NY chicken lover!!!!

[rancher hicks]

Poor girls! I'd imagine having that many is stressful. lol


Not much going on here but I have to say we are really coming along on our coop. We finished the door to the run and will put it up tomorrow. I was absolutely delighted to see it! It is starting to feel like "DowntHEN Abbey". Hahaha We'll try to finish up the bottom half of the hardware wire, then the door from the house to the run.


Rancher, How long is that runnings sale on for? I noticed a few things. Shavings were 5.99, Straw was 5.99 and I saw the horse pellets for 5.99 a bag too. I was like a kid in a candy shop! I didn't buy any because I'm still wondering what to put in the coop and run. I'm afraid to make the wrong move. Hahaha

I DID find a GMO free pellet feed at runnings. It was a small back for 14.99 and they will get the bigger bags in that will be 36.00. My husband just about pooped his pants!

I'm REALLY a stickler about GMO feed. I just don't want to feed the chickens something that is dangerous for consumption that we will put in our mouths. Obviously it won't kill you immediately but over time GMO will mess with your body. I'm not willing to risk my daughters reproductive hormones. I have PCOS and I'm convinced that part of it is the added hormones we get to make our produce look bigger and last longer. I've had fertility issues and it took us 10years and one traumatic preterm loss to have our little girl. I'm sure it's not all because of GMO but I know it's played some kind of factor. Anyhoo, my husband is fine with regular feed and I'm wanted GMO free. Plus I'm looking for whole corn, not the cracked corn. However, the whole corn I'm looking for I'd like it to be...you guessed it, GMO free. So where I can I get it? Runnings and most of the other feed stores don't carry gmo free. My guess is to get what I want, it's going to cost a whole lot. My husband, like most folks, won't be up for spending that kind of money.

SO, what are you all using? I went to an agway store and saw an Omega 3 and Flax pellet egg layer food. It looks good but really all these bags tell you are the vitamins in it. Where is there any listings of what your actually giving your hens? I saw a video a few weeks ago and it has really inspired me on what to feed the girls so they get the nutrients but also do well for the season they are in. Has anyone seen THIS video?

Well that is interesting and I will buy some oats and whole corn, BUT I've found when I give my girls bread they start to lay funny shaped and thin shelled eggs. Perhaps I've feeding them too much?

 

[Sstewart]

Thanks for the thoughts and advise. I just have high hopes that someone will find them to be great breeders....and maybe hatch their own. My fingers will remain crossed....until animal control knocks on my door?

 

[Gramma Chick]

Quote: I had a few older hens die this year ...this is the 1st predator attack this year ...I know foxes are around ..
I have seen them & others have too

Quote: Nutty has Organic feed too ...you can buy non registered bag for 17.00 for 100 pounds ..
I buy this ..need to add calcium to it
if you want the registered stuff from the same mill ..it is alot more

 

[Purpletie3]

I had a few older hens die this year ...this is the 1st predator attack this year ...I know foxes are around ..
I have seen them & others have too
Nutty has Organic feed too ...you can buy non registered bag for 17.00 for 100 pounds ..
I buy this ..need to add calcium to it
if you want the registered stuff from the same mill ..it is alot more

I have to get back up there for her feed. I bought a couple hundred pounds and It lasted forever. Chickens loved it!

 

[PhoredaBurds]

Poor girls! I'd imagine having that many is stressful. lol 

With most of the boys young and just figuring out the birds-n-bees thing, it really wasn't that bad. Especially with 25 girls and lots of room for them all to run around. It's funny to watch the cockerels doing the challenge dance with an older hen. Certainly still trying to get their bearings. Girls are happy tho, not to have to deal w as much of their antics. Building a bachelor pen for the rest of the boys.

 

[akaruby]

Thanks for the thoughts and advise. I just have high hopes that someone will find them to be great breeders....and maybe hatch their own. My fingers will remain crossed....until animal control knocks on my door?

Have you thought about the no crow rooster collar? I'm debating it because I'm having trouble finding a home for my little roo. I could decide to breed him with my lav orp pullet.

 

[Sstewart]

With most of the boys young and just figuring out the birds-n-bees thing, it really wasn't that bad. Especially with 25 girls and lots of room for them all to run around. It's funny to watch the cockerels doing the challenge dance with an older hen. Certainly still trying to get their bearings. Girls are happy tho, not to have to deal w as much of their antics. Building a bachelor pen for the rest of the boys.

Can my little Roos join your bachelor pad?

 

[rancher hicks]

So I was at Runnings today and they had out dated feed half off. About three months over the production date. Anyone got advice on this?

TOO if you buy feed there AND pay full price check the dates. I had a bag of Chick starter that was over the production date. For the cost I want the FRESH stuff, not over the production date. I put the Chick starter back.

I did buy two bags of the Layer pellets since it won't last long here.

Well the chicks starter won't either but I'm not paying full price for the over the production date stuff.

THEN I forgot to get the raincheck for the plastic. Now I have to drive out there tomorrow.

 

[HISIRISHGEM]

Good what did you ask me about a while back ?

Hi Gramma,

I think I may have asked you something about the herbs and such you feed your chickens but now I can't remember what the question was.

My daughter has been pretty sick with what I'm guess is this mystery virus that was announced on Channel 9 She was last in the children's sunday school and it's such a breeding ground for illness like all daycares. lol Between that, the cook, planning my mom and daughters birthdays next week and getting ready for winter as well as our foster kids coming I'm not sure if I'm coming or going. Hahaha

I'm sorry to hear about your predator. Already in mowing the lawn I saw a few things. 1. A big black spider with brown legs (maybe a wolf spider? Idk) snake skin against the tree stump. I've already caught several grass snakes. EEEK!

I know they have their place and are great for gardens but I can't! I just can't.

Then I saw a HUGE hawk or turkey vulture, I couldn't tell from that high up and it was.

How can I get this organic non-registered feed from Nutty? Do you buy it local or online? 17.00 for a 100lb bag sounds pretty reasonable to me. Thank you for sharing this option.


Purpletie,

Your so right! I like your idea of growing more for your chickens. My husband may get excited about that. We really did well this year and I'm banking on the fact that it was our compost. We don't have chickens yet but I'd imagine it can only get better. We buy the 50lb bags of oats for us during the winter. Hahaha My husband is plant-based and we keep to a mostly plant based eating. Our daughter gets whatever she wants and gramma and papas house but here she gets mainly fruits and veggies whole grains which include a whole lot of oatmeal in the winter. I suppose this means we can share our oats with the girls!

As far as the egg prices. Holy Cats! 7.99 is outrageous. We have been buying eggs from two places when we need them. Nowhere near that price. I'm grateful to those who have sold us those eggs because they do have a different taste and look. You can tell they're fresh! I can't wait to have our own. Who knows, maybe we'll inspire our neighbors to get them!

Toa Chick, I think that's where we're headed. Feeding them a healthy diet. I have this idea that when we DO find the GMO free corn (which is hard to find and hard to tell by the eye) it will be an outrageous price. We tried to grow our own corn but this has been the 3rd year we haven't had luck with corn. I think we're done wasting time, money and space on growing corn. KALE however if you let it go to see at the end of the growing season will grow back in full force the following year. Our kale did much better this year than it did the year we first planted it. We loved it! The hens will love it too.

Thanks for your input on what you put in your DL. We're planning to put a lot of the dry leaves we'll get. At least now we'll have somewhere to put it this year. I cringe at the price of bags to dispose of leaves that can be used as compost.


Rancher,

It's so expensive to keep up with the feed let alone with non-GMO foods on the market for human consumption. It's so sad. As you said the only method to keep up with it is to raise the livestock or grow the veggies and fruits yourself. While it would be the most effective to buy all non-gmo and organic, it's not always easy to keep up with the cost. Purple mentioned how hard it is to balance the cost so she's supplementing with her own feed.

I hope I won't get misshapen or thin-shelled eggs from feeding bread. I suppose it's trial and error right? lol



Boskelli,

Yes please! We're about an hour away and we go to Auburn to visit my family so it's not at all far for us to travel. Thank you for sharing with us.

Phoreda, it sounds funny at your neck of the woods.


Akaruby, I would love something to work so we could have a rooster that nobody would know about. As it stands, our neighbors would FLIP if something woke them up at 4 or 5am. I'm not going to stir the post over here since we can have chickens. I won't burn bridges but I do wish I could have one rooster for breeding. It's a hope I'm willing to put on the back-burner until we get established a bit more however, and see how it would fit in our neighborhood. We are out in the country but just outside a small town.

Bakerzdozen, I hope your having a lovely weekend!


Bakingintherain, please forgive me. I saw your picture and I don't think I ever acknowledged your post. I didn't mean to, I am just all over the place lately and forgot. Your Jasper's picture is so cute.


Well, We managed to get the run door finished and half the hardware cloth up before it rained and my husband took off for work. Hopefully tomorrow will be different. I DID manage to get the back yard mowed before it got bad. I took a few pictures of a portion of our back yard. We have a 4ft chain link fence and then the garden is fenced as well. I'm already noticing tiny little holes coming from under the fence. I'm not sure if it's field mice (which I've seen once or twice) OR the darn snakes I've been catching lately. The limb above will come down shortly. It's not at all big but it has been bugging me. lol




A picture of our backyard. It's only half the yard (the blue blob is the kiddie pool we just took down. We really have a nice big back yard. It's fenced and I'm grateful to have a small little piece of land. Having chickens and a garden has been our dream for quite some time. I'd love sheep romping around here but I don't think we'd be very well liked. I don't think that kind of livestock is legal here. lol Don't mind the neighbors door past the fence. I'd like to try and hide it but what can you do?!

 

[HISIRISHGEM]

So I was at Runnings today and they had out dated feed half off. About three months over the production date. Anyone got advice on this?

TOO if you buy feed there AND pay full price check the dates. I had a bag of Chick starter that was over the production date. For the cost I want the FRESH stuff, not over the production date. I put the Chick starter back.

I did buy two bags of the Layer pellets since it won't last long here.

Well the chicks starter won't either but I'm not paying full price for the over the production date stuff.

THEN I forgot to get the raincheck for the plastic. Now I have to drive out there tomorrow.

I'm still out on that place. I've noticed a lot of things are expensive there. The guy I spoke to "sounded" like he knew his stuff but when I mentioned DE knowing the background of it since we use organic food grade, what came out of his mouth was misinformation one how the product acts to kill the bugs. It's no biggie since it's an organic way with the ground seashells, but if your selling a product, you should know.

I also asked about the injections for cats that was in the fridge and the person I asked had no clue which injection it was and had no clue how old the stuff was. Like you said, if you buy something at a top price you want to make sure your not buying outdated or bad product that could make your livestock sick. That's just my opinion of course. I'm starting to learn that like our own health and well-being, we need to be advocates of what we buy for our animals as well. What's that saying again? "Let the buyer beware."