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Gotcha - thanks for taking the time to explain. I would think then that taking a pelleted alfalfa and grinding it would be undoing the expensive part. I buy alfalfa pellets to feed to my sheep and goats and they eat them just fine. I offered them to my birds, who are used to a pelleted feed...

Can you explain that last bit? Are you saying that running the grain through a pelletizer is more expensive? Why is that?

Welcome Thomas! I'm totally envious that you have access to your own whole grains - I would love to be able to feed my animals that way instead of relying on purchasing feed.

Yes that's correct. Unless there are covenants that prevent it, Wichitans are allowed 3 hens (used to be 5) without a permit. Of you can go down to city hall and pay $25 per year and have up to 12 hens. When I started there, it was 5 so I was grandfathered in for that number but soon found...

Marans is one of those weird breeds where even when talking about a single bird, the breed is still Marans, not Maran Kind of like Swedish Flower Hens. I still find it odd to see a Swedish Flower Hen Rooster listed for sale..... To answer your question you'd have a mutt. There is no...

I would love to have 50% of my hens laying. I have 40-50 layers and I'm currently getting 2-5 eggs a day. As Danz said, there are so many factors that affect laying. This is the first year in several that I have even had that handful of eggs daily throughout December and January. The last...

We only got a very light layer as well. They are still saying the worst is yet to come and we could get ½" overnight - ugh. I hope they are wrong. There is only so much prepping I can do. And if we lose power that means we also lose our unfrozen water so I would have to haul water from the...

I rarely buy corn but when I do, I only get whole corn for the animals, not cracked. Like many things, corn starts to oxidize as soon as it is cracked. By the time it is bagged and sits on a store shelf for awhile, it has lost what little nutritional content it ever had. Corn doesn't offer...

Pretty eggs rlh1 - that for me is one of the best parts of chicken raising, is being able to get all those different colors. Well, I finally got one of my multitude of extra cockerels butchered yesterday. One down, several more to go. I should have done them all by now but kept...

I agree with Sharol and Trish44. I've actually had hens go broody ON wire. I have a wire rabbit pen that I use occasionally to transition chicks out to the chicken yard. The last couple of years, I've had hens go broody sitting right on top of the rabbit pen, ON the wire. Another went broody...

I can see that - I agree they are hardy. However I have been lucky and not had any health issues with the chickens, and for me, the ducks were a hassle due to the mess. The first three years I could deal with it as 9 months of the year it wasn't a problem and I just grit my teeth and got...

I have a few - well more than a few - pets like that too Sharol. Lizzy, so funny you think ducks are easier. I got rid of my ducks two years ago because they were such a pain compared to the chickens! I actually moved my water bowl into the coop this afternoon for the first time ever. I...

Trish, I hope you get to feeling better soon. Congrats on getting those lambs sent off - it is always nice to get something like that behind you and stop having to feed them. Danz, I hope you were able to get your gate latch installed. The wind is killer today. Before bed last night I...

Like I said, I think it varies for everyone according to the incubator and environment. I tried incubating at lower humidities but finally settled on 45% because that is the point I get no sticky chicks and consistently get almost 100% hatch rates. And I used to hatch at higher humidity but...

Funny you mention that. I have always hatched turkeys exactly the same as chicken chicks and never had an issue. Years ago that used to mean incubating at 45% and raising to 65% at hatch. I honestly never had any issues with turkeys hatching at that humidity so a lot may depend on individual...

Chicklover, I am so sorry about your Claire - it sounds like she had the best of care and you gave her a good, happy life.

Just so you are aware, turkeys take 28 days so won't hatch the same time as the chickens if set at the same time. A good way to do both together is to set the turkeys 7 days before you set the chickens. That way their hatch date will be the same and you can increase humidity and stop turning...

I'm so glad to hear of people learning this important skill. The reality is that 50% of chicks hatched will be male but only a fraction of those will ever have a job to do, so learning to butcher humanely is an important part of poultry raising. Several years ago @Trish44 and I taught a...

My prediction is you will go through most of that bag just on these four chicks. In the first few weeks they don't seem to eat much but they need to stay on this until they are about 18 weeks old and by that time their consumption will be considerably higher. I don't have an instant pot but I...

It is definitely worth a try - let us know how it works! This whole animal-raising thing is all about ingenuity. What works for one person in one set up won't work for another so at the end of the day we just have to try something and find a solution that works for our own set up.