Arizona Chickens

[cluckin_crazy]

I especially love the concept of your feeder not only because of wild bird loss, but I have a couple hens who, even though the food is all exactly the same in the dish, still insist on getting in the dish and scratching around in it like they think they may be able to find something better at the bottom. Then the food gets all over the run, and they won't eat it unless I don't feed them for a day and make them eat what they scattered all over the ground. And they thought they had ME trained... mua ha ha ha!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

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I know what you mean!

 

[Mahonri]

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Wow, both the eggs and the birds are stunning. That is amazing that they are able to get that price for them; good for them! I try to stay away from the auction section. I'm less likely to get into trouble that way.

Of my 16 birds, 8 come from peachick...including a gorgeous blue splash Wheaten roo... and he's starting to get frisky with the girls.
My only complaint is that some of the birds have less than blue legs and the eggs are on the small side.

 

[constance]

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Yeah, come and get your hawk. This guy is big and I don't even have a sling shot(not that I could even hit anything). I think of the Christmas story and the red rider bb gun, you'll shoot your eye out...

were we live there is always falcons
i keep my small chicks in a coop
and when their bigger
they free range in the yard all day

I have had a couple of regularly nesting pairs of Cooper's hawks in the neighborhood since the ladies came home. I was super careful when they were young, and almost lost my Ameraucana. Fortunately she only lost some of her tail. I was lucky. Do keep the little ones under cover until they are larger and learn to take care of themselves. Once mine grew to full-size, the hawks that are still around, and in the yard, definitely skip the hens and go for the finches and sparrows instead. I DO still worry when the great horned owl visits, and when it looked like a Harris hawk was moving in. Those birds can and will take down bigger birds. I think I also have help from my dogs, who have learned to check the yard when the ladies give an alert call.

 

[constance]

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We are in the same situation. It has gotten easier, and I like the Modesto Mills feed, but it is pricey. Otherwise, between our local CSA and the garden, a large proportion of the household food is organic. The hens do get our scraps, but also get non-organic additions, such as the clover from the neighborhood park, and yes the pumpkin or watermelon on sale. Who can afford to be truly "organic"? When I have had enough eggs to sell, I have done it as "naturally raised."

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

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I called a couple of people from craigslist about eggs when I needed extra.
The ones I called advertised "organic" but when I asked if they fed organic feed and grains one said "no" the other said "I don't know" (which is the same as no)
I don't think they understood the definition of organic.

That doesn't mean that organic eggs aren't out there, you just have to be careful...ask questions.

 

[constance]

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O.K. let me think this through. I got my birds on Jan. 3, 2010. They started laying around the end of May/beginning of June, which is when I started them on layer pellets. Well, there's a few less months over which the 100 lbs of feed was distributed (now we're down to about 9 months-as opposed to a year --but I still have at least 20lbs left in the bag). Then, in the heat of last summer they didn't eat much of the layer pellets at all! I was worried (I always worry) about how little they were eating but I still got about 5 eggs per day throughout the heat. They started eating more later in the fall/winter as it got colder and they came out of their molt (that went on for nearly three months for all of them). Some of the increase in pellet consumption this winter might also be due, in part, to the reduced amount of forage available in the yard. My girls also free range nearly every day from early morning until they put themselves to bed. Since the garden is always producing, we also have a LOT of stuff to give them from that too. Not just greens, but lots of bugs. For a good part of the summer and into the fall I gave them a huge handful of tomato hornworms or those giant beetle grubs we have pretty much every day. Some days if I was turning the mulch or the soil in the garden I would find about a gallon of the beetle grubs and I'd keep them to feed the chooks over time. I also have 3-5 large compost bins going (hot) at all times and cycle through them every 4-8 weeks, depending on the season. Each time I change one out, I let the chickens sort through it for all the BSF larvae and whatever else they find before I use or cure the compost. Of course, they also get mealworms. My girls are REALLY spoiled.

It also just occurred to me that I think the treadle feeders have had a dramatic impact on feed conservation. As I was making the feeders to alleviate my sparrow problem, I also realized that I had a serious mouse problem. I didn't realize it until I started paying attention. I think that early on the mice were eating a lot of feed and the treadle feeders stopped that. The design of the feeders also prevents them from pulling feed out and wasting it.

Cluckin, I just saw your comment on the preview. You made me laugh!

eta an apostrophe

Gallo, I am going through 50# every month or so with 4 hens. I have got to look at your feeder again! I know I am losing a lot to the wild birds, and now a dog who has developed a taste for the pellets

How big is your garden? The pictures are lovely, but how do you keep it in one piece with the chickens and the thrashers and sparrows? And you have BSF larvae??? I am soooo envious! I had a great culture a couple of years ago, but I can't seem to attract them anymore, which is a shame since the ladies love them.

 

[mydog8it]

Is anyone interested in providing a good home for my very-pretty-sometimes-evil ameraucana rooster? My guinea is bonded to him so I'd like to see them go together if possible. They're about 6 months old.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

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We are in the same situation. It has gotten easier, and I like the Modesto Mills feed, but it is pricey. Otherwise, between our local CSA and the garden, a large proportion of the household food is organic. The hens do get our scraps, but also get non-organic additions, such as the clover from the neighborhood park, and yes the pumpkin or watermelon on sale. Who can afford to be truly "organic"? When I have had enough eggs to sell, I have done it as "naturally raised."

Yeah, we also give the occasional pumpkin of unknown origin. We also provide alfalfa, which I'm pretty sure isn't organic. We try to do what we can but it's hard to pass things up sometimes. I will pass up the GMO alfalfa that we may be seeing soon.

Constance, wow, that seems like a lot of feed for 4 birds! The feeders did have an immediate impact on feed consumption. I also caught my dog eating the pellets. Thankfully, she didn't figure out the treadle mechanism. Every time she got near one of the feeders I discouraged her.

Our main garden is about 12' X 40', but we also have nearly that much space again distributed throughout the yard and in containers. We have various fences around the areas we want to protect. We've been very pleased with how we've been able to keep them out of the stuff we need to eat. I took a bunch of 2" X 4" welded wire (4' tall) and cut it in half so that I have two pieces 2' high with pointy 4" wire ends coming off one side. I can sink that into the ground and it holds itself up without posts and the chooks don't even think about flying over it. The fence around the garden is a bit weird, made from concrete mesh (6" X 6") 4' tall. They don't try to fly over that either. I think the fences work because they're just too big to get their buts very far off the ground and because there is just so much other stuff to eat.

The wild birds only became a problem this year. I remember last year my neighbor behind me telling me that sparrows were eating everything in his garden. I thought it was weird that they really weren't eating mine all that much. At least it wasn't enough to be noticeable. Then our cat died--he was a terrible bird killer, specializing in sparrows, doves and pigeons. After he was gone we were over-run with birds and they tried to eat everything. I put most of it under cold-frames and that kept the birds out. Unfortunately, we weren't able to grow snow pea pods this year, which was a huge part of our winter diet in years past.

Mahonri, that's interesting info about the eggs. The eggs in the pics look amazing. I'd like to have a really blue egg layer.

mydog8it, nice looking roo! I wish I could have roosters, but alas, I live in city limits.

 

[mydog8it]

Thanks Gallo

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I went through literally twice as much food last month as I had been using (40# of organic pellets for 8 birds, plus free ranging, scraps & scratch), and I'm pretty sure field mice and gophers are the culprits. I keep finding gopher holes in the run and I have no idea how to get rid of them peacefully. I might have to try building one of those feeders, too...although the gophers probably weigh as much as my silkie.