Livestock!

This forum is for serious discussions of any kind.

Moderator: Hall of Speakers Moderators

User avatar
GlassWalker
Secret Artist
CreaturesTrade
Posts: 1940
Joined: July 7th, 2009, 1:10:12 am
Gender: Female

Re: Livestock!

Post by GlassWalker »

Haha, I love watchdog poultry. My Pekins were pretty good and quacking their faces off when something was going on. Must be a waterfowl thing.

Looking for some recommendations to stimulate my layers to kick the winter cold and start laying better. I didn't particularly want to use an artificial light, but it might come to that.
Image
Jenn
MagiStream Donor
Member of The Dark Brotherhood
CreaturesTrade
Posts: 2126
Joined: August 3rd, 2009, 6:22:10 pm
Gender: Female
Location: Lurking MD, where I can annoy Imp the most <3
Contact:

Re: Livestock!

Post by Jenn »

Artificial light on a timer, just to add a couple of extra hours to their day might do it.

I've seen some people recommend pepper flakes added to their food for a couple of days - I've never tried it, don't know if it will actually work, but it won't hurt them.

Mine are still laying pretty well (knock on wood) despite being locked in the coop for days now because of the extreme temperatures we've been getting. If it had been a gradual transition to "cold" it would be one thing, but it went from 75F one day to 3 days later everything was covered in snow and ice. Not to mention said snow and ice weighed down the netting on the run pretty badly and I have to do some repairs/elevation before they can spend the day outside unsupervised again.
Slowly working on finishing my creature collection, and adding to breeding pairs for all the creatures I have missed over time...
User avatar
ObiWanKenobi
MagiStream Donor
Member of The Dark Brotherhood Member of Artificer's Association
CreaturesTrade
Posts: 748
Joined: July 16th, 2009, 5:28:32 pm
Gender: Female

Re: Livestock!

Post by ObiWanKenobi »

Whoa, hello awesome thread! I'm coming back from a hiatus, and I love talking about livestock, so this seems like the place for me to be.

What's this about adding pepper flakes to feed? I've never heard of that before. Is it for all laying birds? It's freezing here, and my chickens are laying pretty well. They're young, so this is the first egg-laying season. I started with nine, but now I'm down to seven (one of them being a surprise rooster). The beautiful brahma I had died yesterday, and I don't know why. I had such high hopes for her.

In other news, I'm getting goats in the spring. Does anyone here have goats?
Jenn
MagiStream Donor
Member of The Dark Brotherhood
CreaturesTrade
Posts: 2126
Joined: August 3rd, 2009, 6:22:10 pm
Gender: Female
Location: Lurking MD, where I can annoy Imp the most <3
Contact:

Re: Livestock!

Post by Jenn »

No goats - I try to keep away from things that are hard to keep fenced in!! The pepper flakes may be an old wives tale, but several of the farmers in this area swear by it. Mine aren't laying well right now, and I'm strongly considering trying it myself!

I've got one hen right now who keeps laying super thin shelled eggs. They've got layer pellets and free choice oyster shell so I'm not sure what I should do for her.
Slowly working on finishing my creature collection, and adding to breeding pairs for all the creatures I have missed over time...
User avatar
ObiWanKenobi
MagiStream Donor
Member of The Dark Brotherhood Member of Artificer's Association
CreaturesTrade
Posts: 748
Joined: July 16th, 2009, 5:28:32 pm
Gender: Female

Re: Livestock!

Post by ObiWanKenobi »

Is she eating the oyster shells at all? Apart from that, I can't think of any reason she's laying thinned shells. I'm sorry to hear that. That sounds super frustrating!!
User avatar
TNHawke
MagiStream Donor
CreaturesTrade
Posts: 10364
Joined: June 15th, 2009, 1:35:40 am
Gender: Female
Location: A kaleidoscope colored reality of my own design
Contact:

Re: Livestock!

Post by TNHawke »

You might try crushing up egg shells and offering that along with the oyster shell. You might also try crushing up some calcium powder and mixing it with the feed or the oyster. I suppose you could also try pigeon grit.
When I had little diamond doves, they needed some extra calcium, but being so small, most of the calcium products on the market were too big, so my vet suggested the crushed chicken egg shells. It did the trick.
Hawke's IRL fiance, Lunaroki, suffered a massive stroke and died on Tuesday, March 31st, 2015.

Hawke needs to concentrate on other things, and is leaving MS permanently.

Thank you all for many fun years.
ImageImageImageImage
Jenn
MagiStream Donor
Member of The Dark Brotherhood
CreaturesTrade
Posts: 2126
Joined: August 3rd, 2009, 6:22:10 pm
Gender: Female
Location: Lurking MD, where I can annoy Imp the most <3
Contact:

Re: Livestock!

Post by Jenn »

I'm not sure which girl is laying the thin eggs (out of 8 nest boxes, they all use the same one.. typical) and I gather throughout the day, so I have no way to know who laid which egg since they are all the same breed who are currently laying.

So far they've been really good about NOT eating the eggs even if they crack, so I'm leery of feeding eggshell (even crushed) seeing as that could lead to someone going "ooh this comes from eggs... yummy!" and I'd rather not have to cull one because of a bad/nasty habit.

On an up note, I did get 3 eggs today and none were super thin, so maybe she was just having a temporary issue. I put another 50 lbs of oyster shell out and mixed the new with the old in the auto-feeder for it, so hopefully it makes a difference and she'll start eating it more regularly.
Slowly working on finishing my creature collection, and adding to breeding pairs for all the creatures I have missed over time...
User avatar
NorthernLady
MagiStream Donor
CreaturesTrade
Posts: 6737
Joined: September 3rd, 2009, 9:47:47 pm
Gender: Female
Location: Up North Somewhere where people can't easily find me

Re: Livestock!

Post by NorthernLady »

ObiWanKenobi wrote:In other news, I'm getting goats in the spring. Does anyone here have goats?
Goats: You need a sturdy strong fence. Depends on size of goats, depends on how tall they are. They are good jumpers. Don't have anything they could jump on next to the fence either. I'd say, keep the post interval short, if you use chicken wire, and standard for wood.

I had Pygmy Goats, and the billy always liked to get out when he gets bored. He doesn't stray far, eating the grass. The nanny was able to go for walks. They used the chicken wire to rub themselves, especially when shedding. It is how they created a low section of the fence, even though it was four feet tall. All goats are excellent climbers. I saw a video of four goats climbing onto a car.
ImageImageImageImage
Codes for :t-ninja:
Spoiler

Code: Select all

[url=https://magistream.com/creature/13127473][img]https://magistream.com/img/13127473.gif[/img][/url][url=https://magistream.com/creature/13127474][img]https://magistream.com/img/13127474.gif[/img][/url][url=https://magistream.com/creature/13127483][img]https://magistream.com/img/13127483.gif[/img][/url][url=https://magistream.com/creature/13195947][img]https://magistream.com/img/13195947.gif[/img][/url][url=https://magistream.com/creature/13195949][img]https://magistream.com/img/13195949.gif[/img][/url][url=https://magistream.com/creature/13195948][img]https://magistream.com/img/13195948.gif[/img][/url][url=https://magistream.com/creature/13195945][img]https://magistream.com/img/13195945.gif[/img][/url][url=https://magistream.com/creature/13195946][img]https://magistream.com/img/13195946.gif[/img][/url]
User avatar
ObiWanKenobi
MagiStream Donor
Member of The Dark Brotherhood Member of Artificer's Association
CreaturesTrade
Posts: 748
Joined: July 16th, 2009, 5:28:32 pm
Gender: Female

Re: Livestock!

Post by ObiWanKenobi »

Devcca wrote:
ObiWanKenobi wrote:In other news, I'm getting goats in the spring. Does anyone here have goats?
Goats: You need a sturdy strong fence. Depends on size of goats, depends on how tall they are. They are good jumpers. Don't have anything they could jump on next to the fence either. I'd say, keep the post interval short, if you use chicken wire, and standard for wood.

I had Pygmy Goats, and the billy always liked to get out when he gets bored. He doesn't stray far, eating the grass. The nanny was able to go for walks. They used the chicken wire to rub themselves, especially when shedding. It is how they created a low section of the fence, even though it was four feet tall. All goats are excellent climbers. I saw a video of four goats climbing onto a car.
I plan on getting a 5-foot fence. I'm just not sure if I should do wooden posts (more time consuming to put in) or t-posts (which I'm not sure how strong they are). I have a feeling they'll be escaping no matter what I do, but I'm going to do what I can! I'm going to try going for Redbrand's Welded Wire 60-inch fencing. What interval should I use for the posts? I initially wanted cattle panels, but I have no idea how I'd transport them!

Oh, I saw how good at jumping goats are-- one of the does at the farm where I'm getting my girls was literally on the stall edge. She was just hanging out, enjoying being petted, haha.
spirithawk06
CreaturesTrade
Posts: 837
Joined: July 25th, 2009, 12:58:00 pm
Gender: Female
Location: Louisiana
Contact:

Re: Livestock!

Post by spirithawk06 »

My girl LEAPS a 5 ft fence. She's horrible to keep in the yard! She finds a way to get out and the bucks follow suit. She's an alpine cross. I have an alpine cross buck and a quartet of pygmies. My pygmy buck is out with the two dairies because my pygmy doe is holed up in the barn with twins. We don't want to risk losing the wee ones. They're adorable.

As far as goats go, my pygmies can't jump as high as my dairy girl can. If you're wanting to keep a shorter fence, I'd stick to the smaller goats. I love my pygmies. I am aggravated with my dairy doe. She's quite the scamp, but part of that is my fault because we spoiled her. She was a bottle baby, as was our buck. He's super sweet and easy to handle. She's quite the brat.
ISO Phoenix Arkai (F)
Wishlist:
Spoiler
Rederan Spider, Lakiran/Razan/Red Eyed (M) Kalistavri, shop creatures, onapae flea, orange farir, chocolate vidris crab, bred-only agaori, pygmy gemdragon/crystalwings, M charubi, blushing charubi
Thank you: Ryokotori, pcysmiles, and Ryves
Post Reply

Return to “Hall of Speakers”