The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[TipihlowLadies]

Does anyone know if moon lilies are a hazard to chickens.

 

[loanwizard]

I am only going to say this once. IF you are doing nothing against the rules, If you are 100% within your rights, DO NOT allow a neighbor to buffalo you.

You are a lady and trying to appease your neighbor by doing as he says. He chose to be a bad neighbor by even saying anything to you about it. How DARE he cause stress to your daughter. He is complaining about noise pollution. I would complain to him about his visual pollution as I can just picture him entering and leaving the hot tub... He SURE ain't no Loinwizard.....

On another subject, mosquitoes breed in an ideal environment. If I remember correctly, old tires are a good spot.... so.... dark, hot, stagnant water is ideal for them. If you shade it so it isn't so hot, or go the other way if you have to.... change the environment. I would probably put in a small (300GPH) pond or bilge pump. A little current keeps the water fresh and bug breeding free.

Maybe some recall how I have been struggling in business.... Just had a meeting at the bank today and they decided to lend me a bunch of money to sell cars on EBay. I hope that I can make it work and not make myself and them look like idiots. Of course the top dealer on EBay sells 1000 cars a month on there, and number 4 sells 250. I would be happy with 10 month....

Time will tell.
I will lurk but have to devote my passion and energy to my business.
Much love to all!

Shawn

PS.... CG, I have 12,000 acres behind me. Wanna come? LMBO!

 

[Bulldogma]

Warning! The following post contains graphic springtime beauty content and has nothing to do with chickens.















My youngest finally came home today, but mamma still needed some flower therapy. LOL.

Hensbit... they look happy to see me!


Gratuitous cute chick photo:

 

[pigeonguy]

He has agreed to let us try putting up a privacy fence on just one side of property - his side - to see if it helps to muffle the sound. Then, we'll go from there I guess... I wish I made enough money to sell this place and get a new house somewhere else! When we talked, he did start out mad, using choice words, but I just kept my cool and stayed sweet and he mellowed out. He agreeable to wait long enough for us to try some other options before having to get rid of them - only because he has daughters too and he realizes how upset my daughter is, about possibly having to give them away.
As for the eggs, he already gets all the fresh eggs he wants from his mother-in-law who has tons of chickens. He says he just doesn't want any living next to him. He's complained about our ducks some too but says he's "willing to put up with the ducks, just not the roosters". When he first saw us building our coop, his first response was, "I better not be able to smell them when I'm sitting in my hot tub in the evening" and "You're not going to make an eyesore of the coop, are you?" I almost laughed out loud at that one because you should see his yard compared to mine... night and day. That comment just blew me away.

So he is going to decide if you keep them or not. How is that if you are zoned to have them.?
Personally I would get more.
You don't want to know what would happen to him if he cursed and raised his voice to my wife.

 

[jlynnet]

Shawn I wish you the absolute best selling cars!!!

BDM, yippee the little one is home!

 

[Eggcessive]

Bulldogma, glad she got to come home today. We have the same climate as you--I am loving the blooms on the trees, shrubs, and flowers! Nice photos.

 

[CoopChick719]

It worked out really well - I ended up throwing the crumble spice mix in the food processer with the chicken liver and some lettuce, and a big fistful of cilantro I cut from the garden. Processed a bit and smashed it into a few ziploc baggies.

Good thing DH is helping his parents move today, he might not understand what I'm doing (LOL)

My DH tells people that the chickens eat better than he does. I told him I'll whip him up some FF if he'd like.

I bet your summers are brutal! 74 is PERFECT. weather. Dream weather. It snowed today and the snow that fell is already gone. It's going to be relatively nice this week. Nice for us, not so nice compared to your 74 degrees. In the 40's and 50's this week for highs.

74 would be just lovely all summer! We had the same highs this week.

I finally took the poor ameracauana out of the bantam brooder and stuck her separate with the little maybe cochin bantam for a friend. the other bantams were beating her up (she's TWICE their size) and she was cowering under the water dish. I came out to get more tea, and my husband had her on his lap; he was telling her that she was a good sweetie and that those mean bantam boys were going to be dinner.

Poor baby! DH is a good man!!

These are my black copper Marans chicks.

This is Elvis who likes firewood for chew toys.

Pretty chicks!! Loving Elvis!!

BDM, Hope everyone at your house is feeling better soon!!

Brandilees, Sorry about your hen!

 

[pigeonguy]

Ok a question for the OTs...as u know I've had poopy butts on my hens the last few months or so. I originally thought it was the yogurt or granola, they haven't had either in at least a month but probably closer to 2 months. Their FF consists of layer pellets, boss, scratch (milo, corn and millet), oats, game bird feed, flax seed, garlic, cayenne pepper, and basil. The cayenne pepper is like every other month. They were getting fresh veggies but now they are out in their netted area they ignore it. I feed back egg shells as we have them & they get cooked eggs once a month. They can get a variety of food scraps as I have them. Calcium & grit is always available.

Since they have been in their new coop with their new area their FF they consume is a lot less. But they have full crops at bed. So they must be filling up on grass, clover, weeds and bugs. The 2 that had prolapse vents haven't showed the signs since I found them. Last week or so I get 4 eggs a day

. The 2 with the prolapse vents have put on some much needed weight with the game feed. I can feel their keels but not pronounced like before. Eggs look better (except the one that's white every few days- no clue why they were always brown)

The poopy butts is not bad. You can only see it if their head tipped down as the scratch and its very little. No skin redness. I just clean the area with baby wipes. But all 4 have it. The layer pellets, boss & scratch I have had since last fall. I bought 25 or 50# bags & store it in heavy duty plastic tub to keep critters out. I don't see bugs in it either.

Any ideas? It started before the game bird and flax seed was added. I keep trying to figure out what's causing it and am clueless. I'm thinking its just the dynamics of the hens. I want to say I first noticed it when they started laying (December) since I don't remember it before. I do know they have been on layer pellets since I got them in August because that's what the lady was feeding them when I bought them (-they were about 13 weeks old)

I remember reading somewhere where people said oats could cause loose stools. But I was adding oats since the fall.
Their poops are all normally that are on the ground. It's almost like they have to many feathers and just mess when they go. If they wiped I would say they miss a spot lol

Curious as to your thoughts on a cause & maybe how to rectify it? I could make smaller batches of ff and eliminate one ingredient one by one to see if I can figure it out that way?

I also wanted to share my deal I got today off Craig's list

$25 for the 2 feeders & waterer. I couldn't resist. The waterer will go out in their fenced area and the feeders I am thinking one with grit and one with calcium

. The waterer is almost $40 new !!

I feed sweet 16 if any birds get loose stools around here. Some say the molasses in it does the opposite but it has always worked for me more than 40 years.

 

[mikkles]

ok. what is sweet 16?

 

[dcba flock]

Much needed laughs tonight on here thank you between the poopy butts the torcher techniques for annoying neighbors oh and my favorite the" little crippled shaving eater! " Love the pics of spring and chicks playing outside someday WI will see spring!