Utah!

[gcst]

Back to wheat. My girls think it is a treat. I just give them some hand fulls now and then And they start running to me. Good way to use up my old wheat.

 

[kimbobim]

Quote:
I don't think I've ever seen a live fox in Utah before. Just lots of dead racoons. I used to think they were cute, until we got chickens and I learned what nasty buggers they can be.

We got the first of our birds last February. A few weeks later our next door neighbor told me she'd seen cougar tracks in her flower beds that morning. Yikes! We have a six-foot fence, but I'm betting it could leap over that even sleepwalking. I think it was following the deer tracks - one of our other neighbors has a few acres and a small herd of deer come live in his back field every year in late winter, eating all his bushes. Every agency he has contacted has said there's not much he can do about it - other than go out and chase them away, but they always come back. I wish someone would do something - they are a traffic hazzard, a dozen of them running across the main/busy road every day, and who knows what diseases they may be carrying and spreading (we have lots of llamas, alpacas, horses, and cows in our area). And now they're attracting their own super-sized predators - great.

On the bright side, we got 8 eggs yesterday!

We have 11 birds, but the younger five that were hatched the end of April didn't seem too interested in growing up and fulfilling their biological destiny. We've been getting 4 or 6 a day until yesterday. Eight! Finally!

I'm thinking I'd better get insulation in the roof of the coop - thermometer said it was 22 in there this morning, and it's not even January yet. Do any of you have thermometers in your coops?

 

[darkroo]

All of this fox talk as really started me to worrying, just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there. As a golfer I’ve enjoyed the sight of foxes out in the ruff as I’m golfing along but that makes me realize how close they are to my house. I’ve seen foxes at Murray Parkway, River Oaks, River Bend and Pebble Brook. They are great to see when you’re out and about but when you come home and look at your little birdies it’s something else. When you think about all the open fields in your area you realize those are just good places for them to hang out in and hide in till they can get to your chickens. I thought I was safe because I live in the suburbs but the wild things are closer than the local bar. I hope my girls are going to be ok until I have time to rethink my housing setup.

 

[gcst]

I was in the Riverton IFA yesterday, and they have Purina feed. Just thought someone might like to know. Gail

 

[bootsuu]

Purina, really? I've been having to make separate trips to AA Callister to get it! Luckily it's closer to my house than IFA is.

I have a thermostat in my coop, but I also have a heatlamp on an automatic timer that tries to warm up the coop in the early morning and at dinner time. The chicks don't stay awake too far after night hits. I also have a water heater!!

 

[darkroo]

Ok penny check.

scratch 50 pd 11.99 IFA 50 pd 12.00 Saddle Up Purina, clean no powdered product
Lay pellets 20% 50 pd IFA 13.99 ?Purina at either location
Poultry 16% Grower 50 pd IFA non-med 14.99 ?Purina at either location

I would think that it would not matter which IFA location you buy at they would be the same price (and quality), The prices I listed are what I payed before taxes this year the last time I purchased the item. I have no favorite location to buy product but there is a lady at the Draper location with extensive chicken experance who has helped me alot. I'm just listing the price I paid the last time I bought the item and if it is on the way I will save pennys picking it up on my way by. If you know the prices of the products show them and we will see you there. If this is legal price quoting and all, of course this is just the price i payed not what the price will be!

 

[Christian]

I have found Steve Regan's to be cheaper than IFA; in the south part of the state.

$13.00 for layer pellets
$9.75 for scratch

 

[SoJoChickens]

I recently moved from South Jordan to Fountain Green. Any Sanpete county people out there? I need to get my new coop built. Are you Sanpete county folks insulating your coops?

 

[the thomas tiny ranch]

We are Sanpeter's! Moved out of the city just over 3 years ago to the south end of the county in Centerfield. Been a long time reader of BYC and have learned so much in taking care of our flock.

 

[kimbobim]

I have a question for anyone who has gone through a molt with their birds - now that the weather has turned Arctic, I have a 5-6 year old Black Star that is suddenly molting. Her neck, a big patch on her back, her belly and rear are all bald and she looks awful. All of our other birds are 12 months or younger, so she's the only one molting. The people we got Lola from said she molted this time of year last year, too. She stopped laying about the same day I found all the feathers piling up in the coop.

Is this normal? I'm afraid she's going to freeze to death out there. Does anyone have any experience with chickens molting in Utah winters? I thought they were supposed to molt earlier, like in September/October, so they'd have their new feathers before it got really cold.

We have 10 other birds that all snuggle together at night, but Lola is the head hen and demands her own space on the roost. She's acting normally, other than being almost naked - bossing the other chickens around, demanding the first treats, etc. They all spend most of their days under the coop, which is banked on 3 1/2 sides with bags of leaves so there's very little draft under there, or ranging our back yard eating the grass and whatever else they can find. Now that we woke up to snow, they're all hanging out in the run, eating scattered oatmeal and cracked corn.

Any advice? Should I keep her inside the coop all day? She'd hate that. They're on 20% layer pellets, plus scratch and cracked corn. Is there anything else I should feed her? I'll take her some scrambled eggs later today - will that help her re-grow her feathers faster? I don't want her to suffer through this unnecessarily.

thanks!