Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Gargoyle]

just catching up. just so everyone knows i pee right outside the coop.

Isn't that where you have your electric fence? Be careful with your aim!!!

 

[caj1985]

Isn't that where you have your electric fence? Be careful with your aim!!!

OWWW!!!!!

 

[Beekissed]

 

[bruceh]

2 things 1. i kinda like the electric fence. gives me a real charge. lets me know i'm alive.


2. the new feed formula is fantastic. the birds are full ( crops bursting.) looking good and lively.

the meaties are gaining ground on this mix. i am overall thrilled. if anyone wants the mix i will post again or you can p.m. me.

okay i am going back to lurking.

 

[Celie]

I did spend a little longer out in the coop today just sitting on a milk crate in the big breeder coop sippin coffee thinking what the Hay and shaking my head, oh well.................. I did want to thank all of you it means allot seriously. So I am not sure if I have the gut's to make a phone call or two to a few breeder friends and see if they might consider a pay it forward kinda gesture thing with some of my old lines, to get me back going, not for free of course but just the notion to maybe let a guy get a few birds to rebuild with.

Anyway thanks allot, youz guyz are the reason an old fart hangs around and throws a post out every now and then.
AL



Al,

I wanted to add my sympathies to those of everyone else as well as my admiration for your wife. She is my kind of Gal! I believe that any true chicken person would be more than willing to help you start your flock back, so make those calls! I know they would be calling you and offering birds, if they knew what has happened. They Will be grateful for the opportunity to be able to give something back to the man who helped them get where they are today. So CALL them, Please! You are made of the right stuff, so I know an old timer like you can't just throw in the towel and just give up !!!
Celie
,

 

[NikkiMiChickie]

Important thing to know that was passed on to me by a vet years ago...if your dog does ingest rat poison and it was recent enough to regurgitate it, you can use hydrogen peroxide for this purpose.   Half a cup(or however much it takes) of the H2O2 can make a dog throw up the poison and everything else he ate since the puppy kibble he ingested in the first month of life!  He will wretch until you feel sorry for him...and keep doing so for a better part of the day. 

Bee, This is EXCELLENT advice that all dog owners should be aware of. It saved my curious pit bull pup's life a few years ago when she found a poison block I had hidden in the back corner of a cupboard (how she got in there, I still don't know!). I walked into the room to find her crunching away and little blue crumbs all over the place. Immediately threw her into the bath tub and poured H2O2 down her throat, it doesn't take much (and they actually drink it the FIRST time - but never again, lol). Anyways, I don't recommend using the bath tub - take em outside. They'll throw up their guts and then, just as you say, wretch until you feel sorry for him. But they're still alive, no poison left in their system! I've had friends use this trick after their dog has found a whole bag of Hershey bars or something else they're not supposed to eat. Cheap, easy method that every dog owner should know about!

 

[Mountain Momma]

2 things 1. i kinda like the electric fence. gives me a real charge. lets me know i'm alive.


2. the new feed formula is fantastic. the birds are full ( crops bursting.) looking good and lively.

the meaties are gaining ground on this mix. i am overall thrilled. if anyone wants the mix i will post again or you can p.m. me.

okay i am going back to lurking.

Yep. I vouch for it. Mine have been on it since Friday afternoon. They fought and guarded like they never have over food before. I swear their colors seemed to became more vibrant while they were eating it the first time! The lower totems didnt really get to gorge until Saturday but already they are eating less food and tonight while I was locking them up I noticed some of them have cleavage!
That was not a joke. A few Plym Rocks actually have cleavage after eating Bruce's special mix. So now the newness has worn off a little and they are back to being ladies and gentleman at the feed bowls but I finally realized why a trough feeder is a good idea.
As a footnote, Sunday the little leghorn laid a weird egg shaped like a pear and fairly large, esp for her. I didnt know it was hers until I washed it. It has brown spots on a white egg, before I washed it it looked brown all over. It also has a thinner shell which I noticed as I put it in the fridge and could see light through it. I wonder whats up with that one.
Thanks to whoever posted about keeping free rangers in the coop a week to reteach them where to lay. I always wondered about that.
Thanks Bruce!

 

[Celie]

It is time of the Owl hunting season here. The Hawks and Owls. We just went through the coyote season, however they move on after all the geese in the swamp leave. We also have problems with coons, skunks and possums. I use tennis balls soaked in urine and Ammonia. They litter the edge of the property. I collect them an refresh at different times of the year. We have less loss than either chicken farmers on either side of us. Peeing outside is never discouraged around here and the young boys think its fun. I know it is not the dog, she is useless as a patrol dog. She is a 12 year old westie and a good mouser. She would make a tasty meal for an Owl or Coyote. I have convinced myself it is the balls. I get complacent and comfortable. I lost a bird to an attack from not collecting the balls for a year a while back. I do not do that anymore. These threads have made me more aware, less complacent, and I have been active in my animal husbandry more than normal. I am enjoying the challenge, the new ideas, the sharing. Thank you.

I thought it was against the law to shoot an Owl ? Hmmmm...Nice to know that it isn't!

 

[Celie]

Incidentally, I've learned that it is male urine that helps. Has to be male. My son is encouraged to use the great outdoors when he comes by but since I'm in the city, he politely declines and uses a coffee can instead, then pours it around

Does anyone know where I can find some male kids to come and pee around the property perimeter to keep the varmints Away? I will serve lots of beverages??

 

[thedragonlady]

It is time of the Owl hunting season here. The Hawks and Owls. We just went through the coyote season, however they move on after all the geese in the swamp leave. We also have problems with coons, skunks and possums. I use tennis balls soaked in urine and Ammonia. They litter the edge of the property. I collect them an refresh at different times of the year. We have less loss than either chicken farmers on either side of us. Peeing outside is never discouraged around here and the young boys think its fun. I know it is not the dog, she is useless as a patrol dog. She is a 12 year old westie and a good mouser. She would make a tasty meal for an Owl or Coyote. I have convinced myself it is the balls. I get complacent and comfortable. I lost a bird to an attack from not collecting the balls for a year a while back. I do not do that anymore. These threads have made me more aware, less complacent, and I have been active in my animal husbandry more than normal. I am enjoying the challenge, the new ideas, the sharing. Thank you.

Why in heaven's name would anyone shoot an owl ? Any owls tangled in your overhead netting were after the rats and mice in your runs.If one gets a dumb chicken who has not gone to roost; consider that the owl did you a favor in culling a retarded chicken. In all my years of re-habbing owls and hawks for the GA. DNR, I've never had an owl make a pass at the chickens who frequented my barn. The Hawks are another matter entirely.