Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[lewee]

mark the eggs, and move her in, since the eggs are laid, she will likely set on them no matter where they are now

 

[lewee]

please keep in mind, all the "advice" i offer is based on what ive seen already or have done before, i welcome new input

 

[pagumby]

This question is for those of you with 100+ birds. I have 60-70 chickens (yep I loose count when they won't stand still) 6 geese, 19 duck and a few quail. What is the average amount of feed I should be going threw per week. They don't free range ( well a few hop the fence) and I do throw in things from the garden and scraps from canning (almost daily). I'm averaging about 200# of feed a week. Is that too much, just right or not enough? They act like pigs so I don't know if they are hungry or just have me trained to feed on demand. I only feed them twice a day. There is usually still powdery stuff left in their feed dish when I go out to feed them in the evening.

 

[stake]

Thank you everybody for the great advice. My wife and I decided that we are going to wait until about 10:00 tonight and move her into our newest coop. It has more nest boxes than are needed for the chickens that are housed in there and the nests are at the same level as the floor of the coop. That way, if some of the eggs hatch, they will be able to come and go from the nest box as the please.

I have only hatched eggs in an incubator so you have no idea how excited I am about this! As an added bonus, I hatched out the broody momma. I feel like I'm going to be a grandfather! Lol

sounds like you have a good game plan...congrats on getting the girl back and having the added bonuses to come....!!!

 

[stake]

This question is for those of you with 100+ birds. I have 60-70 chickens (yep I loose count when they won't stand still) 6 geese, 19 duck and a few quail. What is the average amount of feed I should be going threw per week. They don't free range ( well a few hop the fence) and I do throw in things from the garden and scraps from canning (almost daily). I'm averaging about 200# of feed a week. Is that too much, just right or not enough? They act like pigs so I don't know if they are hungry or just have me trained to feed on demand. I only feed them twice a day. There is usually still powdery stuff left in their feed dish when I go out to feed them in the evening.

my understanding was 4oz of feed per day per bird was the standard for LFs......my two cents

 

[Diz78]

Nothing better than coming home from a hard day sitting in the grass and have three cute chicks crawl up on my lap. Just mad me peaceful and serene!

 

[Reyvaughn]

To those of you with horses- about how much money do you spend in upkeep per horse per month (if you keep them in your own stable)?
I have seen prices for stable keeping at 800/ month!

(this is all just out of curiosity, won't own a horse for at least ten years lol)

I have one horse and I use #80 of oats in just over a month ($15) and I bought nearly a year's worth of hay that cost me under $500. I have a goat eating my hay, too, and I am an over feeder with the hay. It's under $60 a month for feed and hay for my mare. I have known some horses to require specialized diets and they needed a lot of intake, so grain depends on the horse and the level of activity. I know a friend of mine has a boarder who has to feed their horse #10 a day in just grain - a special Senior type grain that costs about $18 per #50, too. The farrier's prices vary, could be $25-50 for a basic trim and between $60-120+ for shoes - depends on if they need special shoes. Wormer medicine depends on the horse's fecal samples to base how much and when to worm. I worm 2x a year unless I see a reason to worm again. Wormer is $3-16 a tube. Vet care is something I rarely need. I seem to have healthy horses. I do call for yearly shots and teeth floating as needed. I have a mare, so no need for sheath cleaning needed. Vet bills run me $150-$250 a year for basic needs. I am a DIY person, so I don't call a vet unless I need to. I know how to deal with most issues after having/being around horses for nearly all my life.

So, to sum it up, a healthy, easy keeping (doesn't need a lot of feed to keep weight) horse shouldn't cost any more than $1300-1400 a year to care for. Vet and farrier are the most expensive, and a farrier needs to be out every 6-8wks depending on hoof growth and, again, if your horse needs shoes. I have been lucky, my last 4 horses were barefoot trimmed w/ hard hooves (no shoes) and I only had them trimmed as needed. I shaped them myself, but normally their hooves wore naturally.

As a side note, for some reason my cost of care tripled when I got my 2nd horse. I think it's horse math... Care cost doubles with every horse.

ETA: A truck load of shavings cost me $30 and I haven't used any on the horse yet (have had her almost 2 months). My mom has one horse at the moment and uses a truck load every month to month and a half. Summer requires fly spray, One $12-16 bottle of Pyranha lasts me a month.

 

[rdilbarova]

I have one horse and I use #80 of oats in just over a month ($15) and I bought nearly a year's worth of hay that cost me under $500. I have a goat eating my hay, too, and I am an over feeder with the hay. It's under $60 a month for feed and hay for my mare. I have known some horses to require specialized diets and they needed a lot of intake, so grain depends on the horse and the level of activity. I know a friend of mine has a boarder who has to feed their horse #10 a day in just grain - a special Senior type grain that costs about $18 per #50, too. The farrier's prices vary, could be $25-50 for a basic trim and between $60-120+ for shoes - depends on if they need special shoes. Wormer medicine depends on the horse's fecal samples to base how much and when to worm. I worm 2x a year unless I see a reason to worm again. Wormer is $3-16 a tube. Vet care is something I rarely need. I seem to have healthy horses. I do call for yearly shots and teeth floating as needed. I have a mare, so no need for sheath cleaning needed. Vet bills run me $150-$250 a year for basic needs. I am a DIY person, so I don't call a vet unless I need to. I know how to deal with most issues after having/being around horses for nearly all my life.

So, to sum it up, a healthy, easy keeping (doesn't need a lot of feed to keep weight) horse shouldn't cost any more than $1300-1400 a year to care for. Vet and farrier are the most expensive, and a farrier needs to be out every 6-8wks depending on hoof growth and, again, if your horse needs shoes. I have been lucky, my last 4 horses were barefoot trimmed w/ hard hooves (no shoes) and I only had them trimmed as needed. I shaped them myself, but normally their hooves wore naturally.

As a side note, for some reason my cost of care tripled when I got my 2nd horse. I think it's horse math... Care cost doubles with every horse.

ETA: A truck load of shavings cost me $30 and I haven't used any on the horse yet (have had her almost 2 months). My mom has one horse at the moment and uses a truck load every month to month and a half. Summer requires fly spray, One $12-16 bottle of Pyranha lasts me a month.

 

[Reyvaughn]

Glad to shed some light. Some people think horses are a rich person's hobby. If you are one of those new age people who call the vet all the time and have an acupuncturist and massage therapist on speed dial for your horse, then yes, they are. If you show a lot, yes, they are. Tack and show clothes are not cheap. Truck and trailer are not cheap, neither is the gas to ge them to the show. Show entries are not cheap. Tail extensions, trainers and other special grooming supplies are not cheap.... To just have a friend in the back field to hop on and got for a ride, that isn't that bad. I spend more on my birds in a month.

 

[BirdbyGavin1103]

WOOOOO HOOOOOO!!! I found my Australorp in the weeds not 15 feet from the coop...sitting on at least a dozen eggs!!!

Ok, so here is my question; since I am afraid of predators getting her, should I move her to a next box inside of a coop or leave her alone? She survived last night out in the wild but that luck could run out. Help! What should I do??? This would be so much easier if she just would have gone broody in the coop.

Glad you found her!

I have one horse and I use #80 of oats in just over a month ($15) and I bought nearly a year's worth of hay that cost me under $500. I have a goat eating my hay, too, and I am an over feeder with the hay. It's under $60 a month for feed and hay for my mare. I have known some horses to require specialized diets and they needed a lot of intake, so grain depends on the horse and the level of activity. I know a friend of mine has a boarder who has to feed their horse #10 a day in just grain - a special Senior type grain that costs about $18 per #50, too. The farrier's prices vary, could be $25-50 for a basic trim and between $60-120+ for shoes - depends on if they need special shoes. Wormer medicine depends on the horse's fecal samples to base how much and when to worm. I worm 2x a year unless I see a reason to worm again. Wormer is $3-16 a tube. Vet care is something I rarely need. I seem to have healthy horses. I do call for yearly shots and teeth floating as needed. I have a mare, so no need for sheath cleaning needed. Vet bills run me $150-$250 a year for basic needs. I am a DIY person, so I don't call a vet unless I need to. I know how to deal with most issues after having/being around horses for nearly all my life.

So, to sum it up, a healthy, easy keeping (doesn't need a lot of feed to keep weight) horse shouldn't cost any more than $1300-1400 a year to care for. Vet and farrier are the most expensive, and a farrier needs to be out every 6-8wks depending on hoof growth and, again, if your horse needs shoes. I have been lucky, my last 4 horses were barefoot trimmed w/ hard hooves (no shoes) and I only had them trimmed as needed. I shaped them myself, but normally their hooves wore naturally.

As a side note, for some reason my cost of care tripled when I got my 2nd horse. I think it's horse math... Care cost doubles with every horse.

ETA: A truck load of shavings cost me $30 and I haven't used any on the horse yet (have had her almost 2 months). My mom has one horse at the moment and uses a truck load every month to month and a half. Summer requires fly spray, One $12-16 bottle of Pyranha lasts me a month.

I'll add to this. It will also depend if you are getting it just for pleasure or for showing. My nieces' show in both 4-H and Arab shows. When I asked my BIL about how much they spend per horse (not including the trailer and truck payments), he told me about double what Reyvaughn quoted. That does not include hay, straw, or boarding as they are at their own barn and have the land/machinery to produce their own hay and straw. The amount he gave me includes all the fees for showing, riding attire for different riding styles, trainer's fee, etc. Gavin's been asking for a horse for a long time, and I've wanted one since I was a child, I wanted an idea of how much he spends because IF we get Gavin one he may show for 4-H.

ETA: I saw Reyvaughn mentioned showing after I posted this. I had never heard of some of the things she mentioned, since they don't use them.