The road less traveled...back to good health! They have lice, mites, scale mites, worms, anemia, gl

[aaggjg]

If it's cold where you live, and I'm betting it is, the mash is cold and wet.  This makes it a little undesirable for eating at first but they whittle away at it.  Plus, they just have to eat less than normal to get full with the wet feeds, and the nutrients are more absorptive in this feed so the need to eat and eat to get satisfied is a little lessened.  As long as they eat it, it doesn't matter how long it takes them...and it's a good thing that they are foraging for other things.    Saves you money on feed! 

If my other post had not disappeared due to computer glitch .... You would have seen that my hens too aren't mad for their FF. I'm in So Cal where it's supposed to be 88 today so I can't blame the cold. I thought maybe it was just me as all I read is about is How mad everyone's hens go for this also that they don't pick through the feed.... Ummmm mine do... It's fermented layer pellets and a few whole grains.... I only give them FF and fresh greens & fruit .... So they have no choice but to eat it. I was wondering if as B said I haven't quite got the portion size down. I have 2 coops and 1 coop likes it much better then the other coop.... Its interesting & puzzling and I can't figure out why.

I have a question about broody hens.... I have no rooster and don't need any more chickens!!! But I do have 2 broody hens .... One newly broody yesterday and ones been broody for 5 weeks.... I had a 3rd broody who seems to have snapped out of it as this other girl has gone broody.... I've been letting them sit just making sure to take them off the nest everyday to eat & drink. They are getting skinny and winter is coming I think

 

[Miss Lydia]

Supposed to get 2 ft...but in the mountains we will get more like 4-5 if the lower parts of the state are predicting 2 ft. Everything is more in the mountains...more rain, more snow, more wind, colder temps. Got to love it there and I miss it like breathing! I currently live in the "hills" of WV, not what we consider the mountains. In the mountains where I have been living up until recently, it could be sunny one minute and the whole landscape encased in ice the next, with it steaming off and melting in the next, followed by snow squalls and hail. Anything goes in the mountains...I love that predictable unpredictability.

What happens here locally(IN THE TOWNS~not out in the countryside) is this...we'll get lots of rain, which will soften up the ground. Then we'll get lots of heavy snow, then wind, which will bring down all the pine trees(we have a ton) all over the electric lines and roads. People will act like they've never seen snow before and be running to the grocery stores the day before, buying milk and eggs(????) and other things. They will drive like they have never driven in snow...creeping along and slamming on their brakes every two seconds while tailgating the person in front who is doing the same thing. There will be a high-pitched whining throughout the state because even the cell towers will go down, people won't get to watch the football games or text or...or ...or anything on an electronic gadget, and the children have forgotten how to have fun in the snow. When you drive by the houses they will be deathly dark and quiet, as if no one lives there...while inside the people are ready to kill each other because they have to interact with one another for the first time in a long time.

That about covers it.....

So true. They haven't said how much will get here yet but looks like we're in for some in Mts of NC.

 

[aaggjg]

...

Ah, ,

Don't be hatin on NYC.  It's a wonderful place, for all it's imperfections, and differences.  Just like us human beings.  We all have somewhere to shine, and if you look deep enough, they will show through.


I LOVE NYC!!! I also love the country. I can see the appeal of both kinds of lifestyles and I am curious and fascinated by everything both has too offer Of course I am a city girl who raises chickens so Im just barely allowed to be part of this thread.... Barely ....

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Just break them by placing the in isolation without any nest or bedding...a pet cage is suitable...away from the rest of the flock. Do it in the daytime and place them where they can hear the flock but not see it. Should break that broody feeling.

Another way is to take them off the nest, hang them upside down and dunk them a couple of times in a water bucket real quick. Doesn't hurt them, no..they won't drown or choke, and it just makes them mad. Mad enough to change their minds. Madder than an old wet hen? That's where that expression came from, BTW.

After you do the dunk, throw them out of the coop. Not sit them down gently...give them an underhanded toss into the wild blue yonder.

That method of dunking has worked on every chicken I've ever had but one...and she got culled for excessive broodiness and poor mothering when she was allowed to brood.

 

[Sally8]

Supposed to get 2 ft...but in the mountains we will get more like 4-5 if the lower parts of the state are predicting 2 ft. Everything is more in the mountains...more rain, more snow, more wind, colder temps. Got to love it there and I miss it like breathing! I currently live in the "hills" of WV, not what we consider the mountains. In the mountains where I have been living up until recently, it could be sunny one minute and the whole landscape encased in ice the next, with it steaming off and melting in the next, followed by snow squalls and hail. Anything goes in the mountains...I love that predictable unpredictability.

What happens here locally(IN THE TOWNS~not out in the countryside) is this...we'll get lots of rain, which will soften up the ground. Then we'll get lots of heavy snow, then wind, which will bring down all the pine trees(we have a ton) all over the electric lines and roads. People will act like they've never seen snow before and be running to the grocery stores the day before, buying milk and eggs(????) and other things. They will drive like they have never driven in snow...creeping along and slamming on their brakes every two seconds while tailgating the person in front who is doing the same thing. There will be a high-pitched whining throughout the state because even the cell towers will go down, people won't get to watch the football games or text or...or ...or anything on an electronic gadget, and the children have forgotten how to have fun in the snow. When you drive by the houses they will be deathly dark and quiet, as if no one lives there...while inside the people are ready to kill each other because they have to interact with one another for the first time in a long time.

That about covers it.....

I live just west of Binghamton, NY and east of Jamestown. Both places always get a lot of snow but the heavy snow mostly misses us.

We can easily get a foot but not 2 - 3 like I'd wish. It was crazy here yesterday, People flocking in the stores buying whatever they think they'll need. Except for the 72 flood I've never seen the roads unpassable for more than a few hours. Our store shelves will be bare soon, if not already. It's just crazy.

 

[35chick4kid1dog]

Quote:
Isn't that just sad?!

I am so glad that my kids like to play outside. We do watch TV and such, and my oldest has been in love with gadgets & electronics since he was a baby, but they also like camping and shooting with Dad. My Hubb's philosophy is "Hunt WITH your kids so you won't have to hunt FOR your kids." And now with the chickens they're taking an interest in collecting eggs & feeding and watching chicken TV instead of the boob tube. We lived in Alaska for 10 years so - we are no strangers to power outages. And they are something entirely different when it -40 degrees outside!! LOL!

ffgth

 

[aaggjg]

Hi L's Mom, do you know anything about Macs?  All I have is text edit (I think) and I think it's kind of cumbersome.  Maybe I have to get Microsoft Office for Macs??

Sheila

I can help you with all things Mac. They are really easy to use .... PM me if you have any questions

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
That, my friends, is the separation between old country folks, preppers and just the seat of yer pants kind of city folks.

City folks think that the stores will always have what they need and it's only a short drive to get it, so why store up anything. Besides, Dominoes delivers! They also are on public water and sewage, so they know they can still drink and poop when the power goes out. (Yes, you do detect a reverse snobbery....you city folks do it towards us backward hillbillies, now it's your turn.

)

Preppers are suburbanites that think they are "homesteading" if they can a few jars of jelly, buy up discount meats and freeze it, store some staples in fancy buckets.

Old country folks have been "prepping" all their lives because stores and gas stations are very far away, they live on a well...when the electric is out, no plumbing, so must have an outhouse, and the garden and forest are their grocery stores, "discount meats" are those killed every hunting season and processed for free in the backyard, living off of home canned goods and out of a root cellar is standard and done every single year of their lives. Water is drawn up at all times, not just for a storm. Heat is wood heat and can be used for cooking as well. Electronic gadgets? To old country folks that is the TV, which only gets a few channels anyway and they only watch to "get the news". They have radios that run on batteries and have long and short wave~from whence you can hear shows all the way from Europe.

In case you are new to the country and or just have never really lived in deep country, this is the weather that separates survivors from those who struggle and are ill-equipped. Sadly, more and more country folk are becoming less and less survivors. This old generation is about gone.

This thread and the OT are geared towards folks who want to raise livestock with the old time common sense so that you don't have to fuss around with cooking your chickens "treats" in the middle of a blizzard or torrential rains. You can just kick back with a book and know that they are eating and living the way they should, without any interference from you. It feels good to know there isn't one thing I need to do to prepare for the "perfect storm". It's done.

 

[Beekissed]

The flock is loving the coop on this misty, moisty day...they foraged all morning but are now lounging in the coop. Was wondering about you folks trying the deep litter in your runs for the first time and how that is going with the damp, rainy weather? I'm hoping my coop litter draws a little moisture from the ground as it is currently very dry and dusty...maybe the hard rains coming with change all that.

I was thinking about the flocks who didn't go for the FF and I'm just not sure what to make of it....both the meaties and these layers are really loving it, eating it like hogs in slop and clean the trough so thoroughly that it looks like the dog has had a go at licking it down. Please let us know how that all turns out and if it changes?

 

[nbchickfarming]

Thanks BK!!!!

for all the info regarding FF and ACV.

I started providing the ACV, FF and fresh pumpkin with seeds.They loved the stuff -Also no more runny black tar poops!
I have nine girls and regularly get 8-7 eggs a day. Nice yellow yolks since the change in feed. Also feeding it to my two 4wk old chicks i let a broody hatch.

Wondering if that's what started the sickness, i got two eggs from my family's farm flock.
(we split a mixed bunch from the farm supply store this spring they all lived together until we finished our coop- they kept the 2 roosters)
The farm flock has never been sick!-go figure. Working on venting and adding a larger fenced run.They free range when I'm home.

N B questions:
1- can I use a gravity fed water dish with a "metal" regulator or chicken nipples with ACV? currently using all plastic container.
and should i go back to plain water if chickens are well and providing FF?
2- How do you know if chicken is not laying and what method do you use? I could separate them but I remember earlier in thread about soft shelled eggs-how to check.
(When they started laying one of the gold SL was laying a soft shell or shell less egg but after adding free choice oyster shell i was getting 9 good eggs for a long time.)
3- black marks on the comb( they come and go) are those from regular pecking or do i have something else going on.
I'm wondering if i have another broody. 4 fighting for the corner nest. 3 nest available.
Are the black marks from pecking? or do i have some crazy black comb disease. they come and go on all the chickens in my group. I didn't see any mites when i checked them last night..