Nevadans?

[NevadaRon]

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I left one on all night last year. They didn't seem to mind it at all. I just used a regular 100 watt bulb. But chickens like red light (they see better in it) so a heat lamp would probably be just fine. Just make sure you secure the light really well so there's no chance of it falling - you could start a fire in your coop that way!

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Thanks

 

[Peep_Show]

Quote:
Chickens really are about the closest thing designed to being the perfect scavenger...they can eat just about anything. (And there are a few things they shouldn't) The joys of homegrown eggs is that the yolks will be brighter than the pale ones brought home from the store created by birds that eat bare minimum standards of protein chicken kibble, and the whites from homegrown eggs belie the fact that store-bought eggs hang around and liquify a tad too long.

The more varied the diet, the the better I think for health and mental health of your chicken....afterall, how would you feel eating cereal meal-in and meal-out? I'd have to look it up, but I think there is a minimum protein ratio for optimal hen health.

I have heard, however, that the water content of the food can boost the size of the egg. Feeding your chickens, for example, cucumbers will create a bigger egg. (Plus in the summer it's a nice way to make sure your chickens get enough fluids and don't dehydrate) It's also a nice *green* symbiotic existence for the chicken and veggie garden cycle... I love it when food doesn't go to waste, be it leftovers, discards or scraps.

When I gave my meaties alfalfa, the flavor of the meat was so purely good and chickeny it was surreal. The turkeys were almost sweet in flavor. Probably because alfalfa supposedly has purifying properties. I stumbled upon the flavor difference there by accident as I was trying different calciumhosphorus ratios to try to eliminate sprung tendons in the cornish rock crosses. It turned out that alfalfa + cottonseed meal worked the best as a supplement with regular chicken food. I've had relatives come up to me and say "The best chicken dinner I've ever eaten...." The flavor and texture of a homegrown chicken is on par with the difference of homegrown v. store-bought eggs and some folks just don't get to experience regularly the luxury that the simple life of chicken keeping can afford....

 

[NevadaRon]

I'll have to try the cottonseed meal - I hadn't heard of that one before! Where did you get it?

 

[chicharomirinda]

Hello! One of my big reports is just about ready to submit and I have survived!

Regarding the alfalfa, how does that come? In a big bale or bag or what? I give my chickens a little scratch every day and kitchen scraps. they still eat plenty of their crumbles.

aubrey, good luck on the goat mating!

ron, that was quite a miracle that you could walk after your accident!

 

[NevadaRon]

Hi Elizabeth! I buy bales of the alfalfa, prices are up to about $17 a bale. Look for good, green stuff - they don't show any interest if it's brown. As long as you keep it dry, it will last a long time. When you open a bale, it comes apart in flats. I just take a flat, pull it apart in clumps and toss it around. They pick and scratch through it for hours, and will have spread out a nice layer of straw by the time they are done.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

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A bale will last a LONG time with my ladies! I guess that's on my shopping list for the next feed store trip.

 

[NVChickHens]

I feed my hens layer for the added protein over scratch. They get all of our table scraps and vegetable trimmings. I don't give them meat of any kind or egg shells. I also give mine alfalfa by default. When I clean out my steer's pen his chaff and pies go in the chicken coop. They are more than happy to pick through every bit of it and eat what they want. This is also a great way to keep the fly and bug population down that normally surrounds livestock. The chickens eat flies, larva, and any other bug that hangs around cow pies. Chickens will eat just about anything you throw to them, but you have to get over the fact that will eat things that we would not. My girls are happy though every time I throw in a fresh can of cow leftovers.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Both meat and egg shells are excellent for chickens.


Meat provides lots of protein.


Egg shells help resupply calcium back for the next shell to be created.



My birds are feed a high protein feed. Higher than layer feed, due to the fact that my birds are 1 - not caged layers (which is what layer feed is tested on to meet the minimum requirements of protein) and 2 - are fed other things - kitchen scraps, butcher scraps, garden access in fall, horse manure access year round, - so I want to be sure the commercial feed I am giving them has extra protein to offset the lower protein stuff they may eat on their own.


Plus, I am a bit of a stickler about them getting enough protein to develop muscle mass, develop good strong feathers and still be able to produce eggs.


I also do not like that layer feed basically crams calcium down the birds throat. Mine get oyster shells/egg shells free choice and the birds always know how much they individually need.



Mine also love a hay. We get a alf/grass mix for the horses and the birds go thru a bale a week. The left over is great in the compost for the garden.

sorry off my soap box




At our house the food chain is similar - humans first , then chickens, then dogs and then well, nothing is left after the dogs

 

[2seth2]

what food cant you give chickens?



Abrie if you get baby goats we want pics