.

I am also glad I have only ever had to get rid of 2 roosters, and one of them is with NoSkiveez so I don't have to worry about that. The other, well ... I'd like to think he went to a good home, sigh ...