Old Fashioned, Common Sense Chicken Keeping.

[centrarchid]

That shouldn’t be an excuse for keeping 100 chickens in an 8’x8’ horse stall and feeding them rotten fruits and vegetables. The owner has chicken feed available and she gave the birds some chicken feed, but the bulk of their diet was rotten fruits and vegetables, stale bread, and whatever garbage she had on hand.

That is outside what I would consider attempting. I was thinking more of four to six birds in a 10 x 10 pen that would be allowed to free range every day and have access to compost and hay piles. Waste from butcher would be major protein source as well as fish offal. Scratch grains would be used for real.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

That is outside what I would consider attempting. I was thinking more of four to six birds in a 10 x 10 pen that would be allowed to free range every day and have access to compost and hay piles. Waste from butcher would be major protein source as well as fish offal. Scratch grains would be used for real.

So the pen would essentially be where they roosted and laid?

 

[Melky]

That shouldn’t be an excuse for keeping 100 chickens in an 8’x8’ horse stall and feeding them rotten fruits and vegetables. The owner has chicken feed available and she gave the birds some chicken feed, but the bulk of their diet was rotten fruits and vegetables, stale bread, and whatever garbage she had on hand.

Thankfully the birds now have you. My chicken scraps are fresh. My CSA leaves greens on vegetables for me and my chicks get same day delivery of them. Only fresh chicken scraps here if we don’t choose to cook it up. I generally don’t feed bread as I hear it can cause bloat.

 

[rachelsflock]

I raise my muscovy and chickens for meat and eggs. Yes we coop, but only one in the winter.Lots of hawks and foxes and skunks and possums in winter here. No vet, lots of butchering. Feed in the evening only unless penned. Otherwise free range within our acre. penned winter keepers get free feed. I usually raise one batch of chicks early in the year indoors for 4-6 weeks then they go out. The broody hens raise the rest and sometimes even take my batch and finish the job. I cull hard for aggression against other birds and chicks. When I started lurking byc didn't think there was any other way, lol.

 

[Ljc01]

We keep it simple. Our coop and run is just a dog kennel we got from the neighbor for $100. The nesting boxes are 5 gallon pots left over from trees we planted. The only thing I spent money on were feeders and waterers.
My birds free range on our acre all day. Layer feed is in the run free choice all day.
No rooster, no vets and all my vegetable kitchen scrap is tossed into the compost pile. I also toss all my untreated egg shells into the same pile.
We trade our extra eggs with the neighbors for fresh produce that they grow.
My last old birds were given to a local ranch as bug eaters, so as of now I have not needed to cull any old birds.
The only thing I have trained my chickens to do is go into the coop at night so the coyotes don't eat them.

 

[centrarchid]

So the pen would essentially be where they roosted and laid?

I think I could do it. Feed conversion would very poor and a lot material would need to be cycled in and out pen. Birds would get a little outside time, at least when serving pen. Many of may games are kept penned almost year round. Key challenge is nutrition.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I think I could do it. Feed conversion would very poor and a lot material would need to be cycled in and out pen. Birds would get a little outside time, at least when serving pen. Many of may games are kept penned almost year round. Key challenge is nutrition.

I hope that it’s understood that I’m not calling you out for how you keep your chickens.

 

[centrarchid]

I hope that it’s understood that I’m not calling you out for how you keep your chickens.

I simply think the old approach could be used without employing complete diet formulations. Gamefowl people had to do it for thousands of years where the roosters had to be supplied virtually all their nutrition year round. It was not a low cost route, hence only the well healed could afford to keep more than a few birds confined. I'm certain I could do it, but it would be expensive, like diet made zoo animals.

 

[All Ball]

A very wise member that used to be on here called Beekissed gave me some of the most useful information I have ever received. I'll copy it into a spoiler below, because it's long. That woman has the healthiest, most productive flock I believe I have ever clapped eyes on.

Spoiler: information

I have not been on the site very much in the last couple years, and did not realize that Beekissed is no longer on it!!!

I have learned so much from her and the other "OTs" - old-timers.

For new folks looking for chicken-keeping wisdom:

There is a great thread of OTs talking straight about chicken rearing - https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ockin-chair-and-lay-some-wisdom-on-us.605260/

And Beekissed's tale of how she revived a scraggly, lice-bitten, malnourished group she inherited, with mainly wood ash baths and NuStock: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...le-mites-worms-anemia-gl.709707/#post-9666800.

And of course her thread on fermented feed (FF) for meat birds, which got that started - and most of the wisdom has been gathered into an article on here now, and the thread on DL - deep litter - https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/deep-litter-method.70/ - which I see Bee didn't start, but she was a very helpful voice on it.

These were long, strong, ongoing threads with people ready to offer advice and help.

Wow will I miss her.

Thank you for reviving some of her wisdom.

I see another one of my favorite threads has stopped, and it is relevant to this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...n-keeping-thread-ots-welcome.729605/page-3955

This included many different folks, with different ideas of what "natural chicken keeping" meant, but for some, it was minimal chicken-keeping which I think is what this thread is asking about.

Honestly, I'd recommend to newcomers to search for the robust, long threads on topics - these are the ones that a lot of folks shared info on and where you can learn the most.

 

[MyChickenShack]

We free range all day...I usually open the coop up around 7-8am. After they go in for the night, I lock them up. The underneath part of my coop is blocked in on the front and back ends, but the sides lift up like doors. That's where the ducks stay at night. When they go to bed, I shut the sides down so they are protected. I feed layer feed, calcium, and scratch from tractor supply and scraps... usually things like veggie ends from dicing or left overs. Also other kitchen scraps. All my peelings go in compost bin, of course I have caught them in it scratching a time or too...Most generally my feed is kept in the coop only because my container has a open top and I don't want rain to get in it and I have frequent deer visitors that have actually toppled my feed container...but I have a low profile galvanized pan that I will put kitchen scraps, calcium, and some scratch in that stays outside...love all the ideas everyone has...