South Carolina

[ChickyChickyBaby]

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That's where I get some of mine, too. It is 6 miles from my house. I just came back a few minutes ago and now need to go unload it because storms are piling up and I hear thunder. Need to lock up Jolie, too before she has a heart attack. Though she is better now that I put her dog house inside the dog/roo pen. I guess she figures Jerry will take care of her!

Williams sells chicken layer mash and starter, llama, goat, sheep, cow and hog food. They mix and grind their own. It is not trucked in commercially. A 50# bag of starter is $9.75 and laying mash is $9.50.
Dog food has gone up considerably but Jolie likes it pretty well. I think the last bag was $18. They do not make that there, though.

Chicken feed has went up again! I haven't been in 2 weeks.
BUT I can tell you, it is different. Has been for a couple of months, at least. It no longer smells like kettle popcorn. Doesn't have the sweet delicious smell it used to have.

BTW, last time I got dog food it had went up to $20 a bag there. My pickiest dog eats it, but he can learn to eat something else for that price. I would not have minded too much, but the rate at which the price is increasing is ridiculous. I would have to get my receipts so far for this year, but when I started getting dog food there, it was $15 or $15.50 a bag, and rose every two weeks afterwards until 2 weeks ago it was $20.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Yeah, they had to start grinding oats into it because they ran out of something else....maybe sorghum. I wondered about it and asked Dawn what was different. Today I bought 3 layer and 5 starter. Ugh.
Since I also buy from other feed stores it can hurt to go every week to them all. But my Marans do better on the 28% game bird starter mixed with the laying mash and I always buy whole grains and I try hard to be able to buy rolled oats for them, too. However, this week I had to buy oyster shell so I could not get the rolled oats. I make one bag of oats last 2 weeks.
Now you see why I started raising meal worms.

 

[Larkspur88]

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I've got a "mixed bag" of breeds that I bought from TSC on March 10th, that makes all of mine around 12 weeks old as well. That said, I can tell you that my coop/run looks like a pillow fight occured...because I have feathers all over the place. It started about a week and a half ago and I noticed it when I came home from work. It was so bad, I immediately started doing a head count to see if they were all present and accounted for. I am very pleased to report that none were lost and they all look pretty nice to me in terms of plumage. I never raised chickens from day one (or two or three) before so I assume this is a common molt process. I did notice that one of my Red Star hens with a white rump had two tail feathers left from the full tail she had before. So it appears mine are going through a similar thing as yours. I'll follow Amy's advice and check for mites though I powder the coop and run with DE and pemethrin powder. As I've told some others on BYC before...if you see a big dust cloud coming from Sumter, SC....it's probably me putting out DE!

I agree that the chickens are prolly trying to get as naked as they can in this incessant heat! If I had feathers like them, I would be one miserable son of a gun!

My chickens who are about 14 weeks just went out of some sort of molt. They never looked naked though but their were feathers all over their night box and my front yard

 

[KrisH]

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Nadine, I am raising them in a brooder just like the peeps. One thng for sure they are fast and will be flying before you expect it. I already have a top on the brooder. I am sure they will be flying out in a weeks time, maybe sooner. I want mine to be friendly and let me do thngs with them if I need. So I am speeding as much time as I can with them.


Pink I am so sorry about your girl, I know how you feel. I was so shocked how fast he came and grabed her. Never saw it coming. Darn hawks are bold.

 

[KrisH]

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Well, If you ever need any Guinea eggs just let me know cause we've got em

I most certainly will, I guess I need an incubator now too, oh chicken math

Nadine you have SLW, that is the breed we really want, but I really want the GLW, but if I cant find them we thought about the SLW. We are holding off until we know what we are doing with the chickens saftey. Then I will be on a serious lookout for the wyandottes. Do you sell any of your SLW, and are they LF?

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

Quote:
That's where I get some of mine, too. It is 6 miles from my house. I just came back a few minutes ago and now need to go unload it because storms are piling up and I hear thunder. Need to lock up Jolie, too before she has a heart attack. Though she is better now that I put her dog house inside the dog/roo pen. I guess she figures Jerry will take care of her!

Williams sells chicken layer mash and starter, llama, goat, sheep, cow and hog food. They mix and grind their own. It is not trucked in commercially. A 50# bag of starter is $9.75 and laying mash is $9.50.
Dog food has gone up considerably but Jolie likes it pretty well. I think the last bag was $18. They do not make that there, though.

Wow! That sure beats the $14.95 I just paid at TSC for Purina Flock Raiser! I plan on using Flock Raiser or something similar since it has 21% protien. At around 17/18 weeks I plan on making sure I'll use Oyster shell as a calcium supplement since it doesn't have calcium in it for layers.

Williams' chick starter has high protein..I will have to check my bag, but it is either 20% or 21% I think

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

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I won't go but one other feed store. I may change that one before long. All my birds eat Williams' feed except my silkies.

My turkey poults are doing good on the chick starter. So do our ducklings.

 

[CarolinaChickenKeeper]

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I won't go but one other feed store. I may change that one before long. All my birds eat Williams' feed except my silkies.

My turkey poults are doing good on the chick starter. So do our ducklings.

What r u feeding your silkies??

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Quote:
Well, If you ever need any Guinea eggs just let me know cause we've got em

I most certainly will, I guess I need an incubator now too, oh chicken math

Nadine you have SLW, that is the breed we really want, but I really want the GLW, but if I cant find them we thought about the SLW. We are holding off until we know what we are doing with the chickens saftey. Then I will be on a serious lookout for the wyandottes. Do you sell any of your SLW, and are they LF?

I suppose by the time the keets hatch here and are ready to start flying around a bit I will put them in the wire bottom brooder. But even the ones in there now fly out sometimes when I open the top to put in food and water or grab them for exams. You would think they would learn that if they fly out I get those first and check leg bands, weights and skin. But no, they just want to be free!

The Guinea bird is really becoming a pet! I was unloading grain from the truck and it got really bad with thundering and lightening so i figured I better get more chores done early. I grabbed my egg basket and headed into the coop to gather eggs and there he sat, on one of the roosts, preening himself! Now how did he slip past me when I was unloading the grain? Or was he in there the whole time I was banging around in the brooder/feed room next door?
I left him alone and did not gather the eggs right then. Later he was in the duck coop but the broody ducks hissed at him and he went back out into the pen to eat. I can now get closer to him. I think he is considered purple. I looked at the chart but it wasn't very good photos. He has purple on his neck.
And he didn't talk at all yesterday except when I was calling him earlier in the day. I couldn't find him and called out a few times, eventually he came from over towards my neighbors house, up towards my front pasture. He was calling me back, I suppose. He made some noises but after that was when I saw him in the coop.

Yes, I usually will raise some SLW. I have sold out for the year though and my hens are all back free ranging. I also have GLW but no roo, just girls in my free range flock for beauty and eggs. Some day I hope to have enough BLRW to free range with them, too. But for now I can't hang on to chicks to even give me more in the breeding pen.
I have found the Wyandotte roos to be exceptional in personality and temperament.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Has anyone else read this story? Thought you all may be interested. It doesn't name the hatchery but I encourage everyone to wash their hands after handling chicks and ducklings and do not do like me...kiss on them! One day I may get sick from it but in all the years I have handled baby chicks and ducklings I haven't come down with anything. I am not saying I wouldn't but it isn't safe to kiss them! Can't help it! Too darn cute!

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/06/10/salmonella-outbreak-tied-to-chicks-ducklings/

ETA:
On further searching, Reuters also has a story on it and named the hatchery.