The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[subhanalah]

Oooooo thanks !!!! I'll try that Sunday night. I doubt I'll ever see through the Marans eggs or the blue ones lol
I have wood ash with a little peat moss mixed in available for my hens 24/7 in half of a plastic wreath holder. Wood ash is a natural mites & lice preventer/killer. And the hens love to bath in it

I have great success candling blue eggs with my Samsung s4 cell phone light. My husband's phone is an HTC Evo and uses many different lights for the flashlight, so it kind of sucks at candling.

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: I am going to try the light on my iphone on sunday & see if I can see thru them better. Thanks!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Just wanted to put out a quick post to say that I will be away from the forum for at least the next couple of weeks and possibly longer. I don't think I'll be keeping up with posts or going back to catch up.

So..
If anyone wants to get hold of me, please send a PM.

 

[subhanalah]

Just wanted to put out a quick post to say that I will be away from the forum for at least the next couple of weeks and possibly longer.  I don't think I'll be keeping up with posts or going back to catch up.

So..
If anyone wants to get hold of me, please send a PM. 

but...what will I read while you're gone

 

[MumsyII]

Checking in at long last. The past winter and spring has been personally brutal. For both husband and I and my flock. Rather than write a blog about it, hello, hello, again. I've missed you all.

The short version: Health issues for both of us and not out of that yet. A coyote got through my defenses and wrecked havoc in some breeding pens. Had to deal with that and finally got my old electric fencer up and running. Some pens survived. Some were devastated. My HRIR pen in particular took a hit. And all Silkie hens took a hit. All happened over the course of two weeks. Coyote can't get in the pens right now it seems but he is leaving scat in every place he can reach. We live in a neighborhood where shooting guns would get us in trouble. The electric fence is working. Almost too well. The Silkies are traumatized. They hit it so often, they have resorted to clustering in the middle of the barn yard.

Computer problems...Again...Got that sorted out five minutes ago.
No garden this year. Not a proper one any way. I'm sad about that but next year...

There is good news. Only one biopsy left for the husband. My tests are finished and nothing I can't live with showed up.

I still have two surviving HRIR hens and two Cocks. Only five chicks from them made it. No eggs from them. *sigh* They are all beautiful but starting to molt already.
The best news. I let the surviving Silkie hens and a few cocks hatch out pens. They done me proud. I had neither the energy nor means to do much with the incubator. Two F 1 Pen 1 daughters from my Catdance white trio hatched out nice little clutches. The White Silkie program is back on track. I only had one Partridge Catdance hen survive. The only Catdance cock I had for her was my Catdance Porcelain.
Oh my! She hatched nine colored chicks. It appears two are Partridge with heavy blue and six are strong Porcelain coloring!

The biggest happy surprise of all was my Catdance Paint cock! I put him in a project pen with F1 Pen 1 Catdance White daughters. I wasn't expecting anything but Paint/White Splits. It was just an experiment. Something special happened with that Paint Cock and those little White pullets. Eight chicks and all with color! Two are Paint, two are black, and four are strong Partridge/Blue Slash. Amazing doesn't even describe these chicks. I have set him up in another Project Pen 3 with the same pullets - the little broody on his first progeny.



Catdance Partridge hen with Catdance Porcelain sired chicks.


F1 Pen 1 Catdance White daughter. Little white chicks both have unmistakable black spots.

 

[lalaland]

Just wanted to put out a quick post to say that I will be away from the forum for at least the next couple of weeks and possibly longer. I don't think I'll be keeping up with posts or going back to catch up.

So..
If anyone wants to get hold of me, please send a PM.

hope everything is ok in your world

 

[lalaland]

Mumsy!!! welcome back. sorry to hear of health troubles for you and your husband and your flocks.

beautiful pics of the silkie chicks

 

[armorfirelady]

Welcome Back Mumsy !!!!!!! You were missed. Sorry to hear of your problems & hopefully things will be better from now on

I have thought of you often this spring as I planted my vegetable garden. All the advice you gave us last year has been remembered & hopefully I have a good garden this year

 

[potagergirl]

? my chicks are three weeks old now. I have had the red light on them this entire time and have just today changed it to a white light in preparation for spending a little time outside.
They seem to be rather nervous with the change, more skittish then they were. The temperature is staying good between 80 and 85. I picked up two because they were lying on their side. Looking
them over I did not see anything wrong. Since they have been resting normally, drinking and eating.
I'm not sure what to think, have I removed the red light to soon? Do you think the chicks are picking on each other? Something just seems off and even now they are louder
then they normally are at this time of night. I do have them in the house and I'm trying not to over stimulate them but maybe the white light is to much to soon?

any thoughts?

 

[armorfirelady]

I've never raised chicks indoors but perhaps the white light on all the time is not giving them the normal cycle between awake and sleep? I would thinks at 3 weeks that they would need less heat all day also?

Hopefully others who have raised chicks will offer advice,