Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Amberjem]

Good morning peeps, it's a definite frosty morning today I was wondering does anyone here feed their chickies duckweed?

 

[Mike10]

Good morning peeps, it's a definite frosty morning today I was wondering does anyone here feed their chickies duckweed?

Morning definitely is a frosty morning. Now my chickens that would come out refuse to come out how cold it is. Only the rooster who's a bit hitter than them comes out for a bit to wonder and goes back inside. My older rooster and his 2 hens don't mind this cold at all. There looking at me like let me out the run to free range. Lol but not yet. And do not know what duckweed is.

 

[them chickens]

same lol

glad to have someone close

 

[ochochicas]

Two days straight of crazy wind and our power is supposed to be out the rest of the week. At least it didn't happen last week when I had eggs in the incubator. Now I have 4-day old chicks and no heat, so I packed the crew up and brought them to work. My supervisor said it would be OK, but I remember a month ago when we were all e-mailed the new staff manual. My other supervisor specifically pointed out that we should read the section regarding not bringing pets to work. Well, the chickens aren't exactly pets....

I have them hidden behind my desk and a recycling bin. Not like it is difficult to hear them or anything. LOL

 

[evemfoster]

FWIW, everything I have read states, have the lights come on early in the morning and allow the birds to naturally roost at normal sunset... That method is easiest on the birds....

My lights come on at 12:30 AM and the birds hit the roost at 3:30-4 PM, with the sunset..... 15 1/2 hours of daylight... give or take... egg production hasn't slowed.... and they get 8 hours + of dark time..... I will allow for them to molt come August/September as it gets darker and won't turn the lights on until about 3 weeks into the molt and 3 weeks of no layer feed, once the egg supply stops, and high protein diet.... egg shells and oyster shells will still be available if they need the extra calcium...

Dave

From the Purina Folks on yesterdays live chat...

We recommend feeding Flockraiser during molting/non-laying periods. It has a little more protein and energy to support feather regrowth, and it gives them a break from high calcium at a time when they are not making egg shells. Flockraiser is 20% protein, compared with 16% for Layena, so it is well-suited to be a molting feed. If you do change feeds, be sure to do a gradual transition, mixing the old feed with the new over a period of a week to ten days, to avoid jolting their digestive system and potentially stressing them. Some birds handle abrupt feed shifts just fine, but some sensitive individuals may develop digestive upset and diarrhea for several days until they adjust to the new feed.

The easiest thing is to switch from a layer feed to a slightly higher protein grower feed.
They don't need, nor should they be getting excess calcium while not laying eggs.
Feathers are 90+% protein.

About lighting and egg production....

Are you providing at least 16 hourse of light per day? Without it, they will not lay.

Ok sorry, after re-reading this before posting it sounds fairly preachy. I didn't mean it to be.

I wouldn't worry too much about whether the early light is better for the chickens or not thing. I know it's recommended the lights come on in the early morning but it has only been in the last few years that i have been hearing that starting the light earlier in the morning is better for the chickens. Back when i was a kid the light recommendations was for later in the day and only 12 hours of light per day. I do believe the the longer light recommendations are an improvement showing up as better laying percentages in the chickens. Up until the last few years when you have your lights come on had always been left up to the chicken owner and what worked best for them. Mostly back in the day people had the lights come on for a while in the evenings and the chickens woke up with the sun.

I grew up on a family run chicken farm we sold eggs to safeway back when they would take the eggs in flats and the customer could bring in old egg cartons to refill them. Ok, yes i am dating myself here. Dad was extra generous with the power allowing 13 hours of light per day. The chickens woke with the sun and the lights were set to come an around 4pm and they would go off at 9pm. The hens had fairly low laying percentages during the winter and would lay later in the day. Mom would do the first egg pick around noon and my brothers and i would come home from school and take turns picking eggs until 4pm.

One of my first paid jobs was working for Draper Valley Farms egg hatchery. The chicken houses had no windows and the lights came on at 4 am and off at 6pm. The chickens had no idea what time it was outside. The lights coming on earlier in the morning was more about the chickens starting to lay earlier in morning than anything about it being easier on the chickens. Turning on the lights earlier allowed the farm to control when the hens started laying their eggs. That way they could get the eggs picked and into the incubators before quitting time. The earliest hens would start laying before 8am and most of them would be done by noon. And i would be home by 2pm every day.

The idea of turning on the lights so early in the morning like that was considered fairly radical at the time. Adjusting the lights to fit your personal schedule isn't carved in stone. Your chickens will adjust to whatever schedule you put them on. So if you can only pick eggs after work a later light schedule may prevent quite a few eggs from freezing so hard they crack before you can get to them. Its up to you.

However if you decide to change an already set up time schedule remember that you can only change the timing 15 minutes per week without effecting the egg production.

 

[Hinotori]

My great grandmother turned on the chicken lights when she woke up around 4 and they went off at 8. She had an egg business up through the mid 70s. She started it after they bought the land and settled in the US in the early 20s. Electricity was a wonderful addition to get more eggs. Even with that, she didn't get a lot of eggs in winter. All 4 year old hens were culled in the fall as well as unproductive 3 year olds.



On another note. My silkies lay just fine in winter without light as long as they aren't molting or broody. A new layer just started and has given me 5 eggs in the last 6 days. So I always have silkie eggs if nothing else.

 

[Ashley Stroud]

Now I have 4-day old chicks and no heat, so I packed the crew up and brought them to work. My supervisor said it would be OK, but I remember a month ago when we were all e-mailed the new staff manual. My other supervisor specifically pointed out that we should read the section regarding not bringing pets to work. Well, the chickens aren't exactly pets.... I have them hidden behind my desk and a recycling bin. Not like it is difficult to hear them or anything. LOL

That's adorable and hilarious! But I'm sorry about the power situation...sucks.

 

[Ashley Stroud]

Just made a no-waste bucket feeder! It took me forever because I didn't have any of the tools required but I'm excited for the girls to give it a whirl!

[/IMG]

 

[Ashley Stroud]

In Marysville, here. I started to read the whole thread here, but then I realized it was 283 pages. Hahaha no.

So very new to this forum! Excited, I am!

Welcome! I'm not too far from you; down near to Bothell.

 

[Momageddon]

Two days straight of crazy wind and our power is supposed to be out the rest of the week. At least it didn't happen last week when I had eggs in the incubator. Now I have 4-day old chicks and no heat, so I packed the crew up and brought them to work. My supervisor said it would be OK, but I remember a month ago when we were all e-mailed the new staff manual. My other supervisor specifically pointed out that we should read the section regarding not bringing pets to work. Well, the chickens aren't exactly pets.... I have them hidden behind my desk and a recycling bin. Not like it is difficult to hear them or anything. LOL

I would never leave your office if you had a box of chickens. Shoot, if you worked with me, and our supervisor said no chickens, I would probably hide them in my office... But, there's a reason I don't work office jobs, LOL.