***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[jcatblum]

The catfish feed I saw was a couple of dollars per 50 lb bag cheeper then then chicken food and it was 32% protien.  The creep was almost 1/2 the price of chicken feed and just as much protien.  I knew it didn't have the ca, but I keep oyster shell free choice and feed back egg shell some (need to do that more just run out of time or energy) but I couldn't figure out exactly what it was and wasn't sure if it was lacking other nutrition that a chicken would NEED.

Thanks everyone for the comments and links on both creep and catfish food.

Think I bought catfish feed at one of the mom & pop stores locally... Prob need to shop around. Think I pd $30 for 50lbs. All birds love it, dogs try & eat it too.

 

[Kassaundra]

Think I bought catfish feed at one of the mom & pop stores locally... Prob need to shop around. Think I pd $30 for 50lbs. All birds love it, dogs try & eat it too.

Oh yes you need to shop around it was somewhere near 18 for 50 lbs at TSC. It was 32% protien Actually the bag may have been 40 lbs instead of 50 now that I think about it.

 

[Elwood Lightfoot]

I sure have enjoyed the weather today I let out most of my birds to free range I kinda wish I had someone to run a video camera when I step out in the yard and get mobbed by all the critters that are out it's got to be quite a sight to see LOL spent most of the day going in circles but it was nice not feeling like I was going to expire from heart stroke,

Just curious but I've heard before about feeding dog and cat food as a supplement to chickens because of it's higher protein content, I know that the source of protein in a lot of dog foods is hair ground fairly fine but dogs can't digest it like protein from meat or veggie sources, I'm assuming that is still the case for dogs foods esp the cheaper brands, anyway I guess my question is can chickens digest the hair or does it just pass on through? when my cat passed on this last spring I fed the big bag of leftover food to the chickens as treats figured it couldn't hurt, When I first found out how to check the dog food I was feeding Ol'Roy afterwards I switched to a higher grade the dogs didn't eat as much and their waste wasn't near as much either, A few weeks ago someone was telling me that feeding the creep pellets to the chickens would cause them to starve as the creep was made from cotton seed and couldn't be digested by the chickens, I'd be interested in learning more about that if anyone has any info or insight about whether or not cottonseed and hair can be digested and used by them,

 

[Kassaundra]

I sure have enjoyed the weather today I let out most of my birds to free range I kinda wish I had someone to run a video camera when I step out in the yard and get mobbed by all the critters that are out it's got to be quite a sight to see LOL spent most of the day going in circles but it was nice not feeling like I was going to expire from heart stroke,

Just curious but I've heard before about feeding dog and cat food as a supplement to chickens because of it's higher protein content, I know that the source of protein in a lot of dog foods is hair ground fairly fine but dogs can't digest it like protein from meat or veggie sources, I'm assuming that is still the case for dogs foods esp the cheaper brands, anyway I guess my question is can chickens digest the hair or does it just pass on through? when my cat passed on this last spring I fed the big bag of leftover food to the chickens as treats figured it couldn't hurt, When I first found out how to check the dog food I was feeding Ol'Roy afterwards I switched to a higher grade the dogs didn't eat as much and their waste wasn't near as much either, A few weeks ago someone was telling me that feeding the creep pellets to the chickens would cause them to starve as the creep was made from cotton seed and couldn't be digested by the chickens, I'd be interested in learning more about that if anyone has any info or insight about whether or not cottonseed and hair can be digested and used by them,

I saw creep that was for cows and seperate ones for goat or sheep, I wonder if that would make the diff. if since cows have two stomachs if you got a creep that was for another single stomach animal???? Just wondering out loud.

 

[erinszoo]

Wow, I missed a bunch today. Let's see ...

Bees ... not sure anything about the hive situation however I do know that our yard is full of someone's bees that are going to town on our melons and sunflowers. Talking about them drowning in water bowls ... last year we had a bowl of water cress that we harvested at the well one time and it was a mass of roots and stems in just a little water. Well I kept it water every day and we would go out and the bees were all over it drinking the water. We figured it was because they could stand on the roots and keep out of the water that way.

Spider bites ... scary stuff. Hope you all get better soon. I've only been bitten once by a recluse on my finger when I was a teenager. My mom at the time taught at the vet school at OSU and called one of her friends who was a professor of entomology who did spider research, she told us to put benadryl on the bite and take benadryl as well because most reactions are caused by some form of allergy to the toxin in the bite. It worked for me but then it was a small spider and on my finger, not on my body somewhere.

Cat food ... my chickens eat our cats food all the time without any seeming ill effects but it really is only a treat amount that they get. I know nothing about creep but it sounds interesting.

We didn't get the deer feed planted today but will tomorrow. My sprained ankle gave out on me before I got too much done, unfortunately. It was such a beautiful day here we turned off all the ac's except in our bedroom. My allergies sure know it too. I just refuse to sleep with 1) noise from the neighborhood coming in the window and 2) not enough cool air, so the ac stays on in our bedroom until we need the heater usually.

Finally got a test bucket of soil dug today for our bread oven and we think we have a nice pocket of clay to dig from!! We made test bricks with varying amounts of sand in them that are now drying. Next step is testing them and then we can actually build the oven. Yippee!!!

 

[jcatblum]

Erin I am going to have to tour your place one day!!! I mention outdoor ovens when the house is built, but never seem to get a positive reaction from DH.

On the creep, I have been feeding it through the summer. I know Ronnie (lurker here who doesn't post) has been feeding creep for a long time. No sure how long the preacher from the auction has been feeding it. My chickens are solid, but they have the ability to free range from sun up to sundown almost every day. Weather or our schedule is the only thing that keeps them from free ranging. In winter I will prob feed them the feed mix I purchase in Carnegie. The mix I purchase is very crumbly & makes a mess, but the dept of Ag wrote the recipe to make it equal to layer feed. Price is equal to creep. From Carnegie I was getting a ton of feed at a time & during the spring when it was raining bunches I was worried about feed getting to moist so I switched to the creep with vitamin & catfish supplements. None of my birds are starving. The young ones still get game & chick starter. Only the grown free rangers eat the creep.
If my dogs or goats leave anything behind the chickens get that too. Along with LOTS of garden produce, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, etc. they don seem to like bell peppers, just the seeds but they eat hot peppers. I dnk! Kinda weird I think! However, the goats will fight for some watermelon! The chickens have learned to scatter if the goats spy them eating a melon.

 

[poultryand bees]

Thanks NanaKat and Maribeth for the bee information. Our beekeeping instructor mentioned to lift the back of the hive to guesstimate weight each time we inspect the frames. My hive has been steadily gaining weight, so I'm confident that the bees are storing honey for the winter ahead. Is $17.00 for a package of 10 pollen patties a good price? Brushy Mountain has some on sale right now. They have a feeding stimulant added. Is that a good thing, or should I look for pollen patties without the stimulant?

I think the $17 for 10 pollen patties is a good price. I looked at the MannLake catalog, since I regularly buy from their local dealer and the $17 is much less. Pollen patties will keep for years in your deep freezer so they don't go to waste - just seal them well in a plastic bag.

Regarding feeding cat or dog food, I had to stop feeding the dog from a dispenser because the chickens liked the food better than the dog did and would go through a 40 lb bag in just a few days.

I have a few chickens that like to fly over the 6 foot fence and come up on the back porch - to eat out of the dry cat food dispenser.

 

[erinszoo]

jcat - I may have to have tours when I get the bread oven done!! I'll probably have to give out samples of pizza and bread too. Lol. I started a thread on the self-sufficiency forum on here where I'm posting all of the pics and information of our bread oven building experiment if you want to follow along. I try to post something at least once a week. There's a couple of other people who are following it too that want to build ovens.

P&bees - we have a couple of chickens that jump their fence everyday around the time we feed the cats just to get cat food. Talk about routine oriented creatures. Lol. It's kind of funny because the cats just let them eat it.

 

[Elbert Garrett]

Good Morning friends and neighbors! It was bit surprising to walk out on the deck to 52°F. After this Summer I did n`t think I would say this again but Brrrrrr!
I have another little project to attend to this morning, I already have the material, it`s just the motivation that I`m short on!

Betsy, I`m glad to hear that you are going to fine!

I hope y`all have a great day!

 

[poultryand bees]

Good Morning friends and neighbors! It was bit surprising to walk out on the deck to 52°F. After this Summer I did n`t think I would say this again but Brrrrrr!
I have another little project to attend to this morning, I already have the material, it`s just the motivation that I`m short on!

Betsy, I`m glad to hear that you are going to fine!

I hope y`all have a great day!

I am curious. I see it has holes in the bottom and a partial lid, but it seems a little large for a nest box. What are you making?