Texas

[Dragonfly75]

Good deal!  And it only took a week.  We're still working on our gang.   Every night we go put them to bed and DH moves them from the boxes to the roosts.  Most of them are getting it, but still have a couple that want to get on the rafters.  Hazel, the brown leghorn is the worst holdout.  She knows too.  DH will tell here to get down and she flys to the floor and then makes her way up the ladder.  The main problem is the big girls want to spread out and leave little room for the teenagers so everybody gets rearranged until they settle and then we turn the lights off.  They are still where we put them the next morning.

I just got 8 more babies a few weeks ago. They are still small enough to fit through the fence of the moat (found that out the hard way!) so they are still in the brooder in the coop. But when they get big enough I will have to start the process all over again. Unless I get lucky and they watch the older girls! One can always hope! We have no ladder leading to the roostso they will have to be big eenough to fly up there. I do have one girl that is always the last to fly off the roost when I open their door. I guess she is a little afraid of heights!

 

[tiedyemommy]

Our 5th, and my personal favorite (Olive), chicken started squatting today. As of a couple days ago, we have 4 laying ladies...but it looks as though the 5th isn't far behind. Yay eggs!

Fred (White Leghorn) laying white eggs.
Red (Red Sex-Link) laying brown eggs.
Goldie (Rumpless Easter Egger) laying pale green/blue eggs.
Shed (Easter Egger) laying darker olive green eggs.
Olive (Easter Egger)...just started squatting...egg color unknown.

 

[winteree]

oh man! So do they roost in the floor of the coop? What did you use for their roost? We used a 2x4. My husband read that it is easier on their feet than a dowel rod. We also have poop boards with stall dry in them. Makes cleaning up the poop super easy!

we use the back of a old wooden ladder.

the funny thing is that they will rest on it during the day but won't touch it at night

 

[Dragonfly75]

we use the back of a old wooden ladder. the funny thing is that they will rest on it during the day but won't touch it at night

Man that has to be frustrating! I don't even know what to suggest! Maybe some of the waaaaayyyyy more knowledgeable people than me on here could help you out!

 

[SlipsWife]

We took all 4 of our dogs to the vet yesterday. Our older 3 tested clear for parasites but the new puppy tested positive for coccidia. Our vet feels that she was infected/exposed before we got her. The breeder seemed concerned enough to 'have his vet come out and look' but I'm not sure if she actually tested his dogs. Since we had a puppy do the same thing last year (her fecal didn't show any parasites but she showed improvement once wormed) I'm still on the fence if she had it before we got her or if we need to be concerned they picked it up here. He gave our year old Dane meds to help with his stool issues, he thinks he's just out of balance.

As for our chickens, we dewormed on Sunday and Tuesday we got 5 eggs out of 7 hens, when we'd been getting maybe 2 a day...but today we were back to 2. Our red sexlink hasn't stopped but our turken who had stopped laid her first egg in forever...so I'm not sure if we've figured out why they've slowed down or if its just because the last few days have been cooler than the past few weeks...

 

[winteree]

We took all 4 of our dogs to the vet yesterday. Our older 3 tested clear for parasites but the new puppy tested positive for coccidia. Our vet feels that she was infected/exposed before we got her. The breeder seemed concerned enough to 'have his vet come out and look' but I'm not sure if she actually tested his dogs. Since we had a puppy do the same thing last year (her fecal didn't show any parasites but she showed improvement once wormed) I'm still on the fence if she had it before we got her or if we need to be concerned they picked it up here. He gave our year old Dane meds to help with his stool issues, he thinks he's just out of balance.

As for our chickens, we dewormed on Sunday and Tuesday we got 5 eggs out of 7 hens, when we'd been getting maybe 2 a day...but today we were back to 2. Our red sexlink hasn't stopped but our turken who had stopped laid her first egg in forever...so I'm not sure if we've figured out why they've slowed down or if its just because the last few days have been cooler than the past few weeks...

goodness i hope everyone on your end will be ok good luck

 

[henless]

Sauerkraut! It is super easy to make at home (we just did it). The thing I found interesting is there is NO Vinegar involved in the process. Just cabbage and salt. Also, pretty much anything fermented.

http://www.realfoodkosher.com/simple-sauerkraut-a-probiotic-superfood/

I second the sauerkraut. If you buy it, be sure and get the kind that only has cabbage, salt and water. The ones made with vinegar don't work as good. I also think they taste nasty.

As for eating beef, have you tried grass fed beef? I know people who have IBS. They have no problems with it when they eat grass fed beef. Just a thought.

we use the back of a old wooden ladder.

the funny thing is that they will rest on it during the day but won't touch it at night

Mine do the same thing. They hang out on it all day long, but come nightfall, they sleep on the floor. Guess I'm going to have to go and put them on the roost. But I'm usually in bed before it gets dark! LOL

We took all 4 of our dogs to the vet yesterday. Our older 3 tested clear for parasites but the new puppy tested positive for coccidia. Our vet feels that she was infected/exposed before we got her. The breeder seemed concerned enough to 'have his vet come out and look' but I'm not sure if she actually tested his dogs. Since we had a puppy do the same thing last year (her fecal didn't show any parasites but she showed improvement once wormed) I'm still on the fence if she had it before we got her or if we need to be concerned they picked it up here. He gave our year old Dane meds to help with his stool issues, he thinks he's just out of balance.

As for our chickens, we dewormed on Sunday and Tuesday we got 5 eggs out of 7 hens, when we'd been getting maybe 2 a day...but today we were back to 2. Our red sexlink hasn't stopped but our turken who had stopped laid her first egg in forever...so I'm not sure if we've figured out why they've slowed down or if its just because the last few days have been cooler than the past few weeks...

How old are your chickens? I hope you figure out what is going on.


I found this in my coop on Tuesday. Of course, this was right after I sold 6 of my chickens.


I didn't notice it at first. Whoever laid it, had buried the ceramic egg (on right). I didn't get an egg yesterday, so either she took the day off or I sold my egg layer on Tuesday. Hopefully the others will start soon.

 

[back2simplelife]

Since ya'll were talking about turkeys, I have been thinking.. haven't researched anything yet so only thoughts. If you only have a couple, can you keep them with chicks or do they need special food or other needs? We have to place an order with Ideal soon for only a few chicks and it sure would lower the number we would have to get! Any insight would be great as we would only want like 2.

 

[Brookshire11]

Since ya'll were talking about turkeys, I have been thinking.. haven't researched anything yet so only thoughts. If you only have a couple, can you keep them with chicks or do they need special food or other needs? We have to place an order with Ideal soon for only a few chicks and it sure would lower the number we would have to get! Any insight would be great as we would only want like 2.

The only insight I can give you is to order asap.
Ideal stops Turkey in mid July, until the following February.

Before I got the idea to split an order, I looked at maybe adding a duck or two, which also raises that total pretty fast.

 

[back2simplelife]

Gotcha! Thanks! Gotta get some ideal 236's pretty soon for our breeding project.. the eggs are going on lock down tonight so will jump on it!