Hello! Any ideas what this lump could be from right on the back of my Easter Egger's head? I noticed it a month ago and thought maybe she just got pecked/lost a feather back there but the lump has definitely gotten bigger since then and more noticeable. All behaviors and egg laying have been the...
One of the biggest things I've learned from this forum is how many people (on here) go with a higher protein feed with shell on the side rather than layer. Layer feeds often can be deficient in certain things. Whenever I see someone brag about how cheap their feed is, usually one look at the...
Try to start local if you have any mills nearby. Unfortunately for me, I do not have any nearby, and even the ones that are somewhat close, like an hour or more away, have extremely unimpressive ingredients/nutrient content.
So I'm at the mercy of ordering online, and it can be a crapshoot as...
My understanding is this issue is related more to just an increased omega 3 intake. The feed you are using is formulated with extra omega 3's so chances are if you get them off that feed and onto something without that (even if it still has flax) your issue likely will resolve.
right! occasionally I'll give mine a little bit of fish like tuna scraps or sardines if I get a tin that I happen to not like or something but i haven't ever given them enough to make any difference in their egg quality. I remember back before I had chickens I was buying organic eggs from a...
Always satisfying to put what often would otherwise be "waste" to perfectly good use like this. I cut a lot of firewood every year and save a lot of the chainsaw wood chips from that. I make firestarters out of them or lately I do what you did and just dump them in the chicken run. Keeps them...
I went back to the old chick feed. What in your opinion is an excessive level for methionine specifically for laying birds? The chick feed I went back to now lists .6% but the previous bags were .5%. Curious why they would bump it up a bit and I think it's one of the higher levels I've seen.
Not only will they love that, but you'll be quite impressed with how clean that carcass will be when they are done with it. I always get a kick out of it. very meticulous detail work they do with them!
If there's one thing I've learned from the far more experienced people on here than myself, it's how to pick apart a feed's deficiencies - and very typically these are layer feeds. So I would definitely start with the feed rather than trying to add treats to offset a deficient feed.
Here's the goofy thing though...They have another corn/soy free feed but it's 16% protein. THAT feed has .5% methionine which is a good level. the one i got, which is 18% protein also corn/soy free is the one that's .2% methionine. Seems like a very bizarre oversight to me. Here's the links to...
Very unimpressive nutrient levels - some layer feeds below 16% protein, LOW levels of methionine (with several feeds not even listing it on the label), high fat...etc...I dunno, maybe I'm too picky, I won't deny that, however I can find feeds that fit what I'm looking for pretty easily even if...
I recently tried out a feed from Bar Ale based on it's price tag. It is a corn and soy free feed, although I'm not opposed to corn but again the price was right compared to my usual Modesto feed I get. Once I got it I realized the methionine levels were .2 - correct me if I'm wrong, but that...
Ironically my local mills seem to be way too vague with what is actually in their feeds. First 3 ingredients on all their chicken feeds list "grain products, plant protein products, processed grain by-products"
Kinda sucks I can't find a local mill that actually uses good ingredients like the...
never thought much about how much my birds eat in a day, but after doing the math i would say that 4oz per day is pretty close for my flock this time of year. I buy 80# every 4 weeks usually for 12 birds. It goes down a bit as the weather gets warmer.
I really never questioned it until I had brand new layers start during the darkest and coldest days of the year here in NY. I really figured they'd just hold off til Spring. They are my RIR, EE, and Buff Orpingtons. My French Copper Marans is still holding off though.