Ask Me Anything!

[BantamLover21]

Very good for nine of ten points. What are the fiber sources? Hint, confined birds consume much less than free range birds and one source has lots of nitrogen in it.

I'm going to take a guess: Are the fiber sources things like vegetables, grass, weeds, and other (often outdoors) roughage?

 

[centrarchid]

I'm going to take a guess: Are the fiber sources things like vegetables, grass, weeds, and other (often outdoors) roughage?

Qualitatively, that represents about 1/2. The other half comes from the exoskeletons of insects that is in the form of chitin. Chitin has a nitrogen in it make so "bugs" in gut can convert some of that into actual protein.


The microorganisms also produce vitamins and convert some of the consumed fiber into useable energy. These processes are particularly important when birds are not fed nutritionally complete formulations. Some of my free-range birds are very reliant upon the ceca (plural for cecum) since they do not get a complete formulation and much protein intake (as protein) is less than optimal.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Very good for nine of ten points. What are the fiber sources? Hint, confined birds consume much less than free range birds and one source has lots of nitrogen in it.

I don't know.

 

[moms]

Okay my 8 month old buff orpington hen suddenly could not stand. I removed her to her own cage expecting her to die. I hand force watered her, and force fed what she would eat. When I first removed her, i removed an egg that was out but stuck to her yucky feathers. She did not die, she was down one week, and miraculously stood, started eating and drinking on her own, and wanted to get back with her sisters, so integrated her back in, and its now been two weeks and then some, and she is not laying eggs. At least that I can tell. If she is laying they are somewhere else in the yard, but I can't find em. I figure she is not laying at all. Why?

 

[Wyandottes7]

Okay my 8 month old buff orpington hen suddenly could not stand. I removed her to her own cage expecting her to die. I hand force watered her, and force fed what she would eat. When I first removed her, i removed an egg that was out but stuck to her yucky feathers. She did not die, she was down one week, and miraculously stood, started eating and drinking on her own, and wanted to get back with her sisters, so integrated her back in, and its now been two weeks and then some, and she is not laying eggs. At least that I can tell. If she is laying they are somewhere else in the yard, but I can't find em. I figure she is not laying at all. Why?

The stress of whatever she experienced/had has probably made her stop laying. Also, daylight hours are decreasing (chickens won't lay well if daylight drops below fourteen hours a day). Either reason, or both of them, could make her not be laying.

 

[moms]

Thanks and now the second question. I have two Buffs 8 months, and 2 Black sex links. Just this past weekend, my one black sex link stopped getting up on the roosting bar. Now I have to manually put her up, and my 1 buff, the one which is now at the bottom of the pecking order never got up on the roost, I have always had to manually put her up and still do. What gives? Why the one never get up, and the other one stop getting up? Since you know everything. Thanks

 

[BantamLover21]

Thanks and now the second question. I have two Buffs 8 months, and 2 Black sex links. Just this past weekend, my one black sex link stopped getting up on the roosting bar. Now I have to manually put her up, and my 1 buff, the one which is now at the bottom of the pecking order never got up on the roost, I have always had to manually put her up and still do. What gives? Why the one never get up, and the other one stop getting up? Since you know everything. Thanks

Its difficult to say for sure.Chickens do occasionally change their sleeping spots (or at least mine do), so your Buff simply may not want to roost any more. Another cause that I've heard of would be if the coop is infested with red mites. In that case, chickens may become afraid to roost because as soon as they do, mites that are hiding in the roost come out and begin sucking their blood. To check for red mites, take a flashlight and look at the coop and roosts at night--the mites usually aren't out in the daytime, so this has to be done once its dark. If you see any mites, dust the coop with Sevin dust or poultry dust, or spray with a lice/mite spray to kill the mites.

As for your pullet that has never roosted, that isn't that unusual. Different breeds, or even individuals within a breed, don't always like to roost. It took my show-quality (and thus very un-chicken like) Wyandotte bantams months to learn how to, and enjoy using, roosts. Feather footed breeds in particular, or those with weak wings, tend to prefer to sleep on the floor as well.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Thanks and now the second question. I have two Buffs 8 months, and 2 Black sex links. Just this past weekend, my one black sex link stopped getting up on the roosting bar. Now I have to manually put her up, and my 1 buff, the one which is now at the bottom of the pecking order never got up on the roost, I have always had to manually put her up and still do. What gives? Why the one never get up, and the other one stop getting up? Since you know everything. Thanks

To be truthful, I'm really not sure. Some birds just like sleeping on the ground, or never learn to roost. I used to have a cock that never roosted-- he just liked sleeping on the ground.The buff that is lowest in the pecking order might not be roosting because she'll get pecked if she roosts with the other birds. Several of my chickens will peck other birds when they come up to roost with them. As for the Black Sex-Link that only recently stopped roosting, does she look healthy? Has there been any extreme changes in temperature in the coop? If, for example, the weather is getting colder, she might be changing her roosting spot. Where I live, its started getting colder, and some of my chickens have changed where they are roosting.

Sorry I can't give you a definitive answer!

 

[hodor]

Wondering how many chickens I can keep in about 200sqm of yard without them killing all the grass. They will be in a run about 1.5m x 3m at night and let out through the day. Happy to put something down to keep the run floor dry and clean but would like the grass to survive. I'm planning on keeping full sized chickens

 

[adkhunter1590]

Wondering how many chickens I can keep in about 200sqm of yard without them killing all the grass. They will be in a run about 1.5m x 3m at night and let out through the day. Happy to put something down to keep the run floor dry and clean but would like the grass to survive. I'm planning on keeping full sized chickens

If you had only 1 maybe 2 your grass MIGHT survive in that small of a area. Chickens do some damage to the ground floor of their runs. From scratching around all the time and walking any grass in your run will be toast. The only thing you could do is make a wire mesh floor a couple inches off the ground so that the grass is able to grow up but the chicks can't scratch the ground directly. Basically just build a wood frame and lay it down. Then staple hardwire mesh over the top. Grass will grow up through the wire but the chickens will eat the grass and keep it trimmed down to wire level. This would be the only way to save your lawn