Search results for query: *

I do save food scraps and do all the other things mentioned. We were thinking of starting a soldier fly or meal worm farm, hence the reason for my question. I try to save money on food where possible, but these chickens make for food for us. Chickens with a good diet make better quality eggs...

That's such a lush run!

I was more concerned about them digging up the field with all their scratching. Our septic is in excellent shape and we just recently had the whole thing redone. And we are up in the Florida panhandle in North Florida. Is them tearing up a septic field a problem?

3'? As in 3 ft high? They won't just hop over that? Especially once they got into the tree line that divides us from the neighbors? I am having a hard time picturing what you mean. It sounds like it may be workable, but I'm not sure how to keep the chickens out of the trees between the...

Cost is a factor - so is the septic field. We have Australorp, cream leg bars and an Amerecauna. Here is a video of the yard. We have 5 acres but a pretty small yard. The coop and septic take up most of it.

How about cream leg bars and Ameracauna?

If they range 300 feet, they will be in a neighbor's yard.

Mine don't have broodies to teach and protect them. So that's probably a bit early for them. I have 3 pullets that were hatched 31 March, we have 12 pullets and a roo hatched on 13 June. Those are all in a 300 square foot run. Then we have 17 more babies that are 4 weeks old in the brooder. We...

Fencing in my property would be cost prohibitive and require clearing more trees than I want to. Which is why we have a large fence chicken run with a significant predator apron. And it's covered to guard from hawks. This fall, we plan on almost tripling the run size. The chickens will then have...

What is an lgd

Black metal shrieking - love that very accurate description. We have a sturdy, secure coop and run if they came back at night. I'll have to think about it. I know when we first moved here, there were always someone else's chickens in our yard. Not sure who they belonged to. I would not want...

It would be difficult at best. I can stand on either my back or front porch and count 5-6 hawk nests in either direction. We also have frequent coyotes and owls. Stray cats and neighbors dogs as well. Also, our neighbors would not be impressed with having chickens in their yards. We live in what...

I just realized that article you linked was written by you. That is a wonderful read - informative without being overwhelming. I thought BSF were higher in nutrition than meal worms? How does your feeding regime translate to non-ranged chickens?

That is a fascinating read for sure! But it seems it is geared towards free ranging chickens. We are unable to free range ours though, so foraging is limited. Is there something similar that addresses chickens that live in a run? I asked the question about free ranging chickens trying to...

Thank you:)

Mine are in a run. I cannot free range as much as I would love to.

Yes. We've been over 100 here this week so I have been offering frozen watermelon and cucumber but they haven't been eating it much. Maybe it was too much? Currently have 13 9 week olds and 3 22 week olds. Crossing our fingers for eggs on the older ones soon.

Yeah. I try to give them something different every day. I was surprised they didn't eat the strawberries. It is normally a favorite. I have some watermelon from our garden in the fridge for tomorrow. When full grown, they should be eating 50 pounds of food a week, so I will limit healthy treats...

Thanks everyone. My chickens have a fairly large run, so I do not actually free range them. We have way too many predators and neighbors. But we were thinking of setting up a bsf farm - good to know that it may be too hot. I didn't realize they were so much higher in fat though. I understand...

I know that chickens are not supposed to eat more than 10% of their diet in treats. What is considered a treat? If a chicken free ranges, it eats lots of bugs. Is that a treat? Is there a difference between the bugs that chickens eat free-ranging, and black soldier fly larva? I guess what is...