Maine

[MEMama3]

I'd be a little nervous, or skeptical of what's in the cat food to be honest. That's just me. If I was eating the eggs, I'd want to know what the hens are eating (or at least have the peace of mind of only feeding them things I am certain about). It's probably no big deal at all, but just something to think about! Cat food is certainly not "organic" feed, if you're going for that for your girls!

Cheers, Jazor

I totally agree and wouldn't give my girls friskies or anything like that. My kitties eat wellness core. I'm sure it still has preservatives, but it isn't loaded with a bunch of junk.

 

[Jazor]

I totally agree and wouldn't give my girls friskies or anything like that. My kitties eat wellness core. I'm sure it still has preservatives, but it isn't loaded with a bunch of junk.

Good news. I wasn't trying to be critical, either. Just was injecting a bit of opinion there to consider. I know we all have our own "good ideas" that don't always turn out to be as good as our intentions were when we crafted them--and sometimes it's hard to hear someone say that your idea may not be so good. I'm not the best at making constructive criticism/different opinions sound positive. Glad you took my message as intended, just some friendly advice/opinion!

I'm sure your cats also appreciate it! Good food for good pets

 

[lazy gardener]

I'd definitely give her a little more time. Her next lay cycle should give you bigger eggs. You might want to do a thread search on Cayenne pepper. It's an old timer remedy to kick start a reluctant hen into a new lay cycle. Could just be coincidence, the results that people report, but it certainly won't hurt anything!

Oh! Guess I wasn't thinking of that. Thanks!

I have this pretty little Americauna who isn't laying anymore. She is only 15 months old, but she hasn't laid an egg in over 2 months. Her diet is great, she looks great, not sick, has been wormed...the other hens are starting to lay better (I think they all went through their molt). We're set to process some meat birds in about a month...should I give this hen more time, or cull her?

Katysue: you might want to contact a couple of hatcheries to have them send you some catalogs. That should give you fodder to drool over until spring. Money does not have to be a deterrent. On any given Saturday, I can go to our local transfer station and pick up enough building materials to get a good start on a coop. You can also check out "packing crates". I often see some that are about 3' x 6' on top of the burn pile at the dump. Culled lumber at the lumber stores is sold for a fraction of the cost of premium lumber, and often not much better! Doors, windows, and building supplies are cheap, and paint can be had at the Habitat store for $2/gal., and hardware can be picked up at Mardens by the pound, also Mardens and the Habitat store sell hinges and fasteners (for doors and windows) for a fraction of the cost if you were to buy at Lowes. If you use salvaged wood, paint will cover a multitude of sins! It all depends on what kind of coop you want, and how long you want to wait to start your chicken enterprise. Your time won't be wasted if you spend the winter researching, and gathering materials for a spring build. (That's what I ended up doing.)

Just randomly posting here--I was wondering if I was still serious about the chickens because we haven't built anything yet (lack of immediate expendable income). I went on craigslist to see what was out there and, maybe, two or three entries down I was whining at my fiance "I want I want I want"...I guess I just needed a reminder as to why I wanted to do this in the first place.

MeMama3: Your chicken gruel sounds lovely. Nice, high protein mix. One of the chicken books I read last winter had a formula for adjusting protein in a chicken feed mix, and cat food was one of the high protein additives that was recommended.

I made a nice "chilly morning molt" breakfast for the girls this morning. It consists of scrambled egg cooked in olive oil with dry cat food. Once that comes off the stove it's mixed with thick prepared oatmeal that has flax seed mixed in. It sounds nasty, but they love it and seems to be helping them regrow their feathers. Added bonus, no one has slowed down in production. Coincidence?

Jazor, I understand your concern re: cat food if you're going for a organic approach. The other day, I took a very organic dead bird (one of the cat's lawn ornaments sans head) away from one of the pullets. She had a grip on it like a dog on a bone. However, the odor that was coming from that morsel was enough to gag a house fly! I doubt that there's any more junk in prepared cat food than there is in a bag of prepared chicken feed. I do wish I was set up to make my own organic feed, but I think the cost would be prohibitive... My main objection to prepared chicken food is that it's most likely stale by the time it gets to the consumer. But, I'd prefer to let my chickens have some cat food instead of the ripe left overs from the cat's most recent kill!! I just wish my chickens would leave my snakes and frogs alone!!

I'd be a little nervous, or skeptical of what's in the cat food to be honest. That's just me. If I was eating the eggs, I'd want to know what the hens are eating (or at least have the peace of mind of only feeding them things I am certain about). It's probably no big deal at all, but just something to think about! Cat food is certainly not "organic" feed, if you're going for that for your girls!

Cheers,
Jazor

 

[lazy gardener]

Re: the sod discussion: I'd give chicks sod from a lawn that has not been treated with insecticide or herbicides. I would definitely not give them purchased sod. I'm guessing that purchased sod would be very heavily laced with herb and pesticides, not to mention most likely a heavy nitrogen load.

 

[mlowen]

Re: the sod discussion: I'd give chicks sod from a lawn that has not been treated with insecticide or herbicides. I would definitely not give them purchased sod. I'm guessing that purchased sod would be very heavily laced with herb and pesticides, not to mention most likely a heavy nitrogen load.

Right on the treated area. Sometimes "sod" gets interpreted to mean "really, truly bought sod" and it just means "pull up a plug of grass & dirt for them."

 

[MEMama3]

Good news. I wasn't trying to be critical, either. Just was injecting a bit of opinion there to consider. I know we all have our own "good ideas" that don't always turn out to be as good as our intentions were when we crafted them--and sometimes it's hard to hear someone say that your idea may not be so good. I'm not the best at making constructive criticism/different opinions sound positive. Glad you took my message as intended, just some friendly advice/opinion! I'm sure your cats also appreciate it! Good food for good pets

Oh, I didn't think you were being critical. Very good constructive criticism

 

[Jazor]

I'd definitely give her a little more time. Her next lay cycle should give you bigger eggs. You might want to do a thread search on Cayenne pepper. It's an old timer remedy to kick start a reluctant hen into a new lay cycle. Could just be coincidence, the results that people report, but it certainly won't hurt anything!
Katysue: you might want to contact a couple of hatcheries to have them send you some catalogs. That should give you fodder to drool over until spring. Money does not have to be a deterrent. On any given Saturday, I can go to our local transfer station and pick up enough building materials to get a good start on a coop. You can also check out "packing crates". I often see some that are about 3' x 6' on top of the burn pile at the dump. Culled lumber at the lumber stores is sold for a fraction of the cost of premium lumber, and often not much better! Doors, windows, and building supplies are cheap, and paint can be had at the Habitat store for $2/gal., and hardware can be picked up at Mardens by the pound, also Mardens and the Habitat store sell hinges and fasteners (for doors and windows) for a fraction of the cost if you were to buy at Lowes. If you use salvaged wood, paint will cover a multitude of sins! It all depends on what kind of coop you want, and how long you want to wait to start your chicken enterprise. Your time won't be wasted if you spend the winter researching, and gathering materials for a spring build. (That's what I ended up doing.)
MeMama3: Your chicken gruel sounds lovely. Nice, high protein mix. One of the chicken books I read last winter had a formula for adjusting protein in a chicken feed mix, and cat food was one of the high protein additives that was recommended.
Jazor, I understand your concern re: cat food if you're going for a organic approach. The other day, I took a very organic dead bird (one of the cat's lawn ornaments sans head) away from one of the pullets. She had a grip on it like a dog on a bone. However, the odor that was coming from that morsel was enough to gag a house fly! I doubt that there's any more junk in prepared cat food than there is in a bag of prepared chicken feed. I do wish I was set up to make my own organic feed, but I think the cost would be prohibitive... My main objection to prepared chicken food is that it's most likely stale by the time it gets to the consumer. But, I'd prefer to let my chickens have some cat food instead of the ripe left overs from the cat's most recent kill!! I just wish my chickens would leave my snakes and frogs alone!!

Extremely valuable advice here. Great reply, this is exactly why people visit this forum!

Re: the sod discussion: I'd give chicks sod from a lawn that has not been treated with insecticide or herbicides. I would definitely not give them purchased sod. I'm guessing that purchased sod would be very heavily laced with herb and pesticides, not to mention most likely a heavy nitrogen load.

Smart call! I wouldn't have thought too much about it, to be honest. Glad you said something. I have a few areas that have been hit with grass seed, and although enough time has probably passed, it's not worth dumping a bunch of lawn fertilizer into your chicks! Good work.

Oh, I didn't think you were being critical. Very good constructive criticism

Cheers

 

[guesswhokatysue]

Lazy gardener--thanks for the advice. Most of that we have in the works for this weekend. I planned to scout out for those packing crates (we live near a John deer dealership) so I was hoping to grab some of those. Our stop Saturday is the Bargain Barn to see what they have for cheap (imperfect) wood. I can't wait to build. College loans come due soon, so hopefully I can save in building costs thanks for listing the other places..I forgot to look in mardens for the hinges when I was in there! Darn it! Hopefully after this weekend I can post pictures of our coop

 

[yankeehill]

Right on the treated area. Sometimes "sod" gets interpreted to mean "really, truly bought sod" and it just means "pull up a plug of grass & dirt for them."

This is where weeds come in handy. We don't spray weeds anylonger (long story, but hubs is finally contemplating organic foods as a serious thing). So all those grass clumps that grow in my fruit beds and garden get thrown into the compost for the chickens...they love to peck through them.

And an update on Miss Jasmine...she DID lay an egg this morning! She laid it in the nest box (true to her old self, she never lays outside the nest box). So was this a molt? She really didn't loose much feathers, not like I would have thought...nothing that makes me go 'Oh...she's in molt'. Of note is that her and a few other hens have bare backs from our old rooster (who is no longer with us). Their feathers are growing back on their backs.

And regarding the gruel mixture of oatmeal, eggs, and catfood...I would think any food that is added to their diet and is high in protein would help with feather development. What about wheat? They love it. And I think, depending on the catfood you buy, a 50# bag of wheat would probably be cheaper than feeding catfood. (I haven't bought any in years so am not versed in the prices)

 

[lazy gardener]

Yankee Hill: The protein content on my Purina One cat food is 34%. And I suspect that it's a complete protein: containing all of the necessary amino acids. I'm not sure how a cat and bird compare, but if an amino acid is deficient, the rest of the amino acids that are present can't be completely utilized. That's why, if one is a vegetarian, it's important to know how to put together a vegetarian diet with all of the essential ammino acids so he doesn't run into deficiency issues. Wheat would be much less expensive for sure, but I suspect that the protein content is also quite a bit less.

KatySue: if you have a Habitat store near you, check there for hinges and fasteners before going to Mardens. Habitat is definitely cheaper if you don't mind used! (I'm sure the chooks won't mind!) I can't wait to see pics of your coop. I'd post some of mine, but I'm a techno-dolt! I even have a flower pot gracing each front corner of my coop, and for the most part, the girls leave them alone!

FINALLY!!! I went to water the tomatoes in the green house today, and found my first red tomatoes. The garden got a super late start this year due to all the time I invested in building a tractor, coop, incubator, and raising chicks. At least with those tomatoes in the green house, they should last past the first frost!!!