New to the flock - Please dont peck!

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Welcome, Eggsplorer! Nice name, by the way!

I’m still pretty new to chickens and still learning! So I don’t have much info… just a little.

As far as dust bathing, our girls pick their spots. We live in a pretty wet climate, so they will gravitate towards areas that don’t get rained on… even if that’s right up against a their coop or our house! If you have an area you don’t want yours dust bathing in, you might want to block off that area or make it less desirable. Of course it’s your choice!

As far as what we wish we had known… we had a couple of girls in our first flock have issues with egg binding and I wish we would have studied up more on that ahead of time. Of course, there’s only so much anyone can learn. That’s just an unexpected issue we had.
 
Eggsplorer said:
When they begin laying, we chose layer mash. Do you think the pellet style would be best if we do not intend to ferment the feed? Also, those are great ideas. Ideally, we would love for them to all get along, but understand that is not always the case. My kiddo is the owner of the silkie and she intends to show her this year for 4H, so we are really hoping for good results
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Yes pellets would be a better option if you don't ferment. I do believe S&P pellets are more expensive than their mash but with dry mash they tends to make more waste, so it might balance out.

Best of luck with the 4H!
 
Eggsplorer said:
LOL, so my current garden is in danger. Well, I guess I cant blame them. They have great taste!
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Protecting our garden is the only thing we really use chicken wire for. We have it 3' high around our whole garden. That keeps the chickens out of it. Ours are all silkies who can't fly over, but for other breeds, maybe the 4' wide would work better.

Hiya, and welcome to BYC! :frow
 
Eggsplorer said:
When they begin laying, we chose layer mash. Do you think the pellet style would be best if we do not intend to ferment the feed? Also, those are great ideas. Ideally, we would love for them to all get along, but understand that is not always the case. My kiddo is the owner of the silkie and she intends to show her this year for 4H, so we are really hoping for good results
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The silkie would do better with crumbles, so I'd try that with them all, and if they all do, it'd make it easier. We tried pellets in the beginning and they didn't go over too well so it's been crumbles for 8 years now.

I'd also go with an all-flock instead of layer, and keep a feeder or dish with oyster shell in it. Those that need it eat it, those that don't won't. That has higher protein (20% vs. 16% typical layer).
 

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