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

[rosewolf22002]

Ok I just need direction. I have been reading on the web and keep hearing about fermented feed on here. I did a search and well I got 1500 threads and none of them listed as what I wanted. Any ideas where to look?

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

Ok I just need direction. I have been reading on the web and keep hearing about fermented feed on here. I did a search and well I got 1500 threads and none of them listed as what I wanted. Any ideas where to look?

Here is the link to the main fermented feed thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds It tells you everything you need to know about fermenting and how to do it.

 

[normanack]

Re: post 7088. This morning the hen is no worse, possibly a little better.
I know the answer is almost certainly Cull --

But I'd really like to know how this might have happened in an apparently healthy flock, if I need to change my management, what to do to prevent it, how it spreads -- she's not all snotty like a person with a cold, and colds are spread by germs in snot, right? (sorry for all the snottage).

One's first sick chicken makes all the clearest information get muddled. Sorry to be so dense that I can't see the path right in front of me . . . And thanks.

 

[armorfirelady]

Thanks Bee. As soon as it stops raining I will start enclosing the coop end.

But apparently their feathers are doing their job since the girls ran out into their big run & didnt seem to mid the rain one bit

 

[thedragonlady]

WOW, Dragon! Ain't nothing gettin' in and nothing gettin' out on your place!

Can I use your answer on my webpage? Had someone email in this question and didn't have a real good answer for her because I just trust the dog. Most folks don't keep their dogs outdoors all the time and this would seem like a foreign concept to them, so I thought I should go with what most other folks are doing.

That's the general idea!

Sure you can ! What I didn't mention is that anytime we are not home, and at night, my runs are padlocked, after someone helped themself to a young imported English Buff Orp cockerel, and a nice pullet, when we were gone for just 45 minutes about a month ago. That was a shock . Definitely a human predator, not a varmit, to snatch a half grown pair with no trace in that short time.

 

[galanie]

Re: post 7088. This morning the hen is no worse, possibly a little better.
I know the answer is almost certainly Cull --
But I'd really like to know how this might have happened in an apparently healthy flock, if I need to change my management, what to do to prevent it, how it spreads -- she's not all snotty like a person with a cold, and colds are spread by germs in snot, right? (sorry for all the snottage).
One's first sick chicken makes all the clearest information get muddled. Sorry to be so dense that I can't see the path right in front of me . . . And thanks.

I saw the vid and heard the sound she's making. I have no idea but it sure doesn't sound good.

 

[Kassaundra]

somewhere on this thread there was mentioning of feeding egg shells back for calcium . i think kassaundra mentioned making a powder out of the shells using motar and pestle.
today i was bored. so i put my wisdom into motion.

being most of us don't own a mortal and pestle or it could be just me. i took my fresh egg shells ( still wet ) broke them up in a sandwich bag and smashed them up with a hammer into very small pieces then i dumped the pieces in a coffee filter.and placed in a microwave for 1 min. made a very nice formed cake. looked like rice cake.

i would have left it that form for the layers to peck. however i needed a powder for my cx chicks. so i placed the cake in another sandwich bag and placed the bag in a phone book and hit it with the hammer some more,. turned out to be a texture of granulated sugar.

it took no more than 5 min to make a fair amount of Ca. powder.

you could make a supplement feed cake for the birds using other ingredients. sounds like a good thing in the winter to keep the birds entertained.

Nope not me don't own a mortar or pestle, though I do know what they are. I do feed back egg shells though, usually w/ boiled eggs, I either break them up w/ my hands (the whole boiled egg) or in the mixer.

 

[Maven]

Bee, to reduce the temptation of digging into the run my husband took a cast off 26" wide rubber belt from the gravel quarry and put it under the bottom frame of the run then secured the chickenwire to it. Then we piled rocks on top of it all the way around. About 5 inches of the belt is in the coop, the rest under the rocks outside. So far, nothing has dug in. Belts at the quarries get changed often and the old ones just get pitched. Most places are happy to just give them away to get rid of them.

That's how we got ours.

But also, the girls get locked in the Chicken Shack at night, and I leave NO feed out in the run to offer temptation to any critters. Also, I have a radio in the shack. One speaker is inside and one is outside. It plays low 24/7 on a station that is a mix of talk and music. I think this really helps keep the preds at a distance as well.

The Chicken Shack run:




Oh, and this guy helps out a lot

 

[Briezeechicks]

Beekissed, Every coop and run that holds an animal that is in danger of predation, from goats to chickens, on my M-I-L's place has either a cement footing (under the fence around the outside perimeter) to keep critters from digging, and on the inside of that, every fence/run has a 2 course row of cinder block under each fence. If they are to also serve as foundation, they are properly cemented together, but if they are just to prevent digging under fences, they are just stacked. Then there is 6' chain link, mostly because you want to be able to stand up in the pen, but also because it is heavy enough to keep out most predators, and then there is chain link over head. If it is a covered (from the weather) run, she always used the metal R-panel. Nothing will get in those runs that won't fit through chain link, ie. snakes, rats, mice. And as thedragonlady stated, there are no roosts near the perimeters. Her methods were/are (as we are implementing them in our new Dominecker Domicile) labor intensive, but they do not have to ever be "re-done," and they are grossly effective.

The mishap they had last summer with the bantams, she only had a "temporary" wire gate until she could make a trip to the city to get supplies for a chain link one, which proved to be the weak link that the predators found immediately!

Brie

 

[armorfirelady]

I couldnt resist sharing some decent pics I finally got of the hens today. More of a before & after pics with all the awesome info I received through this forum


My 4 hens 7 weeks ago when I bought them. They were 13 weeks old


Hens today at 25 weeks 3 weeks after being on FF


My biggest hen of the bunch nesting in the wooden run after some fresh veggies I put out. She must of tired herself out stealing the grape she wanted from the others But I noticed today her combs are getting redder & you can see the beginnings of her wattle to !!! I am guessing we still have several weeks till our first egg. But they all have tail feathers now & their feathers have such beautiful markings. I love the reddish color they have.