Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Stumpfarmer]

Are green beans poisonous to chickens? I'm finding mixed responses. Tonight I gave a bunch of the kid's leftovers to the big girls. They pigged out on all of it, but left what looked like most, or all, of the cooked green beans in the bowl. I though that was odd. So, I came in and looked it up. Some people say green beans are poisonous to chickens. Are they? What my girls may have eaten a little bit of today were cooked green beans...

Why in the world would they be? The Thousand Banty Army used to eat all the Green Lake Pole Beans below knee height, and lived long and prospered. Mine only eat the over-ripe ones they're given if I split them open, but I can understand that. Chickens are tough!

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Are you supplementing your hens with vitamin D3? I was told once to try it especially living in the north. It seemed to help my hens return to laying. When I get my new flock I am seriously considering using Avian Charge 2000. Any thoughts on using this?  ~Dee~

I mentioned a few pages back that I give my flock brown rice with vitamin D complex once a week, and am thinking about moving to twice a week soon; my grandmother insisted hens need cod liver oil in the winter, but it's hard to find these days.

 

[CarolynF]

This article says to wash the eggs in 90 degree water. I thought you were suppose to wash them in Cold water

I only wash eggs that are a bit dirty. they all go right into the fridge

The USDA site I read last year stressed that the water had to be 20 degrees warmer than the egg because the shell is porous and the bacteria will travel toward the warmer surface. The article further discussed the inability of the average person to correctly judge the correct temperature, therefore they publish a guideline that simply says don't wash the eggs.

 

[FirewifeJess]

On a serious note. Yes I can be once in a while.
I got a message this morning from a friend. Requesting help. Seems something got in and destroyed their flock. Well I had to get the radiant floor pressure tested before they pour concrete on it Monday. Before I could get done my friend got the mess dealt with. I really felt bad about the loss and that I couldn't get up there to help. There area couple other things that make this loss hurt especially bad .

I'm sorry to hear of your friends' loss!

 

[FirewifeJess]

Wow. My kids were tired!! Usually they lay in bed for half an hour fussing up a storm and thinking of every reason under the sun to get out of their beds one last time. I left their room once tonight. 5 minutes ago. And they're all asleep!

I'm probably in for an early morning though.

What's everyone up to tonight?

 

[CarolynF]

I mentioned a few pages back that I give my flock brown rice with vitamin D complex once a week, and am thinking about moving to twice a week soon; my grandmother insisted hens need cod liver oil in the winter, but it's hard to find these days.

Can you tell me a little more about how you do this? Is the rice cooked? Is the vitamin liquid or something else? Where do you get it? Do you mix them together and serve it in a "dish" that's separate from their regular feed?
When I give my 3 hens a treat the lowest of the pecking order seldom gets more than a tiny taste because she gets chased off.

Thanks!

 

[FirewifeJess]

Quote:
I'm interested in supplementing with vitamins too! I don't know how to encourage my 2 perfectly healthy laying age hens to resume laying again, but would love suggestions! I'll try anything, since they aren't molting there's no reason for the lull!

 

[Hinotori]

Quote:
I've seen that episode. Gave me ideas for the next time I get a bad silkie rooster. The first bird I processed was a mean silkie. He made some interesting chicken noodle soup.

Not going to eat the boy I have now. He's to good. And he puts up with me snuggling his fluffy self. He only gets upset when I keep him from watching over his girls to long.

 

[mikeyb]

Quote:
I'm interested in supplementing with vitamins too! I don't know how to encourage my 2 perfectly healthy laying age hens to resume laying again, but would love suggestions! I'll try anything, since they aren't molting there's no reason for the lull!
cook the rice.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

I mentioned a few pages back that I give my flock brown rice with vitamin D complex once a week, and am thinking about moving to twice a week soon; my grandmother insisted hens need cod liver oil in the winter, but it's hard to find these days.

Can you tell me a little more about how you do this?  Is the rice cooked?  Is the vitamin liquid or something else?  Where do you get it?  Do you mix them together and serve it in a "dish" that's separate from their regular feed? 
When I give my 3 hens a treat the lowest of the pecking order seldom gets more than a tiny taste because she gets chased off. 

Thanks!

I cook a pound of rice in five cups of water (parch the rice in preheating oven; add hot (teakettle) water just below the boil, bake at 350 for an hour then add one 1000au vitamin D pill and one 500mg calcium per chicken 1 T sea salt and 1/2 C olive oil (all from Trader Joe's except the calcium, which is from Walgreens) and let cool. If I have extra apples, they get apples chopped in, once in a while.

I feed this in their treat bowls, which are separate from their regular feed and used for everything from raw oatmeal to scratch grains to red worms to restraunt doggy bags. In winter I often add chunks of orange to the mix. Every once in a while I kick in some EZ iron (again, TJ's) which is a powdered FeS in caps; I break open those caps.

Part of the thinking behind the extra D and calcium is that I do not free range, and also I have UV resistant greenhouse plastic over the layer pens

They also get all sorts of greens, especially Romaine lettuce and lemon balm, and cut lawn grass in midsummer when the sheep can't keep up with it.