Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Chickielady]

I am seriously looking at a 1000, HD................................XL........................................YUMMMMMMMM!

Of course i has been alot of years....but just spent all day with my BBBro and his friend & their HD's, Baby Bro just bought a limited edition HD big, dresser,,,,, I cannot even describe it.
I am a drag person, no bars, no nothing on the scooter, but baby Bro has 1 dresser after another....................ok for him.

Quoting myself..
I have decided against buying the Harley, as much as I'd love to have another.
For one reason: What would I do with Einstein ?
Pack him ?
NO!

We'd have to get him his own scooter and that would be more & more $$ and probably really bother his back..
I could see myself riding alone, and maybe getting into alot of trouble (

)

That, and the lovely Celia Disease can rear it's ugly head at any given moment.......so I better pass.
I am sad now.

You would not believe how gorgeous my Baby bro's new bike is...................I WANT ONE TOO !!!!!!!!!!!..............

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Even chicks, once they figure it out, and it won't be long until they realize that the box is edible & they and the older birds with pointy beaks can peck in between the hardware wire.

I have never seen them be harmed by eating styrofoam, I have even seen one man give his chicks a hunk of it to occupy them during a long trip so they would not peck on each other.

Funny, huh ?

LOL, OK. I was worried they might choke on the styrofoam. But really, they just sleep in it. And in a couple weeks they'll be sleeping without it and I'll store it until the next time there's a bunch of chicks. I'll try and get a pic tonight of them snuggling down in it. If I stick my hand in there it's easy to see they're quite warm.

 

[DiamondDust]

Be aware that a high amount of protein for babies is not always a good thing unless you are raising meat or Game breeds.
Increased Protein levels in layer breeds can actually make them very gouty, and possibly cripple them.
Be careful !

Chickielady, I've wondered about this because of other threads I've read about feeding higher protein to young stock intended for showing or breeding stock. Have you had personal experience with feeding higher protein and having problems because of it? I'm not picking a fight, I'm really interested in this subject but what I've read made it sound like it is okay...

ie: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/740234/chicks-on-a-high-protein-diet

I'd like to get to the bottom of the feeding ideas.

DD

 

[ochochicas]

Be aware that a high amount of protein for babies is not always a good thing unless you are raising meat or Game breeds.
Increased Protein levels in layer breeds can actually make them very gouty, and possibly cripple them.
Be careful !

Thanks for the heads up. My chickies are free ranging already and don't eat a lot of the crumbles anyway. They get fresh veggies daily plus all the bugs and greens they want. I noticed they have also sampled the layer pellets. Since they don't get that much crumble, I figured the higher the protein the better.

We do have one pullet that has matured WAY faster than the others. She was growing way faster than the others by 3 weeks. By 8 weeks she was already 3 pounds, and at 10 weeks she is making hen noises rather than peeping like the others. Since she is then only one of the bunch that looks like she's on steroids I'm not worried about the feed. If it was a cockerel were were going to call him "Arnold".

 

[Duck Drover]

I feed Purina Flock Raiser to my ducks, Silkies, and Orpingtons plus a few Easter Eggers and it has been a great all purpose feed. It is expensive but we keep the feeders full at all times and the birds also free range so they don't gorge themselves on it all day. Perhaps it is like dogs that eat less when food is offered free choice so they don't have to wolf it down a couple times a day. I hatch ducklings and chicks to help cover the feed bill because we go through alot of feed but I will be cutting back on birds by the end of the season once I select my favorites to keep.

The protein in the Flock Raiser is perfect and then I also feed egg shell for extra calcium. The layer feeds have too much calcium for roosters and the egg shells get so hard that the chicks and ducklings can't break through them to hatch so I avoid feeding anything with high calcium levels, I have started boiling my clear eggs to feed back to the chickens instead of throwing them out and I also feed organic yoghurt on occasion. The chickens also get bread ends and left over oatmeal, that sort of stuff, more as treats and not as a main source of feed as well as some fruit and vegetables. We have apple trees and plum trees so when the fruit begins to drop they will all go running for it and it is gone before the ants ever get a chance to find any. I planted cherry trees last year so they may get cherries if we don't get them first. The birds have been getting the blueberries since my bushes are still small and they have had raspberries but we should start getting more for ourselves now that the plants are taller. I put a net over the strawberry planter but they still manage to get some of them as well. I really like how well the birds clean up fallen fruit before it attracts yellow jackets so I don't mind if they get some of our share, especially when we get more than we can eat.

We just fenced in my planter boxes so I can grow food for us that the birds won't get to share unless I throw it over the fence for them and I have created a garden space that still needs to be fenced and filled with garden soil so I may not get to use it until next year. There have been so many projects to work on during these nice weather days that I finally got the landscaping done so we can let the grass grow back in the areas I filled with dirt taken from the high spots. The bare spots will be gone in no time now that the ground is leveled out so the rain water is more evenly distributed in the yard from the gutter spouts (I want to have rain barrels in place before winter this year). We can also use the yard better without all the high and low spots we had that would trip me and twist my ankles while walking around partially blind.

We have been using rabbits to keep the grass in the back yard mowed so I want to move birds out of our chicken tractor and modify it with a wire bottom to keep rabbits from digging while also allowing them to eat the grass. They have done such a nice job fertilizing as they mow that I want to be able to use them more efficiently. I don't like the tractor for chickens because they make such a mess with their feed in the grass. The rabbit feed at least blends in with the grass better if it gets wasted.

 

[Chickielady]

Thanks for the heads up. My chickies are free ranging already and don't eat a lot of the crumbles anyway. They get fresh veggies daily plus all the bugs and greens they want. I noticed they have also sampled the layer pellets. Since they don't get that much crumble, I figured the higher the protein the better.

We do have one pullet that has matured WAY faster than the others. She was growing way faster than the others by 3 weeks. By 8 weeks she was already 3 pounds, and at 10 weeks she is making hen noises rather than peeping like the others. Since she is then only one of the bunch that looks like she's on steroids I'm not worried about the feed. If it was a cockerel were were going to call him "Arnold".

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/232/gout

Gout in poultry can manifest itself in many ways internally , as well as externally.
There can be 100 X more bad stuff going on inside the bird than you ever see outside.

Moral of the story is "the best & highest Protein" is NOT the best for the breed.

In layers, only heavy layers get high (20% and above) in their middle or growing months probably between 2 mo to 8 mo of age.
That includes Jersey Giants, Astralorpes and Buckeyes for example.
Meaty, heavy layer breeds.

And of course Cornish & Cornish Cross.

All the breeds need chick ration to start with, the first few weeks as their gut flora and internal organs form, including kidneys that can be damaged by too high a protein.

Best thing to do is follow what manufacturers recommend.

Ducks, Geese and heavy meat breeds get Game bird starter (Turkeys & Heavy Ducks 27% Game bird starter) or Flockraiser for heavy meat chickens.
Heavy layers should have Chick Starter medicated for a few weeks at least, and then go to Flock Raiser crumbles with corid in their water.
After a good 8-10 months of Flock Raiser, these heavy layer breeds should be through their growth and be fine with layer feed (16-17% with oyster shell)

Game birds and heavy meat breeds grow up to 3+ x faster than a layer, so you can see how in a layer, all that excess protein spilling from the kidneys in the form of urea & purines...and causing gout.

I have seen it in many layer breeds at poultry shows.
Especially in Buckeyes.

link:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/232/gout

 

[Chickielady]

I feed Purina Flock Raiser to my ducks, Silkies, and Orpingtons plus a few Easter Eggers and it has been a great all purpose feed. It is expensive but we keep the feeders full at all times and the birds also free range so they don't gorge themselves on it all day. Perhaps it is like dogs that eat less when food is offered free choice so they don't have to wolf it down a couple times a day. I hatch ducklings and chicks to help cover the feed bill because we go through alot of feed but I will be cutting back on birds by the end of the season once I select my favorites to keep.

The protein in the Flock Raiser is perfect and then I also feed egg shell for extra calcium. The layer feeds have too much calcium for roosters and the egg shells get so hard that the chicks and ducklings can't break through them to hatch so I avoid feeding anything with high calcium levels, I have started boiling my clear eggs to feed back to the chickens instead of throwing them out and I also feed organic yoghurt on occasion. The chickens also get bread ends and left over oatmeal, that sort of stuff, more as treats and not as a main source of feed as well as some fruit and vegetables. We have apple trees and plum trees so when the fruit begins to drop they will all go running for it and it is gone before the ants ever get a chance to find any. I planted cherry trees last year so they may get cherries if we don't get them first. The birds have been getting the blueberries since my bushes are still small and they have had raspberries but we should start getting more for ourselves now that the plants are taller. I put a net over the strawberry planter but they still manage to get some of them as well. I really like how well the birds clean up fallen fruit before it attracts yellow jackets so I don't mind if they get some of our share, especially when we get more than we can eat.

We just fenced in my planter boxes so I can grow food for us that the birds won't get to share unless I throw it over the fence for them and I have created a garden space that still needs to be fenced and filled with garden soil so I may not get to use it until next year. There have been so many projects to work on during these nice weather days that I finally got the landscaping done so we can let the grass grow back in the areas I filled with dirt taken from the high spots. The bare spots will be gone in no time now that the ground is leveled out so the rain water is more evenly distributed in the yard from the gutter spouts (I want to have rain barrels in place before winter this year). We can also use the yard better without all the high and low spots we had that would trip me and twist my ankles while walking around partially blind.

We have been using rabbits to keep the grass in the back yard mowed so I want to move birds out of our chicken tractor and modify it with a wire bottom to keep rabbits from digging while also allowing them to eat the grass. They have done such a nice job fertilizing as they mow that I want to be able to use them more efficiently. I don't like the tractor for chickens because they make such a mess with their feed in the grass. The rabbit feed at least blends in with the grass better if it gets wasted.

Flock Raiser is excellent for ducks, geese & turkeys, and heavy layers.

 

[Duck Drover]

Does anyone have frizzled Cochins? I have a hen I have used to make Sizzles and now I am trying to make some frizzled Cochins with her so I can keep the frizzled pullets. For now she is in the tractor coop with a couple smooth feathered Cochins and a few Easter Eggers that I put in there to keep the Orpington roosters off them (the two roosters I have are just too heavy for them and they were causing feather damage) but I want to get them all out this week. I don't want to keep any smooth Cochins, just frizzled Cochin and I am not even sure how invested I am in my Sizzle project. My latest Sizzle has a straight comb since the Silkie rooster I had with the frizzle Cochin carried the straight comb gene (he was one I got from someone else as a chick and later learned that the flock he came from has occasional straight combed chicks). I don't want to bring in any birds that have been vaccinated so I would prefer hatching eggs in order to make sure I don't end up with any disease carriers. There are people selling vaccinated chicks that have been exposed to diseased flocks and it is not worth it to expose my flock to diseases from other flocks. I am close to getting my NPIP testing done to get certified so I am following NPIP guidelines by only bringing in eggs or tested chickens. The NPIP flock my Orpingtons came from is the only source I have used to bring in adult birds for the past 8 months since I closed my flock in preparation for NPIP certification.

The last Cochin eggs I hatched were all smooth, even though some of the parents were frizzled, but I don't mind trying for another chance for some frizzled Cochins. I can mix some colors on Sizzles but I would prefer recognizable colors and not mixed colors. The Sizzle chick I have now is very dark blue with some lacing that is going to be striking, even with the comb defect.

 

[DiamondDust]

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/232/gout

Gout in poultry can manifest itself in many ways internally , as well as externally.
There can be 100 X more bad stuff going on inside the bird than you ever see outside.

Moral of the story is "the best & highest Protein" is NOT the best for the breed.

In layers, only heavy layers get high (20% and above) in their middle or growing months probably between 2 mo to 8 mo of age.
That includes Jersey Giants, Astralorpes and Buckeyes for example.
Meaty, heavy layer breeds.

And of course Cornish & Cornish Cross.

All the breeds need chick ration to start with, the first few weeks as their gut flora and internal organs form, including kidneys that can be damaged by too high a protein.

Best thing to do is follow what manufacturers recommend.

Ducks, Geese and heavy meat breeds get Game bird starter (Turkeys & Heavy Ducks 27% Game bird starter) or Flockraiser for heavy meat chickens.
Heavy layers should have Chick Starter medicated for a few weeks at least, and then go to Flock Raiser crumbles with corid in their water.
After a good 8-10 months of Flock Raiser, these heavy layer breeds should be through their growth and be fine with layer feed (16-17% with oyster shell)

Game birds and heavy meat breeds grow up to 3+ x faster than a layer, so you can see how in a layer, all that excess protein spilling from the kidneys in the form of urea & purines...and causing gout.

I have seen it in many layer breeds at poultry shows.
Especially in Buckeyes.

link:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/232/gout

Thanks for the link Chickielady but that article didn't say anything about gout being caused by feeding high protein. It does say that "Possible causes for this could be obstruction of ureters, renal damage or dehydration" and I find that interesting but not likely to be connected to higher protein feed. That said, I know you have been to many more shows than I have (I'm just getting started showing) so you've undoubtedly seen plenty of chickens that have not been fed correctly...but I'd love to be able to read more about how high protein feed really affects chickens. Any other links for me?

Thanks,
DD

 

[Duck Drover]

Flock Raiser is excellent for ducks, geese & turkeys, and heavy layers.

I know Silkies have a higher protien requirement as well. Some people feed lower protein feed and then add protein to compensate but I like the consistency of knowing the feed I am using is complete. The color of the flock raiser changes depending on the season so it is a greener pellet right now after having been more yellow over the winter but Dave Holderread told me that the color change does not effect the nutritional quality and he said Purina has the most strict testing done to make sure it meets a high standard. I don't like how my ducklings' poop changes color due to the feed color but they grow so fast that they are only inside a short time. When they go outside and start eating grass and dirt, their poop color changes again, LOL.