Dixie Chicks

[Amberjem]

night and ohh happy birthday @vehve !!

 

[vehve]

Morning Beer and everyone else!

I think it might actually be spring here too. The sun has been shining for a couple of days now, and I think the lawn has finally started growing. This morning when I took the dogs out, I stood in the forest just listening to all the birds. I think there must have been about 20 different kinds of birds singing. It was beautiful.

I'm a little worried about our chicks, they're going to be two weeks old on Monday, and they're still not starting to grow feathers properly. Or then my memory is just failing me about how quickly the wings should get feathers. But they seem like they're not eating properly. They must be getting some nourishment in them though, because they're crazy active in there. I think the mommies would want to take them out in the run, but I'm glad the chicks haven't tried that yet, they would have no way of getting back into the coop. I hope they stay away from the run for as long as possible.

The young roosters are finally starting to show signs of being teenagers, I think we might have to do a bit of culling next weekend or sometime in the week. They're still a lot skinnier than I'd like them to be, but what can you do. I know the grownups have been getting a more balanced diet now, we threw in a leg of lamb with a couple of pounds of meat and fat left on it, took the flock about 5 days to clean it to the bone, but that was a nice addition of animal proteins and vitamin B. I should probably get some minced meat for the chicks at some point too, right now they're only getting my own feed mix with some egg and cottage cheese added. I made a new batch for them yesterday, I hope I didn't over do it with the vitamins I added. I think I'll skip the vitamins next time I mix some up for them just to be safe.

 

[vehve]

Oh, and thanks for all the birthday wishes!

 

[Amberjem]

Morning Beer and everyone else!

I think it might actually be spring here too. The sun has been shining for a couple of days now, and I think the lawn has finally started growing. This morning when I took the dogs out, I stood in the forest just listening to all the birds. I think there must have been about 20 different kinds of birds singing. It was beautiful.

I'm a little worried about our chicks, they're going to be two weeks old on Monday, and they're still not starting to grow feathers properly. Or then my memory is just failing me about how quickly the wings should get feathers. But they seem like they're not eating properly. They must be getting some nourishment in them though, because they're crazy active in there. I think the mommies would want to take them out in the run, but I'm glad the chicks haven't tried that yet, they would have no way of getting back into the coop. I hope they stay away from the run for as long as possible.

The young roosters are finally starting to show signs of being teenagers, I think we might have to do a bit of culling next weekend or sometime in the week. They're still a lot skinnier than I'd like them to be, but what can you do. I know the grownups have been getting a more balanced diet now, we threw in a leg of lamb with a couple of pounds of meat and fat left on it, took the flock about 5 days to clean it to the bone, but that was a nice addition of animal proteins and vitamin B. I should probably get some minced meat for the chicks at some point too, right now they're only getting my own feed mix with some egg and cottage cheese added. I made a new batch for them yesterday, I hope I didn't over do it with the vitamins I added. I think I'll skip the vitamins next time I mix some up for them just to be safe.

I dont think I could mix my own feed............... you make it seem very difficult and alot more worry then I'd want to.. I use to mix my feed up for my cockatiels I nreed and stuff but that was super easy.........I think I prefere the standard crumble with supplemental feedings of veggies, meat, sprouts and other goodies

 

[vehve]

Jem, it's really quite simple to do the mixing... And as long as you feed them some kitchen waste and let them free range you don't even need to worry about much. I just like to try to keep the feed somewhat balanced. I'd say the hardest part is to make sure you get enough methionine in your birds, because that isn't really found in plants that easily at levels that would be high enough. But adding some animal based protein to their diet takes care of that. I wouldn't mind feeding them commercial feed, but all of the balanced ones are made with soy grown on the other side of the planet, and usually contain a lot of GMO ingredients. The locally produced mixes sound good at first, but after I started mixing my own, I've realized that the people who mix those and sell them really have no idea what they're doing. Sure, the feed is balanced for protein content, but the protein make up with the ingredients they use will be insufficient, and I haven't seen anyone adding any ingredients to theirs that would rectify that. So, I choose to feed my own. That way I know (mostly) what's in it, and I know where it's grown. For the ingredients we're using right now, about 80% are produced within 30 miles from here, 10% is produced domestically, and 10% is imported stuff. I could do without the imported stuff, but I like the way it smells and looks, and the birds really like the taste of it. Mixing myself also means that I can produce different protein concentrations for different situations. I can up the protein for younger birds or during molting, and I can also mix my own rabbit feed.

And tell me this doesn't look nicer than the pellet or crumble you get at the feed store?

 

[vehve]

Actually, that pic is from an earlier mix I made, I've added to the amount of ingredients since then. We found a nice horse müesli that doesn't cost all that much, but it has a lot of additives in it and helps balance the feed a bit.

 

[Amberjem]

Actually, that pic is from an earlier mix I made, I've added to the amount of ingredients since then. We found a nice horse müesli that doesn't cost all that much, but it has a lot of additives in it and helps balance the feed a bit.

sorry I passed out............ nope the feed looks good but listening to you tweak and geek and ajust and fuss it just seems way to over whelming for me...maybe if I didnt have a million projects going on yanking my hair out with motherhood frustration and things were calmer it wouldnt be a big deal but I cant imagine adding one more thing I have to fuss about to my agenda

 

[NotAFarm]

Oh, and thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Belated Birthday Greetings, V!

Any bunny babies yet?

@Amberjem tell Sharps he does nice work!

@Beer can Spring took her time but made it here too! Funny about your Dad and the green eggs.

Congrats Mini on the ducks and Raz on the chicks and to everyone else that I don't remember after reading too many posts to catch-up.

Krista, Sorry to hear about your Dad. I hope you have a nice visit with your Mom while celebrating him.

 

[vehve]

Jem, I totally get you... sometimes it's a pain to have to go downstairs and mix up a new batch when the feed cabinet is running empty... But it doesn't take that much time really.


NAF, we think she has given birth a couple of days ago... I borrowed a construction endoscope from the neighbor, I might try and take a peek in her nest at some point if I can catch her opening it. So far I always seem to get there when she's closing it back up.

 

[Alaskan]

No spring here. Nope.


The kids are trying to snowblow with the tractor fast enough so that it is done before people show up for church.