***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[NanaKat]

Loving the rain this morning.  So far a little over a half inch. 

Going out to look over the spaces in the two inside coops to determine where to house some of the outside birds during the three days of below freezing temps.  May have to put the bantams back into some cages for a few days. Need to add more pine shavings to the floor and change out some water containers too.

Hope ebveryone has a great day

I'm not sure how much we have had yet but e for the rain !!!!!


just asked my DH he said 1 in    in the rain gage

We ended up with one inch of rain also. The ponds got some runoff too.
Was able to get every bird into the henhouse and brooder room for the next three days. Much easier to house them all together than to run electric cords and ego thru the frozen water routine. Put the bantams in wall cages. The four saved back roosters are also wall caged. The Cochin roosters are in a 5 x 8 floor pen and the two mommas are in a 4 x 6 floor pen. Put the broody CW hen in a wall cage with her nest of 6 eggs. All the others have free run of the remaining floor space and the nest boxes. I hung 4 heat lamps in different zones to keep the waterers from freezing and offer a little warmth. ended up using fresh wheat straw for the floor and stuffed all the nests. It was a cozy 50 degrees at 4 pm. will check later, but even if it drops to 30, everyone is in the dry and out of the wind with lots of food and water. Love the fact that all the free ranging together helped keep the peace when they all cooped.

 

[Kassaundra]

We got just over 1 inch also.

 

[mjgigax]

7/8th" here, just enough to make the pens good and messy.

 

[MacGuyver]

Yea, and what are we going to do with ALL those extra cockerels??? lol

I already know what to do with my extra cockerels.

 

[miohippus]

dose anyone else have a chicken that toe nails need trimed quit often my OEGB toe nails get really long but not the rest of my flock just her is there something i can do to keep them from get so long she doesn't like me to catch her the other day i chased her around the coup a couple of time before i caught her i hate to stress her out like that but her toes start to go sideways if i don't clip them this is what it looked like before i clipped them the other day.

 

[Elwood Lightfoot]

Quote: I had wondered how you were fairing with selling eggs the way your setup was was a lot better than the one I had about 15 years ago, I had 100 laying hens and it was a full time job just hustling eggs,
I put the pen to paper and without figuring in labor costs I was making .07 cents a month over what it cost me to produce those eggs and that was before feed prices went crazy,
I wasn't hatching or selling any chicks or birds there might have been more money in it had I been, After doing the math I downsized to what I had wanted to begin with a flock that provided me enough eggs and chicken to eat as much as I wanted.
I'm kinda thinking I might do the same thing again now, I know laying hens are said to sell from $12 to $20 and I've paid that much or more for the ones I wanted but at the auctions I don't think I've sold a single hen for more than ten bucks and by the time you get them to point of lay you have more feed in them than that,
On Craigslist I've gotten $15 each for my Buff Orpington pullets but haven't sold very many on it, I had taken most to the sale where I just had to figure that at least I'm not having to feed them anymore and that saves quite a bit on costs LOL
I'm still going to raise the same breeds I just have fewer of the RIR and BR the BO I'm expanding a bit and giving it another season to try getting it to pay for itself before I throw in the towel and really cut back,
Right now I'm not getting any eggs to speak of just an odd one here and there and at 25 degrees outside I can't blame it on snakes LOL

 

[emach0301]

dose anyone else have a chicken that toe nails need trimed quit often my OEGB toe nails get really long but not the rest of my flock just her is there something i can do to keep them from get so long she doesn't like me to catch her the other day i chased her around the coup a couple of time before i caught her i hate to stress her out like that but her toes start to go sideways if i don't clip them this is what it looked like before i clipped them the other day.

Is it possible for a hen to limp, or have pain while walking if a toe nail gets too long?? Im sure it is, I just wanted to double check. And it seems like some of my hens tend to grow their nails out faster than some of the other hens...

 

[artsyrobin]

Quote: As far as limping, check the bottom of the feet for a round scab, might be bumble foot- as far as trimming nails, what kind of ground are the on? usually scratching the dirt will keep them down, but i have one hen i have to routinely trim-

 

[miohippus]

Is it possible for a hen to limp, or have pain while walking if a toe nail gets too long?? Im sure it is, I just wanted to double check. And it seems like some of my hens tend to grow their nails out faster than some of the other hens...

I would think so that is why i try to keep them trimed but i always have to chase to catcher and i don't like stressing her so i only do it like once a month. i would do it more often if she wasn't so hard to catch. That is why i was wondering if there was something else i could do.

 

[miohippus]

As far as limping, check the bottom of the feet for a round scab, might be bumble foot- as far as trimming nails, what kind of ground are the on? usually scratching the dirt will keep them down, but i have one hen i have to routinely trim-

yup ,they are on dirt.