Dixie Chicks

[NotAFarm]

Good Morning Everyone! Temp is -10F here this morning.......I haven't been out to the barn/coop yet....trying to delay it for as long as I can..........

vehve, I haven't tried oats but others have had trouble with them. Your system is very cool.

I have a broody and am thinking of giving her eggs. She is an almost 7 month old Icelandic......

 

[vehve]

NAF, Yeah, I've hear oats can be trouble, so I'll try to keep away from them for now. I put peas in there instead this morning, and I hope that won't produce mold. The ventilation could be better in there, but I'd rather keep it in the bathroom than get it out in the living room. One idea would be to add some more holes on the front, but that would start compromising structural stability. I'll know better in a few days. And Karin should pick up some more grains tomorrow, then I can get some pure wheat or barley going.

Someone said something about sprouting rye, I don't know if that's a good idea. Rye isn't usually used in animal feeds, apparently most animals find it unpalatable, and it doesn't digest well. Also brings down overall digestibility of feed. For pigs, 10% rye in their feed will reduce daily growth by 8 grams.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Mornin'! Blech, so friggin' cold... already collected frozen waterers... thawing 'em out now...

NAF, are Icelandics usually good broody mamas? Just curious...

Felix, that was me on the rye, and btw, I'm an idiot... meant to say barley, but every time I look for it all I can find is rye... :/

 

[vehve]

Barley is super easy to sprout. And it has decent nutritional contents too. You need to boost the protein with something, but it's a good base.

To remember "barley", play Fields of gold in your head. Good song.

 

[minihorse927]

Morning everyone! -18 and 14" of snow. Bleh. Going to be almost 40 on Saturday so I'm sure it'll flood next! Had to chase the ducks in the barn last night. They were all piled up in the snow in front of the barn. Silly ducks. Makes me wonder how they ever survive. All but one stayed in overnight. Went out to check on everyone and there was 1 laying in the snow. It was my oldest hen I got. Oh well, guess I get an A for effort. The mandarins were piled in behind a piece of 2 ft tall plywood I had leaned up against the wall inside the barn to provide some more shelter for the ducks. Figured if they got up under it the body heat would help hold there. They were the only ones who used it.

Surprisingly got 12 eggs from the hens and none were frozen! The duck eggs on the other hand could of knocked somebody out! I'll be happy when winters over...

 

[minihorse927]

Give her eggs,everyone needs more chicks.

Good Morning Everyone! Temp is -10F here this morning.......I haven't been out to the barn/coop yet....trying to delay it for as long as I can.......... vehve, I haven't tried oats but others have had trouble with them. Your system is very cool. I have a broody and am thinking of giving her eggs. She is an almost 7 month old Icelandic......

 

[NotAFarm]

Mornin'! Blech, so friggin' cold... already collected frozen waterers... thawing 'em out now...

NAF, are Icelandics usually good broody mamas? Just curious...

Felix, that was me on the rye, and btw, I'm an idiot... meant to say barley, but every time I look for it all I can find is rye...

Icelandics are excellent mommas!! In the four years I've had with them sitting on eggs, I only had one that I was disappointed in....she weaned her chicks at three weeks old to go back to laying (it was June so the chicks were put in a separate coop at night so I could make sure they got plenty to eat....and to spoil them a bit

). She was young and started right back laying when she weaned them and then went broody again in about three weeks. She waited to wean those until four weeks old. Most of mine will wean them about five or six weeks.....except this past fall I let two hens have eggs on Labor Day Weekend and they each hatched a single chick (gave them each two eggs). They let the chicks stay longer since they were molting and they appreciated the extra warmth. The hen that had a pullet in the fall still sleeps next to hers but isn't with her during the day...the hen that had a cockerel sleeps away from him now. I don't like to let them sit after the first week of September because our first frost date is October 12 and the last few years have had some snow in October. I try to keep them from siting in February because we often have really cold temps, like now, until mid-March. By the end of March we had wild swings in temps and our last frost date in May 15, although we had a snow in May last year and have had hard frosts as late as May 27.
Some of the mommas and chicks.........

This is one of my two original hens....the two chicks she has here are Norwegian Jaerhorns that I got for a friend.


This is the other one of my original two hens that I started with.....they both will be five in May of this year.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Icelandics are excellent mommas!! In the four years I've had with them sitting on eggs, I only had one that I was disappointed in....she weaned her chicks at three weeks old to go back to laying (it was June so the chicks were put in a separate coop at night so I could make sure they got plenty to eat....and to spoil them a bit ). She was young and started right back laying when she weaned them and then went broody again in about three weeks. She waited to wean those until four weeks old. Most of mine will wean them about five or six weeks.....except this past fall I let two hens have eggs on Labor Day Weekend and they each hatched a single chick (gave them each two eggs). They let the chicks stay longer since they were molting and they appreciated the extra warmth. The hen that had a pullet in the fall still sleeps next to hers but isn't with her during the day...the hen that had a cockerel sleeps away from him now. I don't like to let them sit after the first week of September because our first frost date is October 12 and the last few years have had some snow in October. I try to keep them from siting in February because we often have really cold temps, like now, until mid-March. By the end of March we had wild swings in temps and our last frost date in May 15, although we had a snow in May last year and have had hard frosts as late as May 27. Some of the mommas and chicks......... This is one of my two original hens....the two chicks she has here are Norwegian Jaerhorns that I got for a friend. This is the other one of my original two hens that I started with.....they both will be five in May of this year.

More reason I want them... such gorgeous, good mamas... Thank you for sharing your pics!!

 

[1kluckychik]

x2 very pretty birds!!

 

[bamachicks8]

I love the one where the chicks are peeking out from under momma, so cute!