New Member- Need some helpful ideas.

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As it gets cold and the daylight is shorter they will not lay as much...or at all. Some chickens pretty much stop laying and take a break for winter. They are probably fine just the natural process of reproduction as winter would not be a great time to raise chicks. Be careful on getting a roo. You might want to research alot before commiting to it. There are ALOT of horror stories here on BYC of roos and kids. I have a roo and he is a gem! If he wasn't, I would have to butcher him. I also believe my hens would prefer NOT having a rooster as they do not paticularly enjoy his attention. I think if I had it to do over again I probably would have liked to try just having hens. He does help keep watch as the girls free roam. But this is really the only benefit I have seen.
 
mommyof4 said:
I have learned so far they do not like pumpkins, which I am not sure why, but have found out they just absolutely love spaghetti, this morning I gave them some and also gave them their cracked corn and half of them choose the spaghetti noodles over the corn. I gave them a watermelon and so far nobody has tried it.
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If I recall, make sure the spaghetti and similar treats are just that, treats. Not a lot of food value in spaghetti, or white rice for that matter. True for chickens AND people. Mine prefer the pumpkin guts over the flesh. Of course they have some trouble eating the seeds since unlike BOSS they are too big to swallow whole. But in time they clean up the flesh to the rind. Watermelon was reasonably popular this summer but since it has gotten cold, it may not be as interesting. They like the fried crunchy things that the Chinese restaurant gives when we get soup. Have to crush them first though. Hard to chomp with no teeth. I haven't gotten cracked corn yet.

mommyof4 said:
but with work, 4 kids,three dogs, a cat, 2 morning doves, and 5 chickens I don't have a lot of time for myself.
Thank you all
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No, really?
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Bruce
 
Hi all, I hope you all had a good thanksgiving. I have been super busy, and lately my girls have too, the last couple of days they have been laying everyday, and finally got a chance to taste a fresh egg and I have to say WOW they r much better then store bought. I do have one question, one of my girls is digging a hole and rolling around in the dirt, why?

Thank you all
 
mommyof4 said:
I do have one question, one of my girls is digging a hole and rolling around in the dirt, why?
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Because they LIKE to!
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It is called a dust bath, though mine also do it in the shavings in the run. Though she looks REALLY dead in this picture, Fay is actually just part way through a "dust bath roll". Shavings in the "wing pits" and everything. The girl next to her is a Faverolle, Fay is a Cubalaya. Click on the picture for the "real" sized one. You might find your chickens laying sort of dead looking just any old time as well. They seem to enjoy resting on the ground in positions that look quite uncomfortable and none too alive.



I've seen some people have plastic kiddie pools with dirt in them for the girls to "bathe". Sounds like a plan to me. I think in the natural world, the dirt/dust helps keep/get parasites off and probably does for domestic chickens as well (but don't hold me to that
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Bruce
 
Hey Mommy. Bruce couldn't have said it better. **high fives Bruce** Several times I have looked out to see what definitely looks like a well and truely dead chicken, only to have it stand up, shake itself off and go on its merry way. They love digging and scratching around, and it's what free ranging is all about and what those poor, mass produced chooks miss out on.
 

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