Consolidated Kansas

[coco mama]

Thanks @chicken danz - missed being connected. Didn't know about Gardner but hadn't looked. I put it on the schedule, hope to make it. That will probably be a pretty cold day. Kiddos are good. Keep us on our toes - that's for sure.

I do have to confess that I'm going hatchery for this year's babies. I had such horrible issues with illness and roo's last year that I took the lazy route. I much prefer working with breeders... maybe next year. I am excited that I managed to connect with Cackle at the right time and am on their Feb 1 hatch date.

My nipple on the bottom of a blue heated bucket worked really well until the temp hit 1. But, I think my entire heated bucket wasn't working. Once I reseated the plug it kicked on. I wish they had a red light on them to show they are working. Still want something with more capacity.

I don't want to have to mess with emptying mine out daily so I'm not interested in the heated buckets on the ground. Too much dirty work. So, once again, I've taken the lazy route and use the poultry cups and poultry nipples which means I just add water every day or two to the bucket - and do a dump/refill every month or so. I can do the water add in my work/dress clothes which is a huge plus.

I ferment my feed in a 5 gallon, food grade bucket (the red ones at TSC are supposedly food grade?). Like @Trish44 said, it's super easy. I haven't found that using vinegar as a starter helps much. Somebody said vinegar is a pre-biotic, not a pro-biotic -whatever, just didn't help mine. I have some goat type probiotic powder that I dump a scoop in when I remember or I think it needs it. Probably a pretty good placebo. I stir it twice a day (super important - at least for how mine works), and every few days add more feed. My problem is that crud builds up on the edges of the bucket so I have empty/clean it every month or so. Which means starting over. If your mush starts looking gray, either stir more often or add fresh feed to it.

Lucky chickens!!!
I don't like the green water bowls. Those are the ones that have quit working for me. I have had the best luck with the Allied brand blue pet bowls. The heat element is removable from the bottom. I've had some of these around 6 years and they still work great. I remove the heat element for summer and put it back on when the weather starts freezing. I have some I've used for over 6 years. I buy them when I find them on sale. I've paid as little as $12 each to a maximum of $19.99 when they weren't on sale.
I've also used fermented feed and was very happy with it, other than the amount of work it required. Since I use around 250 pounds of feed a day it just got to be be more than I could handle. And winter was always a problem with it. I could probably start doing it again if I did it in the building other than I would have to replace the galvanized food pans I use in there.

There, you have it LizzyGSR (how do you copy someone's name?)
I had never heard about fermenting feed and I learned on more thing here! With the moisture, you guys are basically increasing the volume of the feed which in return you use less. What is the thought behind adding pro-biotic to the feed?

I have never seen Allied brand pet bowl but they sound nice with the removable element. The local store doesn't have it. The internet is one click away to order it. I will consider it when my next deicer quits!

 

[chicken danz]

To copy someones name and direct something at them, simply put @coco mama . You should get a drop down box when you get it typed partially in that you can choose from. I hope that is what you are asking.
Things have gotten very busy around here. I have a number of people coming for birds here and there. This weekend is booked solid. Also may have someone coming Friday or Saturday to help me butcher some birds around here. I love it when I have help. I usually just donate a few of the birds for the labor. It needs to be done for sure. I had a customer who has backed out on me two times now to buy roosters and said she would call again when she wanted them. I think she changed her mind both times because of the weather. So this time I decided they are going in my freezer and she'll be out of luck if she calls again soon. I don't make money on extra roosters anyway so I might as well be eating them. I have sold several as breeders though that I thought were going to be meat. Makes me a little more money that way.
So zig, did all your birds get well? Too bad we can't out our chickens in a protective bubble where no wild birds or rodents can ever carry in any disease.

 

[Trish44]

Thanks @chicken danz - missed being connected. Didn't know about Gardner but hadn't looked. I put it on the schedule, hope to make it. That will probably be a pretty cold day. Kiddos are good. Keep us on our toes - that's for sure.

I do have to confess that I'm going hatchery for this year's babies. I had such horrible issues with illness and roo's last year that I took the lazy route. I much prefer working with breeders... maybe next year. I am excited that I managed to connect with Cackle at the right time and am on their Feb 1 hatch date.

My nipple on the bottom of a blue heated bucket worked really well until the temp hit 1. But, I think my entire heated bucket wasn't working. Once I reseated the plug it kicked on. I wish they had a red light on them to show they are working. Still want something with more capacity.

I don't want to have to mess with emptying mine out daily so I'm not interested in the heated buckets on the ground. Too much dirty work. So, once again, I've taken the lazy route and use the poultry cups and poultry nipples which means I just add water every day or two to the bucket - and do a dump/refill every month or so. I can do the water add in my work/dress clothes which is a huge plus.

I ferment my feed in a 5 gallon, food grade bucket (the red ones at TSC are supposedly food grade?). Like @Trish44 said, it's super easy. I haven't found that using vinegar as a starter helps much. Somebody said vinegar is a pre-biotic, not a pro-biotic -whatever, just didn't help mine. I have some goat type probiotic powder that I dump a scoop in when I remember or I think it needs it. Probably a pretty good placebo. I stir it twice a day (super important - at least for how mine works), and every few days add more feed. My problem is that crud builds up on the edges of the bucket so I have empty/clean it every month or so. Which means starting over. If your mush starts looking gray, either stir more often or add fresh feed to it.

Hatchery chicks are OK if you're just wanting backyard layers, don't get us wrong. It's just that hatchery birds aren't usually pure breeds of anything. They mix them with this or that to get better layers & pretty combinations. Their focus is on quantity they can ship out the door, not quality. I started out with hatchery birds for my first layers myself but now I just stick with breeders since I'm now NPIP. You do have to be careful who you buy from for sure. I'm sorry you had such a bad time with illness, that's the pits.

I do use the vinegar with the mother to start my FF & it works fine for me, but I don't mix the quantity that Danz has to for her flock. I did have to start mine over right before I went to the hospital because it was getting a funky smell, but I don't do it really often. I have to keep the sides of the container scraped down to prevent mold. My DH is feeding for me right now while I recover so I hope it does OK for awhile because I'm not up to cleaning the thing out. I do have to keep my feed container inside to have it work right year round & it can be a bit of a mess but to me it's worth it because the birds like it so much & they do well on it.

I haven't found the Allied heated bowls locally either, I did however get a few when one of our friends on here moved to the other side of the US & sold equipment. I may have to check into those some time.

I don't know if I told you all that my goat Patches lost triplets last Sat. I felt so bad that I was not able to go out there & help her. She got two babies stuck trying to have them at once & they all died. My DH who isn't into the animals got trial by fire that day because he had to go pull the kids out. I was really proud of him though, he just did it. He was scared to death & I would have been too, but he did great. He even learned to give shots & he has never done that in his life. I'm hoping Patches will recover OK, so far so good.

 

[zigzag45]

@Trish44 -- and that's my deal. I'm just doing back yard layers. I don't have room for all the pretty birds I want so I focus on layers. Actually, I could blame you for the fact that I do hatchery birds since you no longer do the cinnamon queens. You're probably too far from me to drive and get them anyways. But, that's one of my fav mixed breeds. I did learn awhile ago to just get "normal" hatchery birds as some of the special ones (like welsummers or BCM's) aren't that special. I'm getting black australorps and cinnamon queens. They'll do for my purposes.

That's one of the challenges I have as a small back-yard operator... all the breeders want to do fancy/nice/special/show. No one that I know of breeds good layers. I'm sure they're out there but I haven't crossed paths with them.
--Edit -- I should say in my area... for example, @KsKingBee was doing a BO/BCM cross that really, really appealed to me. However, so many of you are not anywhere close to the KC area which makes it hard.

@chicken danz - yes, they are finally all healthy. I'm so relieved. However, none of the speckled sussex from you made it. I don't remember all the details but that last female you sent up didn't go. I worked so hard on her, meds, vitamins, supplements, TLC... I actually think she had a stroke or something. Her balance was was off at the end. Currently, my little flock is stable and I'm glad.

@lizzyGSR -- I'm just catching up on things... and maybe I'm confusing nick-names... but didn't you leave the KS area? Are you back or just posting from out of state. Thinking I missed something.

 

[chicken danz]

I've been working on the sussex and finally have what I want. The breed in general has always had a weakness and have been hard to raise. It's a common problem. I always thought they were worth the effort but was hoping to breed them for better traits, size and heartier. They are very hearty and are doing very well. Very dark colored with lots of spots. This year I have only had one chick that didn't make it and it was one that got stuck in the shell. The breeders I'm using now are the strongest offspring I hatched last year. Just sold 20 chicks last week and I am told they are very active and doing excellent with no problems. They are aged 2 to 4 weeks old. It's been a long process to breed healthy and show worthy sussex. I'm so happy with the outcome now.
I think you got so much Cocci going that it just kept affecting the chicks and over powering the meds. Yours was probably one of the worst cases I had heard of. Then the congestive thing hit and it was just too much. It was a lousy year for birds anyway. I was just talking to another breeder today and the general consesus was the 2015 was the worst year for birds anyone remembers. Not just limited to chickens either. I think the weather pattern was so messed up that it allowed new disease to flourish and threw off laying cycles.

Zig, Just remember if you have a breed engineered to lay a lot of eggs it will burn out really quick. Be prepared to replace them all within two years. I beg to differ a little on the laying aspect of the birds. My English Orpingtons and my black brahmas crank out eggs like crazy that are really large as well. The American bred orpingtons were lousy layers though for sure.
Our Sutherlands sometimes carries the Allied pet bowl and Bluestem farm and ranch in Emporia carry it as well. The DIY store carries them (they are an offspring of Sutherlands). I'm sure I've seen them elsewhere but not at Orcheln's.

 

[sharol]

Quote:
I would agree about the English orps at least at this point. my 33 week olds (4 of them) are laying 2-3 eggs a day, and I think one of the 23 wk olds has started laying. I'm not sure but there are some small eggs in there that don't look familiar. And this is January. The Bredas are really laying well, too considering the season. I'm loving the colors of eggs.

 

[chicken danz]

I wish my Bredas would get busy. I actually have an order for some. I'm getting one egg every couple of days with all those girls in there. I have a beautiful mottled breda hen. I know there are several people trying to create that. I wish I had another pen in there cause I'd be hatching out her chicks as fast as she could lay the eggs.
The araucanas are cranking them out right now and the black brahmas have started back in heavy. Those brahma eggs are enormous. My other brahmas eggs aren't nearly that large.
My partridge/ blue partridge orpingtons are finally laying a lot. It's been a long time coming. I can't wait to get some nice offspring grown up to show off. The general layers are doing a good job of laying but a couple of the girls are trying very hard to be broody. I was talking to my daughter the other day and it's been almost a year since I sent her hatching eggs. She just uses a broody to hatch her eggs and she is anxiously waiting for one to decide it's time.
I honestly think there is a lot of selective breeding that makes a good bird. My opinion of a good bird is beautiful, lays nice eggs often, gentle, and big enough that the roosters can provide a nice meal. Yep I try to perfect the birds for show standards,but I am also trying to have a good utility bird as well.
That being said the Bredas and Araucanas aren't good meat birds but they are adorable and quirky. And of course those araucanas lay those pretty blue eggs.

 

[zigzag45]

@chicken danz - your black brahams do interest me. Traditionally, the brahmas aren't a high volume layer. But, I agree with you in that it varies per line, probably even per bird, to some degree. You know the genetics alot better than I. I like those black brahamas as they stay close to the ground which I need with the low fences in my yard. And, they are amazingly beautiful. But, most of your birds are incredible so that's not saying much.

My kiddos so wanted me to find a speckled sussex as they know how much I like them. I'll probably try to figure out how to get a couple from you later this year, or even next - who knows. One of the things I'm looking forward to is getting all my baby raising done early this year. Last year I was taking care of babies all spring and summer. Got really old! But, you know how chicken math works so I'll probably figure out I need a few more later this year and totally blow my "get them done early" plan up.

My english orp I don't think is laying much at all right now. She's been dubbed the queen of the flock - all of our favorite for sure. She'll be with us until she dies of old age. But, she earns her keep by looking pretty. I wonder if she went through a bit of an extended, minor molt? @sharol - have yours? Do they do that (hatched March of 2015 I think). Her coloring paled for a month or so. She's looking a bit darker now so maybe she'll start again.

We did have an awful batch of cocci around here last year. Then, like you said @chicken danz - the sinus stuff hit, and then left, and hit again, and left. And I'm still not good at giving shots. I shutter to think how many birds got meds straight into their crops while I was trying. Now I just do oral or under their skin on the back. Works better for my lack of skill.

Cackle rates the Cinnamon Queens at 250-320 eggs per year - that's a truck load. I'm fine with just keeping my birds for a couple of years so they are a good fit for me.

 

[sharol]

My english orp I don't think is laying much at all right now. She's been dubbed the queen of the flock - all of our favorite for sure. She'll be with us until she dies of old age. But, she earns her keep by looking pretty. I wonder if she went through a bit of an extended, minor molt? @sharol - have yours? Do they do that (hatched March of 2015 I think). Her coloring paled for a month or so. She's looking a bit darker now so maybe she'll start again.

My orps hatched a little later than that. They did the "feathers in the coop" molt, but none of them had a hard molt yet. Not looking for that until next summer/fall.

I like variety, so the cinnamon queens don't interest me as much. I like having lots of colors and shapes (hence the Breda Fowl -- they look like little raptors) and true Araucanas. They all seem to get along pretty well, too, so that is an advantage.
edited to fix my spelling

 

[lizzyGSR]

@lizzyGSR -- I'm just catching up on things... and maybe I'm confusing nick-names... but didn't you leave the KS area? Are you back or just posting from out of state. Thinking I missed something.

Yes, I have lived outside of KS, but not since I joined BYC. You must be thinking of someone else. I'm currently clear out here in extreme NW KS.