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

[Gypsi]

Ok, I have to quit, hit the store, pack to go to daughter's in the morning. I did the first 10 pages, Just the OT fact/opinion (looked like fact to me, just sayin), not all the little comments.

I selected the text, control insert, pasted into a file on wordpad with the contributor's name, and saved as an rtf (rich text file.)

Anyone whose little heart desires could tackle some more pages. I've got a lot to do between now and morning, and that's not counting sleep. The thread has info worth saving. We could publish it. Proceeds to BYC

I have ISBN numbers and am about to re-publish one of my books as an ebook - how cool, and how cheap....


Thank you Beekissed and Wynette and Speckled Hen and all the contributors.

Gypsi

 

[Judy]

Quote:
There's one by Rob (partly) for sale in our store, and there are a couple of classics. Storey's may be the most well known. And a bunch more. Maybe check out Amazon just to see what's around.

Was it 2 Tbl of ACV to a gal of water? I know it was discussed after page 80, but I did not want to have to back track that far to find it again.

I mostly see 1 Tbsp to a gallon, but 2 probably wouldn't hurt, it doesn't have to be that precise, I don't think.​

 

[cbohn80]

glad gthis is back, a great learning tool

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

I must have been in a coma, I didn't know this thread was gone.

I have been a faithful follower cause it's like a breath of fresh air to hear common sense. Any way i'm glad it's still here.

 

[Tracydr]

Wile E. :

All right. I'm a newbie with chickens.

So here's a question. Do I have to be paranoid about handwashing after handling eggs? I don't even worry about it, but the missus thinks I am a biohazard when I bring in an egg. (So far only one chicken is laying.)

Next, something my OT uncle told me. If the chickens have mites, you can hang a bananna peel near the roost. The mites will crawl onto it and you can throw it out.

Also, I was told a lot of parasites like lice, etc come from barn swallows. I suppose pigeons carry them too.

I wash my hands after handling eggs. I'm far from a germophobe but a chicken with poop on butt and feet just layed it and probably stepped on it. I'm in the kitchen preparing food or working around food prep items sooo....​

 

[seminolewind]

Horses get colic (impaction) and chickens get impacted. My thought has always been that they forgot to drink enough. If they drank enough water, they would not be having this problem. My chickens all free range and have food and watet available. The two impactions I've had had no reason to happen. I don't think it would have happened if the chook was drinking enough-and the same for horses.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Horses and chickens surprisingly have similar biology in that they depend on bacteria in the Cecum for digestion. Keeping that going strong is a very good idea. Colic is not just from impaction its from the breakdown of the biology of the gut.... with horses its too much of a new food that cause a flora and fauna bloom. Too many carbs being converted to sugar.... and on Water is involved as well. Horses eat manure to replenish their gut ..... so do chickens.

Sorry I am splitting hairs here but really am agreeing with your comment.

 

[toofarout]

Was there any final consensus on hay being the cause of crop impaction?
Yes, I knew of crop impaction but until last night never heard that chickens should not have hay. I realize there was much disagreement over this. I cannot seem to find a conclusion to that discussion which is why I am asking. And no, I not not *feed* my chickens hay. They do have a mix of hay and shavings in their nest boxes, not sure if they eat it. They will pull through and eat some of the goats hay when they can reach it, and I've hay down on their floor occasionally.
My chickens seem to eat or at least try to eat most everything, their choices quite surprise me. They always have water and pellets available, btw.
Is anyone willing to summarize for me? and thank you seminolewind for reminding me I wanted to ask.

 

[CarolJ]

Quote:
Just so you know - now whenever I fill a waterer, I smile as I add a "glug" of ACV to it - and I think of you, Beekissed.

 

[toofarout]

perchie.girl :

Quote:
Horses and chickens surprisingly have similar biology in that they depend on bacteria in the Cecum for digestion. Keeping that going strong is a very good idea. Colic is not just from impaction its from the breakdown of the biology of the gut.... with horses its too much of a new food that cause a flora and fauna bloom. Too many carbs being converted to sugar.... and on Water is involved as well. Horses eat manure to replenish their gut ..... so do chickens.

Sorry I am splitting hairs here but really am agreeing with your comment.

Rabbits also eat their cecals (night feces) which is important for their gut health. And one reason for gut stasis in rabbits is not enough water. I did not know that horses ate manure, and only recently learned that chickens do that. I had seen them pecking at their poops, just didn't realize that they were doing that for a good reason. So having enough water and eating feces are 2 ways to avoid crop impaction? Sorry that I'm sounding so stupid, I really am trying to learn and do not mean to be annoying.​