The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: Me too on the tshirt!

The worst is when I'm in the coop without my "gathering bucket" in the winter (a small pail with some hay or grass in the bottom to pad the eggs from getting broken when I gather). If it's winter, I've often put an egg or 2 in the pocket of my jacket and forgotten. Then go out and bend or squat down to work on something and end up with a broken egg seeping through my pocket. Or several days later put my hand in my pocket and there's an egg!

 

[lalaland]

A friend of mine consults - she was running late and behind. just before jumping into the car to drive to the airport ( a two hour drive) she checked on the chickens. Got to the airport, took a tram, checked in, went thru security, boarded the plane, got to the connecting flight, boarded again, got to New York, left the plane, picked up her baggage, found a taxi....arrived at the hotel and reached in her raincoat pocket for her wallet to pay the taxi fare, and pulled out......an egg! An unbroken egg! and this after the long day and taking her raincoat on and off, and throwing it in the bins for security, etc. She gave it to the taxi driver who was thrilled and excited.

I think of her when I have the broken egg in my pocket thing happening.

And Aoxa, what a gorgeous goose! congrats on your ribbon.

 

[aoxa]

A friend of mine consults - she was running late and behind. just before jumping into the car to drive to the airport ( a two hour drive) she checked on the chickens. Got to the airport, took a tram, checked in, went thru security, boarded the plane, got to the connecting flight, boarded again, got to New York, left the plane, picked up her baggage, found a taxi....arrived at the hotel and reached in her raincoat pocket for her wallet to pay the taxi fare, and pulled out......an egg! An unbroken egg! and this after the long day and taking her raincoat on and off, and throwing it in the bins for security, etc. She gave it to the taxi driver who was thrilled and excited.

I think of her when I have the broken egg in my pocket thing happening.

And Aoxa, what a gorgeous goose! congrats on your ribbon.

Thank you I got a plaque and a pin as well. Felt really good to win something. She is much prettier in her natural element.



Love that story as well. That's hilarious they didn't stop her with an egg in her pocket.

 

[SunnysideupstateNY]

Exactly. That is my answer.

I love the baskets and they look very pretty. However...I can do the "first in first out" like Sunyside says. I do it that exact same way so we always know which are older and which are newer.

In a basket there is no way to keep track of that unless you want to write with a pencil on every egg and dig through to find the dates as you're taking them out.

Haha, I thought I was just a little OCD. At least I'm not the only one! Thank you!

 

[lazy gardener]

A friend of mine consults - she was running late and behind. just before jumping into the car to drive to the airport ( a two hour drive) she checked on the chickens. Got to the airport, took a tram, checked in, went thru security, boarded the plane, got to the connecting flight, boarded again, got to New York, left the plane, picked up her baggage, found a taxi....arrived at the hotel and reached in her raincoat pocket for her wallet to pay the taxi fare, and pulled out......an egg! An unbroken egg! and this after the long day and taking her raincoat on and off, and throwing it in the bins for security, etc. She gave it to the taxi driver who was thrilled and excited.

I think of her when I have the broken egg in my pocket thing happening.

And Aoxa, what a gorgeous goose! congrats on your ribbon.

Now, I thought TSA regs said you can't bring poultry products through security! Next time I travel, I'll try to smuggle some fertile eggs through in my pockets!!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: Great idea...maybe they'd make it in good condition rather than having to be shipped!

 

[delisha]

Quote: How very exciting! Congrats to you and your birds.

Quote: Great idea...maybe they'd make it in good condition rather than having to be shipped!
Great story Lala...
I hear of people sneaking eggs in all the time.

 

[zinia8]

Congrats aoxa and delisha.

 

[pigeonguy]

That is way too much for chickens.. but ducks and turkeys eat a lot... Do you watch them finish their food? You could have mice or rats getting a lot of it.


You could get a llama!

I always have read 6 ounces for large chickens and 4 for small ones. If you divide a 50 pound bag by 30 chickens that is 1.6666666 pounds per bird per week divide that by 7 days and you get .238 which is a little less than 4 ounces a day. Thats in the area of what I feed. My coop is mouse free as far as I can tell The cats go in there a lot and I don't ever find droppings.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: my cat will eat the chicken feed if the chickens don't polish it off. My cat eats anything though ans still is not fat. He begs like a puppy during the day and hunts most of the night.
When I free range my chickens they eat less than a pound per bird per week, even the roosters. I soak my feed if it was dry they would eat more. During the winter when I was feeding dry food in the coop and there was no real food intake from outside, the chickens ate close to 1.5 pounds per bird per week. The roosters were little hogs too. I would toss them out of the coop so the girls cold eat first. We did have signs of mice so i limited their food to what could be eaten in 15-20 minutes several times a day. Pretty much they would get food every time I went to check for that first million dollar egg.