"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[PrimroseMom1]

Pale combs and faces and gradual weight loss or a couple of signs or if you can see worms in the poop wich would mean an infestation. I use Wazine in the drinking water every 3-4 months followed by each a dose of Ivermec 12-14 days later, which is also good for external parasites also. But change it up every now and then. Wormazol Capsules for worms are easy to give but you gotta catch them all up individualy. I also give a table spoon of apple cider vinegar per gallon of water. for the first 7 days each month (just easy to remember when to do it) it lowers their ph level that parasites and bad bacteria cant thrive.

Thanks so much!!! As usual, great answers to any questions from you guys! I have never needed to open my Chicken Raising for Dummies book. I think I may just sell it.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

I use Wazine (piperazine) I do this a couple of times a year for preventative reasons I've never had an infestation by doing so I like to do this esp this time of the year as i don't have to chunk so may eggs after doing so (2weeks) to clean out of their systems before consuming meat or eggs. Don't know the dosage of Ivermectin per bird depends on the strength(%) of the product.

Kuntrygirl I water in 1 gallon drinkers/founts so its easy to distribute it out in the directed amount on the bottle by age/size of the birds. It has instructions for all different types of livestock on it available at most farm/animal supply stores.

The slowing of laying this time of year is due to the lesser amount of daylight hours (as chickens can't tell time

), LOL I got what you were referring to though

LOL It takes 14 hours of light stimulation to the pituitary gland is what in needed for a hens brain to secrete the hormones to tell her to go into full blown production mode. Also too this time of the year, the lesser light hours means less food consumption and also the cooler temps take some of the needed nutrients away from the production of eggs and puts this toward sustaining/regulating body temperatures. and this time.(lack of) also triggers hens to go into molt, therefore all the feed they eat is then turned into feather making/growing which are consisted of mostly dead proteins (keratin) which is the same things as hair, nails, skin, feathers, horn are created from. This takes a rich high protein diet to replace therefore egg production is placed on the back burner during this time. Then afterwards for a few weeks when the molt process is in and done, the hens will also use a lot of their feed nutrients and carbs to put on a fat layer/reserve for insulation for the cool months. All of this activity takes a lot of energy so the hens will usually rest a lot and are not as thrifty during these processes (of self preservation).

You can artificially stimulate the hens into production by adding lights to lengthen their daylight feeding hours and stimulate the brain to thinking its good to go and lay eggs also you can add heat to the their coops simulating a warmer season(like springtime), up the protein of their diets simulating an increase of rich foods which are more readily available in the warmer periods of the year. But in the end all this can take a toll on the hens and make them older than they really are due to stress. I like to let my girls go through this resting stage for a bit of time just to give them a break and keep them in good health for a long lengthy laying life and not wear them out in 2 years like those poor ol battery hens(google them if you want to see a wore out 2 year old layer). It cost a lot of money to raise up brand new pullets every year to replace old wore out 2 year olds, you'd have to have a pen full of young pullets growing out all year long to keep the "out with old and raggedy and in with the new frugal/thrifty layers"(not in my budget) I'm small scale/time on this account.

Good day to all ya'll La-yers and Byc-ers

Jeff

Thanks, Jeff, for another super lesson in Chicken Raising 101...or is it 102 by now. I don't know a lot, but I know LOTS more than when I started just last Easter! LOL

 

[TerriLaChicks]

Just talked to the surgical tech - Mal's in recovery & awake. The surgery went well.

Roxanne, he jumped off the bed while horsing around w/his sister Winnie & landed with his hind legs doing the "splits" and tore BOTH ACL tendons. He had surgery on the worst one a month ago, and now the other one. *deep sigh* these two dogs don't do anything by halves - they give it 150% of their best efforts & even though they will be 9 in May, both are "eternal puppies" - they never did grow up. They are retired showdogs - both black Cocker Spaniels.

Tomorrow morning we'll bring him home to start the long recovery process. He'll be spending the next week either in his crate or on a leash until his stitches come out; then he'll be moved to the foyer where I'll set up an x-pen & his crate & he can live there for the next six weeks unless he's out on a leash either w/one of us or tied to something so he won't try & jump up or run around & undo everything.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

Hey Roxanne, we're up to 10 big ink cartridges here at work if you still want them to recycle for your club - let me know!

 

[Roxanneinla]

Just talked to the surgical tech - Mal's in recovery & awake. The surgery went well.

Roxanne, he jumped off the bed while horsing around w/his sister Winnie & landed with his hind legs doing the "splits" and tore BOTH ACL tendons. He had surgery on the worst one a month ago, and now the other one. *deep sigh* these two dogs don't do anything by halves - they give it 150% of their best efforts & even though they will be 9 in May, both are "eternal puppies" - they never did grow up. They are retired showdogs - both black Cocker Spaniels.

Tomorrow morning we'll bring him home to start the long recovery process. He'll be spending the next week either in his crate or on a leash until his stitches come out; then he'll be moved to the foyer where I'll set up an x-pen & his crate & he can live there for the next six weeks unless he's out on a leash either w/one of us or tied to something so he won't try & jump up or run around & undo everything.

poor guy. That is just horrible to just play and then both tendons tore. owey ouch ouch...

 

[kuntrygirl]

Just talked to the surgical tech - Mal's in recovery & awake. The surgery went well.

Roxanne, he jumped off the bed while horsing around w/his sister Winnie & landed with his hind legs doing the "splits" and tore BOTH ACL tendons. He had surgery on the worst one a month ago, and now the other one. *deep sigh* these two dogs don't do anything by halves - they give it 150% of their best efforts & even though they will be 9 in May, both are "eternal puppies" - they never did grow up. They are retired showdogs - both black Cocker Spaniels.

Tomorrow morning we'll bring him home to start the long recovery process. He'll be spending the next week either in his crate or on a leash until his stitches come out; then he'll be moved to the foyer where I'll set up an x-pen & his crate & he can live there for the next six weeks unless he's out on a leash either w/one of us or tied to something so he won't try & jump up or run around & undo everything.

Glad to hear that Mal is doing good.

 

[Celie]

I finally got around to taking pics of the sheep pen that was built from using free white posts and recycled lumber that I found on Craigslist in 2010. Yea, it ONLY took us 2 years to finally get it up. This is another sheep pen that was built for them. Trying to have as less grass as possible to cut.

Good job on the fences, Kuntrygirl, did you put them up by yourself? I think all of those holes for the fencepost would be a little hard for me to do alone and another set of hands would be a lot easier than using clamps to hold the boards in place while nailing! Great looking sheep, too! What kind are they? I picture all sheep as long hairy short and fat! LOL Do you sell spring lambs? PM me it you do. I might be interested in buying a couple!

Has anyone on this thread ever attended a chicken sale at the TSC in Opelousas?

Nope, I have never been to Opelousas, that I can remember.

Thanks Jeff!

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger -- I'm only getting 1-2 or even ZERO from my 15 girls.

I went through that about 6 weeks ago, then 2 weeks went by and they started laying again. I am getting about 3 dozen a day, but use no artificial light or anything. On dreary days they might only lay 2 dozen, but when they stopped laying, the yards looked like a feather mattress blew up. The coops still look like they were having a pillow fight. I guess I need to get a feather vacuum. This summer, I have a lot of hens to cull. Some of mine are 7 years old, so they can't be laying all that well. I guess I'll have to find a way to pen them for a while to see who is laying and who is not, but they all free range together and roost in an open barn with the ducks, turkeys and geese. I am suppose to be getting a pair of white peas from a friend who raises them, but his wife had a stroke, so we haven't seen him much lately. Any advice or special needs, I should be aware of, before I get them? He doesn't have them caged or penned. They just run free on his property.

Pale combs and faces and gradual weight loss or a couple of signs or if you can see worms in the poop wich would mean an infestation. I use Wazine in the drinking water every 3-4 months followed by each a dose of Ivermec 12-14 days later, which is also good for external parasites also. But change it up every now and then. Wormazol Capsules for worms are easy to give but you gotta catch them all up individualy. I also give a table spoon of apple cider vinegar per gallon of water. for the first 7 days each month (just easy to remember when to do it) it lowers their ph level that parasites and bad bacteria cant thrive.

Call me stupid, but I have has chickens for 7 years and have never wormed them. I didn't know they had to be wormed. I do put ACV in everybody's water, but have never used any medication or fed medicated feed, either. I sell eggs to athletes, who don't want steroids in their food, so they can't buy eggs from a store and claim they are healthier if they are fertile. I don't know about that being true, but the yolks of my eggs tend to be orange and not yellow. My chickens are mostly big and fat, except for the smaller Eastereggers.

Quote:

I wish it were that easy for me to de-worm. I have to handle each and every chicken. I can't put the med in the water because the ducks and geese tend to squeeze their bodies in the water pans/dishpans that are placed in the yard and ruin the water. So every year at night, I have to sneak out in the coops and grab each and every chicken from the roost and let the games begin.

I guess my girls can't tell the difference because they are still shooting out eggs.

I agree with the out with the old and in with the new. I have been dreading putting leg bands on them so that I can tell their ages but I think I can't NOT do it anymore. I have to know the old girls from the new girls. Not looking forward to that.

If I can pen my hens into groups this summer, I will start culling the less productive ones and since I can't pen them all at the same time, I think I'll have to band the ones I want to keep as I go along, but what size and what type of bands should I use? When I first got my first chicks from the hatchery, I didn't know which breeds I wanted, so silly me, I bought all roosters! Yes pretty silly, but my thinking was that the roosters would be the most aggressive and largest for eating,so I could see which would me easiest to handle and which of the heavy birds would grow quicker and fatten fastest. My brother, who raised chickens before, said I was doing things backwards and walked away shaking his head. 3 out of 26 turned out to be hens, 2 Barred Rocks and a Speckled Sussex. Anyway, I tried to put very tiny rubber bands(like you would use in a toddler's hair) around their legs, but they kept pulling them off and playing football with them. LOL

Maybe they may slow up soon but I haven't seen a decrease at all. The only difference I see is that the eggs are HUGE with the new feed. I'm crossing my fingers they continue to spit those eggs out.

And I don't add any light. I don't believe in doing that. Makes me think of vending machines when I hear people adding light. Something just don't sound right about that there.

I agree, when the sun goes down, it goes dark! What kind of feed are you using? After their 2 week molt, I am getting huge eggs too. There are a few pullet eggs, from the hens just starting to lay for the first time, but I expect that. I don't sell pullet eggs. I use them myself or give them to the neighbors.But I started getting what I thought were big double yolkers, but when I candled them, they all had single yolks. But I haven't changed feed, lately. Does Purves, or whatever the feed store you use, sell name brand, have their own brand milled or use a lesser known brand? What % protein and how much for 50# or a pallet? I really want to fatten some Turkeys for Christmas and make sure my turkey hens have enough protein to lay really healthy eggs.

Glad to hear that Mal is doing good.

Me too!

 

[Cadjien_De_Louisiane]

Call me stupid, but I have has chickens for 7 years and have never wormed them. I didn't know they had to be wormed. I do put ACV in everybody's water, but have never used any medication or fed medicated feed, either. I sell eggs to athletes, who don't want steroids in their food, so they can't buy eggs from a store and claim they are healthier if they are fertile. I don't know about that being true, but the yolks of my eggs tend to be orange and not yellow. My chickens are mostly big and fat, except for the smaller Eastereggers.

Quote:

I hear ya, growing up my maw maw and paw paw had chickens and they never dewormed them either. I guess I have parasitophobia lol. I have alot of money invested in my fowl and just dont want to lose my breeders to any illnesses. Honestly I just started using ACV this year, thinking about starting to make it myself. I have entertained the idea of using just that. I guess im trying to convince myself that ACV itself would be good enough. I also have been reading where garlic is good to

My chickens yolks are more orange when they get to free range.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Thanks Celie. I didn't put the fence up. I have someone who puts up with my crazy recycling ideas (and running all over picking up free stuff from people on Craigslist ) and goes along with what I need done. LOL. We rented an auger and dug the holes. Before I got sheep, I thought about the hot Louisiana weather, so I chose hair sheep as opposed to wool. I WAS NOT going to be doing any shearing. If I were a knitter, I would have opted for the wool but that is a headache. I have both Barbado and Kathadin and I just love my little flock.

As far as feed for the chickens, over the last 6 weeks, I have changed from Flockraiser to 26% protein Gamebird Pellets from Petrus Feed Store along with cracked corn added to bring the protein down. I keep the protein high for the peas though. Terri can give you more information about Petrus feed because it is in her home town and she has been buying from them for years. All I know is that they make their own feed there and it is FRESH FRESH FRESH. The last time I was there, they were out of feed but had just started making some, so we waited about 1 1/2 hours to get our feed. The feed was so fresh, you could feel how warm it was. The feed that I get is $14.95 for a 50lb bag. The last trip that we took there, we filled up the back of the pickup truck. I bought the following:

(20) 50lb bags of the game bird pellets
(10) 50lb bags of cracked corn
(4) 50lb bags of sheep pellets
(1) 50lb bag of goat pellets
(2) 50lb bags of rabbit pellets

We were loaded down.

Most of that has lasted 30 days. I think I will have to increase the (20) 50 lb bags of game bird pellets to (25) 50 lb bags. I will also have to increase the 10 bags of cracked corn to about 20 bags. I add cracked corn to the sheep and goat pellets, so I will have to buy extra bags of corn for their diet. I think they enjoy the feed from Petrus. I can't say anything bad about it. It is worth it. I get a higher protein of healthy FRESH feed for a reasonable price. As opposed to getting OLD, molded, pricey feed from TRACTOR SUPPLY.

Tomorrow I will be driving to Alexandria to get another load. I won't be in the pickup truck so I will have to load my SUV with whatever I can. Too bad I don't have those little mini trailers, I could put the feed on that. From what I understand, they deliver to Opelousas, so I want to get on their list to have the feed delivered. I will have to call them ahead of time to let them know that I'm coming for a big load so they can be ready for my order.

I will have to look at the bands that I have. Someone gave them to me, so I"m not sure right off.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Good morning La-yers! I hope that everyone has a great day and a greater weekend.

If anyone received the email from BYC/Nifty about the Purina coupon (Buy 2 bags and get $10.00 off) and won't be using it, can you please let me know. I would like to get the coupons and give them to the older man that I am working with to get his flock healthy and on the right feed. I'm trying to get him to STOP feeding just cracked corn to his hens but you know Old Tymers believe in throwing out that cracked corn and nothing else. You can print the coupon out 2 times. I don't use Purina anymore since I switched to Petrus, so I can't use the coupons to get the savings. (and really don't care for Purina anymore ) but for him and his chickens, he will be ok.

Just PM me and I can send you my mailing address. I appreciate it if anyone could pass them on to me. THANKS!