Okies in the BYC The Original

[muesky]

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I was thinking this very thing. These little ones are making quite a bit of dust and I am tired of dusting every day to try and keep up with them.

I'm going to try it tomorrow. The pine is getting to us big time, plus I think one of my awesome co-irkers gave me a darned cold. Yeah, one of the guys who has like 1500 sick hours, and comes to work with the plague to get those of us sick who don't have much leave.

For all of you who are allergic to wood shavings here is my suggestion, for what ever it is worth, use shredded paper for your nesting boxes, carriers, etc. I get shredded paper from work (schools are the perfect place to get shredded paper) then after the animals are done with it I compost it. It has less dust, is cleaner and keeps paper that would otherwise go into the landfills a use. Started using shredded paper with my pet rats and when I got chickens made the logical step. The chickens seem to like it and it breaks down pretty quickly.

 

[CityClucks]

Good morning, everyOkie! The sun may or may not appear today, but the new day is here - yippee!!

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Would you like to try chicken feet, frog, or snake? How about fish eye balls? LOL

Ha! I've eaten frog legs and snake, but you can keep the chicken feet and fish eyeballs!

 

[faerielady]

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I'm going to try it tomorrow. The pine is getting to us big time, plus I think one of my awesome co-irkers gave me a darned cold. Yeah, one of the guys who has like 1500 sick hours, and comes to work with the plague to get those of us sick who don't have much leave.

For all of you who are allergic to wood shavings here is my suggestion, for what ever it is worth, use shredded paper for your nesting boxes, carriers, etc. I get shredded paper from work (schools are the perfect place to get shredded paper) then after the animals are done with it I compost it. It has less dust, is cleaner and keeps paper that would otherwise go into the landfills a use. Started using shredded paper with my pet rats and when I got chickens made the logical step. The chickens seem to like it and it breaks down pretty quickly.

I was actually talking about the catch trays under the wire grow-out cages that I'm using, which are in my living room. Right now I'm cleaning them out daily in order to prevent there from being a smell, or use pine which is very absorbant of the smell. The problem is that cleaning daily is a waste of resources and I'm allergic to the pine. Now, while I totally agree with shredded paper in the nesting boxes, etc... it won't keep the smell down at all in the house and I would still be cleaning out the catch trays all the time, which wouldn't be a good use of the paper (at least in my opinion) because it would get maybe a day or two of use before being replaced. This was the first thing I tried prior to just switching over to pine and dealing with it.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

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Bought a trio of barred rock bantams several months back, picked them up at the post office.

when "started" birds are shipped, do they put something in with them to keep them hydrated, like that gel stuff or a few apples?

The adult and started chickens I've recieved through the postal service, have always come with an apple, cut in half. I did get one that had a piece of fishing line hanging inside the box that I later found out the breeder had hung a piece of mellon from it. They're either on pine shavings, hay, straw, or shredded paper (which is quite messy, btw). Even with express mail, it takes 2 - 3 days for them to reach the post office around here for me to pick them up.

I have bought birds and hatching eggs off of eggbid, but I knew who the breeders were and somewhat of their reputation.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

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the one on the right looks like a pullet to me. The chickens know what they are before I can tell. I can tell which are roosters at a young age before they even start getting good tail feathers, if they puff up their hackles and start squaring off with each other. Otherwise, I have to wait until they start crowing to be certain a bird is a rooster. Sometimes when I am not sure about the gender of young turkeys, I will watch how my tom interacts with the young ones through a chain link fence and that gives me a good idea of the young one's gender.
Since Barney is dancing for CT and not raising his hackles like the fur on a lion, he probably knows she is of the female variety.

Thanks! kind of surprised me, the other one Lily is no question, but CT (crooked tail) has always been a question, sometimes they will have a stare down, but today the romancing dance began...here they all are together, Barney is in the middle, Lily right and CT left

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o155/rgortonart/chicken life/galoottrio.jpg

CT looks like she is about ready to lay.

 

[al6517]

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I'll see what I can do sweatheart.........................I have found the best way to get rid of a headache is to kiss a baby, they always make me feel better, nuttin better N baby's.

AL

Been kissin my babies but they don't smell the way I remember!

Carah : I think you may be too close to the wrong end heheheee, sorry just had to, just tryin to put a smile on yer face.

Stimpy : Now that looks good right there........ Just sayin LOL.

Marybeth : They use fresh succulant fruits, like watermellon, cantelope, apples, rabbit bottles are also good and wet sponges.

Carla : if Gerald shows up alone tell him I will help him load and unload.

AL

 

[smfamf]

Okay the board is a little slow today. I figured I would start thinking about my breeding pens. How many females can I put in with one male and still ensure fertility of the eggs? I need to know for ducks, chickens, guineas, and quail. I figured up that right now I will need 13 pens if I want to separate everything. I may just leave the guineas together and that would save about 3 extra pens. This number also leaves an extra pen for quarantine. If I separate my ducks, I will have to get some more because there are only a small number of each variety. Any tips from anyone?

P.S. I added up that my "in town" backyard, I now holds 75+ birds. I think I'm in trouble.

 

[CityClucks]

Was someone on here asking about dubbing? I know MAllen and Okla-Doodle and a lot of others on here are familiar with how/when to do it. In case I'm not crazy and someone many pages back was asking, here is a thread that has what sounds like some more good tips about dubbing: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=285148

 

[faerielady]

I've been looking at the meat bird thread, but am pretty sure I'm looking in the wrong place. I need recommendations for a meat grinder. It can't attach to a food processor because I don't *have* a food processor...

I don't have a preference between manual and electric, although I'm worried about spending $ on either and having them break after a few uses. Any ideas? Oh, and I'll be grinding beef or chicken.

 

[smfamf]

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I can't help you. I have had a few various ones and they all broke.

I got a KitchenAid mixer specifically so I could get the grinder attachment.

I grew up with one and love the one that Andrew bought me for Christmas this year. Of course it was a little pricey. Total for everything was around $300, but I've been asking for one for about 4 years, so he figured that he better get the good one.