South Carolina

[dixiebeast]

Quote:
We will be seeing a lot of this in the next 2 months.
If he is hard to catch then he has enough strength to fight off whatever is bothering him. When he finally becomes easy to catch then you can treat him. He may well bounce back himself. I would just keep an eye on him (no pun intended!).

I feel the same that if he can run like a fool he isnt too bad...he was snoozing again earlier but I am curious by what you ment that we will see alot of this the next 2 months!!! Yikes!!Also I believe it was you offering processing lessons on labor day,I had mentioned it to the hubby and last night he asked me about it.He knows I can cook and eat as long as I dont clean it! SAme with deer,I can stand and watch all day if its not one going to my table!LOL wierd I know but I was hoping the invite was still available and if so I will nail him down about it tonight!LOL

 

[dixiebeast]

And I Wanna See The Sign!!!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Yes, we are going to process about 10 roosters next Monday morning at 9 am if anyone else wants to come see how we do ours. If you have any you want to do you are welcome to bring them and do yours along while watching me and DH do ours. Just make sure you bring knives, a few large bowls, gallon size zip lock bags and an ice chest full of ice to take the meat home in.

Yes, as the weather changes chickens will go through spells where they do not feel well, same as us. You will notice a few sitting in the sun and trying to absorb as much as possible before the winter blahs arrive. They will eat more, sleep more and droop around until the weather evens out the first of November.



Anyone planning on putting lights on their birds this winter for egg production?

 

[emptynester]

Quote:
I got tired to trying to scoop them all out and make separate bins so I just let them all stay in their own bins now. Believe me, they multiply and grow like mad! I am not sure if it is because it has been nice and warm this summer, even in an AC house or if they will continue to grow like this through the winter.

I have tons and tons of worms! Here is a photo I took yesterday of my second generation AFTER I scooped about 6 cups out to feed.
On top of the newspaper.....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/9332_worm_colonies_8-11_001.jpg

In middle of the newspaper........

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/9332_worm_colonies_8-11_009.jpg

And under the newspaper...........

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/9332_worm_colonies_8-11_008.jpg

And remember, this is only one bin and after getting out 6 cups!

That is awesome! Now I just gotta find some wheat bran and some oatmeal and some bins and order some worms LOL

 

[huckleberryfarm]

Quote:
You have worms in your den? You are dedicated to your chickens!

I am dedicated to my DD, too.

She has about 70 Guinea Pigs in the house. They were out into the den when we had over 100 but she has cut back so they are all in the spare bedroom now.
My house is not a show place! I hate the mess but would rather spend my time doing what I want rather than cleaning. DD cleaned it up a few weeks ago and it looked wonderful.....for about 24 hours! Then DH hit like a tornado and we just never had put things back where they belong.

Mealworms do not have an odor, can't fly or crawl out of the bins so they are the perfect thing to grow for your chicks. However, raising them outside is difficult due to mice, moths and other critters enjoying them. I keep my bins covered only to make sure the cats don't think it is an extra litter box or place to play.

This is the most simple project I have ever done. These guys almost thrive on neglect! Goodness knows I have gone a week without adding carrots or tomato and they are still growing, hatching and pupating. Started with 5000 but now have well over a million and am feeding some all along.

I'm not sure it's for me! I literally almost threw up looking at that picture.

I couldn't do it!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I didn't care for using the oatmeal but the wheat bran has been great. I buy it in 50# bags anyhow for the chickens to make their treat balls so I found using it was better than rolled oats and a lot cheaper. I had a hard time seeing the pupae in the oats but in the wheat they are easy to see. They do use up the wheat bran faster but I think they like eating it better than oats.

I bought the plastic tubs at Walmart, they eat mostly carrots as fruit draws gnats but I sometimes give watermelon or cantaloupe rind. That is only for moisture. They eat the bran and drink or eat the carrots or cucumbers for water.

Susanne, I was a bit freaked out when the grain mites started taking over but the meal worms are funny little critters. I don't mind the beetles or anything. I have always been a farm girl so stuff like this never bothers me. The sound of the beetles all scurrying and crunching around does bother DD sometimes. The den is mostly her room so she has to tolerate them.

 

[Ray_n_Debi]

Quote:
That is me. I am between Leesville and Pelion.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Mealworms eh? I thought y'all were talking about earthworms...

We plan on raising the earthworms....as we have bunches in the soil here. Good thing too. They were here before we got here, so they know their way around the property.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

There are people on the meal worm thread that do cockroaches and earthworms as well as crickets and other bugs. I stick to meal worms because they are super easy and I feed them some flax meal as well as other goodies to make them healthy tidbits for my chicks in the brooders. Just another cheap feed, imo.

Earthworms are great to feed! In rainy weather they are everywhere out here. I don't do a compost pile (mainly because the chickens till it down) but that is a great place to find earthworms.
I do make a pile of old brooder bags and put them at the bottom of my water runoff when I am doing barn chores. Then every few days I go out and move around the bags. There will be thousands of grubs and maggots in there and the free rangers go nuts eating them all up. Ha! More free feed and all in one spot. It has an extremely bad odor but this is the best place for water to get with old poop and old feed for the flies and moths to lay their eggs and the heat inside the bags or under them is so intense they quickly become food for my chickens.
Once I finish the other duck pens I will be able to move the pile closer to the woods since the water from the ducks pools will water the pile.

Nasty? Yes.

But also a more wholesome and natural food than additives from a bag.

 

[huckleberryfarm]

It's much prettier in real life. I'm so happy with how it turned out. Time for some cute plantings around it!