ELeVan ~ Honaker Farm Journal

[marlowmanor]

Only 5 of my 42 current girls were previous layers. The rest were all first timers. Worked like a charm for all of them.

Hmmm...I may have to try this then. Maybe it will give them the kickstart they need! I am starting to see redder combs on them but no eggs yet. I'm anxious to see what color eggs we get from our EEs!

 

[redtailgal]

Pepper is an old remedy that has been proven time and time again. You dont have to use crushed black pepper. I used to grow a few pepper plants each year, just for the hens. They have problems eating even the hottest of peppers, but they got mostly jalapeno and bell peppers, seeds and all. I coarsely chop them and throw a handful out to my birds. It also helps with crop and gut worms. Once a week, our hens got pickles, either mine or the cheapest pickles from the grocery, and the juice was poured into their water. Sick birds were also treated with pickles...pickles also helped flush the system and prevent worms and coccidia.

Elevan is right, they do get very hydrated and thirsty from the peppers, but if I remember correctly, it also works as a liver de-tox. My granny (and I, later on) would always "feed up" our hens before killing. If we had a large group to kill, or a single hen for a special event, the doomed birds were separated out, and feed only peppers and had pickle juice poured in their drinking water for 24 hours. Then killed with an empty crop. It was strange, but the birds in the killing pen thought they were livin' it up.........They LOVED fresh pepper.

Our birds gave us the BEST chicken liver, soft and flavorful without the overpowering "liver" taste that many birds give today. The meat had a little bit of a sweeter taste, and was juicy without being greasy.

Sorry, didnt mean to lecture. Chickens make me miss my granny.

 

[autumnprairie]

Pepper is an old remedy that has been proven time and time again. You dont have to use crushed black pepper. I used to grow a few pepper plants each year, just for the hens. They have problems eating even the hottest of peppers, but they got mostly jalapeno and bell peppers, seeds and all. I coarsely chop them and throw a handful out to my birds. It also helps with crop and gut worms. Once a week, our hens got pickles, either mine or the cheapest pickles from the grocery, and the juice was poured into their water. Sick birds were also treated with pickles...pickles also helped flush the system and prevent worms and coccidia.

Elevan is right, they do get very hydrated and thirsty from the peppers, but if I remember correctly, it also works as a liver de-tox. My granny (and I, later on) would always "feed up" our hens before killing. If we had a large group to kill, or a single hen for a special event, the doomed birds were separated out, and feed only peppers and had pickle juice poured in their drinking water for 24 hours. Then killed with an empty crop. It was strange, but the birds in the killing pen thought they were livin' it up.........They LOVED fresh pepper.

Our birds gave us the BEST chicken liver, soft and flavorful without the overpowering "liver" taste that many birds give today. The meat had a little bit of a sweeter taste, and was juicy without being greasy.

Sorry, didnt mean to lecture. Chickens make me miss my granny.

Thanks RTG for the info I will be getting them some pepper and pickles weekly

 

[elevan]

Pickles for coccidia? Huh. Might have to look into that one some more.

 

[elevan]

Today was DH's first day off work in over 2 months. Thank goodness! We ran a bunch of errands today and tomorrow we'll do "minimal" type of stuff. But next weekend - look out, I've got a lot of stuff on my To Do List that I've been putting off because I need his help.

We made our egg deliveries first. On the last delivery (my Grandma Emily's house) I noticed that the front passenger tire of the car had a hole in the making in the side wall. Just great. We rushed into Mt. Gilead to the tire shop hoping that the tire wouldn't blow before we got there. Lucky they had a tire to fit in stock, so we changed it out.

Next stop was the local bakery to pick up some Snickerdoodles and donuts. Yummy Then Chinese for lunch.

Right across the street from there, I found a local Martial Arts facility for B, just have to work out some details. They offer multiple types of training, so I'll have to decide what type will benefit him most.

Then it was off to TSC for some feed. And some more places to try to find a thermostat (which I ended up ordering online).


Tomorrow's plan is to do Boingo's curve. We'll be taking a blood glucose reading from him at 8am, 12p and 4p. I really dread it as he gets so upset by the lancet poke.

I also want to get out to do FAMACHA scoring on the goats and treat as needed.

 

[autumnprairie]

sounds like a really productive day. Boingo gluscose tests go ok tomorrow

 

[SmallFarmGirl]

Hey I've been gone; did you end up incubating that EMu egg?

 

[elevan]

Hey I've been gone; did you end up incubating that EMu egg?

We've got 3 of those eggs under a broody hen. We should know what they look like at the end of this month.

 

[elevan]

Boingo gluscose tests go ok tomorrow

Couldn't do it today. DH got called into work. I'm not a bit happy about that.

We'll shoot for doing his curve next weekend.

His urine glucose has been doing great and he only had one bad day after the sour cream incident.

 

[elevan]

Not much to report today. We had a couple of round hay bales delivered. The calf saw that truck backing in and it was like he was shot from a gun running across the field.