Nevadans?

[sherylreno]

Forgive me for my ignorance, I heard on BYC alfafa leads to impacted crops and was told not to feed them any.

I'm reading up on ducks all over the place and books too now that I have 3 Welsh Harlequinn's. According to the books, ducks don't get any parasites at all nor do they get much on diseases. It sounds like you don't need to quarantine them, is this true? People are buying ducks and putting them in with their ducks without doing anything and they are not having any issues either according to them.

The ducks are going into the coop run at night because we don't have predator proof housing for them yet, they stay there while we are at work too. We let them out when we get home and they run around with the chickens and go to their pond to swim. The ducks are also cleaning the chickens too, very strange but neat. The chickens let them do it. I don't think I"ll be having much issues with bugs this year after watching them do all this. It was so neat coming home to nice clean fluffy chicken butts.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Lol the last time I got a bale of alfalfa I stupidly just plopped it into the middle of the yard and the hens DESTROYED IT in a week.

 

[NVChickHens]

I don't give mine meat because we don't typically have meat left over for disposal. We eat it all! I have had issues with hens eating their own eggs after feeding them shells in the past. I know that it makes for stronger healthier shells in the future, but we decided to stop. I am all for feeding them to the girls if they can determine old from new.

 

[NevadaRon]

You have to grind them up first so they don't look like regular eggs!

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Quote:
Many people say this. But I can only tell you from personal experience. In my entire life, I have never had a crop bound bird - knock on wood (cause you know it is coming now

). I have always had horses and always had hay.


In fact in my flock now is this bird, she has been here since August of 09 and eats hay/alfalfa and grass all the time. I do not know why she had a problem before but not now. Personally I think she had a gizzard problem - maybe not enough grit for some reason - and so it caused a backup and crop statis BUT I am just guessing. In fact - this bird Chloe is who gives me the beautiful blue EEs when crossed with Versace
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=21291




Something to keep in mind

a healthy chicken can swallow a WHOLE mouse, have that mouse enter the crop and some how get to the gizzard to be ground up. A bit of grass stem or alfalfa stem should not cause them any trouble.



I don't know if I have posted this before, but it is an interesting read - showing how a chicken works from beak to well, the back end. http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Factsheets/Anatomy_and_Physiology/Anatomy_digestive.pdf

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Quote:
Personally I don't.........too much work. Use the egg, let the shell dry a bit, then throw them out. Maybe stomp on them as I walk by

I even take broken eggs from the coop and throw them into the yard, shell and all. The birds love to gobble these treats up and the dogs pout. My birds are not egg eaters - they do not go into the nest and destroy eggs. They do not even destroy those silly pullet eggs that sometimes are laid in the run or out in the yard.



YES - every bird will clean up a broken egg where the insides are exposed. And clean up leathery eggs that are broken. This is all natural as it helps to NOT attract predators.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

You can always tell a country chicken - some of the Orpingtons helping themselves.

 

[Peep_Show]

ShreylReno
I used to get pigeon grit and throw that in for the chickens...Never had an impacted crop with the gluttonous meaties and that was when I'd just lean a flake of alfalfa against a wall and not think too much of it.

NevadaRon

I got the cottonseed meal at the local feed store (where I also bought my pigeon grit). You could buy it cheaper in bags or go for the per pound bin. At one point it was going to be the next new superfood for people (great for impoverished countries), but it has some enzyme or something in it that doesn't mix well with peoples and made it cost prohibitive to treat. Livestock tolerates it far better. It's very high in protein and complements the ingredients in alfalfa to make a good calciumhosphorus ratio.

HorseFeatherz

Lookit them fluffy butts!

Gorgeous!

 

[vegaschick]

Quote:
Man! I wish I'd been on here a week earlier...I'd have loved to have stuck a few eggs in. In fact, my dad and I had been talking about getting a hold of you about hatching out some mutts of ours before I get rid of the two boys I let grow out this summer. Oh, well! Now I'll have to be satisfied with helping you get rid of your extras.

I'd love to have some Wheaten Marans and I may know a few other folks who'd like some too...and not just only the girls. I have some friends I get eggs from when mine go broody and I am unashamedly stacking the deck as to what kind of mixes I'd like to hatch out from them. I helped them get a BlueCM roo from ke_ben and now their BO roo has passed I think they'll be in the market for another boy.

 

[sherylreno]

Quote:
Many people say this. But I can only tell you from personal experience. In my entire life, I have never had a crop bound bird - knock on wood (cause you know it is coming now

). I have always had horses and always had hay.


In fact in my flock now is this bird, she has been here since August of 09 and eats hay/alfalfa and grass all the time. I do not know why she had a problem before but not now. Personally I think she had a gizzard problem - maybe not enough grit for some reason - and so it caused a backup and crop statis BUT I am just guessing. In fact - this bird Chloe is who gives me the beautiful blue EEs when crossed with Versace
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=21291




Something to keep in mind

a healthy chicken can swallow a WHOLE mouse, have that mouse enter the crop and some how get to the gizzard to be ground up. A bit of grass stem or alfalfa stem should not cause them any trouble.



I don't know if I have posted this before, but it is an interesting read - showing how a chicken works from beak to well, the back end. http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Factsheets/Anatomy_and_Physiology/Anatomy_digestive.pdf

Oh my gosh Genny! I didn't have a clue you have her now. This has been going around BYC for so long, most people bookmark this page just in case. I'm one of them, though I'm not sure I could really do the surgery until I must do it. Now the chickens free range everyday just not a ton right now 3 days a week due to working, John and I ride together Tues - Thurs then I'm off for 2 days and he's off for 2 days and on those 4 days everyone is out at sunrise to sundown. I have oyster shell and I feed them their egg shells in their own containers and nothing else. I've never bought grit before because they have everything they need in the yard and I see them scoop up the dirt as needed. Bella was one when she finally started eating again on her own she would take mouthful of dirt scooping it in as fast as she could once she started on regular food.

I think I'm doing this right.

But does anyone quarantine their ducks when they first get them? Everything I read tells me you don't need to because they don't get anything that passes to the others. Is this actually true? Any experience here because I'm a total newbie to ducks. I've never had ducks ever in my life.