NY chicken lover!!!!

[rancher hicks]

Just caught up. Hi everyone. Rained all day today. It was my birthday. Gramma, I'm sorry for the loss of Budgie and Bobby. Maybe they ate something bad. Bakersdozen, I'm glad your husband is recovering well. Congratulations to everyone with new chicks; Pyxis, those were very nice photos. Mine usually look very blurry. They don't keep still long enough for me to get a decent photo. Myfivegirls, I love that pic of eggs. Lovely colors. Welcome, mountaintop. I hope I didn't forget anyone. Oooh, congrats on the new farm status chicken girl!,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR DEVONA, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU. ..................

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[rancher hicks]

I bought small bag of grit when the girls where young and they ignore it. They prefer dirt and rocks. Icky but it keeps them happy.

Lol. Chickens that have outside access get all the 'grit' they need. I've found little stones mostly, small nuts and bolts, choke cherry pits etc in their crops. In Africa ostriches sometimes have diamonds in their crops!!

I take no chances. Many times imho an impacted crop is due to not enough grit. Whenever I give them greens I dump some grit on top so they're sure to have enough to grind up the lettuce, carrot peels or whatever is there.

Too the grit is good for your compost pile. I might buy a #50 bag a year maybe, but not much more.

But we all have to do what helps us sleep at night.

I had a rooster with a diamond in his crop. He went to Jarods.

If I could get some of those diamond eating ostriches I'd be a happy man.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

I tried putting the grit on the chicken salad and they flipped it over and ate the stuff under it but still not the grit. Silly girls. Oh well they are happy and healthy so I'm not stressing grit. Its there of they want/need it if not it will still be there tomorrow.

 

[shodack]

My chickens can't free range. I do deep litter over gravel- the gravel is too big and the do is too soft to be good grit, so I provide some. They don't need much, but definitely use it

 

[myfivegirls]

I've given chicks grit sometimes, but the adults usually find some grit around their yard. I've also offered it to them, most of the time it just sits there unused.

Just sorted through the 57 chicks that are 3 weeks old. If my guesses are right, there's 32 Roos, 16 pullets & 9 I'm not sure about. I think I might send most of the little Roos to auction & try hatching more to try get more pullets.

 

[Devona]

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone! There was, indeed lots of cake. Cheesecake, Boston creme cake, and a caramel custard.
Shodack, you're buying too much oyster shell, and here I am, dying for some. I checked online, and the shipping cost more than the oyster shell itself, and I've got two hens who I've been giving their own eggshells to eat. I've asked the pet store if they carry it, they told me they'd get it this Wednesday. Went in Wednesday, it didn't come, maybe next week.

 

[Devona]

Special thanks to rancher! Love the party chicks!

 

[shodack]

I've given chicks grit sometimes, but the adults usually find some grit around their yard. I've also offered it to them, most of the time it just sits there unused.

Just sorted through the 57 chicks that are 3 weeks old. If my guesses are right, there's 32 Roos, 16 pullets & 9 I'm not sure about.

I think I might send most of the little Roos to auction & try hatching more to try get more pullets.

Wow, double the roos! Crazy!

 

[Devona]

Yes, that must be upsetting, five girls. Are these ones you hatched yourself? Well, hopefully you can sell the Roos at a decent price.

 

[myfivegirls]

Yes, that must be upsetting, five girls. Are these ones you hatched yourself? Well, hopefully you can sell the Roos at a decent price.

Yes, especially since I hatched them to get at least 14 pullets for a friend, plus extra for others who requested pullets. I knew I'd get lots of roosters, not this many! But, actually it could be worse as it's only 56% of the hatch. It could have been 75% roosters!
I calculated the cost thus far, but even if I can sell them under cost, I'm ahead b/c I've only fed them a few weeks, not 5 months. If it was summer, I'd just raise them for meat, but not enough room in coops this time of year.