The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

A Saturday with husband home, sun out, 70 degrees! I am a bit red in the face and bone weary tired but oh so satisfied with this glorious day!

Finished all the pop doors in the chick house and new pen. Husband kept the power tools plugged in and warmed up and then put a new raised bed out in the potager garden. The White Silkie flock is learning to free range a bit better every day. So i picked them each up, one by one, and deposited them out in the raspberry patch. They seemed to really enjoy that freedom away from the LF girls that push them around all the time. I kept them out there for most of the day until I found them munching on the new green tops of my freshly planted garlic! They certainly have got a taste for it since it's in their FF.

Free ranging Silkies amongst the raspberry canes.



First time out in the chick run and sun shine on their backs for my shipped heritage RIR two week old chicks.



I butchered two young Johnny cockerels this morning before I had my morning coffee. Only twelve weeks old but I didn't want to keep feeding them. There was just enough meat on them for a tasty dinner for two. Very tender. Normally I would grow them out but these were just barn yard chicks that ate more than they were worth. My husband was surprised how good they tasted. I thought they were delicous too.
It was a wonderful Saturday!

All your birds look so yummy!!!

 

[delisha]

As promised

Black

Blue

Splash(pigment hole on left second toe)

Silkies and the "meat group". The Silkies are a week older than the meaties and half the size.

Buckbeak(Buck), Porcelain "Special needs" cockerel from Catdance(6mo)

Marsala, Porcelain pullet from MB(4.5mo)

General Tso, Blue cockerel from MB(5mo)

Your baby's are growing..and your silkies are adorable

 

[Bulldogma]

So we're taking the family to Busch Gardens for spring break and of course I'm a bit freaked out about leaving my flock in the care of someone else. Part of the issue is that I have chicks of all different ages - from 2 days to 6 weeks. I don't worry about the babies under the broodies, but after what happened to my new chicks when a breaker snapped in the middle of the night, I really worry about the incubator-hatched chicks in the brooder. Not only that, but it makes things more complicated for another person to have chicks here and there and there and there...

So I tried a little experiment... I put the 3 surviving week-old SFH chicks in with the black Silkie and her newly hatched babies. Momma wasn't so sure about the blonde chick, but soon decided they must all be hers.

I then tried to put the two 3-week old SFH chicks in with the white Silkie and her 4-week-old chicks.
Not so much! That momma kept the new comers at a distance. I had to run into the house to do something, so I figured the group would be OK for a few minutes... when I got back out to the coop, there was no sign of the 2 chicks. I freaked and went digging through the bedding to see if momma had killed them and buried their little bodies.

Nope -

Apparently my 9-year-old daughter saw that the white Silkie was pecking the 3-week-old chicks and took them out... and put them in with the Black Silkie...

I will now be submitting "Darth 'Bator" for a mother of the year award. She adopted the older chicks right away. No issues to speak of (well... she still eyes the blonde chick, but hasn't been aggressive with her). I put Darth and her 10 chicks in the larger grow-out pen in the front of the trailer coop so they would have lots of space, and I put a heating element out there so that nobody would freeze if they couldn't get under momma.

I went out just a little bit ago to check on them and...

Darth had ALL 10 chicks tucked up under her - - and she looked blissfully happy! I'm amazed that she took on 5 extra chicks that are clearly older than the ones she hatched. And I'm so proud!

The blonde SFH loving having a real Momma to snuggle up under!


Momma with 10 chicks under her... and a FF hairdo!

 

[Ashdoes]

I have apple trees, in fact it turns out I have twice as many as I thought I did - I planted a Gala and a Golden Delicious from Gurneys 6 years ago, and 7 years ago when we bought our place I transplanted some little "flowering" trees I had gotten from Arbor Day Foundation that weren't marked so I had no idea what they were.  Last spring the Gala bloomed for the second year, and the Golden Delicious did not still, and I was about to go buy another apple tree because I was growing impatient, when I saw little apples on the Gala.  Turns out two of the Arbor Day trees were apple trees and produced the most delicious apples we've ever had!  No clue what kind they are, possibly Honeycrisp but purely a guess.  Anyway, yes you do need the second type, but it is mainly dependent on what time of year they bloom in terms of cross-pollinating, so there will be more than the 4 they recommend.  Just start looking for apple trees that bloom/fruit at the same time.

That makes sense, getting trees that bloom at the same time. Wish they would list them better. I've gone to arborday.org and picked a few trees from there as well. The Pixie Crunch is a Gurney tree, so I have to go back and forth between the sites and find which ones to buy for each other.
Pozees, you know how bare it is out here. I'm going crazy, so am hoping to get at least ten trees planted this year and see how they do. My willow in the front seems to be doing well, but I'll know for sure in a couple of weeks. I like how the Arbor day website tells you which trees to get for the area.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Quote:

Your baby's are growing..and your silkies are adorable

Thanks, and General and Marsala seem to be doing better. Both are starting to put on some weight, both gained a couple of ounces this week(they need it). The Porcelain special boy is gorgeous, too bad he can't be bred, I don't want the genetic issues in the flock. He is my pet and will have a companion once quarantine is done, gonna put Marsala in with him. She won't fit in my breeding program and is gonna be my DW's pet. They will get to live happy chicken lives here on our little farm.

 

[Bulldogma]

Mumsy and Trav - GREAT pictures. Thank you for posting the photos, and Mumsy - love hearing about your wonderful Saturday!!

 

[jendodd79]

We got up close to 60F today!!! So amazing. My 3 chicks spent the entire day outside in our old rabbit hutch that sits in the grass. They were so happy and are sleeping peacefully tonight. The Houdan makes the most incredible trilling sound

Still no eggs from my 6 month old flock, so we had to settle for dying and decorating store bought eggs. Maybe next year!

 

[Ashdoes]

Laughing at the suspiciousness of the blonde chick...going to tell my sister that one, being the only blonde in the family she gets the odd look all the time. Too funny.

 

[dcba flock]

So we're taking the family to Busch Gardens for spring break and of course I'm a bit freaked out about leaving my flock in the care of someone else. Part of the issue is that I have chicks of all different ages - from 2 days to 6 weeks. I don't worry about the babies under the broodies, but after what happened to my new chicks when a breaker snapped in the middle of the night, I really worry about the incubator-hatched chicks in the brooder. Not only that, but it makes things more complicated for another person to have chicks here and there and there and there... So I tried a little experiment... I put the 3 surviving week-old SFH chicks in with the black Silkie and her newly hatched babies. Momma wasn't so sure about the blonde chick, but soon decided they must all be hers. I then tried to put the two 3-week old SFH chicks in with the white Silkie and her 4-week-old chicks. Not so much! That momma kept the new comers at a distance. I had to run into the house to do something, so I figured the group would be OK for a few minutes... when I got back out to the coop, there was no sign of the 2 chicks. I freaked and went digging through the bedding to see if momma had killed them and buried their little bodies. Nope - Apparently my 9-year-old daughter saw that the white Silkie was pecking the 3-week-old chicks and took them out... and put them in with the Black Silkie... I will now be submitting "Darth 'Bator" for a mother of the year award. She adopted the older chicks right away. No issues to speak of (well... she still eyes the blonde chick, but hasn't been aggressive with her). I put Darth and her 10 chicks in the larger grow-out pen in the front of the trailer coop so they would have lots of space, and I put a heating element out there so that nobody would freeze if they couldn't get under momma. I went out just a little bit ago to check on them and... Darth had ALL 10 chicks tucked up under her - - and she looked blissfully happy! I'm amazed that she took on 5 extra chicks that are clearly older than the ones she hatched. And I'm so proud! The blonde SFH loving having a real Momma to snuggle up under! Momma with 10 chicks under her... and a FF hairdo!

Thank you for sharing what a great momma!!

 

[jlynnet]

BDM, that is one special little momma!! She can't say no. She just loves being a momma. The more the merrier. She's got her own Brady Bunch.