NUTRITION 101 Q&A

this is an EXCELLENT time to be thinking of fall worming for your fowl. here is a great source of info on natural fall worming:

http://www.moonlightmileherbs.com/FallNaturalWormer.html

Great link TF! Thanks for that!

worming? dang we gotta worm the birds to. I will look

for when your new hatches are weak, they may need electrolytes. you can make your own:

http://www.moonlightmileherbs.com/electrolytes.html

dandelions

As for room -40 acres, but everyone hangs out around the house and yard which is about 2 acres. They de-bug and fertilize our living space. My main difficulty is that I only pen up the chicks. Once they are grown they're free-range and about 30 can peacefully coexist with us, the cats, dogs, goats, horse, cow. Have been considering setting up another open coop w/flock somewhere but haven't gotten to it and since everyone comes to the house... I'm also waiting on getting more animals because that seems to be good protection. That fox that was giving us fits has been gone a while now and we have a flock of at least 35 wild turkeys wandering around the area it was in so I'm hoping that roadkill was OUR fox...

Need to check out that link.

I made that mistake with tf's name once or twice; quickly caught on without her saying a word. Don't like my 'childhood' nickname either, much like sis. We all corrected our names. My DS won't even respond to any nicknames cept one, but has nothing to do with his name.

Josh, why'd you just write dandelions? Peafowl go jones for em, but don't tend to overeat them..... you know something else?

What other common weeds (any plant growing where you don't want it) are good for fowl? Other than the herbs you buy in health food stores, etc? I'm talking those in my acres.....like anyone knows what grows here....lol Birds tend to stay away naturally from those not good for them, but......if needed and they can't find in their area??? Will that herb site tell? Or is their another? SO MUCH RESEARCH!

Pea

thyme is good for parasites, as is garlic and chamomile.

dandelion is more of a detoxing plant. good for the liver.

mine also like lambsquarter. once they ate my chocolate mint down to nothing. another time my lemon balm.

having artemesia plants near the coop helps keep parasites away. mugwort, sweet annie, etc.

i found lots of wild purslane out in the pasture when i went to bring th horse in. i wonder what it is good for. and we have a pye weed TREE out back...

i planted some chervil and some other herbs, but they didn't come up.

goats LOVE sweet pea vines!!!

i never even thoght any of that stuff would have those qualities thanks TF

I just came across an article on a natural chicken dewormer that listed a fall menu of whole pumpkins, raw carrots, fresh garlic and fresh dandelion leaves.. now I will have to start a row of dandelion plants.. won't dh be thrilled..lol

funny, that is the exact article i posted the link to above!!! i have known that herbalist for years, even before DG. she started me on the ACv/garlic...

COMING SOON: differeneces in starter, grower, and layer feeds, and WHY ;you should be particular about which you give your chicks, and WHAT to do when you run out of starter.

PLUS: an old timer's recipe for your own chick starter mash!

tf

oh goody I cant wait for that. I want the recipe.

hahahaha

Wondered were I had found that article... lol..

*note to self...-up meds today

rotf.... u-no! lmao ....make sure you grow REAL dandelions... i buy dandelion root extract at the health food store, and dandelion tea at the grocery store.

what about echinacea? any good qualities for chickens? like it is for people?

Thanks tf Do you give them whole cloves of garlic? minced? or liquid? On the thyme & chamomile, just give them the leaves from the plant? Gonna have to get some more herbs planted!

Just out of curiosity, if anyone knows: what about Sage? Oregano? Rosemary? Cat Mint? Peppermint? Can't think right now what else I have (had) growing. Can you tell, italian & cat herbs......lol. What about peppers? I mean the hot chili type peppers? And the bell type? Have none now, but usually.....
Hummm......more homework! Thought I was done with school!!!!

Cheryl ~ Pea

i have heard all kinds of reasons to give chickens crushed red pepper, but all seem to be related to rasiing hteir body temperature for the purpose of egg laying...

mine like to eat the herbs fresh, so i have many planted and self seeding fo rthem. but i also dry some for them, and buy it dreid at the store. bulk is cheaper. but when i had only 42 hens, i would buy one bottle of thyme a month to add to their feed. in addition to all the other herbs, since i didn't have thyme growing here then.

so far nobody, [not even the ducks] have eaten up the volunteer chamomile coming up... seem to like stony places right now, mayb it isn't wha ti think it is? but pretty much, they eat the flowers...

just off the top of my head, these are seasongins or spices and don't have as much medicinal qualities...


recently i have added that to all our animals regimen, since the recent chemical vapor drift afflicted their immune system... makes me wonder if i should be growing that for them to free range on as well...

here is a place where you can ask more specific questions from an actual Herbalists... they also raise fowl and have special herb gardens for their flocks:

http://members.boardhost.com/bluemoon/

bbl
tf

How about Peanuts? I was given a container of dry roasted peanuts for my chickens and am wondering if I can give them some in smal quanties?

Thanks MJ

I too was wondering on the echinacea that is growing in my yard. I'llgo check that link and see if fresh is good or if it needs to be dried.

hey sis... are you going to plant a veggie/herb garden inside the peafowl pen?! tee hee!

peanuts? that does sound like and excellent source of protein. i wonder about the oil, can chickens have allergies? if anyone looks into this, please let us know. also i would be sure they were dry roasted without added anything...

Dry roasted peanuts are usually very high in salt--check the label. I use to love them so I know.

Could they choke on the peanuts. Since they are hard I would be a little leary to feed them to chickens. Sure would take a lot of grit to grind up a peanut.

Sheila


P.S. Duh, I just thought they can grind up dried corn so i guess they can grind up a peanut.

Ok the back of the container says serving size about 39 peices and that has 190 mg of sodium. So if I smashed up about 15 peanuts, that would be 95mg of sodium... Maybe I should check the totals on just plain peanuts. Maybe the ones with no salt would be better? I was reading somewhere they did a study to see if the peanuts made bigger eggs, wish I would have kept the link... I know you can get boiled peanuts in a can but they are really salty.
I plan on putting them in a bag and wacking them with a hammer to make them really small.

Just a thought - do you sell your eggs? The reason I ask is because the allergen in peanuts could theoretically transfer to the egg, and if someone bought the eggs who had a severe peanut allergy....

MissJestr how about rinsing the peanuts first to get the extra salt off before pounding them?

MollyD

I dont sell my eggs, I had only 2 hens laying and then one started moulting so she quit and now my other one has quit laying as well. I dont know why, there has been no changes to their home, no stress, the temps have gotten cooler (ok it was 107 now it is 97 degrees this week) The only changes is that I have been spoiling my girls with treats... I wonder if I have given them too many treats? I was given a big bag of lettice for them to munch, I have given them pasta, grapes and other fruits. I am thinking about cutting way back on the snacks and going back to just the grain and the lay crumbles to see if they will lay again.... I MISS MY EGGS...

Good idea to rinse the peanuts, I will try that today and add them to the grains...

Found the study on whether or not peanuts help chickens produce bigger eggs.LOL the magic of the Information Highway


http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/History/2004/Projects/J1922.pdf

COOL!

I soaked the peanuts in water for about an hour, changing the water every 20 minutes. the gobbled up the feed tonight, must have been the peanuts

That was an intresting study...

Tonight I fed my new rescue (Red Rosie, see other thread for details) a mixture of the following for her evening treat:

rolled oats
cottage cheese
a little swirl of olive oil
cut up grapes
fresh grated garlic
a little chick crumbles mixed in

She devoured a bunch of it. Then she drank some water. She then threw up the water (not the food). Should I be worried? What is up with that?

Claire

would you repost that on the chicken doctor thread? could be that she just overate and had no room for the water... also do a search on toxic fruits, grapes could be one, not necessarily always toxic for anyone, but a thin hungry one...

Even the olive oil could have been a little rich for her right now. You have been involved with animal rescue, Claire--don't they generally introduce food slowly to animals that are starving?--sometimes their systems can't switch into processing food when it is suddenly available. I remember seeing one pit bull that almost died for that reason.

Or she may just have pig out and spit up. My son did that when he was a baby.....

you said she threw up the water... did you happen to pick her up and then she threw up?

ME always hold water in her crop and if I pick her up and squeeze a little to hard she looks like a water fountian... lol, sorry, don't mean to be joking.. but it does spout right out..

Catscan - you may be right. They do introduce food slowly to animals like that, but the ARL already had her on full ration of chick crumbles, so I didn't think about it. Maybe it was too rich for her, although she did only throw up the water, not the food. She is fine this morning, and was interested in the pieces of bread I gave her, which I soaked in water first. She can eat them with no problem. She didn't get sick in the 10 minutes or so that I was with her this morning, and had normal energy (for her). I am hoping it was just that her crop was full.

Frans - no, I didn't pick her up, but it's a good thing to know that that's a problem! I can just imagine her being that way! If she was trying to hold the water in her crop but it was already full of the cottage cheese and oatmeal mixture, maybe it just couldn't stay in there. I did notice that it was when she leaned down to start eating again after the water - that's when it happened. Maybe the leaning forward and down was enough to reverse the direction of the water.

Claire

I have a question about the proper amount of protein for laying chickens. I have a friend that makes his own mix at the feed store and it is much cheaper than my prebagged food, but his mix is 23% protein. I was thinking that was to much but do not know why.

He seems to think that the higher the protein for the cheapest price is the way to go.

Any input???

Sheila

23 IS RIGHT FOR layers that dont free range. you can go as low as 18. the protein in their diet is necessaryu for the proper absorption of calcium, plus makes the yolks richer,,,

i am curious wehat the protein soutce in his mix is... it is cheaper because the feed mill charges for their mixing labor, & his may be fresher & better quality as well...

be sure they are getting oystershell [he nmight mix that in?] if they don;t free range... your bag should say on the package if it requires supplemental source of Ca...

also, what beeds is he feeding, & what breeds are yours? some free range better, some require more protein...

This is a newbie question, cuz I'm still a newbie.
What is the difference between mash and crumbles? I know what pellets are. I bought pellets before and DBF just bought layer feed (like I asked him to) and I opened the bag and it looks similar to the stuff I was feeding the chicks, which says chick starter feed on the bag. So now I'm confused on crumbles and mash. It does say layer feed on the bag, but the texture is totally different.

Powder -v- Crumbs

Mine practically roll in mash so I give them crumbles they can peck at. I heard someone say mash was better for youngsters.

I'm confused too Claire--I am just assuming that crumbles (which aren't available at my local feed stores) are a little coarser than the mash--which breaks down into dust almost as soon as I put it out. My chickens are still on a pellet boycott--although if I don't let them out of the hen house early enough they seem to be forced to consume some. When my chicks are old enough I am getting rid of the mash altogether so they have to eat pellets or starve. Well, there is still all the grass, figs, bugs, asian pears, tomatoes, persimmons and melons that they get foraging. But I'm not supplementing them with chick starter. I'm putting my food down there.

geez, I have never seen mash... is it called mash? and compared to crumbles.. what the heck does it look like, sand?

And dh acidently bought the pellets and what a headache.. nobody "wants" to eat them.. well they will when they get hungry enough.. everyone is on lockdown untill they start eating... no free range here.. 3 days now.. they eat some but not back up to their hearty appitites.. I have not decided if I even like pellets.. are they suppose to be cost effective? I think I would use more.. unless I knew how much each bird required.. and NOT what is on the bag.. my goodness.. if I fed what the bag said I would be feeding 40#s a day... right now I feed 40 a week... my girls look good..

But I do have to get busy with mixing my own..