Colorado

[maggiemo]

Go Princess No Legs!!

 

[trsturself]

I know everyone is trying to get rid of roosters, but I thought I would try here anyway.
I have a 13 week old silver laced polish rooster. He hasn't crowed yet or challenged anyone. He is very calm and independent. I think he would be a great 4-H project.
I can drive to meet someone if they want him.
His name is Jagger.

I wish I had the room! He would go great with me SLP hen!

Oh, Maggie! He is gorgeous!

Princess No Legs seems to be doing a little better today. She doesn't want to sit in her basin anymore and has been able to position herself comfortably the way she wants to lay. This morning, she is showing movement in her other leg. So now she can grasp with both, but one is significantly stronger than the other one.. I'm just glad that they're both showing any movement! She is eating and drinking normally still. She doesn't seem to get depressed since the other pullets her size will come join her and keep company. I love how they band together without hesitation.

Go Princess No Legs!!

X2 Glad to hear she's improving.

 

[COChix]

Today started out horribly for me and my chickens! The neighbor's dogs got in my back yard and killed 10 of my chickens and left the rest of them very traumatized and two that are more severely injured. One of my pullets has no puncture wounds, but she is unable to use her legs. She seems very strong and doesn't seem to be hurting that much, so I don't want to cull her as of right now. I also have a rooster that is my hero that did what he could to protect his girls and he is missing a lot of feathers and has abrasions on his skin. He is up and running around now- he seemed weak and we thought we would have to cull him, but he must have just been in shock.
The two severely injured ones are under control right now but is there anything I can do for the rest of them for stress? I have 4 ducks that somehow didn't get touched, but they are extremely afraid right now, and I want to do something for all of them to help their stress. I feel so bad for them all. I don't want this stress to get them sick or anything. 

Aacre, so sorry this happened to you and your girls, how sad. Hopefully everyone can make a recovery, including yourself, how traumatic. If you need anything, we are here for you. Keep us posted.

 

[COChix]

Hello all, just some more shots of our darker black girls, still trying to id breed. I am now leaning towards Barnevelder's now that they have gotten a bit more developed. The very last shot is of "Pants" as we call her, she is the same bred as the black one's. We think she is a runt, we used to think maybe she was a bantam, but she has grown more lately. We called her pants due to the fact for the longest time the only feathers she had were on her legs, she also had a mullet.

Also just curious how many if you have been fermenting your feed? I have been dabbling in it lately and the girls got some fermented barley, oats and scratch last night and boy did they go to tone, not a drop left! Just curious on people's experiences with fermenting. Thanks

 

[COChix]

I know everyone is trying to get rid of roosters, but I thought I would try here anyway. I have a 13 week old silver laced polish rooster. He hasn't crowed yet or challenged anyone. He is very calm and independent. I think he would be a great 4-H project. I can drive to meet someone if they want him. His name is Jagger.

Jagger is a handsome boy! Too bad we already have a couple of roo's. Good luck.

 

[Latestarter]

Hey COChix: My birds have been on FF since the day they arrived. I lost one out of 34 at the end of week one, but it never really grew like the others and I think it had something wrong with it. The rest are now a little over 4 weeks and they are growing like weeds! It's like they double in size each week. They come running at feeding time and fly up onto my hands and arms to be the first in to the feed dish

I'm just fermenting their regular feed cut with about 25% wheat bran. Once they have their run and can get outside (for grit) I'll start adding in other grains (already have a 50# bag of steam crimped oats, and plan on adding other grains (except corn) as well. The bowl(s) are always empty long before their next feeding time

New Hampshires & White Wyandottes


Buff Orps and Black Australorps


These were taken about 5 minutes after the FF was put down.

 

[COChix]

Hey COChix: My birds have been on FF since the day they arrived. I lost one out of 34 at the end of week one, but it never really grew like the others and I think it had something wrong with it. The rest are now a little over 4 weeks and they are growing like weeds! It's like they double in size each week. They come running at feeding time and fly up onto my hands and arms to be the first in to the feed dish I'm just fermenting their regular feed cut with about 25% wheat bran. Once they have their run and can get outside (for grit) I'll start adding in other grains (already have a 50# bag of steam crimped oats, and plan on adding other grains (except corn) as well. The bowl(s) are always empty long before their next feeding time New Hampshires & White Wyandottes Buff Orps and Black Australorps These were taken about 5 minutes after the FF was put down.

Hey Latestarter, thanks for your reply and feedback to how it is going with the FF. I just started this, this past week after reading up on it. It only made since regarding the grains anti-nutrients, same people us humans have with today's grains. Anyway, I have been fermenting their grower feed as well as trying the barley as we have like a 30lb bag of it. They seemed to like the barley better than their grower feed, but that is mostly crumbles so it makes a porridge type food for them. After we get through this bag if grower feed it will be about time to switch them to laying feed and will be sure to buy the pellets for easy fermenting. I noticed some looser poop today but attribute that to the probiotics in the fermented feed. Also how many do you have? Just wondering hiw much feed you give on a daily basis. Still trying to figure out how much feed to give 28 chickens as the always seems starving!

 

[Latestarter]

" Still trying to figure out how much feed to give 28 chickens as they always seem starving!" Aint THAT the truth!!

As you can see in the pics, I am using (9" deep) pie plates. There are 15 in one side and 18 in the other. I fill the pie plates up to just below the rim for the 18 and a little less for the 15, twice a day. They get their first feed ~ 6 am and their second after I get home from work say around 4ish. Once their runs are in place and I can let them out all day and to free range when I'm home for a couple hours each day, that feed amount should get cut back in a big way (until winter that is).

If you're getting a porridge, you could cut back on the water a bit or add a little more feed/grain to thicken it up a bit. Mine is like very thick oatmeal... almost "grainy" if you get what I'm trying to describe... When it's too wet, they spray it all over the place fighting over it.

Now that I've separated them into 2 smaller groups (they were all in a 12 square foot brooder box until yesterday afternoon), they have a little more room and can all eat at once without climbing over each other

You can see from the pics that they aren't quite as frantic and fighting for position (like they did in the brooder box). Anyway, I think you'll come to really like and appreciate the FF way of feeding.

 

[COChix]

Yes, we have similar styles of feeding, with 28 we use 3 tin pie plates and fill them up twice a day as well. They are spoiled and get other snacks, like dandelion greens freshly pulled from the surrounding area. We have to work on the fencing around the run and oops as one we have that secure they an free range during the day mostly. That will also reduce their feed, I am actually looking onto starting to raise meal worms, I know I just got started with my chicken keeping but already want to so things as natural/organic as possible. I have also been sprouting seeds here and there for them as well, also should I mention that they get our green drink leftovers? Nothing but good healthy stuff, kale, bananas, celery, cucumbers and blueberries. They especially enjoy the green drinks during a hot day. Thanks again for the feedback, your girls look pretty big already.

 

[Latestarter]

I started the meal worm farming a couple of months before the chicks got here. Started with 5000 divided into 2 large containers. There are no original worms left but there are thousands of beetles (still) as well as many thousands of baby worms of various sizes. As soon as my chicks have access to grit, they will start getting more treats