California - Northern

[chickee]

Our local feed store carries bags of Kelp and Fish meal now. I have been buying Kelp and Alfalfa leaf tea in bulk for my chickens at the health food store. Looks like the Kelp at the feed store is less expensive. I read that Alfalfa is the best natural source of vitamins you can give your chickens.

 

[Chickengirl1304]

A day and a half late but so far 1 BCM, 2 SLW and 3 BLRW bantys keep hatching babies!!

 

[waititout]

I treated my girls with Wazine yesterday and besides the extremely loose stools, they all seem to be fine...except my brown leghorn. She has been carrying her tail low and to one side all morning. I just caught her in the coop looking really sad and this is what I found in the nest box. Do you think this is a result of worms or the medication?

From the Worms. She should start laying better soon. If you have an Health store close by, Pick up some kelp granules. Mix it with their feed. I give mine 1/3 cup mixed into enough feed to fill their feeder. You can also give them 1/3 of a cup of Food Grade DE mixed into the feed along with the Kelp Granules. DE is a good source of fast acting calcium. Worms chew up the egg laying tract of the hens. Worms can make pullets sterile.

Thanks I'll keep my eyes out for kelp. What is a name of a store you have found it? Maybe I can see if there is one nearby.

I got it from Azure Standard. The Davis Coop has it and it may be at Whole Foods too. It has a lot of great things in it!

Our local feed store carries bags of Kelp and Fish meal now. I have been buying Kelp and Alfalfa leaf tea in bulk for my chickens at the health food store. Looks like the Kelp at the feed store is less expensive. I read that Alfalfa is the best natural source of vitamins you can give your chickens.

Awesome, thanks!

 

[tommysgirl]

I have a question for you guys…

I've been doing a lot of research recently to try and figure out which type of chickens would be best to get for my situation. I've been getting a lot of conflicting information online.

I'm looking for a bird that is cold hearty, a decent egg layer, and friendly. I guess the importance would be in that order. I definitely want the birds for eggs, but they don't necessary need to be laying like crazy. It really is important that they are cold hardy since the city is so chilly at night. Ideally, they would be friendly as well since we'd like to bring them inside sometimes.

Do you guys have any suggestions? So far, it seems my best option would be Buckeyes but they seem to be hard to find.

My vote would be for Delawares. Ours meet all of your requirements. I get about 9 eggs a week from my two. They come in the house if we leave the door open and if you don't keep an eye out they will be on your lap or the table in search of crumbs. I am North of you in the mountains and they have no trouble with the cold. They are funny and curious and fairly easy to find. Privett, My Pet Chicken, Murray McMurray and I think Ideal all carry them and capayvalleychick here on this thread raised them, though I don't know if she sells them. Mine came from mypetchicken.com but am getting more in a couple of weeks from Privett

I am sorry that I am not able to better keep up with this thread. I feel like I just post and dash and I feel badly asking questions...like I am using you all for your information. But I do have an incubation question...Can I stick new eggs in the bator on day 3 if candled white eggs show nothing? Does that mess with their hatching because lockdown will be 3 days earlier than it should be? Thanks in advance

All of those babies are cute cute cute and I don't remember who talked about silkies and how they were converted to them but I feel the same way. I don't really want any at this point but I totally see the charm.

Oh and now the worming question has made me have another. 5 of my six hens are nearly daily layers. The 6th gives me about 2 or three usable eggs a week. The others also about two a week are found, usually on the wire below the roosts with the leathery shell . Since the other girls are all fine I assumed it was just her funky system and that she was never going to be a super layer but now I am worried. These girls free range daily and appear to be very healthy but should I worm them and what should I use?

 

[tommysgirl]

A day and a half late but so far 1 BCM, 2 SLW and 3 BLRW bantys

keep hatching babies!!

That is so exciting! I am going to be trying to hatch about 16 eggs...setting them in about a month. I am nervous but so excited.

 

[ronott1]

Quote:
Delawares are a great choice too! They are listed as winter layers also.

Capayvalleychick should have culls this year too. I hope to start another hatch of them soon. The SG Dorkings will hatch mid week and hopefully I will get a couple of Dozen Delawares to set then.

How old is the one with the weird eggs? Sometimes a hen will be less resistant to the worms. Leghorns and RIRs are supposed to be the most resistant flocks but even with them not all flock members will show symptoms. Often one will act like a sentinel. To be safe, treat them and see. Also, give them calcium, Granulated Kelp and something with pro biotics in it.

Even with white eggs, it usually takes 5 days for eggs develop enough to see. Adding eggs will not hurt incubation. You should wait at least 5 days for staggered hatches. That gives you enough time to finish the first batch and set up for the other.

 

[tommysgirl]

Thank you Ron...the pullet with the weird egg hatched on 5/14 last year so she is under a year old. She started laying in December so I sort of chalked it all up to her being new at it. But what you said about worms attacking their reproductive systems freaked me out a little.

I am saving room in my flock for a couple of Kim's culls. Right now we have one flock of 6 hens and 1 roo. We are setting some of their eggs as well as a mystery assortment of hatching eggs from byc'er bethbug. She is including some SG dorking eggs in the mix so I am hoping they hatch. Then I am brooding 30 more for myself and others.

5 Speckled Sussex
5 Partridge Rocks
5 Delawares
5 California Greys
5 Easter Eggers
5 Black Stars

I think I may be in over my head but I keep telling myself that 6 weeks later half of them will have gone to their new homes and then I will have stocked two new coops with room to expand. I am pretty sure that between the SS the PR and the

Dorkings

I will have someone go broody then chick raising will be done in the coops not in our game room.

 

[ronott1]

This is the day for first eggs!

Stella laid her first Marraduna Basque egg and I got my first OE(Olive Egg) colored egg. This one is from a Marans OE.



This is a picture of the Olive colored egg next to a blue egg from my EE

 

[ronott1]

Thank you Ron...the pullet with the weird egg hatched on 5/14 last year so she is under a year old. She started laying in December so I sort of chalked it all up to her being new at it. But what you said about worms attacking their reproductive systems freaked me out a little.

I am saving room in my flock for a couple of Kim's culls. Right now we have one flock of 6 hens and 1 roo. We are setting some of their eggs as well as a mystery assortment of hatching eggs from byc'er bethbug. She is including some SG dorking eggs in the mix so I am hoping they hatch. Then I am brooding 30 more for myself and others.

5 Speckled Sussex
5 Partridge Rocks
5 Delawares
5 California Greys
5 Easter Eggers
5 Black Stars

I think I may be in over my head but I keep telling myself that 6 weeks later half of them will have gone to their new homes and then I will have stocked two new coops with room to expand. I am pretty sure that between the SS the PR and the

Dorkings

I will have someone go broody then chick raising will be done in the coops not in our game room.

My theory is that chickens are like puppies--assume they have worms, especially if they are outside.

You have a very nice plan and a good assortment of colors and seasonal layers. You should have nice eggs all year long without using lights.

Congrats!

 

[tommysgirl]

how exciting! Those eggs are gorgeous! How many birds do you have Ron? You seem to have such a beautiful variety.

In my mixed misc shipment of eggs I think I will get an olive egger. bethbug has a dorking roo and oe hen...what would eggs from that mix be like?

Thank you! getting lots of eggs year long was our goal... good mamas and uhhm and a pretty basket might have played into selection as well I am afraid that I am incapable of narrowing my choices....I have a list a mile long of breeds I would like my future broodies to hatch. I think that is counting your chickens' chicks before your chickens hatch.

Tomorrow I will go get the chicken wormer. Is it OK to eat the eggs they produce in the days after worming?