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

[al6517]

LOL I just saw a thread dedicated to actualy cooking herbal healing stuff for your chickens, kinda like a bunch of folks sitting around meditation chanting and holding insence over their birds. I am just amazed at some of this gobiley goop ways to care for chickens, I just wanted to share it and see what your thoughts are on this.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

Is it just me or does anybody else of us regulars who call this thread home, Miss Bee ??. I know I do !!! it seems like I am a little numb and not as much fun anymore. I think it's a terrible thing what those people did to her over on a thread she started and was a driving force in. All I can say is I'll be watching them when they rear their horns here as I am sure is their next target. Sometimes these Huggers need a good

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I hope the new posters do go and read and understand the first OP post, that thin skinned Unicorn & rainbow ideals is not what were about here.

Going to stick my finger in here and hope I come back with it. I'm new to chickens, new to BYC, and was on the other thread BUT I liked that thread because of Bee's no-nonsense approach. Her back-to-basics knowledge was exactly what I was looking for. Hope it's okay to lurk here and ask the occasional question.

I've got no use for unicorns although I am a fan of the occasional rainbow as we usually need the rain. Moreso if there's a pot of gold at one end. Have never seen it happen, though.

Anyway, thanks for the tip about top-dressing. Makes sense to me as I've also done the same to my dog's food and it really makes a difference in their coats.

 

[al6517]

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Now Fred a gift is a gift and it's great you think of me getting in touch with my chickens femine side, Iam almost tearing up OMG, what a sweet gesture. Ok now back to reality, I think I may have just thrown up a little in my mouth LOL.

 

[al6517]

Quote:

Your welcome here, and please ask away if the notion strikes you. Yes dog's and other animals alike benefit as well, common sense is good sense.

 

[maryhysong]

Well with all the feed mills switching almost entirely to plant based protiens the birds are suffering, the veggie heads tend to think of their chicken bodies as their own human bodies and feed them as they do themselfs. This is a very bad thing because chickens are different but the huggers think there human LOL, Huggers have more birds die from health issues than the folks who believe and treat their chickens like chickens Fact it is !!!.

I have wanted organic feed to avoid the GMO issue, as what little info that is out there shows that it causes issues with internal organs, especially with reproduction. (in one study by the third generation the rats could not reproduce at all) The fact that I recently culled an older hen that had a tumor the size of a softball and she had never had anything but conventional feed made me persue the issue more. I just found a source for certified organic feed in my state and it's not much more per bag than the conventional stuff I was getting local.

That said this feed is corn, soy and canola free and uses meat scrap as the protein source. The scratch feed is mostly wheat, with some flax and sunflower seed. I just started using this so we'll see how they like it. I feed mine fermented and that works real well with the mash, which is pretty fine; the moist feed has almost no waste at all.

I also grow a lot of greens to feed, especially to the ducks. (I'm in the desert, no such thing as grass here, just rocks and more rocks) This year I also grew a lot of winter squash which I cut into chunks and toss out to the birds.

I realized long ago that chickens are cannibals. They like meat and plenty of it. They have always gotten our table scraps including bones, fat and gristle of all kinds, including chicken. Since I live alone I don't generate much fat compared to the size of my flock. I might buy some of those dog bones at the grocery store- got some recently and there was enough meat and fat on them I made a great pot of soup. Didn't think about the birds, except to throw the leftover bones to them.

Personally I think that people need some animal based fat and protein too. but that's a whole nother subject

 

[delisha]

I think more harm comes from cooking foods for chickens. I will start cooking the food when my hens start cooking for their own chicks. I believe in trying to duplicate what nature/hen does, or as close as I can. I do condition the back trail to the woods with clovers, and grass seed. I also toss out any old seeds from the garden including tomatoes. From some of what i have read all my chickens should be dead from all to gourds, squash and tomatoes I give them access to.

 

[al6517]

LOL chickens cooking for themselfs.................. good one. IMO the jury is out for me on GMO's, too much misinformation at this point. Supplementing their feed with table scraps is helpful in the way of limiting commercial feeds to an extent. I could get cancer from a zillion things we buy at the grocery store, I don't have time to wonder who's out to get me in the food chain LOL.

edited by staff

 

[NikkiMiChickie]

I have a newbie question with photos. Don't make fun of the hatchery stock

My "RIR" is missing some feathers around her neck and head. I'm not home at all while they're out foraging right now due to the short days, so cannot offer any commentary on the rooster's treatment of her, but will say she's been bred since June by the same rooster, with the same number of flock mates, and never had a problem with feather loss due to him. I noticed this last week, did a thorough search for bugs with a friend, And we found nothing. I dusted with ashes & DE anyways. This week, she's gotten worse & lost more feathers. There's one spot on the front of her neck too, which makes me even more confident it's not from the roo. I did notice she & another hen picking on one Another last weekend, and this other hen has a bit of the same problem now. Maybe they're pulling each others' feathers out?

I just want some other opinions so I know what to look for (bugs? Fighting? Roos? Something I haven't thought of yet )

Thanks in advance!

 

[NikkiMiChickie]

Oh, she was hatched in feb. so molting is out I think... Those are also not great photos. I think she looks more haggard in person but she was in the shade and I'm no photographer.

 

[delisha]

Those pictures are telling me something is up with your bird, your camera, or your picture taking skills. It is not your roo.