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**Welcome Wagon:  NEW TO CHICKENS  |
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KJAMES
Farmgirl in Training
34 Posts
KAREN
SC
USA
34 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 07 2004 : 09:58:21 AM
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| I HAVE JUST STARTED OUT WITH A FEW CHICKENS BUT DON'T SEEM TO HAVE ANY LUCK WITH EGGS. HAVE HAD THE CHICKENS SINCE MEMORIAL DAY, AHD A FEW EGGS TO BEGIN WITH NOW NOTHING.CAN SOMEONE GIVE ME A GOOD SOURCE FOR INFORMATION ON RAISING CHICKENS, REALLY JUST FOR THE FUN OF HAVING THEM AND MAYBE A FEW EGGS. THANKS. KAREN |
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n/a
deleted
64 Posts
Dave
Vestal
NY
64 Posts |
Posted - Oct 07 2004 : 2:36:35 PM
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| Hi Karen, do a search for chickens on this (MJF) forum and you will find lots of websites to visit. My hens are all late-bred and probably will not start laying until Christmas or hopefully Thanksgiving. From what I have read, hens, once the start laying should lay year round (if you add a light in the coop, mine is on a timer and comes on at 6 and off at 10 in the evening). More eggs the first year, less the second and even less the third, by that time most make chicken soup. Do you know how old your chickens are? You need to feed a minimum protein feed for them to lay. Hope this helps.... |
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LadyCrystal
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Alicia
Rhode Island
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - Oct 07 2004 : 4:10:43 PM
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Hi Karen,
To add to what Dave said sometimes Chickens are egg eaters.It might be why you aren't finding any.Try buying a wooden or plastic dummy egg and put it in with them and see what happens.I had a hen that would peck at them and eat the inside but when she got a hold of the wooden one she found out she couldn't open it so she stopped.Welcome to the group,
Alicia
Follow your dreams |
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KJAMES
Farmgirl in Training
34 Posts
KAREN
SC
USA
34 Posts |
Posted - Oct 08 2004 : 06:56:10 AM
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Thanks Dave and Alicia for the ideas. I think you hit the nail on the head Alicia with hens eating the eggs. I have found several eggs that have been pecked I thought maybe they weren't getting enough calcium and the shells were cracking, may be not.
Also can someone tell me if it is true that you should have at least five hens to every rooster. So far the roosters have killed two hens. I am about to go crazy not knowing what to do.
Anyway thanks so much for the information. I have always wanted chickens so I am not giving up. I also have five small Guinea hens that stay up in a tree house roost my husband built. They could fly out if they wanted but seem to be quite happy where they are. Any thing special I need to know about them? |
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Clare
True Blue Farmgirl
2173 Posts
NC WA State
USA
2173 Posts |
Posted - Oct 08 2004 : 08:36:16 AM
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Karen, just a reminder: You do not need a rooster to have hens lay eggs... I think it's the soup pot for your terrorizers! =;)
****Gardener, Stitcher, Spiritual Explorer and Appreciator of all Things Natural****
"Begin to weave and God will give the thread." - German Proverb |
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KJAMES
Farmgirl in Training
34 Posts
KAREN
SC
USA
34 Posts |
Posted - Oct 08 2004 : 09:01:37 AM
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| WOW..............THANKS CLARE, NEVER COULD GET ANYONE TO GIVE ME AN ANSWER ABOUT THE ROOSTERS. NOW IF I CAN JUST FIND SOMEONE THAT WANTS THE ROOSTERS I AM GOING TO GET MORE HENS AND LET THEM RULE THE GOAT PEN. MY GOATS REALLY SEEM TO LIKE THE HENS. THE HENS RIDE ON THE GOATS BACKS OR SOMETIMES JUST SIT WITH THEM. |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Oct 08 2004 : 11:44:27 AM
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Welcome Karen.....You may want to be careful about letting too many hens be in your goat pen..just my 2 cents worth..but the goats can get sick if the hens roost on their feeders, poop in their hay..stuff like that. I love chickens and goats both too. And I agree....get rid of the roosters if you don't want them....I only keep one or two and just because they are calm and pretty and I like to hear them in the mornings. If they cause any trouble I always get rid of them. Good luck with the eggs....sometimes egg eating is hard to stop. It helps to gather eggs a few times a day...and you are more likely to catch someone "red handed" eating the eggs, or you get to them first ..either way it helps alot.
Jenny in Utah
Bloom where you are planted! |
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KJAMES
Farmgirl in Training
34 Posts
KAREN
SC
USA
34 Posts |
Posted - Oct 08 2004 : 11:52:39 AM
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THANKS FOR THE INFORMATION. DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE CHICKENS MAKING THE GOATS SICK. LUCKILY THE GOATS HAY IS IN A HANGER ON ONE OF THE GOAT HOUSES AND THEY ARE REALLY PIGS, BECAUSE THEY EAT THEIR FOOD ALMOST BEFORE I CAN PUT IT IN THE BOWLS!!
GUESS I REALLY WILL HAVE TO GET RID OF A COUPLE OF THE ROOSTERS, HARD FOR ME TO PART WITH THEM,BUT DON'T WANT ANY MORE HENS TO DIE.
THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR HELP. EVERYONE HAS BEEN SO VERY HELPFUL. THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST FORUM I HAVE EVER BEEN A PART OF. |
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