The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Pozees]

Okay, I have a situation new to me, and I think I know what to try but wanted to gather some feedback.

I have 5 Catdance Silkies that hatched February 9th and 10th. The smallest from the start has been the Porcelain. Pretty sure it's a pullet. One of only two I think are pullets, and the other one is the white with the crossed beak. Tonight when I got home from work, Bob said he thought there was something wrong with one of my "fluffy ones" - he said it was looking up all the time, and only with its left eye. It was fine this morning when I fed before I left for work.

I went out to check, and sure enough this chick looks like it has a wry neck. Brought it inside the house, no sign of injury, plenty strong, gave it some water with ACV from a syringe, and set it up in a crate in the bathroom (cats can't get to it there). Put some crumble in a shallow dish set up on its side and the chick was pecking at the food - didn't really eat much, but it was trying, so I keep thinking injury not illness, even though there is no sign.

Quick research shows this might be treatable with Poly Vi Sol, Vitamin E, and Selenium. I will make an early trip to town in the morning, I am embarrassed to say I have only the Vitamin E on hand right now.

I don't want the chick to suffer, but honestly it doesn't seem to be right now. If there is no chance of healing this I will humanely euthanize, as much as it will break my heart.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Okay, I have a situation new to me, and I think I know what to try but wanted to gather some feedback.

I have 5 Catdance Silkies that hatched February 9th and 10th. The smallest from the start has been the Porcelain. Pretty sure it's a pullet. One of only two I think are pullets, and the other one is the white with the crossed beak. Tonight when I got home from work, Bob said he thought there was something wrong with one of my "fluffy ones" - he said it was looking up all the time, and only with its left eye. It was fine this morning when I fed before I left for work.

I went out to check, and sure enough this chick looks like it has a wry neck. Brought it inside the house, no sign of injury, plenty strong, gave it some water with ACV from a syringe, and set it up in a crate in the bathroom (cats can't get to it there). Put some crumble in a shallow dish set up on its side and the chick was pecking at the food - didn't really eat much, but it was trying, so I keep thinking injury not illness, even though there is no sign.

Quick research shows this might be treatable with Poly Vi Sol, Vitamin E, and Selenium. I will make an early trip to town in the morning, I am embarrassed to say I have only the Vitamin E on hand right now.

I don't want the chick to suffer, but honestly it doesn't seem to be right now. If there is no chance of healing this I will humanely euthanize, as much as it will break my heart.

Do the Poly and Vit E for 2-3 weeks. A couple of drops in the beak twice a day. It should correct it. If after 3 weeks no results, then cull. Silkies are notorious for wry neck.

 

[camilleathome]

This is going to be a weird question but can you make blood sausage from chicken blood? I hate to waste any part of the animal if I can help it.

 

[countrygirl74]

Thats why you dont till the land you just mulch it. Its pretty amazing. I cant wait to try it and see what results we get

X2!!

Love the owls pictures.....I love owls to as long as they aren't near the coop

We have HUGE owls that moved into our local Lowe's. People love to shop there just to see the owls hanging out in the garden center.

ROOSTER SURVEY

-Do your roosters "dance" for the girls and wait for the girls to accept their advances? OR Do they just grab and attack against their will?

-If they dance, at what age did they begin that behavior?



HU has said that he tries not to keep roosters that don't dance and court the ladies. (He touches a little on that here, but not as in-depth as the book) He states that the dancers don't injure the hens like the non-dancers do.

Now I don't have experience with this but what he's saying makes good sense to me and my intention is to select for dancers and remove those that don't when I have the choice. Please tell me YOUR experience with this.

Mine do both - I have 3 roosters (2 of which are silkies). All 3 started dancing at about 4 months. Some of the girls they dance and wait patiently for, but one of the girls, they just attack all the time. She spends a lot of time hiding on the roof to get away from those crazy boys. So, in my situation, there is just one girl that they don't always dance for.

I don't really know, to be honest. Sometimes it's just a gut thing. They're less adventurous than the EE's, but not as responsive to the rooster's warnings (although moreso than the Gold Stars). They laid well. But I don't know. It's weird because they were one of the breeds I was most excited to get, but my least favorites. I just can't quantify why. Perhaps my experience would have been better with BRs from a breeder. I know mine weren't perfectly healthy- one died in the nest box last summer, with the only previous symptom being a pale comb a few days before. BUT I don't love the hatchery they came from (Hoovers in IA). I've had good chicks from them, but I've also had disastrous batches of chicks from them.

I love my BR's! They are also hatchery birds. They are first to come running if they see us with a shovel - waiting to see what we might dig up. They are super friendly and easy to catch. I have 2 and they are best buddies. You will never find one without the other. One of my BR's keeps the roosters in line too. AND, they lay for me every day. Maybe you just had a bad experience with them...

 

[aoxa]

I do not use an ax. I am not coordinated
I have a tree with a rope tied to a limb. It has a slip knot on the end of it. I take the birds feet and slip them into the slip knot. The bird relaxes, I use a very sharp knife and slit the jugular vein right below the ear and leave after I see the blood it is running well.

I boil a large pot of water and dump it in a 5 gallon bucket. I add a candy thermometer and add water till it reads 180. I go get the bird. I hold the bird by the feet and dip the bird all the way up to my fingers and swish, and pull all the way out. I wipe my hand down the body and see if feathers come off. I repeat untill the feathers simply wipe off. It takes about 5 dunks average. I do not pull feathers..I wipe them. The only feathers I have to pull are the ones on the end of the wing.

This is the best out there and close to how i do it.

Glad I'm not the only one uncoordinated enough to use an axe!

ROOSTER NEWBIE HERE
(Did you notice?

)

So another question (or 2)

RB (Rooster Boy) is 17 weeks tomorrow. His 3 flock mates are 17 weeks tomorrow.

The 6 hens are 1 yo.

He has been making quite a few advances and my husband saw him with one of the older girls tonight. Earlier this evening I was in the hen house and he cornered one of the 17 week girls and was trying to get her. She was hollering and squaking and one of the hens came over and "gave him what-for" - attacking him until he ran away and left the little girl alone (I was proud of the hen!)

So...obviously he's feeling his hormones. The little girls are trying to avoid him. Most of the big girls chase him off, but apparently at least ONE of them accepts his advances.

Now the questions:

-Should I try to give the little girls a place they can get away from him and just leave him with the big girls if possible....until they're a little older?
-Or - should I just leave them all to figure it out on their own?
-Does his actively trying to mate everything that moves indicate that the little girls are mature enough to mate or is it totally indiscriminate?
-Have you ever seen one of the adult hens fend a roo off a young'un like I saw tonight?

Is this a Stony question? Yes...and EVERYONE ELSE who has ROOSTER EXPERIENCE!

With shipped eggs, don't turn them for the first 24 hours, or until the air cells attach.
Some young cockerels will breed anything.... shoes, ducks, plants, and chicks. I culled a young cockerel for trying to breed a chick. Some things I simply will not tolerate. Stupid is one of them.
The story it funny in a way. I get queezy when I butcher out birds, but with that little so and so, I picked him up off that chick and simply wrung his neck with out a thought and never ever doubted my decision. I felt quite upset about what he was doing.

I have seen a cockerel dance for a towel that fell off the clothes line. I still can't get that image out of my head. Oh how we laughed at poor Steve

 

[Pullet Surprise]

Delisha loving the pics of ur new chicks. Mumsy your silkies are beautiful !! I am starting to see my beets,kale, and a few other veggies peak thru in the garden. Even the sunflowers, which I knew I planted early are sprouting

. Still to early for me to plant any other veggies but if the weather starts staying nice and the night temps raise I should be able to in a couple weeks, I am most excited about the potatoes and galic I planted. I've had poor luck with potatoes in the past and this is my first time with garlic. But I have been successful in getting the flower beds cleaned out and started mulching them

Take heart! Spring is on its way, we (the chooks included) are already eating a bit of the kale, pumpkins are up, oregano has come alive again, lettuce up and doing well enough for small salads, cayenne peppers settled in and growing etc. etc. about growing potatoes, has anyone tried this? http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/2012/04/how-to-build-a-potato-tower/ It looks like a good way to grow potatoes and sweet potatoes in minimal space etc.

 

[armorfirelady]

Take heart! Spring is on its way, we (the chooks included) are already eating a bit of the kale, pumpkins are up, oregano has come alive again, lettuce up and doing well enough for small salads, cayenne peppers settled in and growing etc. etc. about growing potatoes, has anyone tried this? http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/2012/04/how-to-build-a-potato-tower/ It looks like a good way to grow potatoes and sweet potatoes in minimal space etc.

Ah nothing to eat yet they are just starting to grow here. I have seen the potato tower before but I haven't tried it. I have potatoes planted the regular way but I am also trying to grow them in laundry basket. Same theory but no straw. I found it on pinterest.

My next project is herbs in a pallet garden.....but thats for after I get home

 

[Pullet Surprise]

Quote: I didn't think about laundry baskets....that seems do-able!

 

[delisha]

• Blood – either from pig, sheep, lamb, cow, chicken, or goose (each author believing their choice is preferred)
• Filler that varies with region (e.g., oatmeal, buckwheat, breadcrumbs, barley, or other grains);
• Onions and regional spices.

All of these are typically smashed together and stuffed into a sausage casing, than steamed, boiled, or smoked.

 

[brandislee]

LOL Aoxa!!

OK -
Today I had a group of eggs go into lockdown. Of course I weeded out the ones that weren't developing and did an eggtopsy on them. Three were early quitters - no apparent reason. Just quit as some do. But wow! Two of them had obvious causes of death.

(Is it wrong that I am saving expired embryonic chickens for my kids to see when the get home? LOL!)





Warning!

Graphic eggtopsy pictures...







OK - so when I candled this one, it looked like yolk and fluid were just spilled out inside the shell. Sure enough... poor little buggar somehow managed to poke his beak through and rupture the membranes. In the photo, I have left the membranes intact as they were when I opened the egg. You can see his beak sticking through:








And now for something even more fascinating. It should be quite clear why nature took its course and allowed this one to die before it tried to hatch:





Yes - this poor thing developed with its organs on the outside of its body. It's a pitty - It would have been the first of its color from my group (blue-based black with no red).

Chances are you'll see this soon on the thing.

I find that last one strangely fascinating...