The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

A great visit with my daughter from Seattle yesterday. She is hedging a bit on taking the pullets any time soon. No coop or pen yet. I told her no worries. If I sell her four, there are plenty coming along she can take any time. She is really fascinated by the HRIR chicks. She may get some of them.


No tornadoes where I live. Or floods or pestilence either. Living on an island in a temperate climate was by choice. However we do get the occasional big wind. Our fear is and always has been falling trees or big limbs. I lock my birds up every night. They free range all day. I wouldn't do anything different during a storm. Except maybe not go outside myself to avoid getting hit by trees and falling branches. I've had limbs come down and smash fences and pens but birds were safe inside the barn. We've had big limbs hit the house too and damage the roof. Lot of big trees in the PNW.

When I first read this I thought it said, "She is really fascinated by the HAIR chicks. (I thought she meant the silkies!!!!!!) Had to read that again!

good news - the hen is pooping green! very oily as she has had two doses of oil mixed with teeny tiny pieces of bread - and not normal yet, but a good dark green.
she still isn't too interested in food. I am hoping to return her to the coop tonight.

I am going to be sure to make a quarantine pen in the coop I'm building in the storage half of the trailer coop. Would love not to have the big old dog kennel in the house! And now that I have two cats, it is hard to deal with the hen and two cats when you are trying to treat her/bathe her, etc.

I decided she doesn't have lice - used a flashlight to get a better look at her bloomers and I think I was just seeing urates stuck to the feathers.

only 2 inches of snow so far, more coming!

Good news!

You know, I remember the photo of your trailer coop - but did you post photos of the inside of it? If so, could you direct me to those photos? If not, could you post some?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Aoxa - I have to do about 3 more hours of work here then I'll have time to look at that web site. If you want protein percentages, PG is very good with that part of things!

 

[jime]

Hello everybody, I am new here and just finished catching up.
I want to make a comment on the tornados.I live about 15 miles away from a tornado area, my house gets some really nasty winds 80 +.Last year was my first with chickens and third leaving in here so I did not know much of the weather or area where we were.
Well I had my duckling in a hoop coop I made, it was a really nasty thunder storm with lots if wind by the time I went to lock everybody the hoop coop was gone and I could not find my 12 duckling and 4 geese, thanks god my chickens were in their other coop a really heavy one made by amish people (well build is no way that will fly any place), well I try to look as much as I could but nothing the hail was already the size of golf balls so i was getting really beat up.Went to bed pretty sad.Next day I went to check on my chickens and see if the duck will be in some place I was thinking on finding bodies they were just 6 weeks, to my surprise on my way there I could hear some duck calling so they manage to hide in the dog run inside the pail where I put the poop , they were stinky and nasty but well they at least have the instinct to go under shelter. They I went to open the door for the chickens and from the tree jump 4 more babies my muscovies they manage to go in the tree how been so young I guess they did use those claws.I still missing my geese well I gave up on them and after my breakfast went to feed the horses on the other side of the property and there they were the 4 babies with the horse in the stall.After that storm i put anchors in the coops and they resisted pretty well.
Time pas and have to move everybody to the other side of the property because we have complains from our lovely neighbour I figure I did not need those anchors since was getting close to winter,well wrong we had a really bad storm again and morning came and my husband is leaving for work at 5:30 in the morning and comes running and tells me i have to go and collect my coops that are in the neighbour property up I went and the coops were broken and no chickens to be found I lost 17 chickens that night.

After that I learn: not nice looking coops (those look pretty but are not made heavy), hoop coops: they need to have front and back wall so the wind does not get in and lift it up, and put anchors on your coops, the ones for camping work great.
I find that ducks and geese will survive better outside that chickens, and my chickens are really troopers they free range the hole day only came to sleep to the coop, but if you leave them out in the night they will not survive , they don't know how to hide from predators neither.

 

[Mumsy]

HRIR chick with odd eye. Brought it in the house. I don't know what this is. No other symptoms yet. Found it chirping loudly in the chick run shivering. I had booted everyone out to clean the chick house. Did not notice any chicks acting or looking oddly until this one. Anyone know what that eye looks like?


FF speckled head So it's been eating. Passed normal poo. The eye looks blind.

 

[aoxa]

HRIR chick with odd eye. Brought it in the house. I don't know what this is. No other symptoms yet. Found it chirping loudly in the chick run shivering. I had booted everyone out to clean the chick house. Did not notice any chicks acting or looking oddly until this one. Anyone know what that eye looks like?


FF speckled head So it's been eating. Passed normal poo. The eye looks blind.

Yes! I had a hen that had that eye!

No worries, she was fine, but was blind in that eye.



In front. In a terrible state of molt, but she was such a sweetie. We called her Honey Bunny.Her sister in behind. Her other eye was fine. it never got better and never got worse. Just the inner eyelid covered the majority of her eye. We had a vet vaccinate for ILT (requirement for showing), and he said it was not contagious or genetic. We hatched her crosses and not a single one had it. Could have it been from injury? Who knows.

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote:

I was wondering if those tent poles that have corkscrew on them in the ground with tie downs that are long enough to over coop from one side to another would help in high winds (not tornadoes) ? I know my hoop coop is not air tight at all but I def agree I rather have the pop doors open so they could get out if they needed

 

[Mumsy]

Thank you Justine. The eye isn't watery or crusty. Just blind looking. The chick is in the house warming up and chirping loudly. Passed poo four times in an hour! I have noticed all the chicks pecking FF off each other heads. All the Silkie chicks are losing their beards and muffs. Maybe this chick got it in the eye by accident? I'm going to separate the HRIR chicks from the Silkies and see if that helps in the feather pecking.

 

[bluebirdnanny]

I'm not all caught up yet but...I wanted to answer these and AFL
The lightning wasn't my concern - the HIGH WINDS are, as LW mentions. If we get a tornado through here it can twist high intensity towers and take whole houses off their foundations. Since the hen house isn't "moored" to any foundation, I imagine it just rolling by like an over sized, square beach ball...somewhat like lw described his hoop.

But...if the door is open, at least they have a chance to escape from something like that...at least that was what I was thinking. Seems that if the doors are all shut tight, they may just end up being inside a death trap.

Wow.... my coop (really more of a tractor in my head) just sets on top the platform I built out off the shed. Nothing has figured out it is not locked down. But they could get under the platform.

Yes! I had a hen that had that eye!

No worries, she was fine, but was blind in that eye.



In front. In a terrible state of molt, but she was such a sweetie. We called her Honey Bunny.Her sister in behind. Her other eye was fine. it never got better and never got worse. Just the inner eyelid covered the majority of her eye. We had a vet vaccinate for ILT (requirement for showing), and he said it was not contagious or genetic. We hatched her crosses and not a single one had it. Could have it been from injury? Who knows.

She sure is a cutie though!


Ok if this works... I have question on eggs getting lighter.... They ranged a lot the days they got lighter.... except today torential rain all day.
Here is the photo:
whylighterthanpast_zps39f2a8e7.jpg.html

lighterthanpast_zps9a14a8c2.jpg.html

Now WHY did it only post the link and not the actual photo? ARRRGGHHH.
Sorry the photo didn't transfer just the link. Finicky photo bucket! Had a photo of what I was questioning might be bumblefoot beginn or for cursor in that album too.

 

[aoxa]

Thank you Justine. The eye isn't watery or crusty. Just blind looking. The chick is in the house warming up and chirping loudly. Passed poo four times in an hour! I have noticed all the chicks pecking FF off each other heads. All the Silkie chicks are losing their beards and muffs. Maybe this chick got it in the eye by accident? I'm going to separate the HRIR chicks from the Silkies and see if that helps in the feather pecking.

Yes that is exactly what was going on with Honey. We thought she was injured before we got her, but an injury would heal.. at least somewhat. She would always tilt her head and look at me with her good eye. She made front page of BYC with her cocked head look.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I could see the photos in the album!