Eastern Tennessee Thread

[TNBEARCHICK]

How is everyone's NYD hatch along coming? I put mine in late but they still qualify. I hate depending on shipped eggs

its like russian roulette- they may be good and they all may be bad.

 

[tennesseeckn]

There are a couple of reasons your pullers could be skinnier. First is that they are just at the skinny "teenager" stage. I've not noticed it with the girls, but my cockerels appear a lot skinnier when they hit a growth spurt, height wise. Have your girls gotten taller recently?

Another possibility is that they aren't getting enough calories to really fatten up. Chickens use more calories in the winter maintaining their body heat Sounds like they're getting lots of good protein but they might need more carbs. My already fat girls get HUGE in the winter when I start giving them scratch.

They could also have worms or mites or lice, but I'm sure you've already checked for that.

If they're getting red, you could be getting close! But if yours are like mine, they won't lay until you give up and decide that they just aren't ever going to. About half of my pullets are laying now and they are all technically old enough to.

 

[TNBarnQueen]

All my pullets are laying now. They just started in the past two weeks. We went from getting two eggs a day to "oh my gosh what are we going to do with all these eggs" every day.

Deviled eggs. egg salad, pickled eggs, custard, breakfast eggs, EGG NOG (the brandy kind...hehe), french toast, or you can sell them....and if there are some older people around you I am sure they always enjoy fresh eggs. I started out selling eggs to pay for their food then made enough to buy hatching eggs and incubator....started hatching and selling chicks to buy.fencing and MORE food!!..and other things I needed. So...I officially quit selling eating eggs last season. Selling hatching eggs this spring! It still all comes down to chicken math in the end!

 

[possumblossum]

It's good to see so many folks on an Thread dedicated to East TN!!!!

I'm in the Maryville area, have been a member of BYC for a couple of years, but haven't been on the site since back in the Summer. My kids have really gotten into showing hogs through the 4-H, so all the chicken chatter has taken a back seat. Hope everyone's have an excellent holiday; I look forward to checking back on this thread often now that I know you're out there.

Justin

 

[TNBarnQueen]

It's good to see so many folks on an Thread dedicated to East TN!!!!

I'm in the Maryville area, have been a member of BYC for a couple of years, but haven't been on the site since back in the Summer. My kids have really gotten into showing hogs through the 4-H, so all the chicken chatter has taken a back seat. Hope everyone's have an excellent holiday; I look forward to checking back on this thread often now that I know you're out there.

Justin

Welcome to our thread and don't be a stranger!! You never know what you will miss here!

 

[bairo]

Beth...finally responded back on PM.

I'll try and get that video up on the snuggle tubes this weekend for anyone else wandering about them. I need to hit walmart tomorrow for some good deals on basic lights.

 

[bairo]

Hey everyone, gee, I have been gone for a while, life is so busy. Been dealing with a issue with one of my pullets but I think it is under control. She had something going on in her right eye, bubbles and swelling underneath. I sought out some help on here and now it is cleared up and the swelling is gone.

My pullets are now 21 weeks old and their combs are starting to turn red but with the cold now does that mean they will possibly wait til warmer weather to start laying?

Do chickens seem to get thinner in the winter months? I am feeding them all the layena they will eat, I throw out a bit of dry cat food, give them vegs and fruit and also BOSS. They get fresh water everyday with a little ACV in it but they seem to be thinner. Of course they are young still and this is my first winter with chickens. I am trying to learn everything I need to so I can keep them healthy.

A belated Merry Christmas and here is hoping you all have a wonderful and happy New Year!!!

I agree with daph.
Yours are old enough to be just past the big growth spurt and probably look pretty skinny because they hit it in the winter. I would go ahead and stop the extra protein at this age and just give them as much scratch with boss as they will eat in a few minutes; once in the morning and once at night(leave the layena out all the time though). If it gets really cold on a particular night and you want to treat them in the morning you can mix up a cup of pellets, cup of scratch, cup of quick cook oatmeal, and a bit of boss with about 3 cups of boiling water and let it sit a few minutes before you give that to them warm. They will love it on a cold morning.

You can experiment with other warm mash breakfast treats as well...I've done corn meal and oatmeal in equal parts before and they also liked it. What ever i do though, they always have the regular feed available 24/7

 

[bairo]

Wanted to let everyone know also that Amazon has the thermocube tc3 for about 60% less than anyone else right now. I use this one for the heat lamp above my waterers

http://www.amazon.com/Farm-Innovato...id=1356675166&sr=8-1&keywords=thermocube+tc-3

 

[littlechicklet]

Just wanted to see if anyone is interested in an American type blue Orpington rooster. He is almost a year old. He is free. Thanks

 

[bairo]

This is a copy of a PM I sent someone on the PVC tube heater (snuggle tube). If anyone is interested. I am going to try and catch up on some things so I can make a video today or tomorrow for this.

"I used a 2 inch diam. PVC pipe. If I remember right (without taking mine apart to see) you can get a 50 light strand in a 2 foot long PVC. I pull the lights thru and try to get them even, then I cap the end. The other end is where the plug is....I drill a 1/2 in hole in that cap and cut the plug off. Then I thread the wire thru the cap and rewire the plug so it is on the outside of the cap. The babies, bantams, or younger birds will lay right up against the thing. I have never had one over heat or get damaged in any way....mine stays about 85 degrees on the outside surface of the tube. I used the smallish lights (the original size before they came out with all the other sizes) The newer LED's don't put out near enough heat.

Technically; If you were very careful!!
You could use this same idea to keep a hanging nipple water bucket from freezing. You would need to prime and glue the end caps on with PVC glue and primer. Then I would still coat the outside joint with silicone and let it dry overnight.
Mount, tie, whatever works....the tube so it stands straight up in the bucket and can not get water down the end where the plug wire comes out. Then you would "really need" to change your receptacle over to a GFCI. That way if water did short it out, the GFCI will trip and shut off the electricity instantly.