I’m not following the logic of a 5 week difference helping as they age out. There can easily be a 5 week difference just in when they start to lay, much more in when they stop laying. If your intentions are to have a steady egg flow, you might do better having at least a year between adding layers.
I’ve never had a mite problem, so can’t help there. I’m just curious whyyou consider citric acid not natural? It’s naturally present in oranges, lemons, limes, and many others.
I’m assuming one is an egg from your chickens. If so, I’d guess yours is on the right, the Central Market one is top/center and the Kirkland on the left This is based on the Kirkland brand being from WA and “vegetarian fed” and the Central Market is from family farms in Texas
How can one tell the difference between an Australorp and a black sex link? This chick looks a lot like my dominant copper (black sex link) when she was a chick.
We keep our buckets so the toggle is about head height. Some hens will reach up and peck food from the hole, but most peck the toggle. We have two different buckets depending on what food is available at the local feed store. One bucket has bigger holes for large pellets and a second bucket with...
I use regular eye bolts. It does take some experimenting to get the right size hole for your feed. Start smaller then move larger. We initially made our holes too big and the feed just poured out with the slightest movement. One windy day would have emptied the bucket! Good thing buckets are...
I’ve been using this type of feeder since this past spring. It works very well. The biggest benefit for me is that it keeps the squirrels, sparrows and other free loaders away.
I don’t find that there is any territorial or bullying behavior. The top hens get their fill after leaving the coop in...