Hey there y'all!!!
I'm a Hokie who is currently living on the Eastern Shore. I worked in the poultry industry for a while, and have decided that I'm going to start my own free-range flock so that I can give my chickens all that those industry chickens never had.
Here's my current family:
From...
The Building of my Coop!
My first coop was one I found free on Craigslist. While it was a marvelous coop for my first one, after a few months of using it I quickly found out that it wasn't meeting all of my needs. Here's a picture of the little A-Frame for reference:
Pic Disclaimer: I did...
Thanks Pam, HorseFeatherz, and Lisa! And HorseFeatherz you are so right. There is nothing better than that feeling of relief when you find a missing bird.
Well I went over this afternoon to spend a little time with my flock, as I won't be around tomorrow or Friday. When I got to the coop I realized that some of the girls had managed to fly the fence, which happens fairly often with the smaller, lighter pullets. No biggy. I had a bag of rice and...
The breeder flocks of meat production birds are always put on a diet to keep them from getting as massive as those that go to the plant. The key is to slowly reduce the amount of feed, as sudden shocks can really hurt them. In your case it doesn't sound like that should be a problem though...
I have 20 birds, and there are multiple reactions to the rain. Some will remain outside, others will go in. Some that were already inside will head into the rain, and others will fluff up and go back to sleep.
What really cracks me up is my DBF's reaction. I close my coop up at dark, with...
Well I don't think I cooked it long enough. When I took it out of the pan this morning it broke in half and the middle is way too soft.
I cooked this one at 300 degrees for 1.5 hours. Next time I'll either make it thinner or cook it for at least 2.5 hours.
I'm sure they'll still love it though
Quote:
Just pulled it out of the oven, and the whole house smells so good.
It seems pretty hard, but I'm going to let it cool in the pan. So I won't know how hard it sets up until I take it out. But even if it's hard as cement, the apples will give the chooks places to peck into easily
I just saw this thread, and got inspired. I ran to walmart, and just now put my first flock block in the oven.
My recipe:
1c wild bird feed
1/2c large pet bird feed (I like the colors and thought my chooks would too)
1c oats
3 lg pinches of previously baked and crushed egg shells
4 eggs
2...
The first reason that came to mind is that the big poultry companies keep there birds age data in weeks. Therefore most poultry research is in weeks as well. So it's like a trickle down effect to us.
Another reason (which I guess is linked to the first) could be their life expectancy is...
Thanks guys I really appreciate it!!
BW, I haven't been giving him vitamins but that's not a bad idea. I have the polyvisol (w/o iron). It's just one drop straight in the mouth correct?
Zaz, I know they're supposed to be red, but around the spur hadn't been red. I was just worried that...