Eastern Tennessee Thread

[dncarr09]

You don't need to give oyster shell supplement if you use the Purina Layer Pellets. They are in a brown 40lb bag at TSC. They are a little more expensive than the Layena pellets, but you don't have to supplement oyster shells so it balances itslef out price wise. Also, ive read if you have a lot of room and your chickens free range than Oyster shells aren't neccessary. I don't know if that's true or not.

 

[TNBarnQueen]

I was really not looking forward to washing chickens

the first time I did it. It really turned out well though. We have a hand shower with a longish hose that we got specifically for dog baths (we have 3 dogs) I sat the hen in the tub and got the water up to temp..after the initial : "What the H do you think your doing" flap of the wings; she loved it. I was washing her and she fell asleep. The second one was just as easy. Those two were Dels (the same 2 that are going to sevierchicken tomorrow as matter of fact), I cant comment on other breeds but I would def. try it again with any of mine.
The funny thing about that story is that it poured rain right after getting them out for the show and they looked like crap anyway. My NHR's that were out in it the whole time looked so bad that I thought Daphne was going to turn me in for chicken abuse.

P.S. If rain is in the forecast...dont park by tnbarnqueen either

. We looked worse than the hens I think

Well just let me say I am glad we are going to be next to each other in Nov.

OK...all my chickens I show are white and light colors so here is what I do. First.Give bath at least 2 days before show. That way they have time to dry completely..you would not believe how long it takes even if you use a blow dryer..use baby shampoo so if you get any splashes in their eyes it will not irritate. Actually most chickens love taking a bath. Just scrub them up and make sure you rinse and rinse. I do a light conditioner rinse. Doing it 2 days early lets their natural oils come back to make them shiny. Take a toothbrush and clean their feet down to their toenails. If you are showing a feathered legged breed put on them booties. The morning of show do any spot cleaning and put a little vaseline on their wattles and combs.
Hope this helps!
Here is Snow my Ameracuana getting ready for show time.



here is my SG Cockerel that I am showing in Nov.

 

[bairo]

You don't need to give oyster shell supplement if you use the Purina Layer Pellets. They are in a brown 40lb bag at TSC. They are a little more expensive than the Layena pellets, but you don't have to supplement oyster shells so it balances itself out price wise. Also, I've read if you have a lot of room and your chickens free range than Oyster shells aren't necessary. I don't know if that's true or not.

Two more questions.

My pullets have just now started laying.

I am just getting an egg every now and then.

I have had them on TSC's Dumor Flock Grower and they have done well it.

I am going to switch them over this week to a laying pellet.

Which brand have y'all had the best luck with and do I need to supplement with oyster shell?

As far as a good layer pellet, it really depends on who is close to you and if you want to go organic or not. Probably the easiest and most widely available is Purina layena. Any time the bag says "layer" it will be fortified with calcium and you do not want to supplement.
Many of us (me included) have mixed age birds in the same area. So we will usually go with a Flock raiser type feed that the young ones and the roosters do well on and then put out oyster shell as free choice for the laying hens. Just put it in a small hanging feeder that the young ones can't reach but the layers can.

As far as not needing calcium if they are free range....... Yes, "sort of." If the free range area has a high load of bugs and particularly exoskeleton type insects, then any heritage breed will probably get enough calcium. If you have a hybrid egg layer (production red, black star, etc) then they will need oyster shell free choice. This is due to two main reasons. 1st. Those breeds tend to stink at free ranging for food. 2nd. the production breeds are just that....they are bred to lay like crazy for a couple years in a controlled environment and will always need supplemental calcium to keep up with that production. Either in a feed or on the side.

 

[bairo]

Here are some links to some feed companies. You can check the website to find the closest dealer to you, some like the ranch n Asheville are pick up only

http://poultry.purinamills.com/NUTRITIONMANAGEMENT/FeedTypes/default.aspx

http://www.kentfeeds.com/products/poultry/HF/homeFresh.php

http://www.countrysideorganics.com/home.php

http://ashevilledoublegranch.com/Organic_Animal_Feed.html

http://www.windyacrestn.com/?page_id=12 ( organic grain to mix your own in Orlinda, TN)

http://burkmannfeeds.com/ (they have a location in Greeneville, TN)

http://www.blueseal.com/poultry/ (closest dealer is outside of Waynesville, NC)

You always have the local co-op and tnbarnqueen can tell you about a place she uses in Morristown that she likes. Decent prices over there also.

 

[chigger bait]

Well just let me say I am glad we are going to be next to each other in Nov.

OK...all my chickens I show are white and light colors so here is what I do. First.Give bath at least 2 days before show. That way they have time to dry completely..you would not believe how long it takes even if you use a blow dryer..use baby shampoo so if you get any splashes in their eyes it will not irritate. Actually most chickens love taking a bath. Just scrub them up and make sure you rinse and rinse. I do a light conditioner rinse. Doing it 2 days early lets their natural oils come back to make them shiny. Take a toothbrush and clean their feet down to their toenails. If you are showing a feathered legged breed put on them booties. The morning of show do any spot cleaning and put a little vaseline on their wattles and combs.
Hope this helps!
Here is Snow my Ameracuana getting ready for show time.



here is my SG Cockerel that I am showing in Nov.

Ok, I was just wondering how it was done.

Years ago, when I was a boy, I use to show beef cattle, and knew there was a lot of work to getting them ready for the ring.

No less for poultry from what I can see.

So you still need to wash your whites and colors separately?

 

[jfaith51]

Here are some links to some feed companies. You can check the website to find the closest dealer to you, some like the ranch n Asheville are pick up only

http://poultry.purinamills.com/NUTRITIONMANAGEMENT/FeedTypes/default.aspx

http://www.kentfeeds.com/products/poultry/HF/homeFresh.php

http://www.countrysideorganics.com/home.php

http://ashevilledoublegranch.com/Organic_Animal_Feed.html

http://www.windyacrestn.com/?page_id=12 ( organic grain to mix your own in Orlinda, TN)

http://burkmannfeeds.com/ (they have a location in Greeneville, TN)

http://www.blueseal.com/poultry/ (closest dealer is outside of Waynesville, NC)

You always have the local co-op and tnbarnqueen can tell you about a place she uses in Morristown that she likes. Decent prices over there also.

For future reference 'asheville double g ranch' is no longer in business.

 

[chigger bait]

Well I have some good news, I think.

Out of 22 chicks, we had one rooster.

I think he has a slipped tendon, because one of his toes points to the outside at a 90 degree angle, so we named him Bent Toe.

Three days ago Bent Toe comes up missing.

I figured something or someone put the snag on him.

This morning, there he is, fit as a fittle, none the worse for wear, fat and sassy, not a feather out of place.

The only thing I can figure out is that he found a slop pile some where and staked his claim out on it.

Or else someone had him penned up and he flew the coop.

 

[sevierchickens]

thank you bairo. It was very nice meeting you!!! We love the chickens we got from you. They laid their eggs today and settled in to the coop and seem to love it!!
Hope to see you at the Cocke County thing and chat more chicken!

Thank you contrastphoto for the beautiful chicken we got from you as well...They are beautiful, especially that little swedish rooster, he seems to like it here!!

And thank you to BYC forum to getting us in contact with other chicken people. Hoping to learn a lot and have these wonderful chicken flourish here.

 

[TNBarnQueen]

@Chigger...chickens are a breeze compared to getting a horse ready to show. There are a few things you can do (which horse showers do) in preparing your chicken for the show. Like Purple Power shampoo for horses that makes their white really white...same with black and browns.

I have an interesting conversation with the new manager of TSC in Morristown. They had not had many chicken supplies for a long time..I mean the shelves where pretty much bare (except feed) I asked to talk to him and ask why they where not stocking many things now. I also brought up the point that chickens are becoming a large hobby and business in this area and they may want to consider other places people like was having to go to get what we needed. I also brought up the point in not carrying many products like Oxine..etc. He said he would get with Corporate and ask them about this. He has been with them for some time and is a local so he knows what I was saying was true. When I was in a few days later he gave me a copy of an email he sent to corp. Here is what he said....
"These following skus have been at zero or low quantity for several weeks. The amount of customer complaints are rising in the poultry section of the feed racks concerning the availibility of products and inconsistent stock of these items. We have also had many request for medical products such as one called Oxine. I think it is a kind of respiratory infection agent for poultry. It would not hurt to have a wider variety of product in this category. Some customers have invited me to follow some online message boards of local customers and their poultry hobbies in the area. Any info you can give us would be much appreciated."

I was in there Monday and you would not believe how full the shelves are of chicken supplies. A division rep. happen to be there and I got to meet him. I expressed my appreciation on having more products and how much I was sure those in our area would appreciate his efforts and corperates response. He is still working on medical products. Also he wants to start having the monthly farm day for those of us who want to bring chickens to sale and he could do advertising which I think was one downfall of the 1 they tried.. So...those of you who go into the morristown store...the managers name is Jake. Please if you see him or ask for him... tell him thank you and also offer suggestions of future products. I was very impressed that he actually listened to me. So....please let him know it was appreciated and buy a few things!!!

 

[TNBarnQueen]

OK....I am getting strange eggs from my little silkie hen. Here are 2 pics of 2 of them. It is like an egg inside another egg not fully formed..like a gel egg. Really strange.


This one was really stranger...it was almost 3 eggs. The part on the right was one and the rest an egg inside another gel egg.



Anyone else ever had this happen. She gets plenty of calcium in her laying pellets. Ideas??