The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Pozees]

BDM I agree with Delisha it sounds like a toxin/poison issue. Good news is, unlikely a potential problem with the rest of the flock. Whew!

 

[pigeonguy]

Got my HRIR 10 of them 4 and 5 months old. Drove to Orion IL. last night got 10 for 100 dollars. They are cull birds out of show stock crooked toes mostly I just wanted heritage and not hatchery and not for breeding just laying and fun.
Have not finished my barrel plucker yet. Do not have hose for the fingers and don't want to buy them it is just the principal of it not the money. Me and my wife work at a hose facility for Cat all of the hose in my plant has wire in it the ones from the wife's plant doesn't but can't get her to bring it home and I already talked to the plant manager and safety and environmental person they said ok. Wife is just being slow.
Well that's all for now Busy Busy Busy you know spring and summer and if you know me I do every body's chores so lots of work to be done. I do miss ya'll though.

 

[countrygirl74]

Definitely crock pot them. I hated my dual purpose free ranged birds until finally breaking it out and trying it. Now the meat is just as tender as store bought, but SO much more flavour!

X2!!

Today's progress!!


Oh and had to add this. Really.. it kills me.. I was never a bunny person, but these guys are so stinking cute. They free range too with their parents. They can outrun all my dogs, who seem to think it's a game when they start running.. Anyway... So cute.

This is the cutest thing ever!!!

Child of Noah- I fill up the FF feed trough every couple days or when I remember. It's never gone bad even when the temps were recently in the 80s. It dries out some but the girls seem to think it tastes better when I scrape it onto the ground

You would need to feed them something. You can try half rations in the morning, let them free range, and feed them the rest at lock up and see how they start to do. It is wonderful you are free ranging when you are home!! Any time you can give them is valuable. Maybe they might be able to skip that night feeding once in a while. Try it and see how it goes.

Mine usually get some supervised free-ranging for 1-2 hours in the morning and that's it... so I am assuming I need to provide food for them in their run during the day? Or just feed them at night? Not sure if the short amount of time in the a.m. is enough until dinner?

 

[Child of Noah]

you are way overfeeding. I can make 100 lbs of feed feed 100ish birds a week, I have about 25-30 in breeding pens. The rest free range all day and this time of year I feed them VERY little. I make them look for their own food. And they are healthy, lay really well and go broody. Probably healthier than if I fed them processed food from bags

yes

I do not doubt that you are correct, but am I reading this correctly? 1# per week?

I'm feeding six chickens 10 pounds (about) per month ... so yeah, that's way less than one pound per week per bird for me (actually less than half a pound). Stony has penned breeders and also he has ducks both of which take considerably more food so his average would be higher for that reason.
I'm feeling pretty awesome that my per-bird-purchased-food is pretty in-line with a professional.
What, with all my hard work of... you know.... opening their coop door in the morning and all.

Cept for the FF.

Stony: please PM me about this? I don't want to turn this into a FF vs dry debate here (I am CERTAIN there are other threads that address it) but I'd like to get your personal perspective and what you do, particularly in winter considering our similar climate and philosophy of chickenology.

I'm especially curious about keepers who have harsh winters, as I do, and what difference is seen during seasonal change.

Holly

Me too! I didn't catch where you are located, but New York can throw some doozies in the winter... and also in the spring, considering it was freezing just a couple nights ago and near 80 today.

I know raising ducklings, they eat 3 times that of a chick.. It's crazy.

And are at least ten times as messy!
And CUTE bunnies!!

Child of Noah- I fill up the FF feed trough every couple days or when I remember. It's never gone bad even when the temps were recently in the 80s. It dries out some but the girls seem to think it tastes better when I scrape it onto the ground

I like the "every couple days or when I remember" method... sounds like my style.

If I remember correctly you are in NY too? Do you feed it all year, and if so do you have an issue with freezing? I really appreciate your input.

Thank you everyone who has made comments and suggestions about this. I seem to have lost some of the quotes I picked up to comment upon, but believe me, I am reading and researching and learning (and not doing my homework because it is a tedious critique of a research article and it isn't on chickens) and really appreciate the first hand experiences you have all shared!

Oh!! One comment I remember that didn't come through... a few of you mentioned putting towels on your FF, and I saw a towel in Bulldogma's video (of her horse/chicken trailer) but ALSO on The Thing it said "anaerobic" AND I think on the horse/chicken trailer video Bulldogma had a kitty litter pail of FF (which would be sealed). So........ I'm sort of confused on that?
If I start one it was going to be in a terrarium/cookie jar type container which would have a "lid" but not really be "sealed" ... you know, like how cookie jar tops just kind of set on top.

 

[OohLaLa]

Today's progress!!


Oh and had to add this. Really.. it kills me.. I was never a bunny person, but these guys are so stinking cute. They free range too with their parents. They can outrun all my dogs, who seem to think it's a game when they start running.. Anyway... So cute.

Can life be any sweeter.. Great progress on the building, I would so love o have that size an efficient lay out. The bunnies are adorable, just makes you want to say awwwwwwww.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Got my HRIR 10 of them 4 and 5 months old. Drove to Orion IL. last night got 10 for 100 dollars. They are cull birds out of show stock crooked toes mostly I just wanted heritage and not hatchery and not for breeding just laying and fun.
Have not finished my barrel plucker yet. Do not have hose for the fingers and don't want to buy them it is just the principal of it not the money. Me and my wife work at a hose facility for Cat all of the hose in my plant has wire in it the ones from the wife's plant doesn't but can't get her to bring it home and I already talked to the plant manager and safety and environmental person they said ok. Wife is just being slow.
Well that's all for now Busy Busy Busy you know spring and summer and if you know me I do every body's chores so lots of work to be done. I do miss ya'll though.

 

[Pozees]

what are your friends feeding? If they are feeding a lower protein it would make a lot of difference in growth rates.

Actually I think they are feeding a bit higher protein. I use a 17% grower, they are using a 20% all flock as I recall, although I will ask again to be sure.

 

[midnightroo]

Good morning everyone.

So sorry BMD about Gunnar he was beautiful. I hope you can find a reason for his death for peace of mind. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/380109/are-spiders-dangerous-around-chickens I did find this on here about chickens and spiders. My dh got bit by a brown recluse years ago once on his knee so I know how much they can can mess you up, but I can't imagine the fangs going through the scales on his legs. It would have had to crawl up to his body to bite him.

Someone said why not get a roo, well because they can be dangerous. Still haven't gotten rid of mine and last Saturday he jumped up on my leg. Didn't feel too bad and I had a ton to do since dh was away fishing. He comes home today, weather was nice so I put shorts on, and he starts yelling about why i have a bruise. I have a HUGE bruise from where he got me with a small hematoma underneath. I can't keep him around because of my daughter and the neighbors boys, too dangerous. i did get him good in return with a garden rake. I should have culled him before dh left but I didn't so now I learned my lesson.

Justine, I have commented on FB but the bunnies are so cute that I have to comment here too.

 

[aoxa]

OK - the vet called with the preliminary results...

And I have come to the conclusion that the folks on this thread have been more helpful and insightful... because you're not all after my money - LOL!

OK - he didn't think it was the heart. He felt the cause of death was liver failure. He said there were lesions and an elevation of white blood cells in the liver.

The guy is an avian specialist and was trying to be nice/helpful, but he also seemed a bit put off by all my questions... because he wanted me to pay for more tests, I think. OK - so I respect that he wants tissue to be sent to the lab, but he was trying to get me to do it *now* by saying it could be avian TB. Um... no. Most birds will waste away for months prior to death with that lovely little nasty. Gunnar didn't start "wasting away" until a few hours before he died. (And I already told him my family has no money for all of this... )

So I cornered the doc with my questions and he finally said that yeah - a spider bite or exposure to rat poison/chemicals used by an exterminator could cause the issues he saw. We have a huge number of black widow spiders about right now - I've killed 3 in the last couple days. And then there is the exterminator that was on the farm just a few days ago.

So the vet pushed for the lab testing again (which he said would cost about $110 per test), so I asked about the state lab. "Oh well yeah - but there's a shipping fee involved with that!"

Oooooo $15 shipping fee! LOL! He's going to find out how much the state lab would cost and get back to me. In the mean time I pick up the remains on Saturday (because if I leave them there, there is a $25 incineration fee).

On the flip side, the vet complimented me on Gunnar's obvious health and called him "the most magnificent bird I've worked on in a long time."
Simple math: Obvious heath / Avian TB = Oxymoron

In the mean time anther SFH breeder from Richmond (and a wonderful person who I liked the first instance I met her last October) has offered me one of her beautiful roos! She's NPIP certified which makes me feel a bit more at ease about bringing an older bird on to the property (but of course he'll still be quarantined at first). Now we're just working out how to get the bird (Orion) from Richmond to southern VA. Keep your fingers crossed!

Good luck with the new boy BDM.

You could have probably done the necropsy yourself and just sent for tests if you felt uncomfortable. Seems like he just based his diagnosis on what he saw in the bird, not any tests.

 

[Leahs Mom]

For those of you with flocks of 20 or more chickens that have free access to at least 1-2 acres or more:

Could you tell us:

-What kind of feed you give.

1. Number in your flock (if you don't know for sure, just as close an estimate as possible).
2. Do you have a livestock guardian with your flock?
3. What is the average number of birds that you lose to predation in a month's time (average over the number of mos. they can be outside). And - what type of predators do you deal with most often?
4. Is the property primarily open pasture, wooded, or mix?
5. The amount of property they range approximately (Stony estimated his use about 3 acres, for example.)
6. Compare the amount of feed you have to give them during a typical June or July vs. the amount of feed given in a typical January.




For those of you with any size flock that free range any size property:

Could you tell us:

-What kind of feed you give.

1. Number in your flock.
2. About how much area do they have to range?
3. How long do they get to range each day?
4. What is your experience with predation?
5. Is the property primarily open pasture, wooded, or mix?
6. Compare the amount of feed you have to give them during a typical June or July vs. the amount of feed given in a typical January.



Personally, I don't know if I can answer these questions myself as I haven't kept good records. But what I'd like to do is keep a record from here out - especially on feed - so I can get a more measured idea of feed needs, etc.

It would be extremely helpful to me - and I hope others here - to have this info from as many as possible in all of the varying situations (region of country, weather, land stats, etc.) as it would help for planning feed costs and getting a good idea of if I can reduce my feed input or if I'm at a pretty good level.


Anyone willing to join in and keep records to share with us all if you don't already know your usage? (This doesn't have to be "anal" just a general idea for comparison.)

And..those of you that do know, please share!

(And I'm thinking once all the info comes in it would be great to compile it all into a blog post to have all together in one place )