Colorado

[cockadoodle]

Quote:
The cheapest way I've come up with is to use the cheap poultry wire, connect it together with zipties or hog rings(better). Put in some 2x2 support posts to keep it from sagging and then connect the whole thing to your verticle fencing with hog rings. Up from that is building a wood frame around your run that will support heavier wire. I also like knotted netting and really, there is no run that is probably too big for this stuff (unless it's really giant) they come in 100 foot widths, but it starts getting really expensive.
Maybe you'll find something here that's big enough.. I am ordering some this weekend to finish my run. It's currently open but for now, there's always someone watching the run and they tend to hang out under the coop which keeps them out of sight most of the day. In any event I think you'll definitely want to cover it with something at least as sturdy as chicken wire. Here's the page I'm getting my netting from. http://www.randallburkey.com/Knotted-Netting/products/309/

 

[alpinefarm]

Quote:
Well, the feed available from the Delta mill is .60 lb and it can be purchased non-soy if you want. You would need to up the protein some other way, of course...raising redworms or meal worms comes to mind or you could substitute black oil sunflower seeds and whole wheat, say, for the soy. I believe BOSS is around .30 lb on the Front Range.

 

[alpinefarm]

Quote:
Yeah, I wouldn't go topless! And while netting on your smaller pen will help keep hawks out, it won't deter a weasel at all. If you have any possibility of weasels where you are, you'll need 1/2"x1/2" welded wire everywhere, which is what I have to do as those cute little guys can chew through wire screen and slip through a hole the size of a quarter...

I've heard peacocks are great chicken defenders/predator deter-ers. But they are real 'screamers'! I personally don't like living around them.

A good dog will keep hawks away.

 

[mylilchix]

Nope, no weasels thank goodness!! We seem to have everything else though. lol We have dogs and llamas around the chickens. I was thinking of getting guniea fowl too.

Sonja

 

[alpinefarm]

Quote:
Have you sleuthed thoroughly on this? Asked everyone in your neighborhood about weasels in the area (ermines)? They are very abundant on the West Slope, but I had not actually seen one on our farm, ever, until I set a trap for him *after* he'd killed my chickens. I saw him slipping through a tiny hole he'd made in the wire screen covering the air vent in the top of my coop.

Now I'm an official "Weasel Cop"...

 

[cockadoodle]

Well, the feed available from the Delta mill is .60 lb and it can be purchased non-soy if you want. You would need to up the protein some other way, of course...raising redworms or meal worms comes to mind or you could substitute black oil sunflower seeds and whole wheat, say, for the soy. I believe BOSS is around .30 lb on the Front Range.

That sounds a lot better. Is that .60/lb with or without soy? I think that's right if I read that correctly. At that price all of a sudden I'm cool with soy

and realize that primairly I just want to get my girls off layena soon, onto an organic feed, without breaking the bank. Adding in my own protein source is still voodoo science from my perspective, I might experiment with that when I have a bigger flock and more experience under my belt.

Thanks,
Mark​

 

[alpinefarm]

Quote:
That sounds a lot better. Is that .60/lb with or without soy? I think that's right if I read that correctly. At that price all of a sudden I'm cool with soy

and realize that primairly I just want to get my girls off layena soon, onto an organic feed, without breaking the bank. Adding in my own protein source is still voodoo science from my perspective, I might experiment with that when I have a bigger flock and more experience under my belt.

Thanks,
Mark

The .60 lb price is with soy. I can't quote you a sans-soy price, but can get you in touch with the gal who is distributing it and you can ask her.

 

[Rootball]

Do you know what the name of the mill in delta is, and approx where it is..


Is there like a 1000# min or anything?


Would like to go get some, can drive over anytime.

 

[alpinefarm]

Quote:
I don't know the name of the mill. I'll see if I can find out, though. I did hear that they only sell in very large amounts, though...I believe it was 2 tons?

 

[Dances with Ducks]

OK - not sure I'm completely following everything on this feed stuff. I am hoping to find some organic non-soy food for a reasonable price without having to buy more than 100 lbs at once. Also to be able to pick it up central to Northern Front Range somewhere. Maybe that't hoping for too much?

Wifezilla where do you buy the high protein waterfowl feed?