NY chicken lover!!!!

[boskelli1571]

I was going to comment on this the other day but forgot. Remembered when I went outside today and saw a dozen chipmunks....Not something I wanted to hear, what kind were you growing and did you have any luck??

The shiitake grew much slower than I thought they would, but once they started they did well. Unfortunately, the chipmunks & mice harvested more than I did! My Oyster mushrooms did well too, but they need to be closely monitored. I found thousands of tiny little weevil-like bugs in the gills - had to toss them.

When I finally get the barn cleaned out, I will grow Oysters inside.

 

[rancher hicks]

Our new laptop does the same thing, I'd rather use my phone. I spend more time fixing misspelled missing letter words than I do typing. BYC is the only site It does it on.

The five silkie pullets I got from TSC this spring started laying really early, young, and have been laying four to five eggs every single day. I'm getting eggs from the others but I'm definitely impressed in those silkies.

It does seem that way.

Allmost allof my chickens have stopped laying. I still get some eggs from my bantams. However I have a bunch of 2 to 3 year old hens that have stopped and I have around a dozen pullets around 6 months of age. I get very few eggs from them also. However my Muscovy ducks are laying very well and I still get a couple turkey eggs ( from 6 females) every couple of days.

I suspect mine are off because of the light. I've not been getting out there to let them out early enough. Caught another squirrel yesterday and they torture the birds too. Many are molting due to upsets I think.

On the light thing, my wooden coop needs windows more strategically placed. Not enough morning light comes in. I suppose a timer would help turn on the inside light, but an added window would be better. No money for that just now though.

 

[rancher hicks]

Gogle cronme I notice my computer seems to rev up while typing. Something is going on in thbackrough. back ground. I'll talk to my son. I'ed really like anew computer but will lose pics here.

 

[rancher hicks]

I was going to comment on this the other day but forgot. Remembered when I went outside today and saw a dozen chipmunks....Not something I wanted to hear, what kind were you growing and did you have any luck??

I've been meaning to offer this so I will now.

Hobby Farms had a nice article on AI or A Flu.

Some highlights:

AI can infect domestic and wild birds, including migratory waterfowl. "there are four migratory pathways in N.America. Pacific, Central, Missiissippi and Atlantic. So far the HPAI vius has been detected in all but the Altantic flyway.

No affective vaccine is available.

Researchers believe that wild birds were the initial source of the HPAI virus, but other factors have been involved in it's spread. Genetic analysis of the viruses from different farms indicate that there are clusters of infected farms and lapses in biosecurity were the identified that may have been responsible for the spreading the disease.

THESE INCLUDED SHARING OF EQUIPMENT BETWEEN INFECTED AND NON INFECTED FARMS, FARMER AND FARM WORKERS MOVING BETWEEN FARMS, AND REPORTS OF RODENTS OR SMALL WILD BIRDS INSIDE THE POULTRY HOUSES. IN ADDITION, AIR SAMPLES FROM INFECTED POULTRY HOUSES CONTAINED VIRUS PARTICLES, WHICH SEEM TO INDICATE THAT THE HPAI TRANSMISSION MAY ALSO BE OCCURRING THROUGH THE AIR.

While the majority of the American flocks affected have been commercial operation, several backyard flocks have been infected as well. Many of these have been along the Pacific flyway in Washington, Idaho and oregon. Most of these smaller operations have been mixed flocks with domestic waterfowl or game birds, and flocks sizes have been as small as 10 birds.

So what's my point?

To protect your flock:

Do not attract wild birds by putting out bird feeders near your flocks.
Do not introduce new adult birds purchases from swap meets or flea markets.
Restrict the number of people that visit your flock, especially if they also keep poultry or have been hunting recently.
Do not borrow lawn and garden tools or poultry supplies from other bird owners.
Make sure your feed is not contaminated by wild birds, and eliminate any rodent problems. This fall will require producers to be very diligent about hunting and being in the woods so as to not track the virus back to their farms.

The current HPAI outbreak has devastated the egg and turkey flocks in the U.S. and it will take many months for the infected facilities to bet back into full production. To date, no meat chicken flocks have been affected.

Finally me again. If you have rodents you may want to make a concerted effort to eliminate them asap. I would be careful of ordering eggs from people you don't know. If you visit a farm and don't like it's appearance don't be afraid to say you've changed your mind. Better their feelings get hurt than you lose your flock and have to start over.

Squirrels are rodents and this is why I've been trapping and eliminating them. Squirrels are omnivores in that they eat meat and plants. Let's work together to keep this disease out of our area.

Seems to me the price of mice and rat traps might go up and the price of a good Feline mouser too.

I wish you disease free flocks,

Peace , Rancher

 

[rancher hicks]

"My leghorns are great layers of large eggs but the girls are rather small for being a dual purpose. They are 1/2 the size of my Astrolorp girls who hatched the same day. However my Astrolorp girls are not laying for diddle squat. I guess by spring I should know who I'm keeping for what though. Maybe hatch out some BA for meat and some WL for eggs. My Reds are a lousy bunch all around. Small and not so hot at dependable laying."

Keep in mind that there are varied "Lines" of breeds.

Hatcheries rarely carry "dual purpose" lines. Rather commercial lines. You may want to search out those who carry older breeders of Dual purpose lines or keep more than one breed.

MY C.Rocks are large birds but not great layers as I suspect many "dual purpose lines are". This is why I keep my Delawares and Marans. Too as folks breed for darker eggs there may be a trade off in getting fewer eggs or light weight birds.

I don't believe we will get the meat on a dual purpose bird that we're used on in Cornish Rocks we buy in the store.



Beautiful bird not a great layer though.



Nice chest and good layers.



Good layers of large eggs but not big chested for a dual purpose breed. Folks are working to improve this. See the Delaware threads.



These BR's are large but only laid a medium sized egg.



Notice the shape of these two breeds. C.Rock more rectangle/square and Del more oval/heart shaped. These are both young birds. C.Rocks lay medium 1.9 - oz. egg while the Delawares generally lay more and larger 2.0 + oz. eggs.

 

[DeansMill]

So, I got home from work today and half of the girls were in the brooder, the other half and Lord Sterling were running all over the office. So, I bit the bullet and took them out to the coop after I nailed a strip to make the door more secure and put up some stops to keep the shavings from impeding the door. It was a very stressful move, but these girls are ecstatic!! So much happy peeping.
I'm trying to upload pictures, but it isn't working

 

[DeansMill]

Note to self and anyone else like me... wear shoes when sitting in the chicken coop... toes peeking up through pine shavings are fair game!

 

[Jaswolfe01]

I eat the turkey eggs at times. I'm not a fan of the duck eggs but the neighbors like them. During the summer I'll let the turkey hens lay on some eggs. I'll also put some under some bantam hens, some in the incubator and I even had a muscovy hatch some out. I'll let the muscovys hatch out quite a few ducklings in the summer/early fall.

 

[rancher hicks]

I eat the turkey eggs at times. I'm not a fan of the duck eggs but the neighbors like them. During the summer I'll let the turkey hens lay on some eggs. I'll also put some under some bantam hens, some in the incubator and I even had a muscovy hatch some out. I'll let the muscovys hatch out quite a few ducklings in the summer/early fall.

There is a market for duck eggs. I met a woman in TSC and she said she was interested in getting duck eggs.

I don't keep ducks. Perhaps next year.

In other news: The house nextdoor is being remodeled and I've been told rented. However I noticed today that they have cleared quite a bit of the woods.
While I'm not happy it is there property. If they plan to make it lawn they've still got work to do.

ONLY thing is my girls go over there. Just a week ago I was wading through prickers to get them back home. They go around the house. I will have to work to keep them in their own yard.

 

[Pyxis]

Does anyone remember the two American Buff geese I picked up to keep Lacie company? Well, they never got as big as they should have and they just would not come around to being friendly. All of my birds come running when I'm holding the food scoop and treat bowl, even the most skittish broody raised ones. Not these guys. They seem to have an aversion to humans.

Well, I took this picture and asked around about it.

Turns out I am the owner of two American Buff Canada goose crosses

And, they're also most likely sterile. But Lacie likes them, which is the whole reason I bought them, and they're pretty, and it is kind of neat to own a cross like this. They're staying for sure, it just took me by surprise.