Raising them Naturally w/pics

[Acre of Blessings]

I have had my 4 week old turkeys outside for more than a week now and they are doing great.

I didn't really keep ours on a strict light regimine. But I guess you can if you want to.

 

[chickenannie]

My chicks go out in 65F weather with dew on the ground in the morning and their mum accompanying. I thought they'd just shiver but they frolic around. However, they do go and sit under mum occassionally. Way to go with yours -- keep us posted -- I'd like to try it myself.

Ruth, do you have a link to your discussions of raising naturally?

 

[ruth]

Quote:
Here ya go.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=36944

 

[chickenannie]

Ruth,
Thanks for the link. I agree with the "letting go" part of what you said. I would like to do that more, and I try to... right now I've got 8 moms with 2-4 chicks each, free-roaming my farm (from 1-3 weeks old) and I've been a bit overly protective and worried that they would die or be attacked. It's a learning curve, always!

But they seem to be doing fine, and even the littlest ones can run/fly like mad if big bad turkey tom approaches or if mom calls them over.

The pecking order is the biggest problem because the other chickens now view the moms as vulnerable and weak and chase them away a lot (from food and water and roost), as the mom's main concern is watching her chickies.

To help with that, I put a 4 x 4' bottomless cage on bricks next to the barn with feeders and waterers inside so that the chicks could wander in and out eating and drinking but the space is only 3 inches high and the adult chickens can't get in. That seems to have helped with making sure the chicks can get food without competing with the older hens.

 

[Guitartists]

I took mine out to the coop a little after 2 weeks. Nights weren't too cold and they had each other to cuddle with. They were happy as could be

There were a few I held back because they were feathering a bit slower..... now they are small in comparison to the others

Being outside sure helps them grow!

 

[Omeletta]

Alright, a little update...
Storm rolling in

So I took some quick pics...

Before bringing them in!

They have had a long day! They did well! I will post more tomorrow.

Tanya

 

[Sahara]

They are soooo cute! I have never raised mine in a brooder but I live in FL and the temps are normally always warm.

 

[mylilchix]

Hmmmm, so does this mean I don't have to be as picky about brooder temp as I have been? I've had a big lamp on my girls since day 1 and I'm constantly moving a thermometer around to make sure they're at the perfect temp. I guess I shouldn't have been so worried about temp. Your babies look awesome!! I'm thinking the natural way works perfectly.
Sonja

 

[ruth]

They look like they've had a great day. Mine always slept really hard after playing all day long.

WOW - are those pics of the sky for real? Looks like a scene from movie Twister. Love your farm and the barns and other buildings - what are they?

 

[Omeletta]

Ruth, I would love to say it is a farm, but really we are just on a large lot. The buildings you probably are referring to are the town grain elevators and a seed storage building. The hill with concrete and pipe on it is the old town cistern, which is right behind our property to the west. It might as well be a farm tho, with the rabbits and chickens, cats and dog and fish. The cloud pictures are real, the second one is out of order tho, it should have come first. Funny thing, we got not a lick of rain, it was all west-north-west of us, and just skittered past to the north. The town 10 minutes north got lots of rain, us, we got none.

The babies are doing well this morning, and are going through feed fast. Could they be meat birds? I assumed they were white leghorns.

I wonder how to replicate this in the future? How can they be incubated, then just stuck in a hamster cage or aquarium? I had a broody hatch out some fertile eggs from a friend last August, and they were outside in 4 C from the beginning of day 4, and I introduced them to the other hens at that time. I lost not 1 chick! They were eating things people say they should not eat, and romping in the rain! I still have 1 of those babies from the August hatch, and she is very healthy, and has 'taught' my hatchery chickens how to truly be chickens!

Pictures and more thoughts soon...

Tanya