Good evening everyone!!! HOpe everyone is having a great weekend!!!! Hope everyone did good at the show! Sorry I haven't got to get by there, see if we can make it tomorrow. Good new is that we have Lil'Sooner's dress & shoes for her queen gig. Have I said lately how I hate shopping?
***OKIES in the BYC III ***
- Thread starter Buckguy20
- Start date
Whats our little princess going to be Queen of? I'm sure she will be a great one! I guess I missed a post somewhere down the line!lol
The molasses scratch oatmeal concoction sounds like it would be really good to get them birds up and running good on cold winter mornings. Something i like to do in the winter is about an hour or so before dark is go out and give all my birdies some cracked corn. Even if they have all the lay pellets they can eat the'll almost always scratch around for it. Plus the corn will help keep them warm as its digested during the night. Corn=Warmth=happy chickens.
I have so much work i need to get done before winter gets here. Im in the middle of remodeling a shed so i can put my quail in it with some lights so i can keep there egg production going trough the winter. Have a large area down one wall that im going to try and put about 5 6x6 indoor bantam pens with maybe the same size outdoor runs attached to them. Hopefully that will keep everyone nice and cozy during the cold. Plus i have to build a few more coups and runs for my LF. So much to do and so little time to do it in. But its worth it all if it keeps my birdies happy.
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Had dinner with one of the Marines in James' platoon (his asst plt sgt? whatever). They talked shop and his girlfriend and I ate gluten free food. The kids almost got buried but hey, s'all good. PF Chang's is expensive, but at least I don't have to scrutinize everything on the menu. It's a nice occasional treat.
I can't wait to pick up the chickens that James' is getting me next Saturday. I'll have to buy a heat lamp bulb since I'll be brooding at least 1 of them in the living room for a while.
I can't wait to pick up the chickens that James' is getting me next Saturday. I'll have to buy a heat lamp bulb since I'll be brooding at least 1 of them in the living room for a while.
We keep layer pellets out for our birds all the time and suppliment with scratch and give a warm Alfalfa mash in the winter. My take on feed is that prepared feed was originally formulated for caged layers in a big poultry house somewhere.
Those that have free range birds can tell you that they go to roost with a full crop. A bird that has prepared feed will most of the time go to roost with a bulging crop. This tells me that the feed is lacking something.
I have also noticed that my layers will lay better on 24% grower then they do on 15% layer pellets. Now if you opt for feed besides layer be sure to suppliment with Oyster shell for the extra calcium. Never mix oyster shell with the feed but feed in a seperate container, free choice.
When we showed we would feed the birds Game Bird Flight Conditioner and I think it made for better plumage and better muscle on the birds and that is also what I fed the breeders. The chicks did better out of the shell then birds hatched out of the layer flock.
Most of the nutrition levels on a bag of feed are minimum percentages. That means that protien or fat or whatever will not be below those levels and can vary with the quality of grain used.
Be sure to get as fresh a bag of feed as you can. As soon as a kernal of grain is cracked it starts losing nutrition. Try to get feed no more then about 30 days old. Grains that are not cracked however can last a very long time, scientists have sprouted wheat that was stored in sealed jars inside the Pyramids but they didn't say just what percentage sprouted.
Those that have free range birds can tell you that they go to roost with a full crop. A bird that has prepared feed will most of the time go to roost with a bulging crop. This tells me that the feed is lacking something.
I have also noticed that my layers will lay better on 24% grower then they do on 15% layer pellets. Now if you opt for feed besides layer be sure to suppliment with Oyster shell for the extra calcium. Never mix oyster shell with the feed but feed in a seperate container, free choice.
When we showed we would feed the birds Game Bird Flight Conditioner and I think it made for better plumage and better muscle on the birds and that is also what I fed the breeders. The chicks did better out of the shell then birds hatched out of the layer flock.
Most of the nutrition levels on a bag of feed are minimum percentages. That means that protien or fat or whatever will not be below those levels and can vary with the quality of grain used.
Be sure to get as fresh a bag of feed as you can. As soon as a kernal of grain is cracked it starts losing nutrition. Try to get feed no more then about 30 days old. Grains that are not cracked however can last a very long time, scientists have sprouted wheat that was stored in sealed jars inside the Pyramids but they didn't say just what percentage sprouted.
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More chickens ? Oh my.
They're the ones he reserved for me as my project birds. They'll go in the project coop. Instead of MFCs, which I no longer have, I'll be using these as a "breeding project". These chickens are the reason I put a stop to all other acquisitions until I know the state of my job's funding... I can still feed them, and the project they are in means that in the spring I'll be able to sell hatching eggs (as I will be back to housing two roosters in my mudroom coop).
My daughter's project will not be able to be started until spring, giving me time to know about job funding and/or find another job, and whether or not James will be voluntold.
More chickens ? Oh my.
They're the ones he reserved for me as my project birds. They'll go in the project coop. Instead of MFCs, which I no longer have, I'll be using these as a "breeding project". These chickens are the reason I put a stop to all other acquisitions until I know the state of my job's funding... I can still feed them, and the project they are in means that in the spring I'll be able to sell hatching eggs (as I will be back to housing two roosters in my mudroom coop).
My daughter's project will not be able to be started until spring, giving me time to know about job funding and/or find another job, and whether or not James will be voluntold.
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My birds free range and I also keep commercial layer pellets available at all times for them. I've always mixed the oyster shell in with the pellets each time I add feed to the feeders. I'm curious why you recommend feeding the oyster shell as free choice.
In the late afternoons I usually throw scratch out for them, though most of them prefer to eat it from my hand, and one prefers to jump up onto my lap and eat straight from the cup.
My birds free range and I also keep commercial layer pellets available at all times for them. I've always mixed the oyster shell in with the pellets each time I add feed to the feeders. I'm curious why you recommend feeding the oyster shell as free choice.
In the late afternoons I usually throw scratch out for them, though most of them prefer to eat it from my hand, and one prefers to jump up onto my lap and eat straight from the cup.
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