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Been doing a lot if reading and I'm going to start fermenting our chicken feed. Just wanted to see what kind of mix everyone else who's fermenting is using. I'm gonna head to our local mill the end of the week.
 
The goats were just obnoxious. They hated the bunny hay, wouldn't eat it, but they'd destroy the coop and bunny cages to eat the bunny hay that was inaccessible to them. Basically, they were just very expensive troublemakers. They shred trees and destroy everything they can. If you could enclose them in a small fenced area, they'd maybe do better, but they were miserable jerks in my nice 3 acre pasture.
 
Farmer Mike S said:
Today I got two eggs... Very unsual because my chickens haven't laid all winter and they laid two eggs on a clowdy day, and early January the daylights not increasing. They're going into year three and I don't remember any of them laying this early...
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gift horse...you know what they say...
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Bettacreek said:
A friend had her two goats here until they could get their setup ready for them... Let me tell you, that was the best thing that the man ever let me do... I no longer want goats, because they were horrible! Luckily they were only here for like 3 months and I hadn't bought my own!
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Glad you got to have this experience first!! ..see..this is what I am saying. Better to know without the investment & heartache (human & goat)....i have heard/read from many people, you either a goat person or your not. There isn't any in-between.., so i am hoping I AM a goat person
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, but won't know till spring..when I get to be really "with them"...
dheltzel said:
I agree 100% !
I call it the carnival goldfish syndrome. I hope they don't still do that. When I was a boy, I had a pond in the backyard (actually an old bathtub sunk into the ground) and I got lots of goldfish to stock it with by standing near the goldfish booth at the carnival and offering to give the goldfish that people didn't really want, a good home. It was a good home to - paradise compared to the short life in a bowl that most were consigned to. Everyone came out ahead.
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it is a shame, most don't think too much about goldfish..fish in general. Easy enough to dispose of.. a finger and a flusher..
What really disturbed me, a few years ago, when the big festival up here was going on. There was a stand that had a game..like ping-pong ball in bowl, to win these baby turtles...They were baby 'red-ear sliders'..DH said , he didn't think what they were doing was legal...you have to have a permit or something to have them, if you can at all.
They have never been back....and I am glad, I can't even think about what those little turtles had to endure all day with kids ....and ignorant adults.
Gramma Chick said:
Or if you didnt do that.. before ...take responsibility for your actions .

We got ducks ...very messy ...lots of work keeping a pool for them ..cleaning It & their cage .
I didnt want them in the coop with the chickens ..for the winter ...tried to get someone to take them ..
A lady 1 1/2 hours away would take them but wouldnt let me see her set up ..
So I decided to try to work out a solution ..Brought their cage in the coop. On top of their cage is a spot for my growing out chicks


So ..I decided to keep them . they are easier than the chickens ...when they are outside . I dont need to shovel a path for them or fill their pond ...they go down to the stream by themselves
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What is cool about my duckies is ..you notice they were quiet till I spoke to them ...then they chattered on .
Forgot to mention we got them for eggs ....un-sexed ..We got 3 Boys
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I am so glad you figured some way to keep them!!
Sorry about the all-male issue though, I think your egg count is going to be a bit low
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, now you have it all worked out..invite some girls!!
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stake said:
yep one of my CCL girls turned on about 4 days ago and one of the non-laying orps was hanging out in a nest box this morning....maybe its a 'lunar' thing.......
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oh please tell me that!! hahaha...the moon light shining in their coop will be the "extra" light they need?...hahaha, I will take anything at this point Stake!!
It was so bright last night, kept think the spot lights on the barns were on, very bright!
 
Thoes of you close to Erie. I have chicks that are 27 days old. 10 of them. This is my first winter with chickens. I put them in the barn/coop with a heat lamp and water and such I am just scared they are to cold. Am I being silly or have I messed up? Should I bring them back in side my house? It's like 10 degrees during the day today.
 
hendricks115 said:
Been doing a lot if reading and I'm going to start fermenting our chicken feed. Just wanted to see what kind of mix everyone else who's fermenting is using. I'm gonna head to our local mill the end of the week.
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I am just fermenting the commercial feed right now. I do add-in "extras", (oats/dried legumes) from time to time. The closest mill to me is near 45 mins away.
Fermenting is great, lot less waste thrown around and the nutritional benefits...win-win
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..it is not very involved either. Many different set-ups for it, just have to find what works best for you, like a lot of things. I am excited to be able to make my own ACV, so I don't have to be spending the extra $$ on the small bottles. That stuff is expensive for what it is...geesh...
AnneInTheBurbs said:
Do you all find your chickens eat less in the winter? I feel like my girls aren't eating as much feed, but perhaps that's because of the reduced laying.
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omgosh..don't get me started on what these little "starving" hens are eating or "think" they should be eating...mine would eat till they popped!! They are very well fed, but try telling them that
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Mine are eating as much as of they were laying...I think they are stashing those eggs somewhere....
Free Feather said:
I have been thinking about doing that as well. It just seems not the best time of year to first attempt it.
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I keep mine in an old cooler...I will try to remember to take a pic tomorrow...
I am using a one-gal. bucket, that's it..for seven birds...The bucket and two half-gal.(turkey-hill tea) bottles fit nicely into the cooler..the bottles are for hot water to keep the ferment doing it's thing, and I use hot water in the ferment-mix...
In the A.M., I exchange out the two, now-cold, bottles out for two hot water bottles..scoop out the feed for the birds...add my dry stuff to the bucket, mix, add hot water..set bucket back into cooler w/ the hot water bottles, put the lid back on the cooler & all is good for the rest of the day until the next morning. Now..if it is going to be in the single digits..I may switch-out the water bottles at night just to make sure that nothing freezes..but everything is generally good to go..the cooler lid may stick in the morning because the condensation froze, but the ferment is just fine, usually still bubbling when i open the cooler. I keep this out in the "chicken" shed right beside the coop I used to keep it in the house, but DH found the smell offensive..to each his own...didn't bother me..but..have to keep'em happy
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...
LadyBehir said:
LMP - Tractor Supply has a Now Hiring sign up. Think we should apply?
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this made DH laugh too! We saw the sign yesterday...When are they supposed to be opening?..I hope that whomever they hire knows at least something in their department, and not just were the restrooms are located..
Bettacreek said:
The goats were just obnoxious. They hated the bunny hay, wouldn't eat it, but they'd destroy the coop and bunny cages to eat the bunny hay that was inaccessible to them. Basically, they were just very expensive troublemakers. They shred trees and destroy everything they can. If you could enclose them in a small fenced area, they'd maybe do better, but they were miserable jerks in my nice 3 acre pasture.
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well my goodness.....you did have an experience!
 
Zanlm said:
Thoes of you close to Erie. I have chicks that are 27 days old. 10 of them. This is my first winter with chickens. I put them in the barn/coop with a heat lamp and water and such I am just scared they are to cold. Am I being silly or have I messed up? Should I bring them back in side my house? It's like 10 degrees during the day today.
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I wish I had a sure answer for you. Last winter I lost 6 chicks by putting them out without adequate heat, so I'm extra careful now. I've kept chicks indoors for at least 5 - 6 weeks at times, but it does get a bit smelly.

How are the acting, are they trying to get as close as possible to the heat, or are they moving around like they aren't cold?
 

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