Naked Neck/Turken Thread

[aoxa]

Generally- hatchery stock are large heavy birds. A lot of NN from private persons have been mixed up, with a lot leaning towards 'regular size'- not so big/heavy or towards a large bantam. Huge heavy NN are the hardest to find- am working on that myself.

aoxa- why is it not good to let them eat dog food? I get bags of cat food for the peafowl and often give it as treats to the chickens.. is there something I don't know?

Quote:
In moderation I can't see it being an issue, but it is not something I would offer to them on a daily basis

 

[sharkman]

I feed dog food everyday. My chickens free range all day and I offer them a variety of things during the day but I give them a couple of scoops of dog food befor bed so they get some protein and fat for the night. I get some ripped bags real cheep so I give them alot and they lay real good but they get unlimited greens all day.

 

[flower]

I know some one who feeds his chickens dog food since it has "more protein". He started when he noticed the flock was feather picking. His flock is able to range all day also but I don't know what they find out there in the middle of the dry desert ?

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

From my bantam blue barred roo and my bantam frizzled splash hen (now deceased). At hatch and now:

This chick is from my bantam blue barred roo and my bantam frizzled black hen. It looks like it's going to have nice barring:

 

[PsycoPeep]

Interesting take on givign them dog food. But don't you think they'd choke on the kibble? Especially if it's the larger ones? Or do you give them puppy formula with smaller bits that are easier to break w/their beak and eat? Or the soft stuff like Moist N Meaty? Chick starter has a lot of protien in it, couldn't you sprinkle a bit of that in their food? I've also heard of people giving them scrambled egg. What's everyone's thoughts on any of that?

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Ridiculously happy to see chicks popping out this morning. I moved this group to hatcher Sat night and woke up Sun morning to find hatcher temp was 109 degrees!
In addition to the heating element / thermostat, the hatcher has a 40 watt bulb on a dimmer switch. I mostly use the light bulb to bring the hatcher up to temp quickly and then turn it down.
Somehow, the switch was all the way up and the bulb was burning bright and YIKES!, 109 degrees!
Truthfully, I thought the eggs were all dead and I'd be waitingwaitingwaiting for nothing.

Day 21 doesn't begin until 4: this afternoon, so maybe it wasn't that hot for very long?

In the time it took to type this and load the pic, two more hatched and I see several more pips.
There is HOPE!

 

[Kev]

From my bantam blue barred roo and my bantam frizzled splash hen (now deceased). At hatch and now:



This chick is from my bantam blue barred roo and my bantam frizzled black hen. It looks like it's going to have nice barring:

Cute birds! and thanks for posting pics.

 

[Kev]

In moderation I can't see it being an issue, but it is not something I would offer to them on a daily basis

Interesting and thanks for the info. It is confusing because as mentioned, dog/cat food is a common treatment for feather plucking.. I have to feed peafowl chicken layer(game bird feed isn't adequate for them) so I give them the extra protein via cat food. Not consistently daily but usually several times a week.

Back when there were turkeys and dog.. got a self feeder for dogs with the flap in front. was wondering why the dog food was running out so darned fast.... turns out some of the turkeys actually figured out to either peck at the door and grab a few bites before it closed again, one figured out to push his head/shoulders against the flap and eat to his fill. Annoying but had to admire they figured it out...

 

[Kev]

Interesting take on givign them dog food. But don't you think they'd choke on the kibble? Especially if it's the larger ones? Or do you give them puppy formula with smaller bits that are easier to break w/their beak and eat? Or the soft stuff like Moist N Meaty? Chick starter has a lot of protien in it, couldn't you sprinkle a bit of that in their food? I've also heard of people giving them scrambled egg. What's everyone's thoughts on any of that?

it's surprising what things they can swallow. most chickens can swallow a large dry kibble easily. the only real problem is when they are either really hungry or just pigging out on kibble because they didn't have it in a long time(usually once they are used to dog/cat food, they really really love it) and they try to eat too many pieces at once.. might sometimes get 'temporarily' stuck in the throat but they usually pass it down.

Another example- sometimes I see people write their bantams or chicks cannot eat pelleted poultry feed. no problem with that here even with the very smallest bantams.. even chicks less than a month old are able to eat pellets.

scrambled egg is supposed to be good. scrambled egg with eggshells are often given to caged birds(canaries finches exotics etc) to feed their chicks.

I feed all my birds pellets, chick starter comes in mash.. would be a total waste as it sifts below the pellets. also chick starter is the most expensive feed by far around here- 19 dollars a bag, yikes. only time I get chick starter is when there's chicks.

Lisa- glad that hatch went well. It's surprising how tough the eggs can be.

 

[Kassaundra]

Those that feed dog or cat food for extra protien, have you ever thought about floating catfish food??? You can get 40 lb bags at TSC for less the $15 and it is a little over 50% protien.