The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Sally8]

After losing the 2 poults yesterday, I changed things around. I'm taking the pen and tote to the car wash today and going to disinfect all dishes. I've had such a terrible cold. It just makes me wonder.
These are some of my living babies.







The chicks that are the Super Blue Layers (White Leghorns/EE are stating to show differences. The comb's on 2 of them are looking larger that the rest. Maybe I'll end up with only 2 roo's out of 6. I'm happy to say that the chick, Hoppy, with the splayed legs can walk normally now. I'm so glad! I'm hoping that it is a she as this was the egg with the shell varnished/stuck, poo stuck, and splayed legs (took 36 hours and then I took every bit of the shell off. I did everything I said I would never do.) Now I can't tell him from the rest.





And then another pic of Thor. His feather's are starting to fuzz out.

 

[chikenscratch]

Got it!!!

 

[delisha]

Anyone use Agra. lime for odder control in brooder

No..
I feed FF to chicks and no poop odor.

My Silkie girl Cloud isn't laying yet either, and she's 8 months. But yesterday my Cochin boy tried to mate her, and my Silkie boy attacked him and then guarded her for the next hour. Told my husband he is coming home just in time, because Cloud and Sprite need a new, secluded home. We've decided to make a Silkie garden, and today I picked a tree for them, a Kousa Dogwood. Hoping to either order some Catdance eggs, or Cloud and Sprite having babies. We'll see how it goes. I'm excited for Spring!

I need to see pictures..

We have a broody in our midst... Snowball, our White Leghorn hen.
She just decided to lay right down in the dirt...
She doesn't even mind I'm touching her...

She looks more like she is trying to dust bath

I have a question for anyone with garden knowledge.........

While we have had a few days of sunshine & temps in the 4s during the day the temps still have been down in the 20s/30s at night. We might even get some snow next week

UGH
but I would like to know if anyone has an idea when I can throw some clover seeds down? The area around the new coop is muddy and I would like to throw some seed down so it can get situated before I put up the electric fencing.

Can I put the seed down even if it gets below freezing at night? We can & have gotten snow as late as mid april :/ .........tho I am more than ready for spring !!!

I keep reading I can put in cool weather crops so I might plant peas, maybe garlic & potatoes to on sunday if I have seeds.........the ground is workable in the garden thanks to the hens........

Toss them in..you can put some of your DL over the top if they are going to eat all the seeds.

You can/should throw clover down before the last frost. Just throw it on top of the soil, then the next and hopefully last frost comes and the ground cracks and the seeds fall in. I am doing this this year, haven't yet, but researched for a while now, and have read this in a couple of places. I posted a link a while back, but won't be able to find it here. If I come across it again, I'll post it for you.

X2..

I need a little refresher, from all the other FF people. I would ask on the FF thread, but it's not exactly friendly over there right now for opinions.
I read the FF series, but don't recall seeing the answer...fermenting the feed doesn't raise the protein, it just makes more of it available to the chicken. Yes? I was pretty sure this was something we all talked about way back, but I'm just rechecking.

Yes,
It does not raise proteins, it makes more available

So I asked a question yesterday with the necropsy photos but it may have been overlooked. Elphaba's body cavity was completely filled with a clear yellow liquid. The research I did points to Leukosis, but I found no tumors on her organs. Is there anything else that would cause the yellow liquid?

1. Clear liquid can be a form of ascites sometimes. That is when organs cant process daily stress, the heart is over loaded, the liver can't process the extra fluids from the higher blood pressures and there is leakage.
2. It is systemic disease involvement when you have fluid.
3. It is genitic/toxemia

Hey CoopChick According to Boss Brothers Feed they are both supposed to be Ameraucanas (guess we will see what pops out). The Brown one (named from where she was bought) is Bossy, the other Flossie. I am impressed that your helpers helped you dig. I tried that with mine while digging the trench around my coop (coyotes killing goats and flocks around here). They got down there with me nose to snout...dropped their ball in and dug to get it out, that was about all their attention span would allow. I was tempted to drop balls all around the perimeter to enlist them but just dug it myself. A good motivator for me was my big ole 6 10 hubby saying he knew I could not do this by myself....then I did girl power (okay me and my furry helpers did)

lol
Good for girl power


Out of my last 4 eggs I have 2 pips..the last two have nothing going on..hoping for pips today sometime..

 

[chikenscratch]

Del-good pic of the babies

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote:
Originally Posted by armorfirelady

I have a question for anyone with garden knowledge.........

While we have had a few days of sunshine & temps in the 4s during the day the temps still have been down in the 20s/30s at night. We might even get some snow next week

UGH
but I would like to know if anyone has an idea when I can throw some clover seeds down? The area around the new coop is muddy and I would like to throw some seed down so it can get situated before I put up the electric fencing.

Can I put the seed down even if it gets below freezing at night? We can & have gotten snow as late as mid april :/ .........tho I am more than ready for spring !!!

I keep reading I can put in cool weather crops so I might plant peas, maybe garlic & potatoes to on sunday if I have seeds.........the ground is workable in the garden thanks to the hens........

Toss them in..you can put some of your DL over the top if they are going to eat all the seeds.

After losing the 2 poults yesterday, I changed things around. I'm taking the pen and tote to the car wash today and going to disinfect all dishes. I've had such a terrible cold. It just makes me wonder.
These are some of my living babies.

Sorry about the loss of the poults....but those are some cute chicks

 

[Sally8]

What a cute picture. I love the variety of colors! sue

 

[AmericaunaMama]

I kept redworms for a time in rubbermade bins for the sake of composting. They make an amazing fertilizer for organic gardens, It was before I had the chickens, so they were my "babies" and the idea of breeding them just to feed to chickens, doesn't do it for me, but I know my girls would go wild for some if I could.

For the sake of chicken treats though, redworms multiply in number every six months, but they are not large. Other varities that are bigger, like you would see for fishing, have a slower rate of reproduction, and either way worms need a surprising amount of care. I would be happy to give you the quick and dirty on worm bin setup, where to get them, and how to keep them happy and baby making, if you are still interested. They can be kept inside year round, and only outside if you live somewhere warm and tropical (humid) or have an elaborate setup.

Let me know!

 

[TheCrazyClucker]

Quote:
No, she's a broody all right. There's a nest of eggs under her. I'll get a picture.

 

[bluebirdnanny]

DSCF0015_zps6e59f200.jpg.html

There is the little coop from Tractor Supply online. Sitting on the raised "lean to" frame I built against the shed with scrap pieces of 2x4 and old metal shelving corner posts as supports. The wire laying down will be the 10' skirting buried and up to framing as a predator digging guard.

For now I put womanized plywood over the frame and set the coop on that. Filled the covered end with straw and the nesting boxes. I have cedar chips/shavings... should I put that in the fresh air part for now?

Plan will be to keep them (only 3 RIR 3 year olds) in that cramped little thing (toted as 8 chicken coop) until I get a sufficient protected run finished. Then they will know where to go back to. And I will turn the platform into a lean to coop and use the TSC as a quarantine pen or a lockdown unit if I can expand later.

Will take more pictures today but it took this dial up an hour to get that one shot uploaded!!! But there is the beginning efforts of this poor womans housing attempts for quick temp housing for the chickens.

Already have the heated water bottle, and organic laying feed, epsom salts, bag balm, chicken probiotic/electrolites, yogurt..AND My .22 is ready for any attempting possums or raccoons breakin.

Pray for me I do this right. I can not afford vet bills. I must learn the natural methods and do everything myself. Well, too late to turn back now!! Chickens are being brought over on Monday!!! I hope she approves of my set up plans for her 'pets'.

Sorry for long thread..... am excited but very, very nervous in this new endeavor. Questions will be forth coming after I get them to be sure I acess their incoming health correctly and also to keep or make them healthy.

 

[chikenscratch]

Bbnanny-relax. Chiickens seriously are easy. The most important things are heat, food and water. If you haven't already I recommend reading Small flock poultry by Ussery. Excellent advice for staters.