Summer Chicken Feeding Myths: Do Chickens Need Electrolytes? | Poultry Nerds Podcast

Every summer, backyard chicken owners hear the same advice—but how much of it is actually true?

In this episode of the Poultry Nerds Podcast, we separate fact from fiction as we tackle common summer feeding myths, including:

• Does scratch corn cool chickens down—or make them hotter?
• Should treats replace layer feed during hot weather?
• Can chickens have unlimited watermelon and frozen fruit?
• Does protein make chickens overheat?
• How nutrition affects egg production during summer.
• Why balanced feed matters more when birds eat less.

Along the way, we share real-world experiences, practical feeding advice, and explain the science behind what chickens actually need during periods of heat stress.

Whether you raise backyard chickens, homestead poultry, or manage a larger flock, this episode will help you make better feeding decisions and avoid common nutrition mistakes.

Topics covered: summer chicken care, chicken nutrition, scratch grain, treats for chickens, layer feed, protein requirements, heat stress, backyard chickens, poultry nutrition, egg production.

Valley Hatchery is a proud sponsor of Poultry Nerds, find more at ValleyHatchery.com

Transcript

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Is it like giving them a Ho Ho with infused vitamin A? I wouldn't say it was infused Or a Twinkie? A Twinkie? Who's got chickens? Who's got quail? Who's got hatch rates off the scale? From brooders, coops, and mystery birds. You're listening to poultry nerds. Talking eggs and talking birds. Science stories, tips you've heard. Welcome to the poultry nerds ​this segment is about feed, treats, and summer nutrition myths I saw this, scratch corn cools chickens down. Oh. And I'm like, what? I thought corn heated 'em up. We, like everybody talks about giving them a little extra corn when it's below freezing to warm them up at night. W- why? Why? Yeah. I've never heard that one. And the fact of the matter is, corn dilutes... The, the only thing in corn that's notable is calories, which is pretty high, and vitamin A, which is a notable amount, but not really enough to shake a stick at or write home. So- And that's all that's in corn is it like giving them a Ho Ho with infused vitamin A? I wouldn't say it was infused Or a Twinkie? A Twinkie? I wouldn't say it was infused with nothing. But it i- I mean, it's... Yeah. And when you give them extra, it, it raises their body temperature. And with this, a couple of the universities say that scratch and treats should be limited to no more than 10% of their whole diet. Mm-hmm. You got folks out there mixing 50/50 layer pellets and scratch. I had a lady call the store the other day, Hey, what's your cheapest five-way scratch?" I said, "Well, actually, my cheapest scratch is a seven-way." Huh. Well, all right. How much is that?" I told her. She said, "Ooh." And I said, "I mean, that's..." Told her what brand it was. I said, "You know, we're, we, we carry more of what birds need, but, you know." Look, I just need some scratch to throw down to my chickens. They free range all day. I'm gonna give 'em a little bit of scratch so they can eat, 'cause I sell a lot of eggs." I said, "Well, this is all I got in stock right now. I hope you have a wonderful day." Um I wanted, man, I was so tempted to say, "You know, if you actually in the summertime fed your birds the highest quality possible because they're eating less 'cause they're miserable, they'd probably lay you more eggs Yeah. Now, I had somebody come over the other day and pick up some stuff, and, um, I have some Orpingtons that have made their way over to the cow barn, and they have probably been there maybe four months at this point, since, since winter. Um, and, uh, um, I was feeding them, the cows over there, and so they were getting what fell from the cows, and they were eating pretty good because that was sweet feed, right? Mm-hmm. And but then I quit feeding the cows over there because the mice were coming and... Anyway, it's a whole 'nother story. So anyway, I quit feeding the cows over there. Well, I- that meant the chickens weren't eating either. So Denise comes over the other day and, and, uh, she's like, "Where do you feed those chickens? Do they just come over here to eat and then they go back?" And I was like, "You know, I haven't fed those chickens in like four months." I don't, I don't know. And she's like, "And they survive?" And I'm like, "Mm, yeah. They like the cow patties- I mean, they're over there and the ant hills and I mean, they're fine. There's no dead ones over there. They're even hatching off babies. So my little Casanova in the back, he's making the rounds. I was gonna say, he's making his rounds, too. So he must walk all the way over there and come all the way back. I don't know, 'cause he seems like he stays in the back all the time. Well, I mean, I, I've, I've seen your Orps, like, waddle from one side to the other and it's so fun to watch them. Mm-hmm. I have- Yeah if y'all have not seen pictures, I'm gonna post more pictures, but I have probably, what, 50 in the back at least. That sounds like a good number. 50- Yeah 75, somewhere in there. It's a lot. Nobody really knows how many chickens they have. No, but I have a lot. But yeah. So anyway, all right, what's next? No corn. All right. No corn. Is that it? Treats can replace feed in the summertime. No. I mean- Okay, that was easy. What else? Yeah. Watermelon and frozen fruit can be fed free choice. No. No. It's, it's like everything else, moderation. Um, the overheats chickens, so lower the protein in the summer Everybody says protein overheats chickens Well, so I'm gonna say that while protein is not the first, second, third, or fourth thing that's important in a chicken feed, um, chickens do require a certain level of protein in their body. And in general, since they eat less food in the summertime, they need more vitamins, minerals, amino acid, and protein. So this is not the time of year to change them to, like, a 12 to 14% protein feed, or give them all scratch that's somewhere between 8 and 12%. Okay. Not the time to- I know I us- I usually always, 95% of the time, default the nutrition to you. But I would like to impart some logic here. So- Oh, logic? Yeah, logic. Chicken people have logic? So first of all, we need to look at what kind of birds we've got. Um, you can't say chickens know what they n- they follow their natural instinct, like we saw on a slide a little while ago. That doesn't play because we've bred chickens to a point that that's not their natural state. Um, a little game bird would be closer to a natural state. So then summertime, the grass would be taller, the bugs would be more plentiful, the, you know, nature's in full force, so there's a lot more going on out there, and it's a time for them to be eating all that stuff. So lower protein in the summer doesn't make sense, because if they're out running around, they're eating bugs and grass and whatever else they can find out there. So, I mean, you've gotta use a little bit of logic there. And then to, to expand on that, my Orpingtons are about as bred from a natural state as you can get, because you're not gonna find a big chunky 10-pound hen in a natural state. I mean, that has to be bred for. And if I quit breeding for that, they'll eventually reduce in size back to a little four or five-pound game bird looking thing. I mean, they're You have to continuously breed for size or you will lose it, because it's not their natural state. So you have to provide that nutrition in order to maintain that. Am I right? You are correct Okay. So you can't say, "Let them be free and natural," and turn them out in a run that's 12 feet long. That doesn't play. And if you say free-range, well, that's fine, but are you free-ranging on a 50 foot by 50 foot space, or like here where they have 18 acres? Um, so that matters, too, you know. Mm-hmm. And then the stocking density on the land matters, too. You know? That matters a lot. So I've got 50 Orpingtons in the back, but I've got 100 ducks running the same 18 acres, and I don't have a fly or a mosquito or any of those things. So that tells me my stocking density is pretty high because there's no extra bugs flying around. But the fact that you have grass says it's not too high. Right. So, you know, you've gotta pay attention to all You can't just pick something and just beeline and harp on it. You have to look at the whole big picture. And that, that's what we really want y'all to see by listening to this podcast or watching it, whichever you're doing, is we want you to look at the whole situation. Mm-hmm. Because what you do at your farm may work great for you. If you, if at your farm, your chickens are mostly in the shade all day, they've got clean water all day, they've got food when they need it, and you're not having birds die, well, that's because you are a good chicken tender. Mm-hmm. And management is extremely important. You know, we t- we talk about birds' diet a lot, we talk about their water a lot, and people say, "Well, they'll drink rain off out of a puddle." If that's all they have, yes, they will. If that's all you had, you would, too. It would not be your preference but I say that because we have to be the chicken tender to manage the situation and provide them clean water and good food. If they choose to be a kid and play in the mud puddle, that's on them. Mm-hmm. But we have to g- at least give them the opportunity to have what they need. And sadly, a lot of people don't because they say, "Oh, well, I just... It's just so much." No, you got too many chickens. Mm-hmm. That is a thing. That is a thing. Feed heavy during the hottest part of the day Lord have mercy People do it Yeah, in the shade maybe Wet feed is always better in the summer You know, maybe I need to try that, wet feed. I have never wetted feed and fed it, ever. So a lot of times you can wet it and feed it. You can put it, like take your mash, put it in old-school egg trays. I mean, not egg trays. Well, you could use egg trays or ice trays. Make ice cubes out of it, let it freeze overnight, and I bet some good redneck entertainment would be watching chickens peck on that crap and have a good old time with it. If you put a little bit of oil in there so it doesn't quite freeze, and, you know, they just, every, every time they peck at it something comes apart, it would go a little faster. But they're gonna play with it. They're gonna have fun with it. Mm. So I'm okay with that. The, the biggest problem is, you know, folks will wet down their food, which is great, especially in the summer, because they're eating, they're getting moisture, all the good stuff, but when you don't clean out their feeder, and bacteria, in the summertime especially, bacteria grows faster, mold grows faster. Flies. You know, what you leave in there is a breeding ground for a whole slew of things. Flies. Flies too. That's where it gets bad. Mm-hmm. So wet your feed, but make sure you go back and clean it out. Don't let it get stinky and moldy and... No. Um- So I feed mine on the end of the runs now, because that's working better for me. Mm-hmm. And then when it rains, the feed gets wet. Mm-hmm. So when I come through in the next morning, I have to dump that wet feed out. Mm-hmm. Um, and that's where the ducks come in handy, because they could care less. They'll eat- They'll eat anything. Right. I swear, ducks are better than pigs in a lot of respects. Um, so they, I just dump it on the ground and the, and the ducks clean it up like it was a buffet from Red Lobster. And you know, if you flip the things over, 'cause I, I have some of those same... What we're talking about is the trough-style feeders that you've seen both of, both of us post in pictures that kind of hook on the wire, 18 inches long, put the feed in there. Mm-hmm. Um, I've even tried drilling holes in the bottom of mine to let the water out- They clog up pretty fast with the mash, so I quit trying that. But when you, when you flip it out the next day, number one, 24 hours, 12 hours, whatever, it's not gonna start molding that fast. Uh, number two, when you do that, it scatters out, and so more air hits it, it can start drying faster. I mean, I, I've done that and put fresh food in there, and they come eat that, and then they start eating what I put. Mm-hmm. But there again, that goes to the management side of it. You've got to clean up. Mm-hmm. Electrolytes should be given every day, all summer. Mm-hmm. I've never bought electrolytes. I'm a terrible salesperson on this show, aren't I? Well, okay, so here's the thing. You and I both have looked at those little pouches. Mm-hmm. Um, and what are they mostly considered? Like, what's the biggest ingredient in 'em? Salt and sugar. Yep. There's some of 'em that only have salt and sugar, and it's mostly salt. Yeah, I- And that, that makes you retain water, it makes you bloat, which I would think would make the chickens even more miserable. I mean, you don't drink Gatorade all day. No. So, I don't know. I've never bought 'em, so I don't know. Mm-mm. I just, I just use water. I don't make things too complicated. I mean- Okay they're chickens. It shouldn't be complicated. Yeah. Uh, you know, again, if a little's good, more is better. Um- Try none and see how good that is. Yeah, try, try none and see how good that is. Cheaper. Or, a, a lot cheaper, 'cause some of those powders are expensive. Really? Like, I don't know anything about 'em. I've never bought one. Well, okay, so since opening a retail store, I've looked at stuff, and I have vendors that sell things, and I was looking through and I was like, even cost on that crap's high. But I'm, I'm not getting any, and my wife was like, "You should get those. They'll sell a lot. You and Jennifer make fun of people all the time for using so many of 'em." I'm not selling something I'm not gonna use. Mm-mm. I- if, if it's in my store, I will take it and give it to one of my chickens if they need it. If it ain't in my store, I'm either out of it or I wouldn't use it. Yeah, I don't sell anything on my website that I don't use. But the theory behind it w- when we first started was a little different. I didn't wanna buy anything and stock it if I wouldn't use it, um, because then if I didn't sell it, then I would at least use it, right? Um- I'm, that's how I am so GrowGel would be the only thing that I buy of that category, and I only use that for shipping of something. I was gonna say, you might not use it- Mm-mm when your birds hatch out- Mm-mm but you do use it as a smart business decision when you ship birds. Yes. 'Cause, I mean, hey, you mix a little bit of starter, a little bit of GrowGel, enough water to make it turn green- That'd be good Just fine As long as they don't slow roast Yep Um, egg production droppings self, summer health myths Okay Production drops in the summer, the feed must be bad Huh. No, folks. It's the heat stress. It reduces feed intake, egg production, egg size, shell quality, because their nutrition's down. It's 'cause it's hot. Okay, so here's one maybe you came across when you were researching. Um, I saw something today that said too much apple cider vinegar in the water could cause thinning of the shells. Mm-hmm. Have you seen that? Yeah, so the deal with that is the pH of the water has to do with birds' ability to absorb the minerals that's in the feed. Mm-hmm. And that's actually what got me to using an auto-injector, is if, if your pH is too high, the bird's body will not absorb, they won't absorb some minerals at all. Some of them they won't absorb anywhere near what they should. 'Cause there's been several people that I've worked with that their eggs would be like a pullet in their first couple of days of laying, where it's kinda spongy-like, but it'd be a two-year-old bird that's always laid great in the past. And, you know, we go over everything and they're, they're feeding good feed, 'cause they, they listen on that. And, and gradually over time, I ask what they feed. The next thing is, "Have you had your water tested?" Cause high pH on the water or really low pH, both can create problems. Mm. Uh, somewhere in the five or six range is ideally what it should be, so. Well, I would think egg production dropping in the summer could be because the molt was triggered, light's starting to get shorter during the day, they're freaking hot. I mean, they're broody. Um- Mm-hmm I don't know. They're tired. There's all kind of stuff going on there. Yeah, they're tired. They've been laying for months at this point, so. And I'll say this, if you're one of those people that we talked about a while ago when we talked about dropping the protein, if you made a drastic change in your birds' feed, that's gonna add stress to it. Um, if you're feeding a quality feed, you should not change that feed year-round. There's no reason to Well, I will say that I have started mixing All-Flock in with my layer because they're starting to not lay. So I'm starting to switch them off to All-Flock. Absolutely nothing wrong with that at all because they do primarily only need the extra calcium when they're laying eggs. In fact, you could probably save yourself some even more money and buy, uh, a bag of eggshell, oyster shells, and just do the All-Flock and toss some oyster shells in there. They'll eat around it. Well, I, you know, I keep the layer- Unless they need it yeah, I keep the layer for the quail anyway, so it just makes it easier. But right now the, the breeders, I'm starting to separate the breeders out there, and their feed is, um, half and half All-Flock and layers. I'm starting to transition them over to All-Flock for the fall. I mean, that sounds like a plan. That's what I do every year. But you're going from one quality feed to another quality feed. Yeah, that's true. All right. Typically, when you're shopping at a big box store and you go from a good feed to a 14% or something like that, it's got a lot of filler and a lot of crap in it. Gotcha. Runny droppings in the summer always mean disease. Mm-mm. No. Mm-mm. Birds drink more. Mm-hmm. Um, typically they'll drink twice as much as they eat, except for in the summertime because they eat less, but they will drink a lot more. So that will... Drinking a lot more water will make their poop runny. I ain't saying you did, it ain't disease. But definitely don't go grab the Corid, grab your worming pills- shove them down their throat. Don't do all that. Watch your birds. Observe them. Creek water or puddle water is fine because it's natural Hmm. Hmm. Apparently people that say that have never grown up in the South and never drank water out of a creek and did not have to spend the next 12 to 24 hours in the restroom Well, not only that, but I mean, you don't know what... I mean, depending on where you live, you could live m- like next door to somebody who has TruGreen ChemLawn sprayed on their yard, and that runs over- I was gonna say, you don't know what's, you don't know what's upstream. Yeah, so here, um, well I live in the middle of a lot of farmland, and they, um, have crop dusters that come through, um, in the fall, in October. And every year I will lose my voice and get a horrible cough in October from the crop dusters. So I don't know what they're dropping. Uh, um, I've tried to find out, but I can't. So then they have the rabies tag things that they throw out of the airplanes. Have you seen those things? Mm-mm. Um, so that's washing into the water. And then- So they're just like a rabies chewable? Yeah, like for the raccoons and the possums and stuff to eat. I don't know. And- Okay, so we're, we're throwing out rabies medicine- Mm-hmm for pests. Mm-hmm But we're gonna charge people an, an exorbitant amount of money for stuff they need Yeah. So- But the animals get it for free They throw it out of an airplane, yeah. And then, like, what else? Um, okay, well then you have other more controversial stuff, like I have a solar farm up the road, and that's supposed to make the ground radiated and... But the, my point being is, is there's so many contaminants coming in nowadays that you can't control. Um, even though I personally don't use any chemicals here on my property, I don't know what's being used... Well, I, I know what's being used behind me. I back up to some state property, and they spray Roundup on their fence, so that's in the ground. But, I got a question, though. Mm-hmm. Do solar panels attract sunlight, or do they absorb sunlight? I don't even know how they work, but supposedly they somehow mess up the ground. And of course, they have to spray the weed killer and, I don't know, I think this one up here, they put some goats around it or something, trying to eat up the scrub that's growing. I don't know. I mean, it's a bit of hogwash. Well, they should... Look, go tell them that for a small fee, you will provide them a service. Find you a bunch of lambs, because the lambs won't eat the wires, whereas the goats will. Mm. But they'll eat all the... There, there's a guy that I follow on Facebook in Texas that, he raises them, and he's got a couple of solar farms that, you know, they're fenced in, and he'll go move his sheep from one to the next, and his lambs from one to the next My stupid goats would get up there and dance on them and break them, and I'd have to pay for them or something And, and that's, that's why he says you can't use goats for it, because they'll, they'll play and break them, or they'll chew the wires. Mm-hmm. Or use their horns. Hmm. Yep. They're pretty good with those horns, and I, I don't de-horn mine. Like, when I say I use no chemicals, I really mean it. Um, so Dolly's horns are probably a good, what, 12 inches, 15 inches long now, and I've watched her, man. She can scratch places with them, and she's really good with s- with, um, reaching stuff. Pretty accurate. Yeah, she is. You know, mine- Okay, well, we're down another rabbit hole. Mi- mi- mine have started head-butting in the front yard. Oh. Well, that's fun. Yeah. All right. Wild birds around the pen are harmless. Hmm. Lice, mites, disease, AI. AI. Meres. All that stuff. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know, they, that, that type stuff typically comes more from commercial flocks or backyard flocks that have a place for birds to stop off for a while. Oh, bird feeders. Yeah, I, I don't use bird feeders anymore. I used to, but not since been keeping chickens. And I do have those stupid pigeons over there. I need to get rid of the stupid pigeons over there. I, I think your grandson could take care of that. Well, I have a friend that's supposed to come over here and take care of them, but oh. Did you know that those darn things are, like, reproducing, like, every four weeks or something? Oh, they're like rats. Oh my God. There's, like... I think David counted 36 now. Oh. Hmm. Yeah. Need a, need a 14. Everything is covered in poop over there. Need a 14. Parasites, natural remedies, old wives' tales. Oh, this'll be good. Yeah. Garlic, pumpkin seeds, or apple cider vinegar will de-worm your chickens. A lot of universities say that is total BS. Now, as a preventative to keep your chickens from getting worms, most all agreed on that. But if your birds are ate up with worms, they say that there's no amount of garlic, pumpkin seeds, or apple cider vinegar that will deworm your chickens So, I mean, I give mine pumpkins and stuff just because they like 'em. Um, Mm-hmm. I also don't deworm my chickens, never have. Um, I have a theory, and it's just a theory, so before, um, it gets spread, I almost hesitate to say it. Jennifer@poultrynerdpress.com. I have a theory, but it, it seems reasonable to me. Okay. So I think, and I didn't do it last year, but I've always done it every other year. Mm-hmm. For about three weeks in the fall when everybody gets all excited about deworming their birds- Mm-hmm I will buy oats, whole oats. Okay. And I will feed mine oats, which is just fiber, right? Yeah. And that would, like, when you're constipated, you eat bran and fiber, and pushes on everything out, right? So my thought process was bulk up the fiber, and anything that's not supposed to be there would just get pushed on out. Well, and that's why, like, with a molt ration of feed, um, you raise pretty high the fiber and lower the protein and increase, um, everything but methionine. And that does stress the birds. It does cause the molt to happen faster, but the additional fiber helps them drop the weight faster. Hmm. Because they're pooping all over the place. Well, and w- in theory, anything that's in there that shouldn't be in there should get pushed out, and then you would see it, or it will be gone, right? Mm-hmm. So, but I, I just, I just can't get excited about deworming my birds. Um, course we eat ours, and every time we butcher them, I do check them, and I have never once found worms or anything that shouldn't be there. Um, so tomorrow, which will actually be, like, a week ago when this airs, but we're going to butcher about 10 breast cockrels that are around 17, 18 weeks. Um, so- Perfect I'll be checking all of them. But I mean, I, I don't know. We just, we just can't get excited, and I don't wanna eat that stuff, so I just don't deworm ours. But even the old hens, if we do them, I'll look. I mean, all you do is you have to s- slice open the intestines and look in there. You've already got the knives out and stuff. Just go ahead and slice it open. Well, and y- I mean, when you open a bird up, you can tell based on how their insides look if there's some things that ain't right- Mm-hmm before you even slice open the, those. Yeah, yeah. So I mean, we slice, we, we slice it all open, but I mean, all of our birds, um, that we cut open on purpose, um, the lungs are pink. The liver is maroon color. The intestines are clean. The meat isn't discolored. I mean, what else do you want? If in doubt, you don't eat it, right? Yeah. And I'm never in, in doubt. Like, we've, we had a turkey last year that had obviously, like, cut her leg, and her leg was kinda, had some weird spots in it. So we just tossed the leg to the pigs and, um, but the rest of it was fine. Toss the rest of it in the oven. Mm-hmm, sure thing. DE will eliminate mites. True. In some situations. Um- I use it, so. But, and, and I've seen a lot of people talk about doing it a lot of different ways. But folks, I'm here to tell you that according to me, the feed guy that studied nutrition for several years, according to another one that I know that's been in it for 40 years, quite a few universities and ag extensions, it's perfectly fine to put a little bit of that stuff in their food. Mm-hmm. Um, you create an environment where the parasites don't wanna be, and they won't be there. Well, chances are it's in the bag of food of everybody listening. Um, yeah. Because a lo- especially this time of year, a lot of manufacturers will add it to there because of grain mites. Mm-hmm. 'Cause so many people, like I saw this in, in a group last week too, panicking about grain mites. They're like, "You need to take that back. That's not good. That feed's old." Oh my word. And I'm like, I th- I was like, "No, it's not old." H- how do grain mites have to do with how old the feed is? Grain mites simply means that the person that grew those grains did not hose them down with pesticides. Mm-hmm I have literally had feed come from where I get my grains in Pennsylvania, got on the back of a trailer, brought straight here, like literally they stacked the pallet, shrink-wrapped it, stuck it on the trailer, and they left. And when we were unloading it here, he says, "What are these little bugs?" I said, "You've never seen those?" He's like, "No." I said, "You remember when I was telling you about grain mites?" "Yeah." "That's grain mites." But, you know, up in Pennsylvania, they don't have the humidity, and they don't really have the heat that we have down here. So the eggs, like, they can incubate in that bag I, I don't think anything about it just 'cause we're, I mean, we've always seen them. Now, David used to be in pest control years ago, and one day I mentioned to him, we were at one of the box stores buying food, um, way back when, and, um, I was like, "You know, you never see gray mites on the feed at the store." And he just looked at me and he goes, "Do you know how much spray they put down in a place like this?" And they'll spray everything, because if you think about it, all that feed in those box stores and you never see roaches or mice or anything like that going on in there. And, but then we have so much trouble with them at the barns because the mice will come out, the rats will come out, everything comes out. Um- Man, I bet they fog them places down once a week at least. Yeah. And you know what? That was the last bag of feed I ever bought at that store. And we started buying it, before I bought it from you, I was actually driving to almost the Kentucky line to a little farm in Orlinda. It's not there anymore, which is why we quit buying from there. Um, it was an older couple, and they ha- it was a, they call it a century farm here in Tennessee. Mm-hmm. And, um, so it was a century farm, and they grew, milled, and bagged and sold all on the farm. It never left the farm, and it was certified organic, and it was like 20 bucks a bag. Whoa. Yeah. We used to drive up there and fill the truck, and brown paper bags- That- just like yours. And- That's how you know they were growing it, making it, and doing it all themselves. Yeah. And then you would get home, and it'd be full of grain mites. But you know what else they had there? He had this little white building, I think it was a old, um, milk parlor building. And it didn't look like anything, like the trees were growing up around it and stuff. And then you walked in, it was clean as a whistle, and it was full of freezers. There was like 10 freezers in there. He was selling grass-fed, grass-finished beef in there. And, oh, man. Man, we used to buy all our beef there, and so that's partly why we started growing our own, because we knew how good it was. Hard to beat. Yeah. Grass-finished is really good. So anyway, that was another rabbit hole, wasn't it? If one bird looks okay, the whole flock's okay. False. Chickens hide weakness. Yes. A lot of times they will hide when they're weak. Mm-hmm. That's why you need to watch them. Pay attention to them. And I think you need to watch your birds regularly because if you don't know what the norm is, you can't really spot what's not normal Yeah. Well, a good example of that would be, um, I was feeding, well, that hot day, um, was it last Thursday, I think. Um- Yeah, you're gonna have to be more descriptive than the hot day. And I was feeding and the Orpingtons in that pen didn't come down to eat, and I couldn't see them, and I was like, "What is going on?" And so I finished feeding and I went back and they still hadn't come out, so I went up there to see what was going on, and that's where the dead hen was, and they were all standing there with her. And, uh, I took her out and they all ran down there to eat. Mm-hmm. You know, but they were standing with her. So yeah. Yeah, they, they have respect for the deceased. Yeah. So even as many birds as I have, I mean, I, they all have personalities and I know when somebody's off. Yep. Okay. Uh, you only need to worry about heat during the day. Mm, no. I get really cranky when I'm hot in, at night. Like, I, I can't sleep if it's not- Uh-uh. So, nope, that's bullcrap. Yep. Agree. All right. So this is just a summary of all the stuff that we've talked about. Poultry nerds lightening round. Mm-hmm. Okay. And we'll let you read over it Do not replace feed with treats. No. If you just have to scratch the itch and use a additive, all we're asking is that you follow the instructions. Mm-hmm. More is not better. And biosecurity, if anything, matters more in the summer than any other time of the year, because in the summertime, everything is a breeding ground for anything. Mm-hmm. So yeah. It's good poultry keeping beats internet myths every time. Mm-hmm. Watch your birds, manage your environment, feed your flock correctly. Don't be a jerk to your chickens. See you next week Bye