calling any one from missouri

[misschickenlittle]

Storm? What storm? I was passed OUT! Had our first escapee with the guineas last night, realized someone was missing from the box this morning and yep one had jumped out. Put it back in and placed some scrap panel from the chicken's new home to keep them from jumping out again. And our temporary coop for the chickens is thankfully done, but later on we'll have to start on a winter coop for them. And no, the coop isn't slanted, it's just on a hill! Shadiest spot we could find close enough to the house to keep an eye on them.

I sure didn't miss the storm! Like the coop too... I think we're going to build one similar to that. Maybe 10 if I keep finding new breeds and decide to breed trios!!! Must. Stop. Buying. Eggs. MUST! STOP!!!! So anyone know what happened to 5 Acre? Haven't seen him post in a ling time!

 

[misschickenlittle]

Oh on a side note... starting my dogs on a raw food diet... anyone else done that? Advise??

 

[Sundial]

Thanks misschickenlittle, it's a hoop coop design I found on these forums with some modifications; it's 12 feet long and 8 feet wide, with some extra support in the middle since it's so long. Even with the extra space we're gonna need to give a lot away to good homes! There's some big wheels in the back to help with moving it too, and so far the spot is working out fine since they have lots of shade in the morning.

You won't believe who came in to check on them this morning either!


And here's the kicker!


Aren't they the cutest? I was going to check on the girls but they're still in the yard and I don't want to spook them.

 

[can you hear me now?]

My goodness I almost forgot. You all know how you hear people saying I "hate" something? Well I was one of those people about geese until I got that pair of Africans. These are by far some of the best pets I have ever had for outside. They weed in the garden with me, follow me like lost puppies, always talk to me in answer for when I am talking to them, and are just absolutely the cutest things. Just had to say.

 

[nicole63021]

Oh on a side note... starting my dogs on a raw food diet... anyone else done that? Advise??

I suppliment my dogs with raw items, but two large dogs each eating more calories a day than I do meant about 27 lbs of food a day! I give raw cattle bones, raw freeze dried patties broken into pieces and raw goat milk in addition to a very high quality grain free food from traceable sources. It is great if you can do all raw, but I personally prefer a good food kibble as the base of their diet.

 

[Lisa Harmon]

Oh on a side note... starting my dogs on a raw food diet... anyone else done that? Advise??

yep! Fed mine raw for years (between dogs now). 80% meat, 20% bone is the rule of thumb if ya do it yourself. You can add in carrots, beets, green beans etc if you'd like too, though "purists" say it isn't needed. There's pre-made raw foods too, like Nature's Variety and Bravo. What ya need advice on?

 

[Lisa Harmon]

my egg production is all over the place the last few days: it was a daily 9 regular, and then 7, then 9, then 6, then 8... I thought it was the heat, but today was wonderfully cool, and there were only 6 eggs. The shells are lighter too. Thick but light colored.
The girls go crazy over a few mealworms and peanuts, but not eating much of the actual feed. Any ideas?
I started trying to transition them two weeks ago from layer crumbles they were on and not eating much of either when I got them, to whole grain organic. I'd like to STOP mixing the crumbles in 'cause I don't want the soy and gmo's in my eggs. I added a few sprinkles of watered down honey to the whole grain feed tonight. They just pick the mealworms out of the feed and leave the rest. They got lots of grit and oyster shell, btw. Finicky eaters? What ya'll suggest?

 

[CGinJCMO]

oh heavens, so many lost power!! FYI if ever ya'll need a place to stay and Ozark isn't out of power, you are WELCOME to come and stay cooled off, wet dogs and all.

The cooler temps are great: my girls were perky and busy most all day today unlike lately, and we're back to 9 eggs. I wondered if the change in feed might be causing egg production to drop, but it was just the heat I think.
Does anyone know of a good honest "handyman" kinda person in SW MO that can help me convert a garden shed to a coop for little money? I got a 10x16 that I was wanting to keep half of for garden tools, but could wall off and use the other half with another door as a coop, and build runs out into the garden rows I'm not using. I'm disabled, and know just enough about hammer and nails to make a mess of it! thanks all!

Where exactly are you located? I know someone how lives in Versailles.

CG

 

[ChickenCanoe]

my egg production is all over the place the last few days: it was a daily 9 regular, and then 7, then 9, then 6, then 8... I thought it was the heat, but today was wonderfully cool, and there were only 6 eggs. The shells are lighter too. Thick but light colored.
The girls go crazy over a few mealworms and peanuts, but not eating much of the actual feed. Any ideas?
I started trying to transition them two weeks ago from layer crumbles they were on and not eating much of either when I got them, to whole grain organic. I'd like to STOP mixing the crumbles in 'cause I don't want the soy and gmo's in my eggs. I added a few sprinkles of watered down honey to the whole grain feed tonight. They just pick the mealworms out of the feed and leave the rest. They got lots of grit and oyster shell, btw. Finicky eaters? What ya'll suggest?

I like the idea of eliminating the corn/soy but without feeding a prepared layer feed, your birds are probably going to be missing some key nutrients unless you find a way to add what's missing in grain.
Minerals and trace elements like Selenium, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamins D3, D6, A, E, K, essential proteins like methionine and lysine.
There are some recipes for home mixed feeds but I'm not sure how well they provide those things.
You can get supplements but those intended to be mixed with feed are usually only available in huge quantities.

 

[jellybellyx6]

Well our neighbors are at it again. Last year we started having strange things happen in our barn with out rabbits. Rabbits we had not bred would some how get bred even though they were no where near a male and cage doors would be open even though we were sure we closed them. Within the last several weeks we have had gas disappear from our vehicles last week our dog came up missing and then returned a few days later half shaved down to the skin and now she has an infection on her skin. And to top it off three days ago one of our Coturnix Quail cage doors were open and all 8 Quail were out of the cage. We were able to find 1 male and 2 females but we noticed since we have started locking the barn door our egg production have almost doubled even though we are down 5 Quail. We found out from another neighbor that there are people that are seasonal residents here and they just moved back about a month ago. I guess it is time to put the cameras back up again. They killed our two dogs last year so they could come onto the property I don't plan on letting them do it again.