Does anyone else Free Range?

[only1bgirl]

I have a big rooster with the hens and he keeps a very sharp eye as to what is flying overhead. When ever he see's something out of the usual he sounds off and the hens scurry for safety..This seems to work for me. I let them out in the morning and close the door at night.

I wish I could have a big rooster, we're in the city so I only can keep hens and I've got small Silkies at that, some that don't see well because of their crests. We live close to a river and have a plethora of birds of prey, I enjoy all birds I hope they leave my chicks alone, I'm not going to cage them up either they deserve their freedom. I saw a Bald Eagle yesterday beautiful! Might give the girls a haircut today, they do have several objects they can take cover under and the dog seems to help keep an eye out for them with the neighborhood cats anyway.

 

[coop410silkies]

I am interested in mixing some feeds together and need some advice. I have

21% chick starter
16% laying madh
9% scratch

2 parts chick starter
I part layer mash
1 part scratch

My thought is to increase protein with the chick starter and add scratch to make them like it more. I also would ferment it. Would they pick the corn out do you think or not? I have Nuti-balance too I could add....just because I bought it and would like to use it up....prolly wont buy it again. I would like to at least give higher protein during moulting and these are things I have. I also have oyster shell on the side because this would cut back the calcium. Just thinking about higher protein and a more all purpose feed....am i headed in the right or wrong direction? I thought of adding BOSS too. Or i could just mix half and half mash and syarter. Sorry to ask here I wasn't sure where to go. They do free range every day. And will unless I need to shut them up temporarily for some reason. I'm guessing chicks would still only use starter for 6 weeks?

vpatt, looks good and reasonable to me; I have the same questions, though, and am an expert NOT. I do have a chewed up copy of Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow, though, and she recommends using Pearson's Square for figuring rations the simple way. You can read how to do this at ext.colostate.edu. by looking up Pearson's Square on the Net. I am not nearly so principled in what I feed my chickens, but I did want to help them through a molt (and to get them laying again!) I give them milk and milk products when I have extra, spoiled or left over, and I often soak scratch in the milk to compensate for the low protein content of the scratch. the chickens love it and it doesn't seem to be harming them - and that is all I can say to recommend a milk supplement. My birds eat ALL of the scratch in the milk. Oh, and milk's a good calcium source. I have been thinking of mixing in some high quality cat food if I can find a cheap source. What's the opinion on this? My problem is is that my chickens get a fair amount of leftover food from a school lunch program (it's good organic, high protein food), and they love it; I worry that they will not eat the layer pellets I set out for them FF, but even so, the pellets disappear quickly enough. My chickens act like I haven't fed them in months; should I be checking for worms? Can I add DE to their water to help with any possible internal parasites?

Last week I found one of my Silkie roosters dead in its pen of 6, completely divested of his head and neck, no sign of forced entry or struggle or blood or anything. The pen was attached to the house, adjoining my bedroom wall, and it was not covered. Six birds were available to this predator, but only the one head was taken - Fluffy's. I believe he fell to an owl. Any thoughts? RIP Fluffy.

 

[lazy gardener]

Vpatt: I think your proposed blend will get you up to 19% protein. I'm not sure how the other nutrients will figure out. I don't have experience with Nutri-balance. But, you should be able to make a fairly educated guess about how much to use by reading the label. Or perhaps the manufacturer has an e-mail site and could answer your question.

Coop410: Have you looked on the predator threads? I think there are some links that lead you to info about how to figure out who the guilty predator is. I think that missing heads might point to weasel. But they often take out a whole flock in a single night, just for the thrill of the kill. They love to remove heads, and I've heard that they'll sometimes lay out their victims in a line or a pile. They can get through any opening larger than 1/2". So sorry for your loss.

 

[vpatt]

Thanks...I was figuring it at about that percentage. I was hoping I figured right,

 

[vpatt]

vpatt, looks good and reasonable to me; I have the same questions, though, and am an expert NOT. I do have a chewed up copy of Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow, though, and she recommends using Pearson's Square for figuring rations the simple way. You can read how to do this at ext.colostate.edu. by looking up Pearson's Square on the Net. I am not nearly so principled in what I feed my chickens, but I did want to help them through a molt (and to get them laying again!) I give them milk and milk products when I have extra, spoiled or left over, and I often soak scratch in the milk to compensate for the low protein content of the scratch. the chickens love it and it doesn't seem to be harming them - and that is all I can say to recommend a milk supplement. My birds eat ALL of the scratch in the milk. Oh, and milk's a good calcium source. I have been thinking of mixing in some high quality cat food if I can find a cheap source. What's the opinion on this? My problem is is that my chickens get a fair amount of leftover food from a school lunch program (it's good organic, high protein food), and they love it; I worry that they will not eat the layer pellets I set out for them FF, but even so, the pellets disappear quickly enough. My chickens act like I haven't fed them in months; should I be checking for worms? Can I add DE to their water to help with any possible internal parasites?

Last week I found one of my Silkie roosters dead in its pen of 6, completely divested of his head and neck, no sign of forced entry or struggle or blood or anything. The pen was attached to the house, adjoining my bedroom wall, and it was not covered. Six birds were available to this predator, but only the one head was taken - Fluffy's. I believe he fell to an owl. Any thoughts? RIP Fluffy.

Sorry you lost your rooster.
;(

 

[coop410silkies]

Sorry you lost your rooster.
;(

Thanks, vpatt, for your condolence. We personally incubated and assisted in hatching Fluffy. When we released him from his shell, he was the softest fluffiest Silkie chick we had ever held - and he stayed that way, so unusually soft and fluffy to the end. He got to be soooo handsome, had a magnificent pirate's beard, could have been a poster chick.

lazy gardener: yes, I considered a weasel might be the culprit. It could easily have come through the fence without making a disturbance, and I know they are notorious for just taking the head. But I think my 2 acres are poor habitat for weasels (poor habitat for anything), and I don't think they're that common here. And then there was just the one killed, not a whole slaughter. I've seen owls flying overhead at dusk, but there are so many rabbits and mice about, they've never been an issue. I don't know, I sure hope it wasn't a weasel. Owls don't just kill for the fun of it, so I'd rather it be an owl. Yes, I've looked at a few predator detection charts and searched some predator threads, and I've found more possibles than I ever wanted to hear about. But you're right, the first thing I asked my friend when she picked up the Silkie's unmarked carcass was, "Is his head missing?" Just a knee jerk reaction.

 

[Lous Eggmoble]

HI Susie, Well the dog definitely will help. Here where I live in upstate N.Y. others have seen a Bald Eagle, but not me. I'm stil waiting to see one. Thanks for responding to my thread. Wishing you the best for the Holiday season.l

 

[only1bgirl]

HI Susie,  Well the dog definitely will help. Here where I live in upstate N.Y. others have seen a Bald Eagle, but not me. I'm stil waiting to see one. Thanks for responding to my thread. Wishing you the best for the Holiday season.l

Happy Holidays from Oregon!

 

[Beer can]

HI Susie,  Well the dog definitely will help. Here where I live in upstate N.Y. others have seen a Bald Eagle, but not me. I'm stil waiting to see one. Thanks for responding to my thread. Wishing you the best for the Holiday season.

I've saw bald eagles on the delaware and susquahana rivers.
And Cannonsville Resevior, but none near my house, I'm ten miles from any big water source. Shot a opposum in our chicken coop one night and threw it in the feild next to us. When I was at work a bunch of buzzards flew down to it then quickly flew away. My wife was waiting for a coyote to come out, nope it was a huge bald eagle! Our 14yr old daughter got some awesome pics of it eating opposum gut speghetti and posted them on WBNG TV. A guy that always posts pics on there all the time commented "Wow where did you get those pics?" Turned out he lived a mile down the road from us Lol!

 

[WthrLady]

My security video camera with day and night vision has motion sensing and an app on my phone. My phone alerts me, i poke a button and see what's going on from bed. Best buy ever!