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

[Mountain Momma]

I might agree with you since I am a conspiracy theorist from way back. Our feed went up to 18.00 from 14.00 and 13.00 if I drive all the way to Wallmart- I use Layena layer pellets. The other hardware store has some fancy stuff with active probiotics for the same price of 18.00 so my chickener friends and I all went down and picked it up. I dont need mine yet as they still have some Layena, but I'm curious if it does well with them. Otherwise if its gonna be like that- do you think switching to baby chickie food which is the same price would offset the prob or create more probs. Either way mine arent free range so the food I give them is it. They get a lot of table scraps. This week they went from 13 eggs on Monday to 9 and 10 the rest of the week. I have noticed they are eating about 20% more food since we got the cold snap the other day. It was 10 degrees outside this morning with the first snow. Inside the coop was 38 degrees Yeah baby! No heater either though I was sorely tempted last night. Incidently there were some coments way back on the 78-80 pages(I think) about crowing in the morning....My roosters have never been let out before 7am due to our hectic slow gettin going mornings. They never crow before 6:30am and usually we dont even hear them crow until just before 7. they are on the North side so the sun hits the windows about then but just sayin, might be possible to raise lazy roosters that like to sleep in. The feed issue will hit some of us hard, thats up there with dog food prices.

 

[Beekissed]

The last layer mash I bought was from my old, previous feed store when I passed through a couple of weeks ago. I noticed a change in the color of the feed and I think this comes from more wheat in the mix....a certain color of brown that wasn't there previously. Didn't read the tag or have an old one for comparison, but it definitely looks, smells and feels different than it used to do...and a lot less corn in the mix.

 

[al6517]

No lights for me either Bee, Iam not like most who will cuss their birds if their not producing at max levels every single minute, I get plenty.

 

[al6517]

I noticed an off color in my latest bag's also and was wondering if it was my eyesight or one to many beers, but it looks cheaper and of lesser quality.

 

[stonykill]

No lights for me either Bee, Iam not like most who will cuss their birds if their not producing at max levels every single minute, I get plenty.

no lights for me. Why burn the girls out early in life? Part of the natural cycle is the girls slowing down in the short days and stopping for a bit. I liken it to bulbs in the ground needing to go dormant for a time before they can re bloom. And a smart chicken raiser has young pullets that will lay all winter long while the older girls are getting their rest

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

This Florida. I expect a slow down in eggs from mid Dec to mid Feb. Not in September when it started.

 

[Mountain Momma]

No lights for me either Bee, Iam not like most who will cuss their birds if their not producing at max levels every single minute, I get plenty.

me too. I just wrote it off as me being a friek to notice a thing like that but it also seemed like lighter and tighter pellets as well, less dusty and more compacted. This is so interesting. We were in South Carolina this summer and my son said "what happened to all the corn?" It was true, all the fields, in July, were empty. We would pass one or two that had a crop on that looked good but most had no growing corn or anything. Last summer all the fields had corn. It rained a whole week while we were there and the prior week it was up to 108 degrees some times -with a terrible heat wave that kept us in the water or aircondition. I didnt know there was any kind of drought though. The heat is what had everyone talking and we were there for three weeks.

 

[stonykill]

This Florida. I expect a slow down in eggs from mid Dec to mid Feb. Not in September when it started.

many of mine have slowed down. Feathers everywhere, molt time

 

[Beekissed]

Yep..exploded chicken time in my coop as well.

 

[Back2MyRoots]

Heavens, it has been a long day! A neighbor's dog got after one of my hens and she has run off (or worse). There are a lot of bloody feathers in the front yard, so I am pretty sure the bird is dead. I searched the woods around our house for two hours and not a single sign of her. I tried to load the dog up to carry her back home and she bit the inside of my thigh. My husband shot at the dog with rat shot to run it off. The neighbors are raising heck and my husband is throwing a fit right back. Don't get me wrong, I am broken-hearted about the hen. She was my first bird to lay an egg, so she was special (yes, I know how gooey that is---insert crumbling rainbows and crying unicorns here). My question is, what are my legal rights if this dog comes back? Our county has no leash laws. And the dog came from almost a mile over. And what are the chances that it will come back after my husband shot at it? And if it's hurt, are responsible? And are they responsible for my bird?