Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[armorfirelady]

Quote: Hmmmm I never thought another hen could be laying to. I have one whos comb & wattles are the same size as the one I know is laying cuz I watched her But u know now that you say that it might make sense. 2 girls have been hanging out more in there...Bossy who is laying & another. And some days I found the egg by 10 am and 2 other days after 3 pm and 2 days no egg. I just thought bossy was trying to still figure out the whole laying process since she just started. I will have to take a better look at todays egg & see if its the same size as Tuesdays.....no egg yesterday.

I know in winter they slow down & since its cold now the time would be right for that. But do newly started hens lay inconsistently when they start also?

 

[aoxa]

Hmmmm I never thought another hen could be laying to. I have one whos comb & wattles are the same size as the one I know is laying cuz I watched her But u know now that you say that it might make sense. 2 girls have been hanging out more in there...Bossy who is laying & another. And some days I found the egg by 10 am and 2 other days after 3 pm and 2 days no egg. I just thought bossy was trying to still figure out the whole laying process since she just started. I will have to take a better look at todays egg & see if its the same size as Tuesdays.....no egg yesterday.

I know in winter they slow down & since its cold now the time would be right for that. But do newly started hens lay inconsistently when they start also?

In the winter they are more inconsistent than if they were to start laying in the spring, but they should lay relatively well.. That is depending on breed of course. I would expect a barred rock who started laying today to be pretty consistent over this winter. An Orpington or a Cochin? No not at all.

I must have missed where you mentioned her breed

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote:
Partridge rocks that are 31 weeks old. Guess Monday when I am home during the day again I will need to do some more chicken tv......or perhaps by then if there are 2 laying they will both lay on the same day to help take the guess work out lol
Thanks Aoxa for your help

 

[notinoz2007]

so my chickens have been on ff for close to a month i think. last week i gave a few chickens to my mom and she feeds hers regular crumble until she can get her own ff system going. she was telling me that one hen wouldnt come down off the shelf to eat, the other hens wouldnt let her. i said not to worry that she will eat when hungry but holy cow, yesterday i got home from work and she tells me that hen died in the night!
so i have some questions for those of you who have had chickens longer than me (not quite a years experience here!):
wont a chicken eat when hungry even if they have to snatch it and run?
could it possibly be because of change in feed?
how do you do a chicken autopsy (or do you even bother)? just like butchering i guess, but what would i even look for? wont matter this time because she now resides in the black barrel by the street..
thanks for your ideas.

 

[aoxa]

Partridge rocks that are 31 weeks old. Guess Monday when I am home during the day again I will need to do some more chicken tv......or perhaps by then if there are 2 laying they will both lay on the same day to help take the guess work out lol
Thanks Aoxa for your help

Well I have never had them, and am not sure how different they are in their laying compared to the barred variety. I do think they should be pretty similar, and if two ARE laying, you should get a two egg day. How long have they been laying? Any day you got two in one day? Even if one was early in the morning and one later in the afternoon.

 

[aoxa]

so my chickens have been on ff for close to a month i think. last week i gave a few chickens to my mom and she feeds hers regular crumble until she can get her own ff system going. she was telling me that one hen wouldnt come down off the shelf to eat, the other hens wouldnt let her. i said not to worry that she will eat when hungry but holy cow, yesterday i got home from work and she tells me that hen died in the night!
so i have some questions for those of you who have had chickens longer than me (not quite a years experience here!):
wont a chicken eat when hungry even if they have to snatch it and run?
could it possibly be because of change in feed?
how do you do a chicken autopsy (or do you even bother)? just like butchering i guess, but what would i even look for? wont matter this time because she now resides in the black barrel by the street..
thanks for your ideas.

I think there may have been something wrong with the hen. Chickens wouldn't let her off the shelf.. Sounds like she may have been ill, and they would have killed her if she showed weakness. Saw it before.

What is your mom's set up like? If you gave her a few hens, why was only one being kept from the food? Is it crowded?

 

[notinoz2007]

the run is essentially a 4x4 cube, we live in az so it has an open air coop attached which is an additional 1.5 ft deep that has a nesting box, roost, and poop shelf. mom said the hen spent most of her time on the poop shelf which i thought was strange. she had 4 chickens in that space (3 now) is that adequate space? the only one mom caught picking on her was the dominant hen. the rooster loves everyone and the other was her hatch mate and best friend. thats why i thought it would just sort itself out. the chickens free range during the day and i assumed the hen came down and ate when the other ones were in the yard. thinking back on it tho maybe we injured her when we caught and transported her... both her and her sister were feisty little ladies at my house and not the easiest to catch. now i feel really bad, like what if we broke her wing or pulled something out of joint. are chickens that delicate?

 

[Lacy Blues]

Depending upon how high strung they are, the stress of moving to a new home, the change of pecking order,, the change of diet. All of it put together could be enough to take its toll on her. Another consideration is if she may have had mites. I never move a bird, even to another location on my own property, without first giving them a good yogurt for a couple of days. Maybe I baby them too much, but I haven't lost one to a move yet.

Perhaps you could spare some of your ff to help the birds at your Mom's place until she gets hers going?

IMHO, a 4x4 square is too small for that many birds.

ETA: I don't mean to sound severe. I hope I didn't come across that way. I apologize if I did. I hope your birds are ok and can adjust to their new lives quickly.

 

[aoxa]

the run is essentially a 4x4 cube, we live in az so it has an open air coop attached which is an additional 1.5 ft deep that has a nesting box, roost, and poop shelf. mom said the hen spent most of her time on the poop shelf which i thought was strange. she had 4 chickens in that space (3 now) is that adequate space? the only one mom caught picking on her was the dominant hen. the rooster loves everyone and the other was her hatch mate and best friend. thats why i thought it would just sort itself out. the chickens free range during the day and i assumed the hen came down and ate when the other ones were in the yard. thinking back on it tho maybe we injured her when we caught and transported her... both her and her sister were feisty little ladies at my house and not the easiest to catch. now i feel really bad, like what if we broke her wing or pulled something out of joint. are chickens that delicate?

No they aren't that delicate.

Like poster above, I think that all the things combined could have done her over. I am not really sure though.. Seems strange to me.

 

[notinoz2007]

i dont take it as severe at all, i need to know these things and you all provide me with so much information i appreciate it greatly. i was hoping the space would be adequate since they free range but we will make adjustments later this month. we originally made it for just 2 hens, but there is this thing called chicken math...
no mites that i can tell and we dust as a preventative. thank you for the tip about yogurt, not moving more any time soon but i do like to give them a treat every now and then.
yes i have offered the ff but i think i just might take her some and get her started this weekend. i can probably add extra to mine tomorrow and just take excess for her. i bet the birds miss the ff.
thank you