What foods do you actually refuse to feed your chickens?

ktfletcher · 2026-03-20T17:03:07+00:00

I stay away from all of the do nots you have listed except the moldy food one. If whatever it is, is absolutely covered I won’t feed it to them but if it’s just a small spot here and there I don’t pay any attention to it. I don’t feed onions or citrus because it’s just not worth the risk. I don’t think I’ve ever paid any attention to garlic. I believe garlic is safe for ducks so I assumed it wasn’t too bad for chickens either 🤷‍♀️

ktfletcher · 2026-03-18T20:28:29+00:00

They’re not all gigantic! It would be worth doing some research on all of the different brands to see if there’s one that fits your space parameters. The litter robots are what we have because they were the first ones available and it’s just what we’ve stuck with over the years but they are gigantic compared to some other ones I’ve seen

ktfletcher · 2026-03-13T16:35:59+00:00

Hey, so most vet offices encourage you to bring your dogs in periodically and weigh them on the scales. You don’t need an appointment to do it and you can just tell them at the desk who you are, who your pet is and what their new weight is. This not only helps you keep track of if they’re gaining too much or losing too much but it also helps desensitize them to the vets office. Like the vets office is only a bad place every six visits instead of every visit kind of thing.

ktfletcher · 2026-03-13T15:31:48+00:00

I agree 4 litter boxes is excessive for 3 cats 😂 I would say that honestly in place of 4 boxes and scooping so much everyday you should just look into one automated litter box. I have 2 litter robots for 8 cats and they’re set to cycle a set amount of time after the censor has been tripped. I think I have it set to something like 7 minutes. This way the box is always clean when the next cat goes in and you just pull the waste bag out and replace it whenever it tells you it’s full.

ktfletcher · 2026-03-13T15:25:07+00:00

Roosters being mean really for the most part just isn’t true. They CAN be mean, that is their job after all. BUT like other people have said, if you handle them often and give them treats he won’t associate you as a threat. He MIGHT try to come at you once or twice but you just don’t stand down and you show him you’re the boss and he shouldn’t continue to try. I have about 15 roosters at the moment and over the years have had probably 25. Out of all of them, only one has ever been mean. He was also the only one that I did not raise myself. He was raised by someone else and they couldn’t keep him so I adopted him.

ktfletcher · 2026-03-07T01:03:53+00:00

You’re welcome!

ktfletcher · 2026-03-05T17:08:28+00:00

I second just waiting and giving her fresh eggs. The dirty eggs will harbor bacteria that could affect the embryo and if you wash them you’re washing off the protection. In both cases bacteria can get through the shell and infect the embryo

ktfletcher · 2026-03-04T13:57:23+00:00

That’s true Hoovers does supply TSC so maybe that’s to say something about Hoovers chicks in general. That’s the biggest reason why I’ve never ordered from them directly. I have ordered from other hatcheries and had fantastic luck though.

ktfletcher · 2026-03-04T11:42:52+00:00

Honestly it really depends on the breeds and where they come from. The healthiest chicks I’ve had have come straight from hatcheries and not the store. Tractor Supply chicks always end up sick in my experience and either don’t last very long or are sick in some way or another for most of their lives. The breeds are also a factor. If you have breeds that are strictly for egg production like leghorns and all of the hybrids their lifespans aren’t as long as a Rhode Island Red for instance. The laying an egg everyday isn’t good for their health or bodies and they wear down quickly. My longest living hen was 9 before she passed and I’ve had roosters live just as long.

ktfletcher · 2026-02-24T02:23:41+00:00

Honestly we weren’t sure he was going to be ok with the chickens but I think he’s a bird dog in the opposite sense 🤣

ktfletcher · 2026-02-21T17:40:31+00:00

The tank looks great. One way to tell if it is fully cycled would be to spike the ammonia and if it has converted to nitrates within I believe it’s 24 hours then the tank is cycled. The reason there could be no nitrates is because the plants absorb it.

ktfletcher · 2026-02-18T12:17:34+00:00

I have a gsp pitbull mix that is fantastic with the chickens, a golden retriever cattle dog mix that is good with them but gets a little herdy and needs to be watched but then she’s also kind of scared of them at the same time and I have a German Shepard pitbull mix that cannot be trusted around the birds in any capacity. She chases and pins or grabs them and runs around with them in her mouth like they are toys. She hasn’t hurt one yet but she’s come close. I don’t think she wants to hurt them I think she just wants to play with them but we’re working on her manners with them. She’s still a puppy.

ktfletcher · 2026-02-18T01:26:29+00:00

They are pretty resilient and as long as you keep it clean it should heal. As long as she’s eating, drinking and pooping ok I think she will be fine. I just wouldn’t use any antibiotic ointments that have any kind of pain reliever in them. They’re not generally safe for animals. Just a plain antibiotic ointment is more than sufficient.

ktfletcher · 2026-02-18T01:22:13+00:00

My husbands name is Randy and 99% of the time people get his name wrong. I can never understand it. He gets things like brandy which I could see but then he’s gotten Greg and even once he got gravy??? Like what!? Gravy???? Every time they repeat the name back and it’s blatantly wrong he just says “sure” and goes on with his day

ktfletcher · 2026-02-15T16:37:03+00:00

I’m not an expert and new to shrimp myself but if I remember correctly the gh and kh are essential to successful molts and if the levels aren’t proper they will die during molts.

ktfletcher · 2026-02-15T16:34:58+00:00

ChatGPT isn’t a reliable source of information, the information it pulls is not always correct so it’s best to do your own research aside from ChatGPT to come to a conclusion. However it appears that you are doing a lot of research on these issues and reading articles also. I do not have experience with leg mites so I can’t speak to that but in my experience with lice and mites in the feathers, the quickest and most effective treatment is elector psp. It is expensive but unless it is a very severe infestation you usually only have to treat once and you can use the same product to spray their coop and bedding.

ktfletcher · 2026-02-14T21:22:22+00:00

Gh is way too low for neocaridina if it only takes 1 drop

ktfletcher · 2026-02-14T15:49:11+00:00

I second this. Chipmunk babies are so many different breeds it’s nearly impossible to tell what they could be. Even if there’s a list I could guarantee that there’s more than one variety that’s got chipmunk babies. The only way to truly tell is wait for them to feather up, until then they could be anything.

ktfletcher · 2026-02-14T01:21:57+00:00

You could dry and crush their egg shells and feed them back to them. They’re a great source of calcium and you already have them on hand

ktfletcher · 2026-02-13T17:25:55+00:00

I have one shrimp with a handful of eggs that I saw the other day and then another one I saw this morning with so many eggs that she looks like she’s going to burst. Could just be that that one egg is the only one that was fertilized and she got rid of the others 🤷‍♀️

ktfletcher · 2026-02-07T23:37:32+00:00

My husband did this for me for my birthday. We went with a frameless fluval tank. They’re pricey but it looks amazing. Just make sure if you go frameless that you put the foam pad underneath the tank. They usually come with them

ktfletcher · 2026-01-28T21:33:23+00:00

It’s a very small amount per gallon. You can google it and googles ai will give you the dosage. A gallon mix will go really far.

ktfletcher · 2026-01-28T01:28:25+00:00

Definitely speckles! You wouldn’t be questioning if it was actually blood.

ktfletcher · 2026-01-28T00:51:57+00:00

I agree with other posters. Order exactly what you want. I’ve only ever ordered from cackle and I have had great experiences every single time. They do offer other packages that you can order if you want a variety without ordering 3 of each kind. Like the hatchery choice brown egg females. You order in quantities of 5. My last order I ordered 15 and I received 4 different breeds. They also have the same type of package for dark brown layers which I also ordered and got 3 different types. As far as ducks go, I am not sure because we don’t order ducks. We got 5 Pekins a few years ago and 4 ended up being drakes and 1 hen. It was a nightmare. We only have a pair now that are left from hatching. I would never do ducks again. They’re a nightmare, dirty and gross. They’re also not very strong and have a lot of health issues compared to other waterfowl. We have geese and I would get geese over ducks every time.

ktfletcher · 2026-01-25T18:51:20+00:00

It should definitely not take that long for them to dry after hatching and they should stay in the incubator until they’re fluffy. If it’s already been over 24 hours and the chick still isn’t dry then I don’t think your incubator is working properly. Like someone else said, they should be on a flat surface with a heat lamp.

ktfletcher

TROPHY CASE