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I'm sure you're right that some "non-GMO" labeled food is just organic waiting for the years it takes to be certified as organic, but the vast majority is just conventional and staying away from GMO because of public perception that genetically modified foods are bad for you for some other...

Thanks! I'd never heard of Nature Smart, but I was excited to find organic chicken feed at my local store, since they've never had it before. Times they are a'changing! Good to know. I'll probably just ferment some together with my regular New Country Organics feed and see how it goes...

So along the same lines, since we're talking about feed, do crumbles ferment well? My favorite feed is Scratch and Peck, but I can't afford it with their shipping to Illinois. I've been buying New Country organic feed, which is second best but still pretty good and still not cheap (but cheaper...

Totally. I'm so overwhelmed I often don't do anything at all because I can't imagine where to begin. I tried making a "To Do" list on my phone that I could look at to decide how to manage my day (I don't work outside the home right now, although I did work for many years running my own...

Hi there! I obviously am one of those who thinks there are lots of benefits to fermented feed, but I'm also sure your chickens will be just fine without it. I just like the idea of eating the most organic and healthiest way possible while stuck in the middle of a rural area that farms using tons...

Ok, totally cool - I'm all for not making your life more difficult or complicated! I'm a bit more south than you here in IL, but we get pretty cold in the winter too (well below zero *F), and you're absolutely right that it is a problem that fermented feed freezes. I often add some dry feed...

I have to respectfully disagree that free range chickens don't receive much benefit from fermented feed. I'm sure your chickens do fine without it, and free range is certainly the most natural environment for chickens, so they're no doubt happier than confined birds, and a happy chicken tends to...

I've had feather-footed Brahmas for almost three years now (and a Faverolle that just got killed by neighbor dogs), and we live in a very wooded area, which they forage in. Sometimes their foot feaathers get a bit muddy, but that's not due to the woods. Otherwise, no problem with feathered feet.

I think it really helps to use fermented feed. It seems to build their immune systems, and they have firmer poops. I've raised two batches of chicks (and currently have a batch of 2 week old chicks that my broody turned up her beak at, so I guess I'm raising them in the house until it gets...

Non-medicated. It does seem like it was heat-related, but I don't understand - if she was too hot why didn't she just move out from under the heat lamp? All the chicks were sleeping under or at the edge of the lamp's glow, so I didn't think it was too low.

I put the heat lamp back (before the chick died). I've been feeding them fermented food, so they were already eating wet food before the yogurt. They're not crazy about either one, truth be told. I ended up mixing the yogurt with scrambled egg, which they just love, and they ate it fine that...

I'm so sorry, FridayYet. I hope someone else on here with more experience has some ideas for you. In two years, I've lost three chickens - one to a predator, but the others just died and I don't know why. The first was a week-old chick, but the other was a six month old pullet and I did a...

I just checked all my nine chicks, and two others also had dried poo stuck to their butt feathers. But theirs wasn't white, and they were running around and acting normal. I cleaned them off and put vaseline on. I did mix some plain yogurt with scrambled egg & put it in with their ff, and most...

I just gave the chick some egg yolk (used a dropper & squirted it in her beak). She swallowed it without choking. I also smeared some vaseline on her vent and then put her back. The rest of the chicks were sleeping at the edge of the heat lamp circle, instead of right under it, so I moved it...

One of my new chicks has pasty butt. I haven't faced this problem before. The chicks were hatched on Monday, and I received them Tuesday. No one seemed to have any problems until last night, when one of them had a lot of butt fluff stuck together. I cleaned off around her vent, but this...

I tried putting just four of the chicks under my second broody, the Australorp, last night. Again, in the morning as soon as she saw them she tried to peck at them, so I took them away again. I think I'll try again in a week or so, because there's no harm done to try it (just my loss of sleep)...

Yes, but most of mine will squat when I reach down at them, and I can then grab them if I need to. The two Australorps are the most flighty, and tend to run instead of squat. My two Brahmas, on the other hand, beg to be held on my lap! When I squat down to fill the food bowls, they'll peck at...

No, I was exhausted after getting up before dawn yesterday (I am NOT a morning person!), and decided I couldn't do it two days in a row. My sleep is a bit messed up because I just got back from picking up my son from his first year of college in Boston, which is a long drive from Illinois - we...

Am I right to think that I shouldn't try putting the chicks under my Australorp who is broody for the first time (she's two years old)? She's only been broody for about 5 days, so I'm guessing it wouldn't be smart to try putting the chicks under her. But if you guys think it's worth a try, I'll...

Well, the good news is that all my chicks are still alive & seem to be doing well. The bad news is that the broody hen tried to kill them. My guess is that she's not been broody long enough, since it's only been about 1-1/2 weeks since she started. She's such a mild mannered chicken, and lowest...