Texas

[KFT_FARMZ]

What’s good ya’ll, new to BYC…anyone out in East TX selling hatching eggs? Looking for Ayams, or fibro breeds

 

[janiedoe]

What’s good ya’ll, new to BYC…anyone out in East TX selling hatching eggs? Looking for Ayams, or fibro breeds

Welcome to BYC & the Texas thread!

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Yeah I think I may just have a bunch of rooster for dinner

That is never a bad thing

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Nothing wrong with non-organic or crumbles, but I was hoping for organic pellets that didn't have elevated calcium for layers.

What is actually important is the type of calcium, @U_Stormcrow can explain it better. Certain types of calcium do not have the same effects as others.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

What’s good ya’ll, new to BYC…anyone out in East TX selling hatching eggs? Looking for Ayams, or fibro breeds

Welcome to the Texas thread! I don't have either, sorry

 

[Auntiejessi3]

After today, I really want to give props to Freshly Picked Chicks (where I got my ameraucana eggs from in OK) . It was ungodly hot today with the humidity, 100° felt like 114° and they rocked it out!

 

[NagemTX]

For Nagem TX, just reading your post about a possible relo. Have not lived in the cities you're considering, although my first college roommate was from Gilmer, and so is my personal trainer.... My grandmother and uncle lived in Texarkana so we made many trips up there in my younger years. Just sayin' as a coincidence. Texarkana is like a swamp much of the time, always getting the rainfall I wish we could have here in the Hill Country. Nice and green. Still fairly rural, though.

You should perhaps research property tax rates in the counties you're considering. Plus look at population trends in those counties--I'm sure the data is out there and accessible. Maybe even checking city council or county commissioner meetings to see if some big company plans to put a facility near one of the towns you've mentioned, or if a highway or pipeline is about to rip through that county. I'm in Gillespie Co. ---seems everyone wants to live here. In the last probably 6-8 years the cost of land has skyrocketed, especially for properties in the 3-10 acre size range. Just sayin'.

My brother has been looking at the property taxs for several counties. We have something to go look at in Lamar County between Roxton and Ben Franklin TX. Closest big city is Paris TX. We would have to build our home there as it's undeveloped except for a tiny place for like camping. It's 5 acres and wooded.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Thanks, I just double checked and I think my specific ask might just be too niche a market at this time.

Nothing wrong with non-organic or crumbles, but I was hoping for organic pellets that didn't have elevated calcium for layers.

The marketplace probably demands organic feed for layers and/or meat birds since those go back into the food stream. Adult roos are lucky just to get commercial feed that matches their nutritional profile.

For Kalmbach, 3 of their 4 organic feeds are meant for layers and are relatively high on the calcium side, and the 20% grower/starter is a crumble.

I might keep looking around at other brands for now. I've got a while before I run out of feed, so I can take my time trying to find my unicorn feed that hopefully ends up not costing an arm and a leg.

Its very hard to get high crude protein, and even harder to get a good AA balance with an Organic certified feed, and its already at significant price premium over its non-Organic cert competition. So most of the Organic market focuses on Layer formulations, meaning high calcium.

Their other offerings tend to be nutritionally sub par, with few exceptions. None make a "meat bird" type crumble.

In the US, most calcium is calcium carbonate - sourced from either oyster shell or limestone rock formations. Its slow release and fine for chickens. We humans struggle to make use of that form - it largely passes right thru us, so the supermaret shelf calcium is (at least the good ones) calcium citrate (i.e., "Citrical") - that's a fast release which we can process, so can chickens - you only want to use that with your chickens in cases of calcium related medical emergencies.

There are two oter forms of calcium incommon use, but not commonly used here in the US (or at least, not "top of label"), calcium diphosphate and dicalcium phosphate. Both are digestible by the chicken and provide non-phytate (not plant based) phos, which has a buffering effect against potential calcium toxicity. I don't know much about how the human body metabolizes it, but its another slow release form.

 

[ATXInstantFlock]

So most of the Organic market focuses on Layer formulations, meaning high calcium.

Makes total sense, as I expected.

In the US, most calcium is calcium carbonate - sourced from either oyster shell or limestone rock formations. Its slow release and fine for chickens...

Thanks, that was all very informative. I've given egg shells and oyster shells a la carte which my sole layer seems to be eating. I don't mind continuing to do that, especially since egg shells are "free" and abundant in this household. Not much harder than tossing them into the compost collection bin.

Sounds like my best choices are to feed my rooster too much calcium, stick with non organic, or rehome my roo.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Calcium toxicity is progressive, most of the outwardly visible symptoms look like typical old age issues, like gout. Plenty of people feed their roosters on Layer formulations and claim no problems. I don't encourage, I've read the studies, but over short time frames its low risk, and the older the bird is when it starts getting excess calcium, the less it is likely to be affected in its remaining time on this ball of dirt.

Excess calcium during the formative months (hatchling/adolescent) is substantially more damaging and has greater long term health consequences.

If you stick w/ Organic, and have a choice, look for those with 0.6 - 0.7 Phos over 0.4-0.5% Phos, for the buffering effect. Will result in better overall skeletal strength as well, and have essentially no impact on the eggshells - eggshell formation is one of the few biological process that doesn't use CA : P in a roughly 2:1 ratio - there's almost no P in an eggshell.

Up to you.