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

[Fred's Hens]

Fred'shens-- thanks. I also am switching from shell to the pellet, they were not eating the shell, I hope they take the pellet.

Check the label. Most lime (calcium carbonate) is intended for the lawn and is frightfully high in magnesium. Some as high as 20% You want pellets that are calcitic with very, very low magnesium content. No more than say 5-9 percent. Hope that helps. Put just a bit in their feed, every other day.

 

[Celie]

Started a fresh bucket of FF day before yesterday. I used the left over juice from the first bucket and it seems to be ready earlier than the first time I started. Maybe my imagination. The meaties are growing so fast, the temps are dropping again and I am grateful for the quick feathering.

And it's in the 80's here with no clouds or rain in sight, for at least another week, but the animals all are growing really thick winter coats, I wonder if we are in for a really long cold winter? Had a possum in the trap near the chicken barn a few nights ago with a very thick coat, the next morning, same trap was a coon, very thick coat, very mad coon. This morning trap was broken and something really big. Dug a really big hole under fence and path to barn was the size of a wolf or a very, very big fox. Have to fix and reinforce the trap for this guy. Sure hope it's not a Ferrel dog again ! They are the worse, will kill just to be killing. One wiped out 2 dozen half grown ducks and never ate a one. Came from 2 miles away. Owners moved and left 3 dogs to stray and here we have no animal control to bring them to. Someone knew where the owners moved to, so he took the dogs and left them tied to the owners apartment door with a note and a bill for the ducks.HA HA!! Don't know what happened to the dogs, but haven't seen them again. There is a lot of wildlife around here. We all feed the deer, and they stay away from the yards. Love to see them prancing through the Fields at dusk and dawn. But the coons and possums have enough wildlife in the woods to eat. They don't need to eat my livestock. If they stay in the wooded acre, I'll stay on the other 4 acres and they can stay alive. With dogs, if they kill my livestock, the owners get them back the first time with a warning, if they are seen on the property, don't even bother coming here looking, they will be gone and that's that.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Fred's hens- Thank you I will make sure I check when I go. I am picking up the gamebird feed, figured I will feed it thru winter and then lower it back down in spring

 

[HiddenChicken]

I'd be supportive of the idea.  I like a "go round" with Game Bird every now and then.  Feeding Game Bird allows you to also feed them higher rations of grains, such as scratch. The only time scratch grains make a whole lot of sense, to me, is in conjunction with a high pro feed.  Most birds could use some feather generation this time of year and the high pro is helpful with that as well.  I'd supply Calcium Carbonate for the layers, and yes, I prefer Calcium Carbonate pellets over shells.  Never have bought shells as I don't care for the crude nature of them and inconsistent intake, but that's just me.   In short?  Sure.  Go for it.

Good idea...I think I'll do this, too. I'm feeding scratch this winter just before roost time, so they (supposedly??) stay warmer overnight. Since that's the case, I think I'll do some Game Bird over winter. Is there a time limit on Game Bird...such as no more than 2 mos, then take a break, then back on Game Bird? Or can I feed it all winter long as long as they're still getting the scratch and added greens?

Also, have you OT's ever seen chickens eat whole corn instead of cracked corn? I buy organic scratch and sometimes the grains change...I guess with the available supply. This time around, I got oats and WHOLE corn in the bag, when normally the corn they put in is cracked. In short, the birds pick out the oats and leave the corn... (I plan on adding some BOSS to the mix, too.) Just wondering if that was normal to include whole corn? Maybe my birds are just used to cracked...& are picky? *sigh*

 

[Beekissed]

Whole corn was all my grandma ever fed her flock. When she had chicks, she just fed cornmeal to them. Of course, back then the corn was real corn with real nutrients and chickens didn't turn up their noses at them. The corn we have now is GMO and studies have shown that the livestock just don't like it as much....the best way to even get them to eat it is processing it so fine that they have to eat it when they eat all the other grains.

It wasn't but about 4 years back when my chickens would eat whole grain corn and would pick corn out of the rest of the feed like it was candy....then the local corn supply changed. Now I can't feed even cracked corn as a feed supplement...they just don't want it any longer.

Darned GMO idiocy...

 

[maidenwolfx80]

mine love both cracked and whole corn and whole BOSS the smaller ones wont eat teh whole corn but still love the BOSS

 

[HiddenChicken]

Whole corn was all my grandma ever fed her flock. When she had chicks, she just fed cornmeal to them. Of course, back then the corn was real corn with real nutrients and chickens didn't turn up their noses at them. The corn we have now is GMO and studies have shown that the livestock just don't like it as much....the best way to even get them to eat it is processing it so fine that they have to eat it when they eat all the other grains.

It wasn't but about 4 years back when my chickens would eat whole grain corn and would pick corn out of the rest of the feed like it was candy....then the local corn supply changed. Now I can't feed even cracked corn as a feed supplement...they just don't want it any longer.

Darned GMO idiocy...

Oh, geez! Don't get me started on GMOs...I'm with you and it's of my biggest pet-peeves ever! Monsanto should be called monSATAN.

But, I digress...

Because I hate GMOs so much and don't want to eat anything associated with it (when possible), I feed only organic layer and scratch to the chickens...for organic eggs and meat. And according to my feed bag, the corn is organic. I'm just frustrated with them not eating it as it's half of an expensive bag of scratch!

Well, I just hope their pickiness wears off....little spoiled brats.

For what I paid for it, i might have to gather up the corn and eat it myself! (yes...very much kidding...)

 

[loanwizard]

In the last 10 years I've free ranged exclusively(one time lived in town and could only range in tractors), and have had a total of 4 chickens lost to wild predators and 2 chickens lost to a set of adopted pups~these were injured so badly that I killed the birds myself. One to an owl, 3 chicks to a black snake was the total lost to wild predators.

It doesn't have to be a given that free ranged birds are in constant danger of predation if you have good dogs on guard day and night.

My mother free ranged and used a large paddock, with just one pretty worthless dog, and only lost a couple of birds while they were confined to the paddock/coop~possum predation. This was eliminated and never happened again. We are surrounded on all sides by wooded land and have a high population of wildlife.

I don't disagree with you at all. With the dog, the electric and the hogs, I haven't lost any since I trained the dog. This spring I got the dog.... or it got rescued... During about a months span I lost several meat birds and a few layers. Trapped, got electric, cleaned out the predator traffic area's added light.... Not lost any since, but waiting for winter and low food supply out in the wild to make a final determination.

I also believe I have some pretty wily birds/roosters there. Of course we also have many rabbits and even they seem safe so it must be the dog.

I also believe that it is relative to scale. If a person has 20-30 birds, 10 would be a massive loss. When you get into the hundreds, it's not as bad so to speak.

We also are surrounded by thousands of acres of a wildlife area. Not sure if it is as wild an wooly as West by Golly, but the Woodbury Wildlife area is the largest in Ohio at approx 19,000 acres of which my 4 acres is in the middle. I don't know what the total acreage would be when you consider 1 neighbor has 67 acres, another 50+ and the other 88, but there is a little bit of everything.

Now about my dog.... I don't know how much she guards cause I see her asleep in the garage quite a bit, but often you can watch her actions and know just about where an intruder is around the property. She doesn't attack that I know of, but nothing has been bold enough to take anything. My nighttime line of defense is, she warns and if it warrants it by the noise factor, the other 3 get let out (German Shepherd, English Mastiff, Boxer Great Pyr. mix) then my slow old butt with the scatter gun.

 

[Mountain Momma]

Emma sounds adorable, and luckily has found a home with someone who is home during the day, because 5 weeks is WAY young for pups to leave Mom. 7 weeks is usually the minimum age. If it was me, I would worm the pup this week (almost every puppy has roundworms) and give her first shots when she turns 6 weeks of age and boost at 9-10 weeks. You can buy them and give yourself if you are comfortable with that. She is too young for rabies, I believe, most vets recommend ~12 weeks, so if you've had any rabid animals in your area keep a close eye on her - she should have natural immunities from her mother still protecting her but by the same token she should have her mother teaching her how to be savvy in dealing with the world. Your adult dogs will be a huge help in that regard. Once I finished the first series of vaccinations, FWIW, I rarely re-vaccinated. I have read many many studies, most of which conclude a dog's immune system not only doesn't require or benefit from most annual boosters, it is sometimes weakened by them. Don't take my word for it, please, I have been dog-less the last two years since I lost my constant companion to age and heart disease (accompanied me to work every day) and will remain so until I feel I have enough time and energy to devote to either raising a new pup or training an outcast adult - the latter is actually my preference, saves a lot of time on housebreaking and you know what you're getting.

If I sound like I'm on a soapbox I sincerely apologize. I have witnessed too many heartbreaks when it comes to young puppies. Chances are Emma will be absolutely fine no matter what you do, dogs as a rule are pretty healthy.

Did your chickens get your pumpkin carvings? What are your kids going to be for Halloween?

I agree, am taking her next Friday. I usually do the 4 year rabies and distemper. I never do heart worm.
I found the kill this morning. The crows alerted me. Right next to the driveway behind the swing a young deer but not a baby . My camera/phone is having trouble downloading I will post when It comes accross. The Guts cleaned out- neck and leg broken. Dirt scratched up all around it. DOW cannot remove it till next week. The Sheriff was at the school when I took the kids so he came over and pulled it up on the road for me. The neighbor agrees a mountain lion...only two things that could break the leg and neck like that and the bears should already be up for the winter. So my option is to load it in my economy Suzuki and take it to a dumpster myself. And wouldnt you know it DH is out of town at a Taekwondo tournament. Ive got the chickens in and they are mad about it but its 10 degrees and there is a serious predator out and about so tuff cookies chickies. The carcass was literally 25 feet from the front porch but hidden. My neighbors were over two or three times yesterday and walked right past it and never saw it. One of my neighbors is about 110 pounds, feisty but it send shivers down my spine that she walked right by it. Ive called everyone I knowin the neighborhood. Dont know what else I can do. On a nicer note here is a picture of Emma. All our dogs are named for Jane Austin Characters. lol.

 

[Miss Lydia]

What is JOB? I looked for poison bars. I found D-con brand that had a box of what I call poison nuggets.

All they have around here is Tom Cat, so I bought the bars and put some up and out of the way of the flock. I know I have mice I see them all the time at night on the game camera cleaning up any spilled feed.