Recent content by Altairsky

  1. Altairsky

    Comment by 'Altairsky' in article 'Wholesome home-made chicken feed, without sweat, tears, a calculator, or deep pockets.'

    In areas where the Japanese beetle is a pest, it's great to serve it to chickens. I trap up to 50 kg of beetles each year, dry them in the sun, and in dried form they last forever. The only downside is the unbearable death smell, but after a while they'll smell like cat food. I had the idea...
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  2. Altairsky

    Mixed Breed Photo Reference *please read guidelines in first post before adding content*

    The pullet from the second legbar crossing developed very large wattles paired with a beard.
  3. Altairsky

    Boredom busters

    Chickens do entertain themselves by pecking and scratching and dust bathing. A cabbage to peck is a good entertainment, so is a dust bath and I also give the chicks a bucket of moist soil from my vegetable garden so they can scratch and find the bugs and worms buried in the soil.
  4. Altairsky

    Mixed Breed Photo Reference *please read guidelines in first post before adding content*

  5. Altairsky

    Salmon Faverolle Cockerel - Late Bloomer or is Something Wrong?

    It's probably poor genetics, so the breeder's fault. We had many inbred ayam cemani with the same issues in my area. They looked so ugly they made me go bad the whole breed. I wouldn't buy from the same hatchery again and I probably wouldn't breed this boy.
  6. Altairsky

    What is a Sapphire Sky?

    Same. Her favaucana mother started at 8 months but she lays one egg a day like an high production breed. She also is a serial broody so she tipically lays 30 eggs in 30 days, then she goes broody and I let her sit, hatch and raise babies for 1 month, then she goes back laying 30 more eggs...
  7. Altairsky

    What is a Sapphire Sky?

    I have a less than 4 months old (14 weeks) legbar x favaucana mix that is about to lay. Her mother started laying at 8 months. I don't breed for production, early layers might sometimes just randomly happen. Her sister has a very pale comb and is nowhere near laying age yet.
  8. Altairsky

    What color is this?

    She's had a nice red comb for a while, and today the rooster mated her! Can't wait to see the egg color! According to my rooster, she should be laying in around 10 days!
  9. Altairsky

    Which marigolds to plant for chickens to eat?

    My chickens eat bellis perennis (Dasy) flowers. Not much else. They are more interested in the herbs seeds. Poppy seeds, grass seeds, silence vulgaris seeds, galium verum seeds.
  10. Altairsky

    Topic of the week - Free Ranging

    What pros and cons have you experienced when deciding to free-range your flock? Pros are healthier birds, better immune system, richer eggs, less feed consumption, happier flock with no pecking issues. Cons are poop everywhere, damaged plants, stolen fruit, and holes in the lawn as deep as...
  11. Altairsky

    Is there an AC you can put in the chicken coop? I could really use advice!!!

    I have 2 old portable ACs I need to get rid of that would have been perfect for a large coop... But mine is an open air coop... :idunno So I just proceed selling them on Craigslist. Too sad to see them go.
  12. Altairsky

    What to feed hen with and chicks?

    Just leave the broody mama and the eggs alone. Touching them during hatch is the worst thing to do. The more you touch and higher the chances that they end up crushed or injured.
  13. Altairsky

    What do you keep in your dual purpose chicken First-Aid kit?

    I keep, always ready: -Corid -sulfa -a pigeon dewormer (can't remember the name) -vitamin b complex syrup for human babies - calcium + d3 tablets - amoxicillin leftover from my dentist stuff - Epsom salt - I have a clorexidin disinfectant that I purchased by mistake ages ago but it apparently...
  14. Altairsky

    Best waterer for having mixed age flock?

    I trained my old ladies by showing them that water comes out of the nipples. Chickens are smart (well, I can't guarantee this works for silkies) and they learn to use the nipples in a few minutes. Easier with incubator chicks since you can train them to use nipples from day 1.
  15. Altairsky

    Hanging Feeder Humidity, HELP!

    Whole grain feed is NOT scratch. With all those additives, it looks pretty much balanced to me and even better than the average layer crumble I find in my area.
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