Texas

[Little Wing]

Does anyone know anything about Blue Star Ranch? I am seeing mixed reviews on BYC and no other reviews that I can see elsewhere so I dunno!

My DW talked to the lady out there once about coming out to look at some chickens. They got to talking and the lady told her that she fed her culls to the dogs and it freaked my wife out. Sooooo I haven't checked them out. I do see a lot of CL ads for them.

 

[galanie]

At least they have culls! That means they're hopefully not just letting anything they have breed and produce chicks willy-nilly. I admit, I know little about them myself.

So far as selling eggs, cartons, etc. - Thanks for jumping in and answering the harder questions. I knew about the labeling thing but didn't do it. I only had about 5 customers in Houston and they would take them even if they had poop on them. AT first I only sold nice clean ones but later when they wanted more, I'd take them out and we'd pick them right out of the nest. They took those poop and all.

I just gave a 50 cent credit for every egg carton brought to me, and let me tell you, I had a huge supply of cartons. Most would bring cartons and insist on paying too. I'm going to miss my customers now that I've moved but I'm sure I'll have some here when I begin to get enough to think about selling them again.

 

[wlhtx]

so you use a trough type feeder? What are the advantages to fermented? Will check more into it.. thanks!!

Yes, I have the trough type. Right now I just have taken off the tops of the plastic feeders that you use for chicks and feed our juvies just using the bottom pieces. For the bigger birds I bought some cheap vinyl gutters from Home Depot that I cut down shorter (with the end pieces on, of course), but I'm not sure that I really like them... They are cheap, but a little flimsy for my liking... I may eventually switch over to 4" PVC cut in half.

There is some really great info out there about the advantages of feeding fermented food. A lot of smart people have spoken to how the good bacteria in the ferment helps change the lining of the stomach or intestines so that the birds are able to absorb more of the nutrients from the food. I can personally attest to the following:

1. When you feed the food moistened like this, the birds waste a lot less.
2. The feed seems to fill them up better and they truly eat less. I keep a spreadsheet of my food usage and it takes literally twice as long to feed out the same poundage of food fermented than it does dry. So, for example, for 45 birds I would go through a 50# bag in abt a week, whereas when feeding it fermented, that 50# bag will last abt 2 weeks. So, it really helps cut down on food costs. .
3. Whether it's because they are absorbing more nutrients or whatever, the yolks get a lot bigger and more yellow. The egg itself does not get bigger, but the eggs tend to weigh more because the yolk is bigger. Also, my shells are super hard. I've got a newly laying pullet whose shell is almost as hard as my duck eggs.
4. Makes the poop firmer and stink less. I have never raised meaties, but a lot of people are starting to swear by the ff when it comes to meaties who apparently have really runny, stinky poops.

It's mainly because it is easy to do and saves me money that I feed this way. My DH thought I was nuts in the beginning. (What's new?) But even he has seen the advantages. He has kicked it out of the shop though. He has a very sensitive sniffer and the smell bothers him. I don't really smell it, but I've deferred to him on this - pick your battles, and all that. We keep ours on the back porch. The TX heat also really helps the ferment happen awfully quick.

 

[Cockle-Dood]

has anyone had any experience with Pennchlor 64? I just picked up some since i had to put down one of my birds for a possible respiratory infection. I trust the people it was reccomended by, but was curious if anyone else has used it or anything similar before?

http://www.drugs.com/vet/pennchlor-64-soluble-powder.html

 

[jesirose]

My DW talked to the lady out there once about coming out to look at some chickens. They got to talking and the lady told her that she fed her culls to the dogs and it freaked my wife out. Sooooo I haven't checked them out. I do see a lot of CL ads for them.

We feed our culls to the dogs. I did it last night. (First one I've culled, but it's always been our plan.)
Dogs have to eat too. I'm honestly quite freaked out by Cornish X from the grocery store and hate feeding Tyson chicken to my dogs. I love my dogs but I can't afford anything better than that. It's actually part of the reason I started raising birds on a larger scale.

I tell people about it not trying to freak them out, but honestly people are way too removed from what they eat. I would imagine someone interested in owning their own chickens (either for meat or eggs) would understand where meat, including dog food, comes from.

When people react poorly to the news that we process our birds, or feed them to the dogs, I ask if they're vegan - I'm 100% serious because I'm always trying to find more vegans. It's hard being the only vegan chicken farmer I know. Of course, they never are, so I ask why they are okay with eating a 7 week old chicken that would have died of a heart attack before it could breed, that may never have seen sunlight, simply because it came from the grocery store, but it's sick of me to use a 7 week old bird to feed my dog. What do they think is IN dog food?

Then you have the people on the opposite end who immediately upon learning I have chickens ask if we eat them, or what we do when they die. When I told my dad about some of our birds being killed by predators he asked what we were having for dinner. Honestly that's disrespectful (trying to offend someone on purpose by making jokes about their animals.) I just responded "Well we would have fed them to the dogs but I don't know how long they were dead, might have some bacteria or parasites, it's not worth it." And of course he's grossed out. How is it okay to make a joke about me eating my birds but actually knowing that the dog is eating it is gross?

Not trying to be rude to you or your wife, please don't take this the wrong way. Sometimes I feel like I was the only one there that day when we learned that some animals are carnivores, and meat from the grocery store is animals, because it seems almost no one else gets it - it's freaky to feed a dead chicken to a dog, but it's okay to feed ground up dead chicken when it's mixed with ground up corn, and dried into a pellet. My husband started describing to my MIL last night about us processing the chicken, and she freaked out. But she eats meat! I don't eat meat, or any animal products, but I understand that my dogs are carnivores, and I'd rather feed them animals that I know were raised humanely and processed humanely over animals I don't know where they came from and have a high probability that I don't agree with how they were raised and butchered. Yet I am viewed as weird by 95% of people. I guess I'd rather be weird.

/rant/

 

[Cockle-Dood]

We feed our culls to the dogs. I did it last night. (First one I've culled, but it's always been our plan.)
Dogs have to eat too. I'm honestly quite freaked out by Cornish X from the grocery store and hate feeding Tyson chicken to my dogs. I love my dogs but I can't afford anything better than that. It's actually part of the reason I started raising birds on a larger scale.

I tell people about it not trying to freak them out, but honestly people are way too removed from what they eat. I would imagine someone interested in owning their own chickens (either for meat or eggs) would understand where meat, including dog food, comes from.

When people react poorly to the news that we process our birds, or feed them to the dogs, I ask if they're vegan - I'm 100% serious because I'm always trying to find more vegans. It's hard being the only vegan chicken farmer I know. Of course, they never are, so I ask why they are okay with eating a 7 week old chicken that would have died of a heart attack before it could breed, that may never have seen sunlight, simply because it came from the grocery store, but it's sick of me to use a 7 week old bird to feed my dog. What do they think is IN dog food?

Then you have the people on the opposite end who immediately upon learning I have chickens ask if we eat them, or what we do when they die. When I told my dad about some of our birds being killed by predators he asked what we were having for dinner. Honestly that's disrespectful (trying to offend someone on purpose by making jokes about their animals.) I just responded "Well we would have fed them to the dogs but I don't know how long they were dead, might have some bacteria or parasites, it's not worth it." And of course he's grossed out. How is it okay to make a joke about me eating my birds but actually knowing that the dog is eating it is gross?

Not trying to be rude to you or your wife, please don't take this the wrong way. Sometimes I feel like I was the only one there that day when we learned that some animals are carnivores, and meat from the grocery store is animals, because it seems almost no one else gets it - it's freaky to feed a dead chicken to a dog, but it's okay to feed ground up dead chicken when it's mixed with ground up corn, and dried into a pellet. My husband started describing to my MIL last night about us processing the chicken, and she freaked out. But she eats meat! I don't eat meat, or any animal products, but I understand that my dogs are carnivores, and I'd rather feed them animals that I know were raised humanely and processed humanely over animals I don't know where they came from and have a high probability that I don't agree with how they were raised and butchered. Yet I am viewed as weird by 95% of people. I guess I'd rather be weird.

/rant/

i totally agree. mentioned to some friends at work yesterday that i had to kill a chicken because she was suffering and explained the slitting of the throat and they looked at me like i was a monster! i told them it was peacful and they simply fall asleep if done right, but its beyond their scope of comprehension. As far as feeding them to your dogs, do you process them in any special way or just give them the carcass? i have been wanting to do that with mine, but am afraid if i just give them a dead chicken they will relate it to the live ones and give chase...dont need any of that!

 

[showbarnmom]

Yes, I have the trough type. Right now I just have taken off the tops of the plastic feeders that you use for chicks and feed our juvies just using the bottom pieces. For the bigger birds I bought some cheap vinyl gutters from Home Depot that I cut down shorter (with the end pieces on, of course), but I'm not sure that I really like them... They are cheap, but a little flimsy for my liking... I may eventually switch over to 4" PVC cut in half.

There is some really great info out there about the advantages of feeding fermented food. A lot of smart people have spoken to how the good bacteria in the ferment helps change the lining of the stomach or intestines so that the birds are able to absorb more of the nutrients from the food. I can personally attest to the following:

1. When you feed the food moistened like this, the birds waste a lot less.
2. The feed seems to fill them up better and they truly eat less. I keep a spreadsheet of my food usage and it takes literally twice as long to feed out the same poundage of food fermented than it does dry. So, for example, for 45 birds I would go through a 50# bag in abt a week, whereas when feeding it fermented, that 50# bag will last abt 2 weeks. So, it really helps cut down on food costs. .
3. Whether it's because they are absorbing more nutrients or whatever, the yolks get a lot bigger and more yellow. The egg itself does not get bigger, but the eggs tend to weigh more because the yolk is bigger. Also, my shells are super hard. I've got a newly laying pullet whose shell is almost as hard as my duck eggs.
4. Makes the poop firmer and stink less. I have never raised meaties, but a lot of people are starting to swear by the ff when it comes to meaties who apparently have really runny, stinky poops.

It's mainly because it is easy to do and saves me money that I feed this way. My DH thought I was nuts in the beginning. (What's new?) But even he has seen the advantages. He has kicked it out of the shop though. He has a very sensitive sniffer and the smell bothers him. I don't really smell it, but I've deferred to him on this - pick your battles, and all that. We keep ours on the back porch. The TX heat also really helps the ferment happen awfully quick.

I 2nd all the above. I feed in whatever I can find lol. I'm cheap.

These are tops off blue food grade barrels. I also use black feed pans from the horses.

 

[jesirose]

i totally agree. mentioned to some friends at work yesterday that i had to kill a chicken because she was suffering and explained the slitting of the throat and they looked at me like i was a monster! i told them it was peacful and they simply fall asleep if done right, but its beyond their scope of comprehension. As far as feeding them to your dogs, do you process them in any special way or just give them the carcass? i have been wanting to do that with mine, but am afraid if i just give them a dead chicken they will relate it to the live ones and give chase...dont need any of that!

I scalded and plucked it, then cut the legs off and gave one leg to each of our 2 little dogs and the rest of it to our big dog.

They've had whole chicks before. They live peacefully with our chickens. We don't let them around birds under 12 weeks without hardware cloth between because one bird got squished at 12 weeks with our first batch. We believe it was an accident. Our dogs are not aggressive towards our birds and have never had anything but raw meat to eat.

I do know people who feed raw but do not give their LGDs raw. I haven't decided what I would do if I ever needed LGDs but I believe I would still feed them raw.

The desire to chase is separate from the desire to kill which is separate from the desire to eat. (In a domestic well fed dog)
If the dogs don't already chase the birds I do not believe feeding raw would encourage chasing and killing. I would always at least pluck and partially process. I wouldn't want my dog to start eating a bird that died in the yard. I also wouldn't let my dogs around chicks even if I didn't feed raw.

 

[Cockle-Dood]

we have atleast one dog that gets the thrill of the kill, but wont eat them...and a few others that i wouldnt trust further than i could throw them. sharing a yard with a M I L is killing me!

 

[back2simplelife]

My DW talked to the lady out there once about coming out to look at some chickens. They got to talking and the lady told her that she fed her culls to the dogs and it freaked my wife out. Sooooo I haven't checked them out. I do see a lot of CL ads for them.

Yeah.. I see a lot on CL too.. I emailed them so we shall see what they have to say.. the reviews are just so mixed on here!