Nevadans?

[chickee]

It was windy here today too! Not as bad as it sounds out in Nevada though!

Oh how funny that must look Missy and very cute as well.

I put a bit of grit in iwth my chics since one of them had a bit of runny yesterday. All cleared up today so I took it back out until I get home and then will put it back in.

I couldn't let my chickens out this morning because the winds were so bad. The gusts were hitting really hard. I can't wait until they can get out again.

 

[chickee]

OK, I have the flu and keep messing up my posts! I better quit for the day

 

[chickee]

I just remembered, and wanted to add that last year Kirstie lost half of her chicks to a thiamine deficiency caused by medicated feed. So it blocks thiamine not B12. I stand corrected

 

[2seth2]

i use metacated is that bad?

 

[chicharomirinda]

Don't get me started on medicated feed! Most of you know my opinions on that subject. I feed flock raiser and I do make a watery mash for them when they are little (or stressed). I use the chick vitamin powder too, mixing up a gallon at a time cause it is too much to do it each time they need clean water. I also put the littlest ones in a separate brooder til they catch up like Elizabeth mentioned. Candy is right. Unless you are going to carry the little tyke around all day it is too stressful for them to be alone.

Oh egg yolk is an excellent source of B12. Try feeding your chick some egg yolk.


Ron I can't wait to see pics of Poppy's babies (or Grand babies).

I'm going to definitely get the chick vitamin powder for the april day olds. I didn't have that with my first group and it would have been a good idea. good to know about the egg yolk too.

As I give these chicks more space, a lot of chicken-testosterone is flying! Based on their behavior and combs, I estimate...
1:1 older BLRW, 1:1 new BLRW
1:1 older lavender, 2:3 new lavender
1:1 marans (one is VERY aggressive for such a little squirt)
all 4 of the black split, old and young, act docile
1:2 buff x wheaten
both wheaten/BW act docile, and I have a baby that's feathering out GORGEOUSLY and hope it's a girl.

It'll be fun to see if your predictions are accurate. I think i have 3 pullets of the BLRW not sure on 1 and 3 look quite rooish with their combs. 1 pretty clear roo of the black split, 1 pretty clear roo of the lavenders.

These are my first hatches with the Ameraucanas so I am not even sure of the color on my three 6 1/2 wk old rooster chicks. I thought they were all three blue wheaten, but two look like wheaten now. I am no expert, so I will be learning through all the chick pictures you guys post

well, you're more of an expert than me! Hope you feel better soon!

 

[SunnyDawn]

I just remembered, and wanted to add that last year Kirstie lost half of her chicks to a thiamine deficiency caused by medicated feed. So it blocks thiamine not B12. I stand corrected

Ah that explains it! I was wondering why you recommended oats for a B12 deficiency. B12 is the one B vitamin that is absorbed best through animal products and is why most vegetarians are deficient in B12. Thiamine is also known as B1 so it is easy to confuse the two.

i use metacated is that bad?

Well the only thing the medicated feed protects against well is Cocci. It does do a good job of stopping that but unfortunately it reduces a chicken's abilty to fight off other diseases. Many of which are much more lethal then Cocci. Cocci is rarely lethal when caught and treated but in studies done by several universities they found out that the medicated birds succumbed to other diseases much more often than the chicks fed non-medicated feed. It apparently messes up their immune system much like a human that has been given antibiotics too often.

 

[chickee]

Just watch your chicks closely to be sure they are feeling well. If they act sluggish I would stop the medicated feed. You can add wheatgerm to their feed and the quick oats which are rich in Thiamine (vitamin B1) They only need to be on the medicated chick starter for three weeks according to an expert breeder of BLRWs. I don't use the medicated feed anymore and feed all my chickens Flockraiser. Chickens need to be exposed to Coccidiosis to become immune to it. In fact to continue to keep up their immunity they need to be exposed to Coccidiosis over and over during their lifetime.

i use metacated is that bad?

 

[SunnyDawn]

Forgot to add that DE is a natural way to treat Cocci. It does not interfere with the chickens immune system.

 

[chickee]

Sunny, How are the three pullets doing that I sent up to you? That was really hard for me to let them go! I still have 60 chickens and need to cut back some more

When I went to box them up, the clean faced pullet actually flew out of the box and ran back into the chick house. All of the pullets were screaming and the 3 roosters started trying to attack me! Sheesh was that tramatic!! I think the buff x wheaten pullet is the nicest I have hatched so far. I am looking forward to hatching a lot more of them for my buff project when I get back from our trip to Florida.

 

[chickee]

I didn't know that! I feed it to help keep there droppings drier to keep down the smell in the chicken house and the flies away in the chicken yard.

Forgot to add that DE is a natural way to treat Cocci. It does not interfer with the chickens immune system.