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Ok picked up this stuff tonight, is it acceptable for new chicks? Retards at rural king were ZERO help https://s2.postimg.org/bbuygg1yh/20157313_10214078938518071_5320325994039213521_o.jpg View Quote |
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Take an aluminum pie plate and put it over the theater so chicks don't poop in it.
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Ok picked up this stuff tonight, is it acceptable for new chicks? Retards at rural king were ZERO help https://s2.postimg.org/bbuygg1yh/20157313_10214078938518071_5320325994039213521_o.jpg View Quote I have some thoughts, though... 1-You'll lose some feed because those openings are bigger than you really need, but it will work okay. They won't be going through enough at this age to make a difference in your cost. 2- You don't want the baby chicks to get wet. IF you find the babies getting into the waterer (as in climbing into the water tray) you need to get a $3 waterer from a farm store like Tractor Supply or its equivalent. Whatever is in your area. It's basically a plastic lid that fits on a mason jar. Turn the jar upside down and you have a waterer. You can make your own. I fed chickens for many years by making my own out of a jar and a saucer. But it's easier to just buy the plastic thingy from TSC (or other farm store) and go. It's a gravity fed feeder just like what you have, but the key is, it's SMALLER. So baby chicks can't actually get IN it. Wet chicks are dead chicks. |
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Ok picked up this stuff tonight, is it acceptable for new chicks? Retards at rural king were ZERO help https://s2.postimg.org/bbuygg1yh/20157313_10214078938518071_5320325994039213521_o.jpg View Quote I have a spare mason jar feeder base thing you can have if your anywhere close to the Cleveland area (I'm just west of CLE). I know they are cheap but if your close. Everyone else covered the rest, good luck with your birds |
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One of my hens won the "Hide and Seek" prize last night .
I usually let them roam the yard (completely fenced and have a dog to "protect" them) when I'm home. They tend to go back to their run in the evening when it gets dark. Last night I was next door at the neighbors on their deck having a beer when I decided to go home, lock them up for the night and grab more beer...except I only saw 3 of 4 . 5 of us walked the yard with flashlights looking for her to no avail. I knew she didn't get nabbed, no feathers, no sound and my dog didn't react to anything. Anyways, she was in the garden this morning pecking around like nothing happened |
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The opening in the lid? View Quote |
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One of my hens won the "Hide and Seek" prize last night . I usually let them roam the yard (completely fenced and have a dog to "protect" them) when I'm home. They tend to go back to their run in the evening when it gets dark. Last night I was next door at the neighbors on their deck having a beer when I decided to go home, lock them up for the night and grab more beer...except I only saw 3 of 4 . 5 of us walked the yard with flashlights looking for her to no avail. I knew she didn't get nabbed, no feathers, no sound and my dog didn't react to anything. Anyways, she was in the garden this morning pecking around like nothing happened View Quote Just sayin. |
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I picked up quart jar feeder and waterer today. Ill keep the others for when the chicks get bigger Ive got a heat lamp, thermometer, now to start working on a brooder so we can get some chicks heading this way
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I picked up quart jar feeder and waterer today. Ill keep the others for when the chicks get bigger Ive got a heat lamp, thermometer, now to start working on a brooder so we can get some chicks heading this way View Quote Listen.. If you're going to free range those chickens, buy extra. You are rural enough that you will lose a LOT to predators. A LOT. Plan for that. Do you have a henhouse in the works? They grow up fast. Two months from when they arrive, you're going to want them out of your living space. Five months in, they will be thinking about laying eggs. |
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Good for you. Listen.. If you're going to free range those chickens, buy extra. You are rural enough that you will lose a LOT to predators. A LOT. Plan for that. Do you have a henhouse in the works? They grow up fast. Two months from when they arrive, you're going to want them out of your living space. Five months in, they will be thinking about laying eggs. View Quote |
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Just scored a 4'x2'x2' stock tank for a brooder on the cheap. Will make a lid using 1x and hardwire
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As of right now, I plan on brooding the chicks in the barn. One of the guys I work with has offered me a coop he has, so I will be bringing it to the house at some point. I think we are going to order from Murray Mcmurray so the minimum number well have is 15. Im not sure they would free range without someone being home, so I imagine a run will be in order attached to the coop. View Quote Good deal on the coop! |
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Thata the plan, I just picked it up tonight. Where is a good place to order chicks? I have a Murray Mcmurray catalog but the minimum order is 15. I was thinking 10 would be a good start View Quote If you order straight run, you're likely to get mostly roosters. You want layers, I'm guessing, so order sexed chicks. You STILL might get an extra rooster or two. I know it costs more, but unless you plan to kill and eat those extra roosters, what are you going to do with them? Yeah, don't do that. Order sexed chicks. I don't have a better source than McMurray. So I'm no goodto you there, but they're an old, reputable company. If you want lower numbers, try your local feed mill. Sometimes they order in chicks. That's how I usually got mine because I could order mixed bunches. Four RIRs, four domineckers, four Buffs, etc. |
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Yeah the plan is to just order 15 female for laying. Once we get a good squad of laying females well bring a roo in to start a small flock of meat birds. Well see how it goes
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Unless food is free, don't bother raising traditional breeds for meat. Takes too long, be too much feed. Cheaper to buy freedom ranger chicks.
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I was looking at those last night. Do you breed them or just buy the chicks to raise for meat? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Unless food is free, don't bother raising traditional breeds for meat. Takes too long, be too much feed. Cheaper to buy freedom ranger chicks. Freedom rangers have all the durability of traditional breeds and are ready to butcher in about 10 weeks. Let one rooster go all summer and butcher it for Christmas, be tell everybody it's a turkey. |
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May just do that then. Sounds easier than trying to get our egg layers to breed. What do you do with the layers once they stop laying ( 2 years ive been told???)
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More like 3-4 years unless you keep them going all winter.
I let them retire to bug control. |
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Stupid question, but how do you stop them from laying...I thought they just did it once they matured
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Stupid question, but how do you stop them from laying...I thought they just did it once they matured View Quote |
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We have 10 chickens between 4 months and 4 weeks, 9 females and one male. Male is about 3 months but is becoming very aggressive toward my wife only when I'm not there jumping at her and biting her whenever he can. We have an 8 year old daughter that loves spending time in the run and I don't want him doing the same to her, wife thinks it may be time to dispatch him before he hurts our daughter. I've never killed a chicken (or anything for that matter) before so I don't know what the best way to go about it would be. I want it to be quick and painless for him, I like him but can't have him attacking when someone enters the run.
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We have 10 chickens between 4 months and 4 weeks, 9 females and one male. Male is about 3 months but is becoming very aggressive toward my wife only when I'm not there jumping at her and biting her whenever he can. We have an 8 year old daughter that loves spending time in the run and I don't want him doing the same to her, wife thinks it may be time to dispatch him before he hurts our daughter. I've never killed a chicken (or anything for that matter) before so I don't know what the best way to go about it would be. I want it to be quick and painless for him, I like him but can't have him attacking when someone enters the run. View Quote After that, hang it upside down by its feet until it gets all dozy and light headed. Take a razor and cut the artery in the neck, it will bleed out. They just fall asleep. NO MATTER WHAT: They WILL flap around once the body stops getting signal from the brain. Their nervous systems are extremely basic, and the head doesn't do much. They are fully capable of 'running around with their head chopped off' as the old saying goes. Its 100% accurate. The bird is dead and feels nothing at this point, the body just hasn't figured that out yet. |
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Don't think you can stop them. I believe what he is referring to is that some folks add additional light in the winter when the amount of daylight decreases so that they lay at their usual rate. I've never provided light in the winter and mine seem to lay at the usual rate anyways. I have red sex link hens, they have been good layers and handle the NE Ohio winters just fine. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Stupid question, but how do you stop them from laying...I thought they just did it once they matured |
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Buy chicks. I've always been very happy with them. Don't raise Cornish x meat chicks. They needed perfect environments to not constantly die, must be butchered exactly on time, must have exact amounts of specific feed given, etc. Basically, the Cornish x love to die before they should. Freedom rangers have all the durability of traditional breeds and are ready to butcher in about 10 weeks. Let one rooster go all summer and butcher it for Christmas, be tell everybody it's a turkey. View Quote I could not stand to see them live in that little box any longer, so I brought them home. I AM a good chicken mama, but it was hard to watch them die. And they were looking for a reason to do just that. The second time Feed Store Guy did that to me, I just took the box and didn't even open it. I just rolled my eyes. I was headed out the door when he said, "Those are turkeys, by the way!" |
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I've had to dispatch sick/injured birds before, and a shotgun to the head is painless for the bird, provided you can fire a weapon where you live. After that, hang it upside down by its feet until it gets all dozy and light headed. Take a razor and cut the artery in the neck, it will bleed out. They just fall asleep. NO MATTER WHAT: They WILL flap around once the body stops getting signal from the brain. Their nervous systems are extremely basic, and the head doesn't do much. They are fully capable of 'running around with their head chopped off' as the old saying goes. Its 100% accurate. The bird is dead and feels nothing at this point, the body just hasn't figured that out yet. View Quote I never tried the "funnel" method for killing chickens, but if I were going to do meat birds again, I'd do that. You may well be the type who, once you get chicks, should plan to have a retirement home for geriatric hens. In fact, once they are in that category, they may still produce all the eggs your family can eat, depending on how many you need. They just won't be dependable. For us, once we get going with a small flock, a few new ones each spring will keep us in what we need. (I'm talking 3-5) but I'm pretty well set against predators here. |
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May just do that then. Sounds easier than trying to get our egg layers to breed. What do you do with the layers once they stop laying ( 2 years ive been told???) View Quote The trouble is that you have to understand chicken cycles. Once a hen goes broody, she's not laying for you for at least a couple of months, and she may decide to just turn around and go broody on you again. There is nothing cuter than watching a hen with a bunch of chicks, but you'll have to separate her and her brood (probably) from the other chickens and even so, the best mama chickens are not as good at delivering a high percentage of live chicks as are the hatcheries, in my experience. It depends on what you want. if you want eggs, get layers and keep layers. If you want your kids to experience a small taste of actual farm life, get a rooster and some layers like buffs or domineckers, and let them raise babies. Different means to different ends. Managing a flock with a rooster is a little more of a pita, in my opinion, than is managing a group of hens, but not too awfully much if you're willing to carry a stick with you when you go into the chicken yard. |
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Placed the order tonight for chicks being hatched on the 7th. Hatchery is only a few hours away so Im hoping to get them next day.
Picked up 3 each of : White Leghorn, Easter Egger, Black Australorp, Barred Rock and Buff Orpingtons Im pumped |
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Placed the order tonight for chicks being hatched on the 7th. Hatchery is only a few hours away so Im hoping to get them next day. Picked up 3 each of : White Leghorn, Easter Egger, Black Australorp, Barred Rock and Buff Orpingtons Im pumped View Quote |
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We'll be needing some pics of the chicks View Quote Be sure you keep your light pretty low in their "room" to keep them warm while they're tiny. You could even put a cardboard box in your brooder as a "room within a room" to hold the heat in a little for them the first day or two, just til they get going. They need more heat than you might think. Keep your light so they can move under it, or out from under it, to control their own body heat, as they can't produce nearly enough when they're first hatched.ir |
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They will be living in the barn. Thermometer show's mid 90s inside temp on hot days, do I need to worry about the light being too hot. Larger brooder is in the works
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Past couple of weeks we have been having fox attacks when the chickens are allowed to free range in the evenings. If someone is in the yard, the foxes do not come in, but go into the house and within 5 minutes the chickens are shrieking and running for their lives. Egg production has suffered somewhat due to the stress. Eerie knowing the foxes are watching me from the tree line, waiting for an opportunity. A new Havahart trap arrived week ago on Wednesday. Caught a raccoon early this week, then this morning I found this. http://www.fototime.com/93F4652D6B7E342/standard.jpg http://www.fototime.com/92351FCA881F3A9/standard.jpg Beautiful animal, but it had to go. http://www.fototime.com/7A40CA6EB1EC116/standard.jpg This one was a female, and there is at least one more fox. Very impressed with how well and how quickly the trap got results. Canned cat food worked well as bait. View Quote I need to get a couple traps like that. Would be good, and easy to use in a longer term self reliant situation to. Where did you order it from, and which make and model is it specifically? |
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That is a Havahart brand, model is 1081. It is the x-large size, 43 inches long and weighs 21 lbs. Seems a quality build. I ordered through Amazon Prime, and it was $100 delivered next day to my door.
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Past couple of weeks we have been having fox attacks when the chickens are allowed to free range in the evenings. If someone is in the yard, the foxes do not come in, but go into the house and within 5 minutes the chickens are shrieking and running for their lives. Egg production has suffered somewhat due to the stress. Eerie knowing the foxes are watching me from the tree line, waiting for an opportunity. A new Havahart trap arrived week ago on Wednesday. Caught a raccoon early this week, then this morning I found this. http://www.fototime.com/93F4652D6B7E342/standard.jpg http://www.fototime.com/92351FCA881F3A9/standard.jpg Beautiful animal, but it had to go. http://www.fototime.com/7A40CA6EB1EC116/standard.jpg This one was a female, and there is at least one more fox. Very impressed with how well and how quickly the trap got results. Canned cat food worked well as bait. View Quote They are teaching their kits to hunt right now. That's part of why you're suffering so many losses I'm guessing. |
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my chickens free roam my property about 8hrs a day and today one of neighbors asshole weiner dogs ran down the road and attacked my chicks. one of them is missing half her tail feathers and some bite/cuts on her ass. i cleaned the wound and brought her inside on my sun porch in a big plastic tub. she can stand and ate some dried mille worms but im a little worried. these are my first chickens and i only have two. i think they are about 4 months. anything i should look for or do? got some spray stuff from tractor supply for poultry wounds
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Yep, this, or cleaning the wounds and swabbing on some antibiotic ointment like for any other creature, would be my approach.
Fingers crossed for your girl. Make sure she's warm enough. They are not used to air conditioning. And if the night is cool, a lamp or other lightbulb for warmth in her tub might be a good thing. |
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Yep, this, or cleaning the wounds and swabbing on some antibiotic ointment like for any other creature, would be my approach. Fingers crossed for your girl. Make sure she's warm enough. They are not used to air conditioning. And if the night is cool, a lamp or other lightbulb for warmth in her tub might be a good thing. View Quote |
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Very cool, good luck with those little ones!
As a Pens fan I find it funny that you have a pic of Sidney Crosby in there, especially considering your avatar...lol |
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Very cool, good luck with those little ones! As a Pens fan I find it funny that you have a pic of Sidney Crosby in there, especially considering your avatar...lol View Quote Dont hate on the jackets...Im sure this year is our year |
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Yeah I didnt have any newspaper so I had to sacrifice my hockey mag. Itll be great to see chicken turd on his face Dont hate on the jackets...Im sure this year is our year View Quote |
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