South Carolina

[Avonshire]

hmmm the tsc in Laurens seems nice and helpful. Of course I don't know much so maybe I don't know what they do and don't know! lol!

 

[Just reebok]

I used to go to a mill up in Inman about 8 years ago. I'll be darned if I can remember the name... I went for horse feed and sweet feed. Good quality and good prices.

 

[leirob007]

I really am not bragging here. but my RIR's are as pretty as any I've ever seen in my whole life ( that is why there are over 100 eggs in the incubator and about 30 of them are hatching as we speak )
I hate to break folks hearts but I am going to have to enter a trio in the fair this year
Maybe they will be easier to move if I tag them " Blue Ribbon Winners "
But, all jokes aside. my RIR's are as much a part of me as the air I breathe.
The offer stands, whenever you or someone you run across wants some.

I wish I had thought to ask/look on here before I ordered! I loved the hens I got from my mom - they were RIRs. She didn't handle them much, so when I first got them I bought into the whole aggressive bit. Granted part of my original view was based on them attacking my toes because I wore flip flops into their pen - smart right? In hindsight they must have looked like some juicy grubs. But they mellowed out pretty quickly once I made a point to hang out with them daily. Plus nothing helped me forget a rough day at work like a cold beer and helping them scratch around their pen for bugs.

 

[leirob007]

I use an automatic horse watering bucket. ( Miller mfg FW16 ) it is 16 quarts that stays topped off like the back of a toilet, to clean it simply turn it upside down dump it and it starts to fill so you can rinse it and set it back upright and walk away from it. watering is not an issue.
I use an old rubbermaid automatic dog feeder I removed the door from. and pour in my mixed feeds by the 5gal bucket full. feeding only needs to be done every couple days. and because they have plenty of room to go wondering. I let the feeder run dry a day and let them clean up around it so I'm feeding a 5 gal bucket of feed every 3 days now.
feeding about 25 RIR and about 50 Barred rocks.
anyone need any barred rocks?.
ages from should start laying this week or next to 1 week old.

I love my RIR girls. They have always been very nice. Now, Dixiebeast does not like hers. She says they are so mean and my neighbor says the same thing about theirs. But mine have always been good girls and I enjoy them and their big brown eggs. I can slip my hand right under them to retrieve eggs and I never see them fussing among the other hens.
I do not care for the bossy Barred Rocks. I am now down to one and Alice will live here for the rest of her life because I told the previous owner I woudl not sell her or get rid of her. But that big old girl reminds me quite often why I got rid of teh others. She slaps the other girls around and has to have her own way all the time and getting an egg from underneath her earns me a peck every time. She only lays about 3 eggs a week now but still, she is bad tempered. Could be the way she was raised though.

I have many breeds n my free range flock that are great egg layers and beautiful to look at as well as very friendly. This is the first year in 7 years that I have not ordered in chicks. I have hatched way too many through the winter and am still culling out what I don't need and then bought 75 new layers from a friend when she was getting out of it so I am good to go. I am back up over 400 birds again and am so tired of watering and feeding, cleaning brooder, watering, watering....have I mentioned I hate watering? LOL

Oh, and anyone that wants to see a HUGE gorgeous roo should see Kris and Robert's! Their Wyandotte roo is the nicest fella I have seen in a long time. Very impressive guy and absolutely delightful to be around but then the Foley's don't sell no junk!

And I am now going back outside to do more watering before it gets any hotter.

 

[leirob007]

Thank you very much, but he is still young yet. he has his first birthday coming up soon. I should plan a party.
and he has grown a third more since you came by. you should see him now.

I will say Leirob007 what your roo is very ver beautiful and such a friendly, well behaved gentleman. I absolutely would not mind having one or two RIR's one day when I finally get some land and can have a menagerie .

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Amy I just googled Williams Feed Store. I think I'll give them a try the next time I need food. What's the best to buy for my Layers and for my chicks? When i first started raising chickens two years ago, Feed has went up 4 dollars for a 50lb bag at TSC. And Williams isn't really that far from my house. Nice drive through the country.

Williams is a nice Mom and Pop operation so all you will get is the basics from them. I buy the layer mash for $10.50 a bag and mix with the whole wheat I get there, too. It is $8.50 a bag, though the layer mash has some wheat already in it. Most of my birds love it and I like whole grains for them as much as I can give them. If I have Rockin Rooster on hand in a barrel or other whole grains mixed up like rolled barley, milo, millet, BOSS, rolled oats etc, then I add whole wheat to that too. It takes very little whole grains to fill a bird up. I give that mix more in the winter than the summer though so I have less to deal with in summer and they free range enough to get their own grains. They leave a lot of it in the summer if I give it to them because of all they can find already. But as a surprise treat I will sometimes buy the Rockin Rooster. Takes less space to store already mixed grains and I have so little storage space.

On the starter, it is $10.75 a bag. I give this to my regular chicks like the bantams and LF but my keets and now my turkeys get game bird starter because it is 27% and that is what they need.

I will say this mash has soy in it and a few folks baulk at that. I have to laugh since manufacturers can change what is in the food and buy the cheapest filler out there. That is one of the many reasons I do not like pellets. You can't see what is actually in that food. They only have to put the actual ingredients that is on the bag label in the food every 6 months to conform to the AFCO and USDA guidelines. I used to be more trusting until I toured a good many plants and was in the veterinary where the manufacturers would let things slip. I became very distrusting of pet foods.

Speaking of turkeys, here are 6 of the 7 I got from Kris and Robert. There are 3 Royal Palms (white ones) and there are 4 of the Tiger Bronze. They are so calm and personable and totally rotten! I am enjoying them a good bit and can't wait until they are big and beautiful and rotten! LOL

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Amy--I feel like I missed somethimg--is there a place in Newberry to buy decent(better than tsc) feed? I am there almost every day but don't get out your way very often. Also I love my one BR. It is my friendliest chicken. My 3 week old babies have to be chased down to be put up but my BR comes right to me!

I tried to take pictures of the chicks tonight. They did not exactly cooperate.
I love the colors in this EE. Tge dark one is George(3 weeks old).

I put the baby down to try to get pictures and my bigger chicks came running. I think they thought I was giving them a treat!

Here is the only female named chick we have and it may be misnamed! lol! (3 weeks old). Meet Lucy!


Here are all 10 babies

There is a place called Newberry Feed (google it for their website) where you can buy pellets or crumbles, though crumbles are more like dust, I have heard. The lady I got so many hens from fed the Newberry crumbles and though it was powdery, I did not see waste around the feeders. All her birds were in healthy weight, maybe a bit on the thicker side but they did not get to free range like mine do. And since having them home here they are still hanging to the coop. I think it will take them a while to learn to get out and catch all those bugs. More and more follow my girls out every day but that big hairy dog scares them.

Uhm.....Lucy is a boy. I see several boys in your bottom photo. I see eyeliner, too but can't tell where it exactly comes out of the eye but those combs are a good indicator of boys.

Cute chicks! I know you all enjoy them.

 

[KrisH]

Here is the only female named chick we have and it may be misnamed! lol! (3 weeks old). Meet Lucy!

Poor baby is scared to death of that shirt.

I must have been wearing a shirt like that when the guinea babies first saw me!

RobertH

PS Those with guinea keets will know what I mean

 

[WestKnollAmy]

LOL Leave it to Robert to notice the shirt!

 

[Avonshire]

Ha ha about the shirt! That is his California Ugly Fish shirt!!

OK here are more pictures ... guesses on boys or girls??

This is Puffy the 7 week old BLRW that I got from Dixiebeast


This is Gimpy--the one I helped out of its shell. It bites a lot.


Jr is in front(boy?), then 11 which I think is a girl and then Lucy the boy in the back!

OK not sure which one this is! Thought it was Jr. but all the chipmunky looking ones start to blend together!!!