Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Slinglings]

So I had to share! Our first time dying our own eggs... We used Koolaid!

I'm very excited to dye our own eggs this year~ I only have one white egg layer and have saved 6-8 of her eggs. Were these eggs all white or did you use some brown ones as well? I was thinking of trying to color some light brown eggs also.

 

[KMoran]

I'm very excited to dye our own eggs this year~ I only have one white egg layer and have saved 6-8 of her eggs. Were these eggs all white or did you use some brown ones as well? I was thinking of trying to color some light brown eggs also.

I dont have white layers... They were all brown with a few blue/ greens.... I have RIR's, EE's, BLRW's and a BO. From what I have read the brown eggs will just make it a darker richer color instead of being so bright. If you use the color tablets you will get brighter more even color with the brown eggs just make sure you leave them in at least 10 mins.... Check them and if you want darker color leave them in 10 more mins... this was the first time I have ever dyed brown eggs and to me I like brown eggs better.

 

[LaughingFeather]

The kids thought they were cool... The koolaid sorda left a sugar film on them that bubbles and will rub off when wet. It gives a very cool effect to them

You aught to save the shells and then have the kids glue them around a picture frame with their Easter picture in it. Think how pretty that would be with all those broken shells glued on there in a mosaic.

 

[Slinglings]

Quote: Thanks! exactly what I wanted to hear

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Quote: Check the protein percentage. It may be on the high side for chickens.

Quote: I do the FF. When I first start it I put about a glug of ACV in the bucket, add feed and water to completely cover it(no air, anerobic is better), stir it up and check in 30 minutes to make sure is still covered with water, add more if needed. Cover bucket with a towel and stir twice a day for 2 days. Should start having bubbles in the mix at this point. That means it's ready to start feeding. I pour off the excess water mix into a new bucket and add more feed and water to it for the next day. The first batch you can feed as is to them or mix a little dry in to get a thicker feed(this is what I do, like thick oatmeal) and put in a dish to feed them. Keep this rotating process up every morning. Older birds may take a little while to adjust but when they are hungry enough they will eat it. And it smell real good, like bread dough kinda

Question about chicks. I have 12 three week old silkies. One is a extremely food pecker. She can be in the middle of a bowl of wet food and be picking it off the others beaks. She knows it is there below her because she also eats that but seems to prefer cleaning up everyone else much to their displeasure. Is this the sign of an overly aggressive chicken and should I have any concerns? Will it grow out of this? It is extremely friendly and jumps into your hand when in the brooder. Very alert and curious.

I had one of M Best silkie chicks do this, she still cleans the cockerel's beard and crest of feed. She is not aggressive in any way.

 

[KMoran]

here are our eggs from today so you can get an idea of what we dyed.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I am adopting a special need Silkie cockerel tomorrow from Catdance Silkies(Kelar on here). I will be going to her farm in Yacolt in the morning. He will be paired with my Porcelain pullet that has a lot of smut and is NOT going to be in my breeding program. They will be pets that get to live happy chicken lives here on our little farm. He has wry tail, a curved spine(that does not affect him) and his lower beak is a little too long and needs filed from time to time. But he is gorgeous and has a great personality Karen says. So he will be my "lap" chicken. Gonna name him Buckbeak and call him Buck. I am not taking any money with me and just ONE cat carrier for him to come home in. I really CAN'T bring home any more birds, my DW would kill me.

 

[CarolynF]

Quote:

Mine do that too, peck the walls to get every last scrap.

Travis, I wanted to tell you thanks, too. I did the fermented feed for a while but it was more work than I wanted to do. But just stirring water into the chick feed is easy and they went absolutely bonkers for it. And just like Jessica's they gorged themselves and then were out like a light. Their crops were so full they looked like they were going to explode! No more feed thrown on the ground, yippee! But it took me a while to configure a feeder they didn't just stand in the center of. lol

Thanks for sharing a great idea!

Oh... do you ever get concerned that some will spoil before it gets eaten? How long do you leave it before tossing? I could see warm days being more problematic.

 

[CarolynF]

Quote:

Thanks! exactly what I wanted to hear

Ditto! I usually blow the eggs out, but maybe not this year. Thanks for explaining the sugar thing, I was wondering how they got the blotchy look. Very cool looking.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Quote:

Mine do that too, peck the walls to get every last scrap.

Travis, I wanted to tell you thanks, too. I did the fermented feed for a while but it was more work than I wanted to do. But just stirring water into the chick feed is easy and they went absolutely bonkers for it. And just like Jessica's they gorged themselves and then were out like a light. Their crops were so full they looked like they were going to explode! No more feed thrown on the ground, yippee! But it took me a while to configure a feeder they didn't just stand in the center of. lol

Thanks for sharing a great idea!

Oh... do you ever get concerned that some will spoil before it gets eaten? How long do you leave it before tossing? I could see warm days being more problematic.

These are all tricks I have learned on the Natural Chicken Keeping Thread. I adjust the amount for the first few days to see how much they eat. If I have extra left over from the day before, I mix up a little less and mix the previous day into it. If it is out for more than that I chuck it. After a couple of days you have a pretty good idea on the amount to mix up. Keep in mind if they free range they will eat a little less feed. On days I know I free range I cut about a cup or two(depending on how long they will be out) from feeding. I have been doing this since Nov and have a pretty good gauge on how much they eat. My only new variable is the meat chicks. Those 5 eat a ton and at a little over a week old almost as big as my 5 week old hatchling.

ETA: they will not get as much "bang" out of the wet feed as with the FF, but they will be able to absorb more of the protein and nutrients with wet vs. dry.