New owner with questions :-)

[icy_flames]

Hello everyone from beautiful Colorado! I am a new urban chicken owner with a few questions. My ladies are around 19 weeks old now.

1. I have read about how chicks go through a few phases of molting before adulthood. How long does this typically last? I still see feathers everywhere in the run and coop. No one is plucking or has mites, etc.

2. Apple cider vinegar and DE. How do you add the vinegar to waterers without causing rust? Mine is the plastic cup waterer but there is a metal spring inside that tilts to help water come out? For the DE: do you put this in their nesting boxes & floor of the run? I dont have it in their coop or run yet but thinking to include it when we clean everything out in spring. I do the deep litter method with pine shavings, mulch, grass/weed clippings,leaves from my backyard. They are not free range.

3. At 19 weeks when will they start laying? I have different breeds including easter egger, australorp, dominique, buff orpington, new hampshire red. They are getting pretty red in the faces, I've heard a couple do loud "egg song" noises midday but no eggs. They will squat a little if I put my hand on their backs then press down gently but I mainly do that to show dominance when they get naughty picking on each other. My easter eggers are the jerks of the bunch lol.

4. When do you change them to layer feed? I've heard wait till first egg or following what it says on the bags (start at 18, 19 weeks). They eat organic starter right now with treats like canned corn, kale, carrots, broccoli, they had turkey breast over the holidays. I throw scratch with handfuls of grit in their run each morning after I sit with them and we watch the sunrise. 6:40am every morning Can't start my day without it. They are such great pets.

5. Oyster shell. I bought the finely ground kind that looks like flour. When they start laying is it safe to put this in a dish in run or should I mix with the feed? Because it's so fine I'm worried they would inhale the tiny particles. I bought ground because some people were saying their hens would not eat the regular sized kind. I'm reading a lot about and trying my best to prevent issues with my babies. Lately the subject of egg binding terrifies me. Seems so common.

Thank you all!

 

[Dottie the Chicken]

@black_cat @aart @cluckmecoop7

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
Your pullets will start producing eggs when they are ready, and likely when the days are a bit longer too. Some will start soon, and some may be six months old or older before those first eggs appear.
If you decide to feed a layer feed at all, wait until they are all in lay. offer oyster shell in a separate container, and the powdered stuff really isn't best. Get the standard sized product, sold at the feed store. It's very inexpensive, especially if you can handle those fifty pound bags, as it doesn't spoil and will last a long time.
Neither DE nor vinegar are all that useful, or necessary, and here we've never used either at our coop. If mites or lice turn up on your birds, treat them with something that works, like permethrin spray or powder.
Be careful that you aren't overdoing their treats! Extras are just that, extras, and shouldn't be a big part of their diet.
Chickens are fun! And they will loose feathers, sometimes gradually, and sometimes later, in very dramatic molts. Wait till next winter!
Pictures! How about some pictures of your coop and run, and cute pullets?
Mary

 

[nuthatched]

Hi there, welcome to the insane world of poultry keeping.

1. They shouldn't be molting quite yet, they're too young, but they could be loosing their teenage feathers. when they do molt, feed them high protein feed like non medicated chick grower to help the feathers come in.

2. Apple cider vinegar and de are pretty much all hype (useless), they're not actually effective at any thing. however, you csn if you want, feed them feed with prebiotics and probiotics if you're worried about crop health. or ferment their food. or give them cultured yogurt.

3. Most breeds lay at 22 ish weeks, some are much later, it's winter so daylight hours are a bit short for laying for a few weeks.
EES are known for late laying.

4-5. I'd wait until at least some of them are laying before feeding them layer feed. Oyster shell is unnecessary if you feed them layer feed. most people feed high protein feed, such as flock raiser with oyster crumbles on the side. layer feed has the minimum protein they need, so I buy 20% flock raiser. I also use wild birdseed from tsc as scratch since the protein is higher and there's less corn.

As for eggs binding, not encouraging early laying will allow their bodies to get big enough to lay eggs with out binding. Don't add supplemental light to the coop.
Also, accept that there will be loses no matter what you do, unfortunately ,some things are out of our control.

 

[RojoMarz]

Welcome, from Southern Colorado. Where abouts are you? We are about an hour nw of Trinidad, in the mountains.

Like others have mentioned, I feed 20% All Flock with oyster shell on the side.

 

[cmom]

I really can't add anything. As was said the birds will start laying when they are ready. Hatchery birds usually start laying around 24 week MOL. My earliest was at 16 weeks but others have went past 30 weeks before they layed their first egg. Put your hand over the females back and if they squat they are probably not far from laying. I use All Flock/Flock Raiser feed. It's 20% protein which is good while the birds are growing. They do molt several times their first year then after that usually molt once a year. The higher protein is good because their feathers are made of mostly protein. All Flock/Flock Raiser feed is good for all ages of birds. Some people won't agree with this but I put oyster shells in the feeders. It filters down into the pans of my hanging feeders. They birds take what they want. Good luck and have fun...

 

[black_cat]

1. Can't help you there
2. Agreeing that apple cider vinegar is useless. However, DE can be harmful to your birds, and damage their delicate respiratory systems. Don't use it.
3. They will probably wait a few more weeks, and it will vary bird to bird. Those breeds all USUALLY start around 22 weeks, but can be earlier or later. They may also wait for warmer weather, as others have said.
4. I would wait until they're all laying eggs. Until then, offer grower feed with oyster shell on the side. Those who need it will take it, those who don't, won't. 5 is kinda related- mine are fine with the pebble size OS. Don't mix it in their feed, regardless.

 

[black_cat]

@black_cat @aart @cluckmecoop7

@OneHappyRooster LOOK PEOPLE THINK I"M GOOD AT THINGS

 

[3KillerBs]

Apple cider vinegar and DE. How do you add the vinegar to waterers without causing rust? Mine is the plastic cup waterer but there is a metal spring inside that tilts to help water come out? For the DE: do you put this in their nesting boxes & floor of the run?

I don't use either of these.

If you think that there could be a benefit to ACV, which I consider unproven, offer it in a separate waterer not as their only source because there is no substitute for clean, fresh, pure water. It's the same as when giving electrolytes in hot weather -- offer it separately.

Think about it. Would YOU like to have nothing available to drink but vinegar-water? Or Gatorade?

DE is a respiratory irritant and is unproven to actually do any of the pest-control things that are claimed for it. Birds' respiratory systems are very delicate.

They eat organic starter right now with treats like canned corn, kale, carrots, broccoli, they had turkey breast over the holidays. I throw scratch with handfuls of grit in their run each morning after I sit with them and we watch the sunrise. 6:40am every morning Can't start my day without it.

Be careful of how much scratch you're giving them. It's fattening -- the equivalent of chips and ice cream for feeding your kids.

I personally don't consider veggie scraps "treats" but because my chickens get a lot of them (I'm a scratch cook with teenagers), I use a higher-protein feed rather than a lower-protein feed.

When they start laying is it safe to put this in a dish in run or should I mix with the feed? Because it's so fine I'm worried they would inhale the tiny particles.

I don't know about the ground vs chunk, but your chickens will know when they do and don't need to supplement their calcium and so you should have it available at all times when they are laying.

Many people use calcium feeders made from plastic bottles. Here's mine. I cut the opening cut with Chipotle's big comb in mind.

 

[aart]

I have read about how chicks go through a few phases of molting before adulthood. How long does this typically last? I still see feathers everywhere in the run and coop.

They may be on their last juvenile molt.
Chickens molt and grow a new set of feathers 2-3 times before around 6 months of age, those are called the juvenile molts.
Some pullets will have a partial molt their first fall/winter.
Most birds will have their first full adult molt their second fall/winter.

Welcome to BYC! @icy_flames
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Many people use calcium feeders made from plastic bottles. Here's mine. I cut the opening cut with Chipotle's big comb in mind.

I hope you smoothed(file/sandpaper) off the edges of the opening there, it can be sharp.