Homemade Feed Mix Questions for our livestock

[NH Homesteader]

I love it, "winter"!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I really hope we get a WINTER this year, lol!

 

[Mini Horses]

Yep -- a good hard freeze will kill a lot of "pests". I just don't want to be one of them, so hope it's only a few days of freeze.

right now, we have some above normal temps for our area. Mid 80's versus low 70s. Tough, I know. Right now, my chickens are molting so heavily that I just cringe when I go outside -- this many feathers normally signals a loss. They just try to take a dust bath and you have enough to fill a pillow! Head counts AM & PM to settle my own mind.

Using lots of high protein to help them re-feather fast.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Mine are molting too. They look ridiculous!

Warm here today, low 70's. Will be back in the 50's this weekend.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Now that is weird - mine are all done molting. Wonder why mine molted earlier than ya'll's? Especially when ya'll are a just a little more north than me.

 

[Mini Horses]

Probably because you all had one day of temps below 75 & they thought it WAS WINTER

Who knows? Some of mine started a month ago, almost done, some are young & not molting, some are a mess! Hope it ends soon!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Probably because you all had one day of temps below 75 & they thought it WAS WINTER

You're probably right about that!

 

[lcertuche]

Mine are about 28 and 24 weeks old and have been through a few feather exchanges so I don't expect a molt this year. We do have feathers everywhere though and the Grands love those feathers. Their parents not so much, lol. I told my sister that makes jewelry she should use some for that. My neighbors are always telling me how pretty my chickens are.

 

[tortoise]

We have a group of chickens that is mostly fed expired dog food. Sometimes cracked corn, birdseed, or poultry pelleted feed. We feed poultry grower ration to chicks and our purebred layers get layer pellet + free range + scraps.

I'd like to grow my own stuff for grain mix. We use it for our sheep and young goats. I don't like paying for that kind of stuff since we have space to grow our own.

 

[tortoise]

We make suet out of venison tallow and birdseed (or whatever) for winter. Pour into paper muffin cups, throw a couple in the coop when the weather is very cold.