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I'm still hearing how I must have a rooster since I get eggs, but not on here. My ex-husband insists I have a roo. I have only hens.
And my hens sleep on the roost I set up in the run last summer when it was hot. The production reds sleep there every night, still, but during the very deepest freeze last winter for a week they found the roost in the coop. (the barred rock has that whole coop roost to herself every night.)
I'm still hearing how I must have a rooster since I get eggs, but not on here. My ex-husband insists I have a roo. I have only hens.
And my hens sleep on the roost I set up in the run last summer when it was hot. The production reds sleep there every night, still, but during the very deepest freeze last winter for a week they found the roost in the coop. (the barred rock has that whole coop roost to herself every night.)
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Yay!!! Practical advice about determining sex, pre-laying indicators, and disease diagnoses would be awesome. Something more than "coccidiosis is bad".
Oops! My book will not be of any use to you, then. The practical advice to chicken owners I plan to address will be strictly about birds being raised for food purposes....no need to determine sex on those because they just grow up and you kill the roosters...by the time you kill them, they are quite obviously roos.
Pre-laying indicators? There are none and they aren't needed either....when a bird lays, you will find an egg in the nest.
Disease diagnoses? I've never had any disease in my flocks because I practice good prevention and that is what my book will be giving information on. Prevention is soooooo much less costly, less time consuming, and less stressful than trying to treat sick birds. My mother never had illness in her flocks and I've never had illnesses in mine....prevention really works if you choose to employ it. And people who are practical and needing to raise birds on the cheap should employ it.
Yay!!! Practical advice about determining sex, pre-laying indicators, and disease diagnoses would be awesome. Something more than "coccidiosis is bad".
Oops! My book will not be of any use to you, then. The practical advice to chicken owners I plan to address will be strictly about birds being raised for food purposes....no need to determine sex on those because they just grow up and you kill the roosters...by the time you kill them, they are quite obviously roos.
Pre-laying indicators? There are none and they aren't needed either....when a bird lays, you will find an egg in the nest.
Disease diagnoses? I've never had any disease in my flocks because I practice good prevention and that is what my book will be giving information on. Prevention is soooooo much less costly, less time consuming, and less stressful than trying to treat sick birds. My mother never had illness in her flocks and I've never had illnesses in mine....prevention really works if you choose to employ it. And people who are practical and needing to raise birds on the cheap should employ it.
- Oct 29, 2010
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Anyone else heard this one?
If you trim a roosters comb, it will stop it turning mean.
If you trim a roosters comb, it will stop it turning mean.
Was told: Squirting a rooster with the water hose will break him of being aggressive.
Actual fact: Squirting a rooster with the water hose just makes him madder than a wet hen and he will then become aggressive to the water hose (and whoever is holding it).
Was told: Feeding chickens red or cayenne pepper will make them lay more.
Actual fact: It don't work on quails either.
Was told: Keep baby chicks in a brooder until they are fully feathered.
Actual fact: Darn things do just fine outside after the wing feathers come in decent (1 to 2 weeks of age). Besides I got a roo that would have still been in the brooder at 10 weeks of age (slow featherer).
Was told: Do not feed chickens any meat.
Actual fact: Someone forgot to tell the frogs at my house to stay away from the chickens. At least they help cut back on the feed costs.
Was told: You can sex day old chicks by flipping them over really fast because the males will have a "finger" (actual word censored for public reading) pop out the vent.
Actual fact: All you see when you flip over a day old chick is a fuzzy butt.
Was told: Chickens have to roost above ground overnight.
Actual fact: My chickens missed that memo. 10 weeks now and I still wind up with a pile of chicken on the floor of the coop and empty roosts, even the one located only 8 inches above the floor is empty.
Was told: An obvious comb on a 3 day old chick means it is a roo.
Actual fact: My obvious combed 3 day old roo is the only laying pullet I have right now.
Was told: Chickens need laying/nesting boxes to lay eggs.
Actual fact: Someone forgot to give my pullet that memo because she lays her egg in the far right hand corner of the run close to where I keep the grit and oyster shell supply.
Was told: You need a rooster to encourage your hens to lay.
Actual fact: Explain egg production facilities.
Was told: Brown eggs are dirty.
Actual rebuttal to that statement: Explain the brown eggs in the grocery store.
Was told: Chickens will give kids the chicken pox.
Actual fact: The person that told me this did not have kids and I am halfway hoping they never do.
Actual fact: Squirting a rooster with the water hose just makes him madder than a wet hen and he will then become aggressive to the water hose (and whoever is holding it).
Was told: Feeding chickens red or cayenne pepper will make them lay more.
Actual fact: It don't work on quails either.
Was told: Keep baby chicks in a brooder until they are fully feathered.
Actual fact: Darn things do just fine outside after the wing feathers come in decent (1 to 2 weeks of age). Besides I got a roo that would have still been in the brooder at 10 weeks of age (slow featherer).
Was told: Do not feed chickens any meat.
Actual fact: Someone forgot to tell the frogs at my house to stay away from the chickens. At least they help cut back on the feed costs.
Was told: You can sex day old chicks by flipping them over really fast because the males will have a "finger" (actual word censored for public reading) pop out the vent.
Actual fact: All you see when you flip over a day old chick is a fuzzy butt.
Was told: Chickens have to roost above ground overnight.
Actual fact: My chickens missed that memo. 10 weeks now and I still wind up with a pile of chicken on the floor of the coop and empty roosts, even the one located only 8 inches above the floor is empty.
Was told: An obvious comb on a 3 day old chick means it is a roo.
Actual fact: My obvious combed 3 day old roo is the only laying pullet I have right now.
Was told: Chickens need laying/nesting boxes to lay eggs.
Actual fact: Someone forgot to give my pullet that memo because she lays her egg in the far right hand corner of the run close to where I keep the grit and oyster shell supply.
Was told: You need a rooster to encourage your hens to lay.
Actual fact: Explain egg production facilities.
Was told: Brown eggs are dirty.
Actual rebuttal to that statement: Explain the brown eggs in the grocery store.
Was told: Chickens will give kids the chicken pox.
Actual fact: The person that told me this did not have kids and I am halfway hoping they never do.
A.T. Hagan :
Eggs must be washed to prevent food contamination/bacteria
Contamination may already be inside of the egg before it's already laid. But for eggs that were otherwise uncontaminated then eggs that are properly washed may well remain uncontaminated longer than eggs that are not. Particularly if they are refrigerated afterwards. This is why the USDA and every state department of agriculture that I am aware of requires this to be done before they can be sold through commercial channels. A hen only has one excretory orifice. It all has to come out of her vent - eggs, manure, and urine. It's not made of Teflon so chances are pretty good that whatever passed through in the recent past will have left traces. Unless you believe you can see things on the microscopic level then what looks clean does not necessarily mean that it is. Wash or don't wash. It's all the same to me, but the folks who have done the actual research on these things long ago recommended washing.
From what I've read the egg and the poop do NOT share the same passageway. Here's a good explanation I found online:
http://www.afn.org/~poultry/egghen.htm (scroll down). Now I have not observed this in person but it is what keeps me sane.
Eggs must be washed to prevent food contamination/bacteria
Contamination may already be inside of the egg before it's already laid. But for eggs that were otherwise uncontaminated then eggs that are properly washed may well remain uncontaminated longer than eggs that are not. Particularly if they are refrigerated afterwards. This is why the USDA and every state department of agriculture that I am aware of requires this to be done before they can be sold through commercial channels. A hen only has one excretory orifice. It all has to come out of her vent - eggs, manure, and urine. It's not made of Teflon so chances are pretty good that whatever passed through in the recent past will have left traces. Unless you believe you can see things on the microscopic level then what looks clean does not necessarily mean that it is. Wash or don't wash. It's all the same to me, but the folks who have done the actual research on these things long ago recommended washing.
From what I've read the egg and the poop do NOT share the same passageway. Here's a good explanation I found online:
http://www.afn.org/~poultry/egghen.htm (scroll down). Now I have not observed this in person but it is what keeps me sane.
They do not but the exit door is the same and, at that moment, they do share the same passage...briefly.
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I'm pretty sure our chickens were at least that old before they discovered the roost. Yours should eventually start using it.
I'm pretty sure our chickens were at least that old before they discovered the roost. Yours should eventually start using it.
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But from that illustration (and the actual photo
) you can see that the inner pink thing comes out and is sort of a barrier, if you will, between the egg and the actual hole. Like a glove, sort of. A glove with a hole in the end...
But from that illustration (and the actual photo
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