Canadians check in here....

[aoxa]

Thanks !

We are going to Truro on March 22nd to deliver orders if you are interested in anything at that time. We have a crazy egg/chick train going from Truro to Coldbrook and than to Victoria Vale area.

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

We are going to Truro on March 22nd to deliver orders if you are interested in anything at that time. We have a crazy egg/chick train going from Truro to Coldbrook and than to Victoria Vale area. 

I'll check out what you have for breeds on your website ! I was looking for something in the frizzle breed but so far the only place I can find any are out west.

 

[aoxa]

I'll check out what you have for breeds on your website ! I was looking for something in the frizzle breed but so far the only place I can find any are out west.

I do have some

Frizzled Easter Eggers. I don't have them advertised. They are on the higher end of bantam sized. Maybe 3-4 pounds at the max.

 

[Younger]

Quote: Wow he is beautiful
You say you give them an unmedicated starter? Mine are laying (duck and chickens) so I should be able to give them all a fermented mixture of scratch, layer food and sunflowers then? This would be so much easier to give them all the same food. I was advised to give the ducks higher protein as ducklings (maybe because they get heavy so quickly and to build the bones in their legs) and so thought I should continue on with it. Good advice. Thank you

 

[aoxa]

Wow he is beautiful
You say you give them an unmedicated starter? Mine are laying (duck and chickens) so I should be able to give them all a fermented mixture of scratch, layer food and sunflowers then? This would be so much easier to give them all the same food. I was advised to give the ducks higher protein as ducklings (maybe because they get heavy so quickly and to build the bones in their legs) and so thought I should continue on with it. Good advice. Thank you

I don't use layer because it can cause Gout and kidney failure in any poultry not laying (especially roosters and drakes).

I offer oyster shell on the side instead. That way I don't have to worry about it.

 

[Younger]

Ahh. Great to know. I have only one male, a drake Pekin. He is eating the same food as the female though. So, I am going to switch everyone over to unmedicated starter food and ferment with scratch and added sunflower seeds. They both have oyster shell and grit whenever they want it. This should make life easier with one food and eliminate the risk of gout and kidney failure to my sweet male.

Thank you for the info.

 

[pheasant1]

Once they are off grower I feed strictly layer formula to my pheasant, quail, ducks, call ducks, standard chickens, bantams, guineas,
(when I have them turkeys and geese also). I don't believe in the maintenance or flyer formulas for adults.
Grower and breeder formulas are not too far off but I like the birds to be in condition before they start to breed and lay eggs.
I feed free choice, feed is available at all times.
Crack and whole corn for a treat in the winter and corn on the cob or greens as a treat in the summer, oyster shell on occasion.

 

[Younger]

I guess the problem I have is that I have one male duck. He has been eating the layer food. I will switch today.

 

[aoxa]

Ahh. Great to know. I have only one male, a drake Pekin. He is eating the same food as the female though. So, I am going to switch everyone over to unmedicated starter food and ferment with scratch and added sunflower seeds. They both have oyster shell and grit whenever they want it. This should make life easier with one food and eliminate the risk of gout and kidney failure to my sweet male.

Thank you for the info.

No problem There are many scientific studies about the damage that can be caused by too much calcium. It won't always happen, but it definitely does. It even states on the layer feed to only feed to laying birds above a certain age. If that excess calcium is so damaging to young birds, just imagine a lifelong diet of excess calcium for a rooster. It is less of a problem during breeding season, as that extra calcium helps sperm production, but higher protein in starter + oyster shell on the side is really good for their condition and fertility.

Serious breeders who have been doing this a long time won't risk feeding layer to their breeding birds. Purina Game Bird Breeder Layena is supposedly a good one for breeding birds, but that would be it. I think it's either 20% protein or 22%.. Can't remember....

 

[pheasant1]

Well I may not be a serious breeder, but my chickens and ducks over 20 weeks are no longer babies and eat only layer pellets, too much protein isn't good either.
For 20 years I managed a pheasant farm, raised 26,000 to 32,000 birds to adult each year for those years and kept over 2,500 breeders each winter.
But it's still just my opinion, I don't think any good nutrition comes from feeding adults starter feed or chicks layer mash like some back yard breeders tend to do, but to each their own.
For the years before that 20 and now 14 years later, I finally tried Purina feed last fall and my chickens didn't like it.
I have over a 100 bird backyard hobby now, of which only 4 are pheasant.