The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[chikenscratch]

Holy Chicken!!!!!

It has taken me FOREVER to read thru all of these posts!

Ok, go....

No formula for feed, I just get it out a bag mix it with FF

I keep one large nest box for all birds so far. now that I'll have more hens I'll add another nest if they determine that one isn't enough!

Love coconut oil. I do the same with olive oil. I mix it with sugar and put it on as a scrub. Get for circulation as the scrubbing increases blood flow. Do you have low circulation all over or just extremities?

I get the last of my babies this Friday! I am so egg-cited. Delisha and I are traveling to a friends house for a "chicken day". This will make my total 14 (3 black orps, 3 blrw, 2 ameraucanas, and 6 lav orps). I will not be keeping all 14 however. I'll pick thru the best, sort out any males (if any), and sell/trade the rest.

Ugh, getting tired.

 

[delisha]

Quote: She is a pullet..if I tell you not to worry..will you worry any way?

Pullets are just starting and not hens yet.
Think of it this way..I know this is weird, but..try to think of it the same..

A young girl just sexually developing and starts menses. Some times she is normal, sometimes she is not..nothing is wrong, she is just growing up and maturing. Eventually most of the time things start working like clock work after she has been in menses for a full year..the same with a chickens.

 

[Ashdoes]

She is a pullet..if I tell you not to worry..will you worry any way?

Pullets are just starting and not hens yet.
Think of it this way..I know this is weird, but..try to think of it the same..

A young girl just sexually developing and starts menses.  Some times she is normal, sometimes she is not..nothing is wrong, she is just growing up and maturing. Eventually most of the time things start working like clock work after she has been in menses for a full year..the same with a chickens.

I will TRY not to worry. They're just such good layers, all four of my first flock have laid an egg every day this winter, amazingly. So when something odd happens I worry before remembering that they are still very new at this. Thanks Delisha!

 

[TeriO]

I'm sorr y I tried to post but it didn't work on nest boxes. I had four hens in two nesy boxes. They only used one I belive is the monkey see monkey do mentality. That favored nest box is now occupied by the broody so the others have laid in the same spot in the coopm. No one has ever laid in that other box. I would love to do dels experiment with the fake eggs. Although you have to wonder if no one else wants to lay next to a puffed up growling maniac. Lol

 

[Turkeytruff]

OK I have resigned myself to the fact that i am NEVER going to get through all this thread - not that AND do my taxes and all the other stuff (blah) that has to get done.
So my largest BCM hen was looking as if she was egg bound tonight. For the last 3 days I have seen her lying in the straw or in a nest box with her back end pulsing and no egg coming. Eventually there would be an egg so I wasn\t too worried. However tonight I have been hanging around the henhouse watching my broody (I think they are finally pipping, 3 of the 8 are due tomorrow!) and she stayed like that for an hour. Having read up on egg bound hens, I took her inside and gave her a warm bubble bath and then used a hair dryer to dry her off.
Well afterwards I then gently palpated between her legs and it was soft - no egg in there - and then took her back. I'm not sure what was going on with her, but she seemed to enjoy her hour at the salon, especially the hairdryer!

On another topic completely, I moved my broody because another bantam kept taking over her nest and wouldn't let her back on. Unfortunately it was in the morning not after dark, & she was so upset she was stomping around and one of the eggs cracked. It was a perfectly formed BCM chick with the yolk still there but would have been ready to go -

So at least I now know my BCM roo is fertile, but really keeping all fingers and toes crossed for the rest of them (there were 5 BCM eggs, and the alpha bantam kept sneaking a new egg in every day until I got wise and started checking & marking them- so I left 3 - little buggers will be bantam olive eggers if they make it and are pullets!)

 

[Mumsy]

Mumsy,
A few pages back you had stated that you were getting rid of everything, and concentrating on HRIR, and the Silkies. You are raising the last batch of Johnny chicks, but I haven't read what your plans are for Johnny. Do you have a home in mind for him?

I will only be breeding HRIR and Silkies. Johnny and a few barn yard layers will not cramp my plans. There will be no more barn yard chicks after this lot are processed and or sold.

About nesting places: I have two nests in the layer pen. Phoebe and Edith take turns using the same upper nest and when Judy was laying, she used the bottom nest and went broody in that one too. Now she is sleeping in the upper nest with her four chicks. They are fouling it so tomorrow they will be booted out of that pen. I had fake eggs in other nests in the barn. The three hens never laid an egg in any of them. I have a hunch that hens use instincts to nest in community spots for safety and community egg clutches. With chickens it's all about finding food together, roosting together, and reproducing together. The odds of survival increase for the individual bird when these three things are practiced in a flock.

 

[CoopChick719]

Its amazing that DH will come looking for you when you are out of the house, huh? Mine does the same.
I need to know where you are posting these conversational threads/posts that everyone is talking about. I'm completely missing them.

Yeah, he does this if I'm upstairs reading too, then goes & turns on the TV which was WHY I was upstairs in the first place!

I mean I love him but sheesh!

Mine too - although I think he just knows now and the kids just answer - "with the chickens" automatically when he asks.

That is my kids standard answer too.

The things we allow you to get away with..... You just had your chick moon us......

Your Russian stinks! I had to slow down to read it.

Here is my super secret recipe....

Bringggggg, Brinnnggggg!

Hello? Zanesville Feed Supply?

Um Yes.....

This is Shawn up in Coshocton.... I need some of that 16% Hog feed.....

You mean with corn, wheat yada yada yada....

Yeah, whatever you normally give me.... I need a ton and will be there in an hour or two....

Ok....

Ok, bye, thanks

Cranky lady

He is such an *****.....

That said, I am thinking hard about raising Barley Fodder this summer and next winter.

 

[cywiar merch]

Ha ha!!!

I don't know about the dummies book, but my favorite book is The Small Scale Poultry Flock by Harvey Ussery. Natural in approach and lots of good info. Web site has a lot of the contents of the book in the articles at the bottom of this page. http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Poultry.html

As a newbie I have bought this book. Very accessible and great information.

 

[cywiar merch]

Okay...on the feed...

Because I get mine at a local feed mill made fresh, they require me to get a minimum of 300 lbs. I hear that's good because some require 1000 lbs or even a ton! Because of the minimum, I have to share with another chicken keeper who's close by and I have to do SOME things a little different than I'd do if it were just for myself only. So...that's background you need to know to understand some of the "whys" to this formula.

Right now I purchase a VERY BASIC MIX for their main feed which is all organic. You can also find "non-GMO" grains that are a little less expensive than organic. If you're trying to avoid GMOs, you might want to check around to see if you have a local feed mill where you can purchase the items whole or have them make a mix for you.

My BASIC feed is made by my local feed mill with whole grains, peas and fish meal. Currently I use this mix to ferment as the grains are coarse ground and it is powdery. It's perfect for fermenting as they get all the ingredients mixed in and use them all.

Since it's "powdery", before I began fermenting, I would either soak it over night in water, mix it with whey or raw milk, or mix it with a little melted lard. Any of these ways helps them eat everything in the mix.

Right now my BASIC "All Flock" Feed consists of:
40% Organic Corn
45% Organic Peas
3.6% Organic Alfalfa Pellets
3.6% Organic Fish Meal
2.2% Cal Carb #20
5% Organic Fertrel Nutribalancer


So..if you think in terms of a 100 lb batch, it looks like this (you can divide for smaller poundage):
Organic Corn

40 lbs.​

Organic Peas

45 lbs.​

Organic Alfalfa Pellets

3.6 lbs.​

Organic Fish Meal

3.6 lbs.​

Cal Carb #20

2.2 lbs.​

TOTAL WEIGHT

95 lbs.​

Organic Fertrel
Nutribalancer

5 lbs.​

OVERALL TOTAL

100 lbs.​

This is about 16% protein and low calcium because it is formulated as "all flock" then I free-feed CalCarb and they also have grit available at all times.

I add extra protein in the form of raw meats. I also sprout various grains and seeds so that basic recipe isn't all they get. In the winter they get various greens like kale as well.

They also get to "range" during the warm months where they also get lots of green grass, bugs, and anything else they can find. They also have access to the compost pile that they forage through!



I know I post this over and over but....you might take a look at this site that has some recipes for various feeds that might be helpful. This article is Part 3 http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Making-Poultry-Feeds-3.html

Check out the other parts too! The site also has lists of feed info that are very interesting!

Thanks for sharing your recipes. Is it possible to FF the above without grindig or for example the ones in the Ussery book. I don't have a grinder. Also, I read that grinding grains and leaving them out results in the degrading of nutrients. is this true? Thanks for all the help and info onthis forum. It is a minefield of info.

 

[Leahs Mom]

The only thing that I think you couldn't leave whole would be the corn if you use it. Del is grinding her feed in the blender fresh for the chicks but doesn't grind as they get older, I believe (am I right Del?).

Yes...it can go rancid shortly after ground. Since I share, I don't have it long but, in my opinion, having it ground even as short as I do isn't optimal. I'm definitely considering purchasing the components and making it fresh now that I have a little more experience.

Del - do you use corn? Can you grind it in the blender?

On whole corn fermented...I've not tried it but it seems to me that it would work as the soaking should soften it up. Has anyone soaked or fermented WHOLE corn? How did it work for you?