MJ's little flock

[BDutch]

Not exactly thrilled with Mary's positioning, but she knows better than I do.

View attachment 3969086

What is she doing?

 

[Perris]

I knew you were going to say that.

I just don't have the capacity.

you have food in the fridge and the cupboards, surely? Generally speaking, they can eat what you can eat.

 

[BDutch]

Ok people, may I have your opinions please.

1. This chick starter or
2. this chick starter?

I wouldn’t give medicated feed if there is no reason to suspect coccidiosis.

I always give poison-free (organic) chick feed or broiler feed. Crumble or pellets, depends whats available* for chicks that need to grow. Never had problems with any of them.

The first two weeks I give them mash (wet feed).
After 5 days when the mamas leave the coop they search for tiny insects to feed the chicks as an extra. And I start to give them a little extras too. Like very tiny grass cuttings, dried mealworms, fruit, healthy leftovers. A little scratch after 2-3 weeks.

*The mill where I used to buy (organic only) changed supply quite often and had no choice. There’s no option for 0-6 weeks old chicks.
Some times I bought at the pet/agri shop. But they changed to small bags only and is ridiculously expensive with organic chick feed.
Since last year I buy from a large feed factory with good prices. The bags are 20 kg but the hens eat it too when I have chicks walking around and in autumn/winter when they start to moult and stop laying.

 

[ManueB]

I would also worry about giving medicated feed that comes with the warning not to give to laying hens, unless you really plan for them not to mingle at all for quite a while and can ensure that the other hens will not get in the chick starter at all.

I give starter to all my flock that is not organic. They like it a lot, but I could never actually get chicks to eat enough of it ! Both my broodies would not let them. So my chicks ate a bit of human food (soaked bread and scrambled egg), a lot of the whole grains the adult eat, fermented and dry, and also some of the layer feed because strangely the broody did not stop them from eating that.

 

[RoyalChick]

Ok people, may I have your opinions please.

1. This chick starter or
2. this chick starter?

I don’t like either.
They are both medicated and both have warnings about not giving to hens laying fertile eggs.
The first has a lot of calcium and the second doesn’t provide a full ingredient analysis.
What do you feed the big girls?

 

[BY Bob]

She's up!

The eggs look perfectly fine to me. I don't think they need cleaning at all. Not even with a dry cloth.

View attachment 3968275

However I thought the straw was too thin. Mary had compressed it to 2cm which didn't seem to offer much insulation.

So I bulked it up.

With Mary off the nest, I also took the opportunity to measure up the nest box compartment so its slatted floor can be covered up. 28x60cm to accommodate the uprights in the corners. There's also a 7cm barrier between nest compartment and roosting compartment. I'm thinking about what to use in the nest compartment. Lightweight, non-toxic, 7cm thick. I'll pack around the sides with sand. Maybe a piece of foam insulation cut to size and wrapped in two sealed pillowcases?

View attachment 3968284

View attachment 3968285

Last night I didn't notice Mary has some straw stuck to one spur, which opens the possibility she broke the first egg.

Anyway here she is fresh from the nest.

She sure is noisy.

 

[MaryJanet]

What is she doing?

Sitting on her eggs.

 

[MaryJanet]

you have food in the fridge and the cupboards, surely? Generally speaking, they can eat what you can eat.

It's not quite that straightforward. Peggy suffered a liver fracture from eating too much of what I eat (in that case, bread Iirc). The hens eat the pellets prescribed by the vet. Recently to help Katie recuperate, a grain mix has been added to their diet but now she's in clear, the current batch is the last batch.

And your assumptions about what I have on hand are way off.

 

[MaryJanet]

I wouldn’t give medicated feed if there is no reason to suspect coccidiosis.

I always give poison-free (organic) chick feed or broiler feed. Crumble or pellets, depends whats available* for chicks that need to grow. Never had problems with any of them.

The first two weeks I give them mash (wet feed).
After 5 days when the mamas leave the coop they search for tiny insects to feed the chicks as an extra. And I start to give them a little extras too. Like very tiny grass cuttings, dried mealworms, fruit, healthy leftovers. A little scratch after 2-3 weeks.

*The mill where I used to buy (organic only) changed supply quite often and had no choice. There’s no option for 0-6 weeks old chicks.
Some times I bought at the pet/agri shop. But they changed to small bags only and is ridiculously expensive with organic chick feed.
Since last year I buy from a large feed factory with good prices. The bags are 20 kg but the hens eat it too when I have chicks walking around and in autumn/winter when they start to moult and stop laying.

I don't believe there are organic options on the market, but I'll look again.

 

[Perris]

It's not quite that straightforward. Peggy suffered a liver fracture from eating too much of what I eat (in that case, bread Iirc). The hens eat the pellets prescribed by the vet. Recently to help Katie recuperate, a grain mix has been added to their diet but now she's in clear, the current batch is the last batch.

And your assumptions about what I have on hand are way off.

I understand.