Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

@venymae , all I can say is this person buys birds all over the place. You may get some nice birds and you may get some junk. I'd say you'd be better off buying from someone who has all their own stock and hasn't purchased them here and there locally. Do you know what you are looking for, what age and just pullets or if you can own a rooster as well?

 

[Chicabeaka]

venymay - I just picked up five from Onaga a couple of weeks ago. They have about 500. Different ages and breeds. We just got them from the farmer. It wasn't an auction.

 

[KsKingBee]

haven't tried using these for chickens, but for the peas they save a lot of waste. There is almost nothing on the ground in front of the feeder.



I keep some crumbles in the cat litter buckets for when they run out of the ferment feed (mash). They much prefer the mash and it also cuts way down on my feed bill.

 

[venymae]

@chicken danz where can I find local sellers? We can only have hens here. No roos. We really are just looking for friendly chickens that lay a lot of eggs. Maybe a couple different egg colors. We tried to purchase birds from this same fellow before, but he was out of the ones we wanted. I thought he had a farm, I didn't think about how they could be willynilly bought. How do you know?
@Chicabeaka have you been happy with your purchase? Was it the David(or dustin?) fellow you bought from?

 

[TakenBackBre]

Another rookie question for the pros. My little peckerheads are spilling more food than they're eating. [Before I continue, I want to note that the peckerheads I'm referring to are my chickens. That is the "term of endearment" I use to describe my chickens when they are being naughty. Because, literally, they are pecker heads.] Upon further study, I guess this nasty habit is called billing, and the birds use their bills to shovel their feed out on the floor. Bottom line is, I don't want to pay for food that the birds are going to waste. I want them to eat, not waste, the food. My feeder is a 40 lb. galvanized steel feeder that is open on the top (where I pour in the feed) and has a round trough/pan on the bottom, where gravity allows the feed down. There ARE 3 different "levels" that I can set the gravity feed to. I have always had it set on the highest (most free-giving) of the levels, thinking the more food in the through, the easier all my chickens (of different sizes) will be able to get to it. The feeder is raised about 10-12 inches off the coop floor on concrete blocks. Below is a picture of the type of feeder I have. What have y'all done to prevent food waste from "billing"?

Get it up to head level. As long as the birds are old enough you need to get it high enough so they need to stretch a little. And hang it otherwise they will just knock the **** thing over.

 

[TakenBackBre]

So, I saw on craigslist a big chicken auction is going on in Onega in September.  Have any of you had experience with chicken auctions?  We are almost finished with our coop and would really love to get chickens (we can have 6 in our town) but are having a hard time finding any this time of year.  Any advice?

We've purchased from Dustin vandonge before and not had issues. They are mostly hatchery stock but if you want birds for eggs then you should be able to get a really good deal at his auction. He's a really nice guy.

 

[chicken danz]

haven't tried using these for chickens, but for the peas they save a lot of waste. There is almost nothing on the ground in front of the feeder.



I keep some crumbles in the cat litter buckets for when they run out of the ferment feed (mash). They much prefer the mash and it also cuts way down on my feed bill.

I used to do that with gallon jugs for my pheasant and it keeps their food dry.

@chicken danz where can I find local sellers? We can only have hens here. No roos. We really are just looking for friendly chickens that lay a lot of eggs. Maybe a couple different egg colors. We tried to purchase birds from this same fellow before, but he was out of the ones we wanted. I thought he had a farm, I didn't think about how they could be willynilly bought. How do you know?
@Chicabeaka have you been happy with your purchase? Was it the David(or dustin?) fellow you bought from?

Either talk to people here or look on the facebook poultry pages.
If you are looking for layers and don't care what about what breeding they came from and don't care if you get hatchery birds, I am sure those birds would be fine. I was just stating that I know he buys chickens from all over. Not putting anyone down. My problem with mixed groups is if you aren't a person with chicken knowledge it's pretty easy to buy an older bird or one that isn't necessarily pure. Or you might buy a breed that doesn't lay well. It doesn't matter and you just want layers there is absolutely nothing wrong.

 

[Trish44]

I agree on the poultry auction & for those who don't know he can only sell his own birds at this auction, nobody else can bring in birds at all. That's why you aren't seeing any swaps or auctions right now because they've been stopped for the rest of the year by the government due to the bird flu. This guy can sell his own birds & that's all. He does buy birds from all over. He has stated that he is NPIP, which I had not seen him state before. I would just be cautious as danz said. If you're just wanting backyard layers then they might be OK, but not for breeding purposes. Also if you do buy from him make sure you quarantine for a minimum of 2 weeks or longer to make sure you don't bring in any diseases. Just because he's NPIP doesn't mean the birds can't have other diseases besides what they test for NPIP.

 

[Schaafty]

Where is this auction we speek of?

 

[Trish44]

Where is this auction we speek of?

It is in Onaga, KS & is in September.