The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

Is this a hen that is laying?  If so, they often lose color in their legs as they continue to lay. 

Love George's feet and your description of how he's trying to grow into them

Yes she has been laying since December.

And thank you. I love George and enjoying him while he is with me. I sure wish I could keep him. He is very handsome and very comical

legs....does not look like mites to me..almost like corn legs
belly feathers..looks like it could lice eggs on base..?
your treatment is spot on

Corn legs? Hmmmm never heard of that. Their legs always look dry to me especially lately with all the heat. I remember pics that I posted last year and her legs were not so light in color. But that was before they started laying.

Lice eggs at base? When they all got bare Billy's a month or so ago I thought it was a moult since most of the feathers were in the nesting boxes. They like to preen while they are in the boxes. And the boxes do have wood ash in them. As well as dry grass clippings and a little shavings.

Delisha- if they were lice eggs would they be scratching a lot? I really don't see them scratching much at all. Or overly preening either, while I did move the coop because of flooding it was only back 10ft and its sitting on grass with a little bit of shavings and lots of grass clippings. No hay or straw at all. And the only wood in the coop is the 2x4s for frame bottom, brace for pop door, roosts and a painted shelf the nesting boxes are on.

There is old hay/straw (I don't which it is) in front of the coop about 15 ft away. I haven't removed it because it temporarily keeps the sitting water under it covered so I can walk to coop when it rains. I plan to shortly dig a trench to drain the water away so I can move the coop back. I am also getting a truck load of free dirt to help raise the coop up.

Could the lice/mites be living in this old stuff? I've never had lice/mites since I got the big girls last year.

I promise to do some research on lice/mites tomorrow. I am to exhausted today

""Edited to add. Their dust bath pan is usually in the coop. So wood ash is distributed through out the DL on a monthly basis especially during the winter

 

[delisha]

I had lice once, and to be honest I do not remember them scratching. I also have ash dusting areas, I still got lice. I clean my nest boxes daily, I still got lice. I DL, I still got lice. My coop is dry as a bone, I still got lice. I add ACV to my waters, and yet I still got lice. I gave them the lice by not treating the wood chips and straw I think. I am not sure. Or it could have been when I brought in a new roost branch with out treating it. I do not know and I can't even hazard a guess why my birds got it. They just did. I did something wrong. I fixed it. Lice and there movement and why they do what they do is a mystery to me. I am itching now just thinking about it. I never emptied a coop so fast in my life. I went threw a whole bottle of neem oil and a gallon of bleach before I was done. My birds were stressed from the move and the constant dunking. It took them a month to forgive me. I do not have lice and I check them often now. I do have my new bird with the start of a leather pad on one of his feet. Was digging at that today. If no improvement tomorrow I am going to pack it with iodine and sugar. (love the help on here)

 

[Leahs Mom]

I was just looking at my kiddos and several of them have foot pads w/small black beginnings. I still think this is due to scratching and having slivers or small cuts as they're foraging around.

They all seem so small and I'm thinking that I don't really want to disturb them. Not sure what I'm going to do. Just in the thinking about it stage.

 

[hotrodflash]

I was just looking at my kiddos and several of them have foot pads w/small black beginnings. I still think this is due to scratching and having slivers or small cuts as they're foraging around.

They all seem so small and I'm thinking that I don't really want to disturb them. Not sure what I'm going to do. Just in the thinking about it stage.

I have several that have the little black scab as well, so I started putting a salve for minor cut and scratches, it has vitamin A & D in it as well. After the third treatment, I just rub it on the foot, it is almost gone. They barely fight me when I pick them up because it is a quick rubbing on the bottom of the feet and down, so they don't get upset.

 

[delisha]

Quote: Great idea..I am still going to check him tomorrow..and treat it if it has scabbed back up. It is pretty small, and I would rather it not get bigger. He is a year old now and weighs close to 12lbs. Still not done growing. I think part of it is his weight on his feet. I moved him to a different building with different roosts and hope that helps. He was on a flat board before, now he has branches.

 

[hotrodflash]

Great idea..I am still going to check him tomorrow..and treat it if it has scabbed back up. It is pretty small, and I would rather it not get bigger. He is a year old now and weighs close to 12lbs. Still not done growing. I think part of it is his weight on his feet. I moved him to a different building with different roosts and hope that helps. He was on a flat board before, now he has branches.

I didn't want to open the foot for such a small non infected wound. It is probably from stickers and such from my property. They don't seem to be bothered by the little scabs and it is alot easier to treat it when it is small than when it becomes a full blown infected wound that requires "surgery" and antibiotics.

 

[Pozees]

My coop/run is completely finished (except for the gate on the run end--a friend is building it for me.) I've started asking around for hens. I may have to wait until later summer when the fairs start and people have determined which pullets/hens they want to keep for breeding and which can go somewhere else. Pics in order: roosts, "outdoor" recreational roost and "garden" box, and the whole shebang, from the coop end. Built by me (almost 60) and my friend, Jennifer (almost 57) with 6 hrs/each from two guy friends.

Wow!!! GREAT JOB!!!

 

[lalaland]

Is it normal for chick to sit around with their mouths open from time to time?
It is pretty warm here, ive just been reading some chicken horror stories lately, and dont know if im just scaring myself lol.
All of them seem healthy and happy, no odd behavior, everyone is eating normally and all that , just wanted to make sure.... I am pretty new to the chicken scene after all.
And this seemed like a great place to ask a question
Thanks in advance!

it is a little alarming to see the chickens panting, isn't it? Mine pant in the evening as the coop is warm, even with all the windows wide open. I add a fan when it gets really hot, more than 85 degrees.
As long as no one seems extra stressed, I wouldn't worry. It is good to keep things calm when the chicks are really hot and panting, though - not a good time to add extra stress.

Delisha, you add the list of ingredients to the store bought electrolytes? your list almost seems like the recipes for home made eletrolyte solutions. At what point do you add the eletrolytes and how long do you provide them ? and is there also plain water avail or just the eletrolytes?

We have some old rocking chairs that were my husband's grandparents' chairs. The paint is peeling off of them and is probably lead based paint considering how old the chairs are. My husband has been intending on repainting them. He saw a hen or two peck at a paint chip. Should we be considered as far as the hen's health or the eggs we eat? Thanks!

Personally, I would make sure the chairs were removed, and I'ld pick up any paint chips that I could find. They can get sick on lead poisoning. Probably not from just a few chips, but from repeated exposure. For some reason, hens seem to love paint chips and styrofoam, two things that make you wonder about the theory that chickens will only eat what is good for them It wouldn't bother me to eat the eggs if I felt there was only a small amount of paint ingested.

 

[Eggcessive]

Mlowen, nice coop! If you can find any good breeders in your area right now, I'm sure there would be people willing to give you birds. The guy I got free quality marans eggs in the spring just brought me over 3-6 week old pullets today for free, 1 black copper and two birchen, and tomorrow he is giving me a BCM cockerel. We had 3 BCM pullets born in April. The other breeders in my area really like to help people out in getting chickens. I give people free chickens all the time.

 

[bbdal]

it is a little alarming to see the chickens panting, isn't it?  Mine pant in the evening as the coop is warm, even with all the windows wide open.  I add a fan when it gets really hot, more than 85 degrees.   
As long as no one seems extra stressed, I wouldn't worry.  It is good to keep things calm when the chicks are really hot and panting, though - not a good time to add extra stress.  

Delisha, you add the list of ingredients to the store bought electrolytes?  your list almost seems like the recipes for home made eletrolyte solutions.  At what point do you add the eletrolytes and how long do you provide them ? and is there also plain water avail or just the eletrolytes?



 Personally, I would make sure the chairs were removed, and I'ld pick up any paint chips that I could find.  They can get sick on lead poisoning.  Probably not from just a few chips, but from repeated exposure.  For some reason, hens seem to love paint chips and styrofoam, two things that make you wonder about the theory that chickens will only eat what is good for them    It wouldn't bother me to eat the eggs if I felt there was only a small amount of paint ingested.

We already removed the chairs and even vacuumed the grass with a shop vac, which I am sure was quite a sight if anyone saw us.