My buffs have been living outside now steadily for a week with no problems. I've got a heat lamp on outside because it's dipped down into the teens a few nights now and everything seems to be OK. Probably on Thursday I'll be tossing the other 4 (leghorns & brahmas) out there too. Well, not literally tossing them, but they'll be living outside for a week or two. There's supposed to be another swap happening on 5/4, and if so, I'll be taking them to that.
I picked up my Cornish hybrids. I can't believe how cheap they were. $2 / ea! I had on hold 4, but ended up buying just 1 extra so I have 5. I pull their food away for the night when I got to bed & give them back their food when I get up in the morning, so they're without food for less than 8 hours. That's what I've researched that I should do & what I was told to do by the seller. They've gotten MUCH bigger since I bought them. They're almost the same size as my silkies that I got 3 weeks ago! They peep insistently in the morning for their food.. I guess they're just STARVING to death! I've got them on Purina Chick Grow medicated, but have been reading that I need to take them off of the medicated food at least 2 weeks before I slaughter, so I'll put them on some kind of meat bird food (no idea which one) on May 4th and prepare for making dinner on 5/24.
I'm about ready to strangle some silkies, though. Seriously. I've never had this much problems with them kicking the shavings into their waterer! OMG twice a day I have to literally dig their waterer out from the shavings!!! I've pushed all the shavings over to 1/2 of the tote where the heatlamp is, but they seem to delight in kicking it all back into their waterer! And I'm thinking that I have 3 hens. I bought them straight run on 3/31, so they're almost a month old. They're feathering out nicely.. I need to take my camera downstairs & get some pictures! Right now they're definitely at that dinosaur stage.
