CHIMBY - Chickens in My Back Yard

[The Architect]

If it's a medicated feed (antibiotics added; some chick starters have it, some don't) I've been told you don't really want to eat the eggs anyway -- they'll give you a super-low dosage of antibiotics, which turns your body into a great environment to breed resistant strains of bacteria.

Wow.  I'm going to have to read the ingredients as soon as I get home.  I'm feeding them some Poulin Grain stuff and we give them some corn.  They're usually pretty good about additives. 

A dose of antibiotics is certainly not what I wanted. 

They do eat a lot less than I had expected.  I guess the bugs have been good enough for them. 

[The Architect]

This is what we're feeding them.

http://www.poulingrain.com/product_details.php?product_id=88&category_id=5

Anyone know what MOS is? 

[DesmoDiva]

MOS: Is a natural product containing Mannonoligosahrides and Beta Glucans. These natural compounds help to prevent infection and spread of disease-causing bacteria by natural stimulation of the animals immune system and binding toxins. MOS has been proven effective in cattle, swine, poultry, rabbit, pet foods, and many others. Extensive research has proven MOS to be effective in diets with or without growth promoters.


In english I'm not sure what this means....


The Organic Poulin Chicken feeds do not contain MOS.

[DesmoDiva]

Mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS) are widely used in animal feed to encourage gastrointestinal health and performance. They are normally obtained from the yeast cell walls of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Some brand names are: CitriStim, Bio-Mos, SAF-Mannan, Y-MOS and Celmanax.

From Celmanax:Celmanax® is a yeast extract and yeast culture for all classes of livestock. The product is manufactured by an environmentally sound process using biotechnology in a new way to modify yeast cell walls. The product also contains metabolites normally found in yeast cultures.  The yeast culture component of Celmanax provides all of the benefits associated with yeast culture. It can help to improve palatability of the feeds, which can be helpful in increasing feed intake.

Other searches resulted SAF Mannan is classified a a prebiotic that helps maintain a healthy immune system, supports natural defences, promotes a healthy gut flora, maintains and promotes gut health.

[SacDuc]

I've noticed that our birds like to stick together when they are in the run. I've also noticed that they will poke their little beaks at anything that is in contrast to its surroundings. For these reasons I've taken to calling our chickens my "flockin' peckers."

sac

[mstevens]

"Oligosaccharides" are chains of sugar base molecules longer than 2 units long. (Disaccharides include things like table sugar.) Oligosaccharides, then are everything from complex sugars through starches on to cellulose. The "manno" part means that some, or possibly all, of the monosaccharide base units consist of mannose.

Mannooligosaccharides, then, are fancy starches.

[mstevens]

Speaking of fancy starches, our hens will happily (nay, enthusiastically) eat styrofoam, so a) hens have no common sense about what's good for them and b) hens can survive just fine eating almost anything.

[triangleforge]

Architect -- I'm pretty sure one of the big differences between chick starter & layer feeds is added calcium, which the layers need to form eggshells. Finding a way to supplement that  - lots of chicken growers keep a small feeder of crushed oyster shells available to the hens - might help them get with the program. Ours seem to do fine on the calcium they get from the layer feed, FWIW.

[ducpainter]

<snip>

DP -- I'm really looking forward to seeing how your turkeys fill out! I really prefer wild turkey (both kinds, but the liquid kind's for another thread) or anything with a little more flavor than the frozen birds from the supermarket, so would like to talk a ranching friend of ours into raising a few...

Well, we had one mortality of one of the day olds. It happens.

In the past when I've raised birds the hens average 23+ lbs dressed, and the toms go close to 30. It helps to get them as late as possible so they don't get too big.

The first year I raised them the toms were so big some people couldn't fit them in the oven.

I feed commercial grain free choice. Right now the chicks are on a 28% protein medicated starter feed. It's the only way you can keep them alive when they're confined to the brood pen. Once they go out on the porch and they're less inclined to eat their own poop they go off the meds and eat a grower ration.

I'm not ready to raise them on grass...maybe someday.

[Polpetta]

Thanks for the coop pic's, they are great  

Our run is ready, coop is still in process.....

Here's our "flockin' peckers." as Carl calls them  



Girls in the run, we keep them in their run during the day



Here are the new ones!



Couldn't resist look how fluffy she is!



I found out that if they have paste butt.... once you clean it, then apply baby oil and it helps! Just learned that today  

[Vindingo]

coop is 90%.  I still have to paint it and some other little odds and ends.  They are living in it now.  

[mstevens]

Aww, cute chicks.

Mine are currently in the stage where they look like vultures.

[Polpetta]

Vindingo, very cool! 

mstevens, post some pic's!

My 6 week old chicks actually were chirping at me to bring them in for the evening, last night. They are just a crack up. I was running a little late.

I am anxiously awaiting to see if any of my hens are really roosters...

[somegirl]

We've been getting more visits from one of the neighborhood turkey familys...2 adults, 2 teenagers.

In the yard (one of the youngsters was hiding):


And after the whippet barking and camera stalking caused them to take flight...I got a not-so-great action shot of one of them:

[Vindingo]

BUMP...

Anyone get eggs yet?   None for me,  I think 5/9 chicks turned out to be roosters. 

Chicken dinners soon!