The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lalaland]

Okay-so I checked on the girls as they went to bed,then again after. No pecking. All three sleep the same way every night: two smushed beside each other (Rosie the molter and Penny, who goes to the beat of her own drum), and Lucy, the follower,right in between them on the floor. The roost is only a couple of inches off the coop floor. They have more than enough room to spread out (roost is a 5 foot long 2x4)but they still pile on each other similarly to how they did when they were young. Lucy is pretty pecky--if I'm sitting outside or gardening, shell follow me around and peck my toes, fingers, elbows, etc. Not hard to break skin, more like a nip. Both penny and Lucy would have prime position to pecking that bald spot at night.

As for broody behavior: I don't know. I'm going to guess no, because I don't find her in the nest boxes, although she is the only one who crouches and puffs out and coos when I come near. I figured she thought of me like a rooster...

I have checked for lice and mites periodically over the past few months-- probably every two weeks or so. I use de in the litter and check the coop for evidence as well. I'll look again this morning once I enlist my unenthusiastic assistant!

I feed them meat bits and/or hard boiled eggs once a week or so, and I've noticed that because the summer here has been cooler than usual there have been less bugs for them to eat (last year we would forage millions of crickets from the pool alone every morning for them!) I was worried that too much protein might not be good for them, but if I need to increase it, how much can I give them?

I'm hopeful that I can get those feathers to grow before it starts to get cold...the anti-peck cream mentioned, where can I get it if need be?

Thanks for all the advice and help. It does give me some relief to know I'm not the only one dealing with this.

http://www.amazon.com/Rooster-Booster-Pick-More-4-Ounce/dp/B00E9RKPD2

there are a few reviews on amazon, and there are other places to get it....

 

[Leahs Mom]

They usually carry it at Tractor Supply and other farm stores if you have one locally.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

We have a 16 x 10 foot run and I use the DL in it with wood mulch and it is working out very well, I think I would have an easier time with it though if it was covered, plus the girls can't go too far into the run on rainy days since it is not covered.

I also use deep litter in the coop and it is pretty dry so I water it every now and then. It is breaking down well in the coop. Watering it helps with all the dust too. We use cut grass, leaves, pine shavings and dirt in the coop and all that plus the wood mulch in the run. We can get a truck load of mulch for $10 from the city here. I have found that the mulch (like someone else on here has mentioned) really works well in the run.

I have a question for all of you using the deep litter in the run, is your run covered at all from the rain? or is it open?

Mine is currently covered, but there is some water that drips between the two sections of the roofs. I had it open previously, but we had a hawk that was way too interested. I use wood chips and it works well. Wood mulch is superb, in my opinion. I haven't found anything else that works as well. Once a year I tend to clear some of it out, and put it around some of the shrubs and trees in our front yard, along with some fresh wood mulch. Since I have a lot of native plants that resent too much fertilizer, this seems to work well for us. I leave a little less than an inch to encourage the new layer of mulch to ferment away. If I leave it too long it will literally go to compost, which is not what I want the biddies living on. That takes several years without much renewal, though. Much of our backyard is in raised beds, with wood mulch between them. We notice that the birdy flops cause the wood mulch to degrade more quickly. This means we have to top it off every year or two instead of every two to three years.

 

[lalaland]

update on pullet with crop problem: She's doing great. been back with the flock since Sunday, crop has gone down just fine. so, oil dosing and massage of the crop worked.


I did a little rearranging Sunday - since the older pullets were not roosting and were instead crowding all 6 of them on top of a 14" square nesting crate, I took it out and replaced it with a hay bale. They freaked. The rooster cockeral went to the big coop and joined the main flock. The remaining 5 waited til nigh on dark and finally went in the coop, and......went to the roost. geesh.

Added a couple of bales to the big coop, mostly to store them until needed, and that upset everyone too. So got about half the normal eggs yesterday.

Leah'smom, I took your idea for the babies and used the sides of a cast iron crib to form a little area for the littles to eat in while protected from the big girls.

AFL, isn't it aggravating when they go broody AGAIN? Seems there are at least two hens broody at all times this summer - not fun!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Rooster Booster Pick No More Ingredients:

Ingredients: Water, Methyl Anthranilate (4.80%), Tea Tree Oil (0.54%), Calendula (0.52%), Aloe Vera Gel (0.35%)

Strangely, the only MSDS I can find for MethylAnthranilate says that it is a skin irritant and shouldn't come in contact with skin.


MSDS:
http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/MSDS/MS...h.com/catalog/product/aldrich/w268208?lang=en


I'm still searching to see if I can find anything else.

 

[flyladyrocks]

Rooster Booster Pick No More Ingredients:

Ingredients: Water, Methyl Anthranilate (4.80%), Tea Tree Oil (0.54%), Calendula (0.52%), Aloe Vera Gel (0.35%)

Strangely, the only MSDS I can find for MethylAnthranilate says that it is a skin irritant and shouldn't come in contact with skin.


MSDS:
http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/MSDS/MS...h.com/catalog/product/aldrich/w268208?lang=en


I'm still searching to see if I can find anything else.

 

[Bronson]

Tea tree oil is toxic to birds. They can injest it while preening. The fumes can also be toxic in large amounts. Substitute Eucalyptus Oil instead.

 

[mlowen]

@mlowen
-  have you tried some Nustock on the bottom?  I think they don't like the smell or taste of it and it couldn't hurt to try   (I don't like the smell either )

Yes, I did try nustock, a few times. I'll probably try it again before they molt. I tried blukote, too. I fed them meat. The leghorns are velociraptors. When these girls get too old and become stew, I'm going for a more placid breed. :/

 

[jsmith2952]

I checked for lice and mites just to rule them out.

Thanks so much for the help everyone. This thread has been really helpful.

A quick question about the rooster booster-- if one of the ingredients is a skin irritsnt , should I avoid using it if the hen's skin is broken?

 

[jsmith2952]

I Would also love to have any natural recipes that would behelpful in my chicken toolbox. I don't get how the calendula/ aloe/ tea tree could stop picking...I get the skin healing and benefits from them, but tea tree doesn't overly stink. I guess it tingles, but doesn't seem like much of a deterrant. Maybe there's more to that methylanthranilate....