Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

Is it possible woman do, and the men don't, like the high calcium level in the pellets?

The pellets are low calcium 0.9%.

 

[ManueB]

I have full sized American Beech, Copper Beech, and tricolor Beech in New Jersey and they all hang on to leaves. Not all over like @Perris’s hedge but certainly in the lower third of the tree.
I hadn’t heard that was to do with pruning/juvenile status.
Interesting.

My beeches all loose their leaves in winter even the young ones. It would be great if they would keep them. We don't prune them every year, but I don't think when we did it they retained their leaves. Maybe it has to do with our drought ? I believe my winters are more mild than yours RC.

The pellets are low calcium 0.9%.

I also give have been giving a choice for months between fermented grains mix, starter feed in a wet mash, and plain layer feed which is in the form that I think you call crumble , milled but with cracked grains remaining. At roost time I usually put dry grains in the run as I close the chickens in there about fifteen minutes before they actually roost.The two adult roosters really prefer the dry stuff : dry grain first, then layer feed. Then the fermented grains. Both don't like the mash at all and I think it has to do with the texture. Maybe they don't like getting their wattles wet ?

 

[Shadrach]

Maybe they don't like getting their wattles wet ?

I think the reluctance to eat mash has a number of reasons.
Not all crumbles produce the same mash consistency. The crumble I gave in Catalonia produced a different kind of mash compared to the crap I've tried here. Some crumble turns to a adhesive paste and this is what the chickens don't like, It sticks to their beak, inside and out and much of their ability to guage texture and possible other factors is reduced if their beaks are coated with sticky mash. Lots of time spent beak wiping and looking in their moths one can often see lumps of mash stuck to the inside of their beaks.

Chickens don't have the same digestive system as humans and for the gizzard to work properly it needs hard particles and quite large particles. I used to get hard particles in the Catalonian mash but the stuff I've tried here in the UK turns to glue basically if not immediately fresh.

Chickens have been eating hard grains and seeds for centuries without digestive issues. Eating dry hard feed also helps them to regulate their water intake better. It's not always a case of more of everything is better.
Part of Carbon's digestive issues seem to have been too much water in her diet.
On dry feed only her poop has been a lot better. She also has a drinking problem the cause of which I don't understand. She doesn't drink in the same way as the others. I wondered if she has a tapeworm that the last worming didn't deal with.

 

[RoyalChick]

Congratulations @fluffycrow on Kolovos appearing on the front page as POW! He's a handsome chap

Yes congratulations @fluffycrow it is a great picture of him.

 

[RoyalChick]

And the big news in my current neck of the woods is that David Beckham got chickens for Christmas.

 

[fluffycrow]

Yes congratulations @fluffycrow it is a great picture of him.

Thank you so much!

 

[fluffycrow]

Well that was unexpected to say the least

And the big news in my current neck of the woods is that David Beckham got chickens for Christmas.

 

[BDutch]

I think the reluctance to eat mash has a number of reasons.

Right, I think so too.
My chickens loved to eat the mash made of chick pellets from our mill. The laying hen pellets were less favourite. But the mash from the feed I give now is not interesting at all.

Wonder why I changed the supplier?
The mill doesn’t sell chick feed in winter. And the layer feed has too much calcium imo for hens who don't lay for 4 months or even more.
The best priced organic alternative was to buy directly from a factory (minmum 100 kilo order, with a neighbour). The substance and pellet size is different from the mill. Its really fresh but the quality seems less. The grains in the grain mix are smaller.
I let the chickens choose between the chick crumble and layer pellets. The chickens do eat about the same amount from both. I think they like the variety. The grains are an extra treat.

 

[Perris]

And the big news in my current neck of the woods is that David Beckham got chickens for Christmas.

I wonder when he'll find BYC, looking for solutions to newbie problems

And now we know the answer to the question, what to get the man who has everything

 

[Iluveggers]

And the big news in my current neck of the woods is that David Beckham got chickens for Christmas.

With what most of us would consider “unlimited” funding, chicken math can become SUPER dangerous. .