The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Perris]

you might find this helpful, if you don't already know it
https://www.feedipedia.org/

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

you might find this helpful, if you don't already know it
https://www.feedipedia.org/

Thank you Perris I am off to check the site out.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Oh dear no one has posted anything new in a couple years… including me…

I am working my way through this book from 1915

Hubbard's Poultry Secrets on Mating, Feeding and Conditioning Fancy Poultry ...​

https://books.google.com/books?id=T...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

I am carefully studying his ideas on feeding right now, way different… apparently his birds won a lot… he tried to mimic what he observed a free ranging hen with chicks did, wild birds raising their young did, because in 1915 the mortality rate for chicks was high, and he concluded diet was part of the problem. He makes some good points about the difference in diets between chicks free-ranging with their surrogate mum vs the ones penned and fed on hard dry feed.

Found a chapter in The Complete Gamester printed in 1674.… it’s on gamefowl but chickens are chicken so I read through that chapter. I concluded the 1600s chicken first aid kit… knife, cloth as way to powder and bruise herbs, fresh sweet butter, urine, salt, clean spring water, spit, ground ivy, herb robert, rosemary, black pepper, pennyroyal, and a place you can keep bird quiet, wrapped up, in the dark, and nicely warm… diet being important, but often odd.

Sweet Butter seems to be used as an ointment, it is put on wounds… and Urine washes, Urine as part of the medicine or feed too…

In another old tome I learned powdered earthworms was medicine for humans once in Europe…

I wonder if anyone ever

 

[Molpet]

Oh dear no one has posted anything new in a couple years… including me…

I am working my way through this book from 1915

Hubbard's Poultry Secrets on Mating, Feeding and Conditioning Fancy Poultry ...​

https://books.google.com/books?id=T...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

I am carefully studying his ideas on feeding right now, way different… apparently his birds won a lot… he tried to mimic what he observed a free ranging hen with chicks did, wild birds raising their young did, because in 1915 the mortality rate for chicks was high, and he concluded diet was part of the problem. He makes some good points about the difference in diets between chicks free-ranging with their surrogate mum vs the ones penned and fed on hard dry feed.

Found a chapter in The Complete Gamester printed in 1674.… it’s on gamefowl but chickens are chicken so I read through that chapter. I concluded the 1600s chicken first aid kit… knife, cloth as way to powder and bruise herbs, fresh sweet butter, urine, salt, clean spring water, spit, ground ivy, herb robert, rosemary, black pepper, pennyroyal, and a place you can keep bird quiet, wrapped up, in the dark, and nicely warm… diet being important, but often odd.

Sweet Butter seems to be used as an ointment, it is put on wounds… and Urine washes, Urine as part of the medicine or feed too…

In another old tome I learned powdered earthworms was medicine for humans once in Europe…

I wonder if anyone ever

In the future people will wonder about stuff we have been doing.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Lol
Here is what I have been doing…

Well we put in veggie beds during the great lockdown, but then a tree smashed them so the tree has been cleared, we have to rebuild (all the trellis was smashed, that has already been cleared) and repair, we started redesign and tearing up of chicken area but then I caught Covid and have been struggling with pneumonia… I’m on month 7 of trying to get well. As soon as my lungs are better which they seem to be finally getting better projects are getting done… But have been home sick (not going to work) since December (luckily I have a lot of banked up sick leave and my department supervisors are being supportive, as we have had deaths of coworker from Covid then pneumonia)… so on top of all projects being on hold, the darn Himalayan Black Berry has taken over… I will have to slash that back.

During the lockdown our flock was stolen when the media was telling everyone there would be no more eggs and meat coming to the grocery store… as my job is “essential“ I still had to go to work. So while hubby ran an errand, I was at work, and my niece and nephew were in distance learning with head phones on (and oblivious) someone came in and took the flock… our birds where pretty friendly so only a hand full did not get stolen…the antisocial few.

So we ordered chicks and are waiting on those Pullets to start laying. In December a huge raccoon figured out how to unlatch the coop doors got in the coop and then the door latched behind him so he could not escape, and he went murder hobo on the new birds we had raised… he killed a lot of the flock before he was dispatched. So ordered more chicks… Rebuilding flock

The tree took out the herb garden area… and solar lighting… so got to fix that too.

Trying to get back on track…

This is the area cleared of tree before I got ill… could be worse, other side of yard brambles right now…. Ugh

 

[Guy with a Rooster]

Post page 1499 has those good pics of that turkey dissection.

Does anybody have good pics of a roosters air sac ?
The one they use to crow.

I want to to know where anatomically that air sac sits.

I've Google checked for good pics but only diagrams of hens trachea come up.

 

[Molpet]

Post page 1499 has those good pics of that turkey dissection.

Does anybody have good pics of a roosters air sac ?
The one they use to crow.

I want to to know where anatomically that air sac sits.

I've Google checked for good pics but only diagrams of hens trachea come up.

Never seen or heard of a rooster air sack.

 

[Bantambird]

Post page 1499 has those good pics of that turkey dissection.

Does anybody have good pics of a roosters air sac ?
The one they use to crow.

I want to to know where anatomically that air sac sits.

I've Google checked for good pics but only diagrams of hens trachea come up.

Turkeys use an air bladder to drum and puff out their chests, but I don't believe chickens have anything like that, crowing is just them projecting their voice. Air sacs are just the bird equivalent of lungs. You don't want to puncture those.

 

[Guy with a Rooster]

I know I read it here on BYC when I was looking into those velcro straps to keep roosters from crowing so loud.

and some where in there someone had said something about - no cords but some kind of air sac in their throat.

Im still some what new at this backyard chicken thing.
I figure Id ask the people who have done it longer.

 

[dawg53]

I know I read it here on BYC when I was looking into those velcro straps to keep roosters from crowing so loud.

and some where in there someone had said something about - no cords but some kind of air sac in their throat.

Im still some what new at this backyard chicken thing.
I figure Id ask the people who have done it longer.

The Velcro strap didnt work for a rooster I had raised as a chick a couple of years ago. All it did was choke him and he continued to crow a muffled crow constantly. I rehomed him.