California - Northern

[ronott1]

How much ACV do you put in the chickens drinking water?

I haven't used it in a while, but I used a tablespoon or two per gallon.

Only Plastic and make sure the vinegar has a mother in it.

ron

 

[MonsterClucker]

i've been away from this list for a while, the semester is getting into its busiest phase -- but wanted to check here to see if anyone's interested in a basque EO and/or splash isbar cockerel -- Mike (monsterclucker) was going to take them, but he and i are both too busy to make the trip between Redding & Sonoma any time soon -- so i thought i'd check once more here before selling them to Western Farm Supply in Santa Rosa. it's raining this afternoon, so no pictures today, but they are now 11 weeks (basque) and 9-ish weeks (isbar) and looking great -- here are some recent photos from a couple of weeks ago: Baby (basque) and the isbar isbar standing on the left, Baby perched next to him.

I really wish I could take those guys off your hands and find a girl for your isbar. That splash is pretty rare. There's a quad of isbar hens and a roo up for auction and its already reached almost $450 for them! I know it will go over $500 by the end of the auction but if it doesn't I might throw a bid in.

Spent hours out at the ranch today and need to do auctions for all these juveniles!

10+ Jubilee Orpington Cockerels.... 4-7 months old

Tolbunt Polish juveniles, smooth & frizzle, pullets and cockerels!

The Lavender Marans are turning out so pretty and I have an extra rooster so I plan to put in on some black marans hens (getting a few already, but if you have a lead on great ones let me know!)

The Partridge Brahmas are superb, Four gold partridge pairs available! The were created using blues so the thought is that they have recessive blue genes. Many have blue feathers on their feet!

The Mille Fleur Leghorn pens are my pride and joy. The F3s are laying and it's about time to start thinning the pens for what I think is the best of the best. I hope to show these and others in Stockton.
Jubilee Orpingtons are in 3 pens right now with a mix of Marc Sacre & Greenfire lines - no one is laying...a bunch of free loaders!! But I love those fluffy butts!

Tolbunt Polish have 2 pens now with proven breeders and juveniles and will be getting 13 juveniles from Gretchen Bare next week so they'll be in pen #3!!! So exciting to be on the committee and working towards standardizing this breed!

PM me if you need anything! I'll be putting up auctions tomorrow hopefully

You have some really exciting projects Cheryl! I'm looking forward to joining in soon right along with ya! I like the tolbunt polish. I wasn't really a top hat chicken kind of guy a few months ago, but now I'm starting to appreciate their uniqueness more and more everyday. And you know I'm in love with the Brahmas. I got a email back from Dan Powell Monday. I asked for his guidance with continuing his breeding projects! His Brahmas are amazing! And I am definitely looking forward to get going on the blue/gold partridge projects very soon. Those ML leghorns are really cool looking!

I am working from home today...All I can think about is getting in my Car and going to the new Tractor Supply Store in Auburn Thinking about growing my own Mealworms. Any thoughts on this?

Lol that's funny you were thinking about meal worm farming! I was thinking about doing the same thing. I just wondered how could you farm enough mealworms for 100+ chickens.? (when I do have 100+) Seemed to me like it would be easier for someone who had around 5-10 chickens.

I grew mealworms. It was easy. It's impossible to breed enough to be the primary feed source for a large group of chickens, though. Chickens can eat them as fast as you can hand them out! They are great for treats and taming shy birds. I had 3 large, clear, storage type tubs. I filled them with wheat bran. I would add an apple slice, carrot etc. for moisture each day. I also had a paper towel or cardboard tube in with the ones that were ready to turn into pupae. I started by ordering many thousands of mealworms and put them in the first tub. I had beetles in one tub, pupae in another and mealworms in the third. I would feed half the worms to the chickens and let the other half be breeders.

That does sound very easy to do. How many chickens were you able to supply with the amount of mealworms you raised? Maybe I could cycle feed 10-20 at a time for a few weeks and then the next 10-20, then the next etc.

 

[juststruttin]

A friend sent me this. It's a little early, but it made me smile, so thought I'd share:

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/05/11/egreetings/image/01.swf

That is truly awesome. thanks

 

[lawatt]

I really wish I could take those guys off your hands and find a girl for your isbar. That splash is pretty rare. There's a quad of isbar hens and a roo up for auction and its already reached almost $450 for them! I know it will go over $500 by the end of the auction but if it doesn't I might throw a bid in.

wow, so high! unfortunately a roo isn't terribly useful without any hens, and my two attempts at getting 4 isbars shipped from Jordan Farm (in GA) this summer were unsuccessful except for this one little guy -- kept hoping he'd turn out to be a pullet, but alas.

i'll just have to wait for another year to have green eggs!
laura

 

[Happy Chooks]

How much ACV do you put in the chickens drinking water?

1 TBS per gallon - plastic waterer only. You want the kind with the "mother" in it. (organic section of the grocery store)

 

[Happy Chooks]

All I can think about is getting in my Car and going to the new Tractor Supply Store in Auburn

I went yesterday. I think I spent a couple of hours in there. You know you are lolly gagging when the people keep coming by saying "can I help you?" The home decor is great, I checked out all the feed prices, nice selection of wormers, vitamins, etc. Cute hoodies that look super warm. I even bought some Christmas presents.

If you print the $3 off coupon from Purina's site, they have the Layers pellets with the Omega 3. I bought 1 bag just to try it. (though it's a 40 lb bag, not 50)

 

[capayvalleychick]

Lol that's funny you were thinking about meal worm farming! I was thinking about doing the same thing. I just wondered how could you farm enough mealworms for 100+ chickens.? (when I do have 100+)
Seemed to me like it would be easier for someone who had around 5-10 chickens.
That does sound very easy to do. How many chickens were you able to supply with the amount of mealworms you raised?
Maybe I could cycle feed 10-20 at a time for a few weeks and then the next 10-20, then the next etc.

I had 3 large storage tubs, one full of mature mealworms, and that was only enough for treats for my 20+ chickens. Mealworms are easy to raise but so many get eaten so quickly- using them as a feed source is impractical. They also go dormant when it gets cool out.
I knew someone who had a 3 trashcan system (full sized garbage cans). He was able to feed his small backyard flock, I think 4-6 chickens. You'd have to have an entire building or room set up, with heat, to raise enough to feed 20-100 chickens as their sole source of food.
The chickens literally gobble them down so quickly. Someone else wrote that a chick can eat 50 per minute and an adult chicken can eat 50 per second. That sounds about right to me. They are gone in a flash, with the chickens wanting more! Another problem is making sure that all the chickens get their fair share. If you are feeding in a group, the dominant chickens eat all the worms before the slower, submissive chickens have a chance. They will fight over them.
If there was a way to feed a large flock mealworms as a primary protein source, I would be doing it.

 

[ronott1]

Quote: Thanks for the information on raising meal worms! It is amazing how many bugs they can eat at a time. They can eat a large number of grasshoppers too. Normal grasshoppers are ok, but a researcher had problems with them eating the big locust type. Impacted Crops

My Jeffers order was delivered today. I can't wait to see if the Big Old Bird(It is called BOB and is a liquid supplement) helps them or not. It is supposed to help with eggs and growth for meat.

I will see....

Ron

 

[PGRanch]

Picked this guy up last night from a friend whos FIL wouldn't let her keep him. What do you think about his breed and color?

 

[zooweemama]

I haven't used it in a while, but I used a tablespoon or two per gallon.

Only Plastic and make sure the vinegar has a mother in it.

ron

Thanks! We use Braggs.