South Carolina

[WestKnollAmy]

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I LOVE your designer chickens!!!! The mille fleur d'Uccles are way to Awesome!! and the Photo of the week is a cutie!!!! it's a Frizzle mo Sizzle right

You know I can never get that term right!!!! lol

I am glad you like the d'Uccles. You need to come over and pet on them. You would have a fit!

They are so extremely personable and cute and fun. I have to open the tractor every day to see my darlings! Some do not come up to me but most want me to give them a bit of loving. Millie (what else would her name be?) is my special love. Very independent but super good to let me love her before she plays around on the tractor top.
Celine is a cuddle girl and I am glad as I got them for the Porcelains to start with. I love that pastel color!

If I had to have a house bird, these would be it. However, the rooster can crow as loud as my Cochins. Amazing how a big voice can come from such a tiny bird.

Some people say theirs are skittish but mine have been going up to strangers for petting, too. Must be a good bloodline.

Yes, Queenie is a Frizzle. No top hat!

 

[pinkwindsong]

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Very cute pic. That's how I feel after a long night of firefighting.

I love your pic and even sigen up for the daily pic. calendar..


)O(
Pink

 

[pinkwindsong]

uping protein makes alot of sense all the way around.. Im going to add more to the Ees I got last month to see if I can get some weight on those poor boys..
)O(

 

[Joycats]

Would anyone here need/want a beautiful big black Jersey Giant rooster (or 2, or 3 or 4)? I have some extras that I must part with and I'm offering them here if anyone would like one. They are very nice roos, very friendly and really beautiful. Free to a good home.

 

[C17]

hello from Blythewood, SC!!!

 

[Joycats]

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Hello from Duncan SC

 

[RedBugPoultry]

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Doesn't bright green mean something to do with the liver?

Oh I have no idea...but it is full of grass.

No, if the green you are talking about is the grass there is not a problem with the color. I had some chickens that got into something one time and got poisoned and there dropping had bile in it which turned it a teal green. Grass green is not a problem and is actually good!

 

[RedBugPoultry]

Amy, I am glad you mentioned the salt in the dried cat food. I have been grinding some up and feeding all my birds for extra protien. I need to look at the label. We have a friend that feed dried cat food to all his peacocks and guineas and those are the prettiest birds I have ever seen!

 

[Blueberry Hill]

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I will give you my 2 cents worth on this. Others may not agree but I have found it to work for me when I have the very rare egg eater. And believe me, with as many birds as I have this method has worked well for me in the past years.
Up the protein. It is a myth that they only eat their eggs because of low calcium intake. (One reason I could not continue classes at college. Scientific proof meant nothing to them!

) Most chickens rarely eat their own eggs for calcium. They just take it from other sources in their body, depleting those sources and eventually failing in health.
Put out oyster shell and see if that helps.

Countless times people ask me why their chickens continue to bust the eggs and eat them even with oyster shell available and layer as the main diet. Have you seen the amount of protein they put in layer? It is pitiful!
A chicken that is able to run loose on an acre or more with vegetation and bugs is getting way, way, way more protein from plant and animal matter!
Black oil sunflower seed has about 33% protein. Have you all seen how much they gobble that up? My chickens free range and still consume massive amounts of that seed.

Go buy a can of cheap tuna or mackerel or anything in the meat dept where the protein is higher than laying mash. Canned cat food is a favorite and even some dry cat food can have high amounts of protein but I hesitate to feed anything with added salt and commercial foods are very high in salt. Ever wonder why dogs and cats go into kidney failure around 8-10 years old? Dogs with congestive heart failure and Cushings disease, I blame on commercial feed. But I digress......

If you ever read my words as I drone on about chickens, you will know I say that I feed a lot of chick starter to my grown birds. Higher protein. But I also feed as much BOSS as I can and anything else that has high protein. Last winter I even bought a few bags of that floating Koi food to mix in with the layer and starter mash. It was high protein and cheaper than BOSS.
And now I grow meal worms.

If you have enough extra eggs then hard boil them and feed them back, shell and all (no use making too much work for yourself). The protein from the yolk is what those birds are really after.

If they are actually eating an egg that is not already cracked or broken then you have a problem.
If they are seeing a crack in an egg and going after it then it is natural. They know they must remove a "bad" egg or it will attract
predators.

I hope I have helped you and this will solve any problems.

Two thoughts:

Remind me what BOSS is?

And, sometimes, a hen will sit on a nest for a while and just not lay anything. I have watched some of my newer layers sit for quite a while and check as soon as they leave the nest and there is no egg.

 

[KrisH]

[quote=Blueberry HillRemind me what BOSS is?

And, sometimes, a hen will sit on a nest for a while and just not lay anything. I have watched some of my newer layers sit for quite a while and check as soon as they leave the nest and there is no egg.

I believe that would be Black Oil Sunflower Seed - BOSS

Robert