Michigan

[NovaAman]

Mine have the oyster shell also because of the little ones. But, I feed them back their egg shells A LOT! Could try some tums.

 

[M.sue]

Good Morning everyone!

Busy weekend. We finally invested in a patio set. OH how glorious it is to now be able to sit on my deck at night. :: cheers :: My DH also installed a ceiling fan in our bedroom. Now...I am sleeping in luxury. LOL My birds are all braving the heat nicely. The only problem I am having is that they are not taking advantage of the oyster shell I've left out for them. They are starting to break eggs, especially the younger ones that are exploring the nest boxes during the day. I may have to switch back over to layer pellets but I really wanted to wait until the little ones were older.

I mix my oyster shell right into my 50 lb. bag of feed. Just scoop and serve. It seems at times that they eat the feed & leave the shell. Other times they seem to eat it. They seem to know when their bodies need it. As for the egg breakers can't really say much except when it happened to me a couple of times I just made sure I collected several times throughout the day and made sure I cleaned the nest out well so there were no remains of the broken eggs. Hate when that happened....a slimey mess!

 

[M.sue]

Mine have the oyster shell also because of the little ones. But, I feed them back their egg shells A LOT! Could try some tums.

Do you let them dry out for a certain period of time before feeding them back to your hens?

 

[NovaAman]

Nope. When over I boil or make scramble, I just chuck the shells into the chicken yard. A bit of the whites make them go bye bye fast.

 

[SillyChicken]

Good morning all.......looks like no break from the heat. Rain passed by us yesterday, all we got was some heavy winds.

Hope everyone has a great week.. off to Kentucky for me for a va ca! Cya!

Happy 4th!

 

[Opa]

While it is true that very few coons carry rabies and that a rabid coon will die from rabies it takes a while during that period they are dangerous. So caution must be exercised when handling coons due to the possibility. However, the leading health issue with raccoon is canine distemper. Most carry the virus and they are the leading carriers in the country. Your dogs need not come in contact with the animal as it is spread via their feces.

While I never like the idea of killing unnecessarily, when populations of any species becomes to abundant problems occur. Raccoon numbers have reach record proportions and unfortunately action must be taken. While it is true that raccoons are mostly nocturnal there have been many instances of raccoons attacking chickens during daylight. Additionally they are very strong and determined and breach most enclosures.

 

[RBahmer]

Probably because I grew up on a farm and ended up having most of the varmits as pets my attitude is different from most that post here. But why bother trying to kill all the coons? They are almost exclusively active at night, when the birds should be locked up and safe from them. If they get into your feed, its a good indication that your bins aren't secure. Coons aren't carriers of rabies, if they get rabies they die of it, just like you or me. If you see a coon out in the open during the day, its very likely sick. If you are unable to build a coon proof pen, then build your chicken coop in the middle of your dog pen. Even if it were possible to kill all the coons in your area, either more coons would move in or something worse would fill the gap. Coons are easier to keep out than weasels. The initial effort and cost may be more, but in the long run its safer and more cost effective to work with your habitat than constantly trying to change it. I'm not trying to offend anyone, just hoping you will think about more effective ways to ensure the safety of your flock.

I beg to differ this with you. I'm not offended and I'm not trying to offend but you apparently you don't know raccoons like you think you do. I also have raised MANY raccoons along with a butt load of our other wildlife including possums, deer, fox, and coyote. I had 2 raccoons that I bought legally and they were raised in the house with us fron 4 weeks of their life until they died. One was 13 years old and the other one lived to be 16 years old. In their many years of being here they learned how to open bedroom doors, turn on the bedroom tv, unplug the air conditioners when they thought they were cold, and when I put dinner on the table they would crawl up in their high chairs to eat their dinner. Raccoons are very intelligent creatures and can do just about anything with their hands. I can easily keep a weasel out using hardware cloth but a raccoon climbs. And for the record... I don't kill them. I relocate them far away from my place.

 

[swampducks]

DH just told me he woke up in the early morning hours thought he heard roosters but he had this jazz flute music sort of also going through his head and the roosters were accompanying it. Beautiful music. Yup, I think he's lost it.

Gonna be hot today, 86 today, 97 tomorrow and 91 for Independence Day. I sure hope I am not catching DH's cold, I've been sneezing a lot this morning and feel a little sluggish. I WILL NOT let it ruin my pontooning holiday!

 

[1muttsfan]

I have to say I agree with trefoil, killing coons is an exercise in futility as removing the ones at your house 1. Opens the territory for more to move in and 2. Reduces population pressure, which causes females to have more and bigger litters. It is completely possible, although more expensive, to build coon-proof housing.

However, raccoons definately carry rabies, they (along with skunks and bats) are one of the primary sources of rabies encounters. Use caution when handling them, even if dead - gloves are a wise idea.

Babygirl my eggs have been thinner-shelled since using flock raiser. Now that my young birds are all over 14 weeks I have been thinking about mixing a little layer in with the flock raiser.

If you feed egg shells back to your birds, crush them up so that they don't look like eggs anymore or you may end up with egg eaters.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Two words: zinc lozenges.
I know i harp on them a lot, but they really do kick the cold right out of you, and if you start on them at the first sign you won't even get the cold. Just eat first, they can be a bit hard on an empty stomach. Also, any spicy food. Burns it right out. DH makes tomato soup and puts cayenne pepper in it, with a bunch of parmesan cheese in it. Works!

For the record, i don't hate the coons. Just the ones that go out of their way to try to eat my livestock. Remember, the ones we have around currrently also dragged the neighbor's flemish giant out of her burrow and ate her too, so even the rabbits are not immune.
................ Supposing they quit pestering my coop i will leave well enough alone, but the nightly tracks tell me i am going to lose some chickens somehow if i don't deal with this. Every night is them trying something new, and eventually they will find a way in. Wouldn't be an issue if they didn't have hands. ....:Sigh.:
eta. that i have a CAMPER and that's still not safe. I could put hardwire cloth on the windows, but if they want in bad enough.... and if i can open the windows from the outside that means they could too. We didn't have this many till this year, so i don't think that it is futile.