The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[countrygirl74]

Nothing better than relaxing in bed, eating popcorn, and catching up on today's posts.

Lol I know. I have posted in large threads like this before and been ignored. I just wanted someones attention first.

I HATE the idea of using chemicals on my birds, but would like to worm them. I have looked and looked, but everything on natural worming is so controversial. I have heard of the cayenne pepper and black walnut shells. So, to the point, has anyone heard of/used a natural substance that will effectively worm my birds?

I just continue to work on prevention - like lots of pumpkin seeds from last fall's pumpkins. But, after reading a bunch of information on it, I thought maybe if I ever had an issue, I might try the Shaklee soap remedy. Seemed one of the most natural methods...

LOL - Here's mine (and forgive me for not searching the whole thread for the answer):

About how much ACV do you put in 1 quart of water for chicks?

I put 1 teaspoon per quart and when they move up to a gallon, I do 1 T.

Here's what type of feeder I'm currently using...



But I do have this one...

I would definitely stick with plastic. Here's an old pic for one of the things I did when the chicks were really little to try to keep them from being covered in it... anything with a lid that you don't mind cutting spaces out of - big enough for them to get feed but not enough for them all to stand in it. It's the one up top with the green lid. Once they got big, I just use a casserole dish/bowl. It's heavy so that they can't really tip it if they choose to stand on the edge, but they really don't get into their feed dishes anymore.

Can baby ducks & chickens be kept together until the ducks are old enough to be let out to be around the pond? Thx for any info

I didn't keep mine together because I found that they picked on each other. Lots of people do though. My personal experience was that I also felt that they had different enough needs that made it easier to have them separated. The ducks need water deep enough to dunk their whole head, chickens don't. The ducks needed added niacin to their water, the chicks did not. The ducks are messy, the chicks, well, not near as much as the ducks. LOL

Brrr what a cold turn we have here in Georgia. Funny I rushed home from work worried about my two newly outed Amereraucanas to find them happily foraging in their run. What is the secret to training them to go back up the ramp into their coop, especially at night? They kind of sort of have the down thing (one better than the other). They spent a few days in the coop with no run time, and they will settle in when I put them in at night (about like toddlers). I installed a Pull-it-shut door (works just like it's supposed to and was supper easy to install). They nestled in the coop near the door after I put them back in for the 2nd time (just like trying to get my kids to bed). They nestled in and watched the door close, then open for the stragglers and then close again as advertised. They did not try to come back out then.

Okay so back to my original question how do I get them to go up the ramp and into the coop on their own at night?

I had to physically put mine in the coop for a few nights and locked them in until I let them out in the morning. Then, one night, they put themselves to bed and I no longer locked it up (they are in a secure run so their actual house is "freely come, freely go").

 

[kian]

The baby chicks I just moved over (10 weeks tomorrow) had to be caught and put in the coop each night for 3 or 4 nights, then they just went in on their own. Tonight I noticed that they were all roosting on the lower roost too!

Oh and I have a broody hen now One of my Cuckoo Marans. Growling and meowing (totally sounds like a cat) even made a sound like, I kid you not, "nooooo" when I was reaching under trying to get the eggs. Got me a couple pecks for it too, but I got three of the eggs out from under her. She has one more for sure. I went back out after it was very dark and she was wide awake, waiting for me LOL. She howled before I even got the nest box door all the way open! So, if she's still doing this tomorrow, I think I'll go get some hatching eggs and see what happens. Oh and of course she is in the favored box (the one that she herself never lays in!). Funny thing is, my *other* CM is on the other nest tonight, not doing anything. I moved her off earlier. She has no eggs under her at all.

 

[jeepgirl13]

I have not seen any worms at all, and I have been checking quite often. I think my neighbors think I'm strange when they see me poking apart a fresh poor with a stick...

Now I feel crazy just saying it! Lol. The whole reason I started looking into this is because I got a couple blue copper marans roosters from a person local to me I met here on this site. Well the.birds were very skinny to me. Now I don't really know exactly what a "normal" healthy chicken is supposed to feel like exactly(this is my first flock), but they didn't feel any where close to what my girls feel like. I posted this on the marans thread and they said they should not be skinny, theyre meat birds, and to worm them asap, and even though I didn't see worms they could still have them.

Now this lady kept them inside, she wasn't allowed roosters, and from what I understand they ate whatever she cooked. I figured this was why they were skinny. Now they have put on weight in the last month and a half but not a whole lot. I have no clue how fast they are supposed to put on weight.

But, I noticed a couple of my hens breastbones are slightly more prominent now. Still no worms in the poor tho. I think this is because the boys are really aggressive with the girls, but that's a whole other issue, and its stressing them a little.

Sorry this is so lengthy, just trying to paint a clear picture. Long story short, I do not know if they have worms, I have not seen any, but like a previous poster replied, I too believe an ounce of prevention is worth pounds of cure. Hence the reason I came here! Not wanting to pump my birds full of chemicals, and not knowing if they are infected, and possibly causing a resistance of some kind, I wanted to find a more gentle and natural approach.

Once again, sorry for rambling, but I wanted to get you as much info as possible. Thank you all so much for your help.

I am a newbie since I have only had my hens since August but I have learned on some old forums from people on this one that all hens have worms. But a natural worm preventive that some others & I use are pumpkin-cucumber-zucchini-squash seeds & cayenne pepper flakes. The veggies they get all winter and as they grow from the garden. The cayenne pepper flakes I add once a month or so to their FF.  I can say that I have never seen an overload of worms in my hens poop ever.  I believe prevention is better than treating a problem.  I also use ACV in their water for good probiotics. They also get garlic in their FF to maintain good health. 

And for mite/lice prevention I use wood ash.  Happily I have never had those either 

Hope this helps & welcome !!

 

[camilleathome]

I have not seen any worms at all, and I have been checking quite often. I think my neighbors think I'm strange when they see me poking apart a fresh poor with a stick...

Now I feel crazy just saying it! Lol. The whole reason I started looking into this is because I got a couple blue copper marans roosters from a person local to me I met here on this site. Well the.birds were very skinny to me. Now I don't really know exactly what a "normal" healthy chicken is supposed to feel like exactly(this is my first flock), but they didn't feel any where close to what my girls feel like. I posted this on the marans thread and they said they should not be skinny, theyre meat birds, and to worm them asap, and even though I didn't see worms they could still have them.

Now this lady kept them inside, she wasn't allowed roosters, and from what I understand they ate whatever she cooked. I figured this was why they were skinny. Now they have put on weight in the last month and a half but not a whole lot. I have no clue how fast they are supposed to put on weight.

But, I noticed a couple of my hens breastbones are slightly more prominent now. Still no worms in the poor tho. I think this is because the boys are really aggressive with the girls, but that's a whole other issue, and its stressing them a little.

Sorry this is so lengthy, just trying to paint a clear picture. Long story short, I do not know if they have worms, I have not seen any, but like a previous poster replied, I too believe an ounce of prevention is worth pounds of cure. Hence the reason I came here! Not wanting to pump my birds full of chemicals, and not knowing if they are infected, and possibly causing a resistance of some kind, I wanted to find a more gentle and natural approach.

Once again, sorry for rambling, but I wanted to get you as much info as possible. Thank you all so much for your help.

The worms that you see would be things like tape worm. But there are hundreds of types of worms(Im not talking just chicken but other animals as well) and other parasites that can be carried without you seeing it in their feces and a fecal float with a microscope would be the only way to tell.

 

[Sally8]

Leah's Mom - What a wonderful opportunity with a trailer that big. Not only space for all the birds but you have cupboards for med's, herbs/spices, even reference books, whatever you might need right at your fingertips and you didn't have to build it. I have to scramble everywhere looking for what I need. If only I could be taught to take care of things.

I had never heard of putting a dirt plug in with the chicks/poults. Definitely going to do that today. Of the chicks I hatched, half will be going tomorrow. I don't feel as sad over the chicks a I do the pout that is going too. Then, at the end of the month a few more are going. I can't say that I won't be glad to get rid of the dust. I can move everyone out of the house and into the brooder pen DH made.

The one nice thing I can say about tornado warnings is that the best warnings are the ones I don't know about until I see the announcement that the warning is off. We had one yesterday (we never have the as we don't get them) and it came across the tv that all was well. It sure was windy and now it sure is cold. It's supposed to be well below freezing the next couple of nights. Lalaland, snow? Seriously?

I see so, so many newbies on and am so excited! New voices and opinions. A great big welcome to all of you. That's the nice thing about this thread. You can have your own opinion and it's ok! Aoxa - that's what I mean't about being hesitant for commenting on putting turkeys and chickens together. Some feel that it's not being responsible as turkeys can get Blackhead from chickens.

Has anyone ever noticed different patterns on feathers out of the same hatch? (this is on turkeys) Most of the baby poults are white like Rosie (Royal Palm) but the darker ones like Chuck (Bronze/Royal Palm cross) have different patterns.

 

[ramblinH]

I would definitely stick with plastic. Here's an old pic for one of the things I did when the chicks were really little to try to keep them from being covered in it... anything with a lid that you don't mind cutting spaces out of - big enough for them to get feed but not enough for them all to stand in it. It's the one up top with the green lid. Once they got big, I just use a casserole dish/bowl. It's heavy so that they can't really tip it if they choose to stand on the edge, but they really don't get into their feed dishes anymore.

This is so helpful! Like this option over buying another feeder So, I'm kinda feeling like a looser chicken mom right now. I woke up at 4am & got to thinking about something that was posted yesterday about pasty butt due to temps in the brooder being to high. I've had a hard time regulating the heat because of my brooder's height & where the lid is positioned... Anyway, heat issue aside, after my post about them looking raggedy from the fermented feed getting on them - I remembered seeing some runny poop still on one chick's bottom last night. So, I went out to check & sure enough - 4 of my 5 Doms & 1 of my 10 BOs had it. I quickly found a thread here on BYC with some suggestions - brought the 5 to the house & ran a stream of warm water over each of their lil hinneys to help get the poo off & then applied a mixture of coconut jojoba oils before returning them to the brooding box. Will be adding a "sand box" today & also giving them some hard boiled eggs & yogurt as a further preventative (already have ACV in their water & a sod plug in with them). Our 8 year old son is so excited about the chicks getting a "sand box". He is also the one that suggested we sing them a lullaby every night & insists on having them all named. So far we have Buttercup (which could be any 1 of the female BOs) but told him we'll have to wait on the Doms because they're straight-run, ha! This goes without saying but one of the reasons I've been excited about getting chickens is for the kids. I'm a firm believer that pets are essential to teaching responsibility & life lessons. We have 4 sons (15, 13, 8 & 6) - our older boys & their Dad like to joke around about chicken dinners but I can't help but think they will still derive some enjoyment from us having chickens in other ways as well! Also, our youngest son is a Downy & I'm especially looking forward to him learning some essential life skills through our newly acquired farm animals! Sorry about the lengthy post but thanks for letting me ramble! Blessed day to you all!

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote:

Or the many I have seen cleaned without them. Yes we did check some for them.
I am talking about Round worms and tape worms which is what people are being led to believe even if it is not what is meant. That is the way I read it anyway and I know it ain't true.
Don't take offence armorfirelady I post something almost every time I see the statement.

No offense taken. I was just repeating what others have said. Heck I figure even my dogs probably have worms with all they eat outside

but have no problems since they are healthy. Heck I figure even people have worms of some sort lol

 

[Leahs Mom]

I'm all caught up! It's been a really busy month!

My Houdan, Polish and drizzle Cochin chicks are 7 weeks now. I've had them in a little rabbit tractor out in the main pen for 2 weeks. Today I put then out with my girls. Everyone left them alone except for my Easter Eggers, who I used to think we're so sweet! They were just doing a little bit of chasing and pecking. Should I just keep doing supervised time?

I noticed that my "Americaunas/Araucanas" (Who knows what they really are) are mean to the young'uns too. On of my A's was the bottom of the pecking order till the new kids came a long and she is pretty mean to them. I think she wants to keep her place in pecking order so she needs to be sure they are lower than she is. Her "sister" A is always mean to HER. The others are just "generally mean" to them but I think it's because they are higher in the pecking order and they don't have as much to protect. Those A's will seek the kids out to torment them.

My thoughts are that if they young'uns have some place to get away from the older ones for respite, let them work it out. I got these fence pieces from the local Lowes that the youngers could get in but the olders couldn't. There are other creative ways to make them a little refuge from items you probably already have.

I know that we have all been told all chickens have worms. If this is a true statement I would like someone to show the worms in this one.

Or the many I have seen cleaned without them. Yes we did check some for them.
I am talking about Round worms and tape worms which is what people are being led to believe even if it is not what is meant. That is the way I read it anyway and I know it ain't true.
Don't take offence armorfirelady I post something almost every time I see the statement.

When we butchered the roosters (the ones we learned on) I purposely cut open the intestines to look for any sign of worms and I didn't see any evidence at all either. These boys weren't raised with the kind of husbandry that I think would be particularly preventive either.

Of course, I was only looking for intestinal worms but I didn't see any problems in any of the organs either.

What other kinds of worms would affect chickens that we wouldn't see in the intestines, heart or major organs... What about brain? Or elsewhere? Just curious as I always wonder about the statement that they all have them as well.

 

[armorfirelady]

So, I went out to check & sure enough - 4 of my 5 Doms & 1 of my 10 BOs had it. I quickly found a thread here on BYC with some suggestions - brought the 5 to the house & ran a stream of warm water over each of their lil hinneys to help get the poo off & then applied a mixture of coconut jojoba oils before returning them to the brooding box.

Will be adding a "sand box" today & also giving them some hard boiled eggs & yogurt as a further preventative (already have ACV in their water & a sod plug in with them).

Our 8 year old son is so excited about the chicks getting a "sand box". He is also the one that suggested we sing them a lullaby every night & insists on having them all named. So far we have Buttercup (which could be any 1 of the female BOs) but told him we'll have to wait on the Doms because they're straight-run, ha!

This goes without saying but one of the reasons I've been excited about getting chickens is for the kids. I'm a firm believer that pets are essential to teaching responsibility & life lessons. We have 4 sons (15, 13, 8 & 6) - our older boys & their Dad like to joke around about chicken dinners but I can't help but think they will still derive some enjoyment from us having chickens in other ways as well! Also, our youngest son is a Downy & I'm especially looking forward to him learning some essential life skills through our newly acquired farm animals!

Sorry about the lengthy post but thanks for letting me ramble! Blessed day to you all!

It seems like you are all going to enjoy your new chicks So glad to see you have found this forum.

Another thing a lot of us here do is ferment our feed. It raises the available proteins of the food and they get better benefits and eat less which lowers your feed cost. Its very simple yet very healthy for your flock. Others have said that when they raised their chicks on the FF they rarely had pasty butt.
Here is the link if your interested: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds

I have not seen any worms at all, and I have been checking quite often. I think my neighbors think I'm strange when they see me poking apart a fresh poor with a stick...

Now I feel crazy just saying it! Lol. The whole reason I started looking into this is because I got a couple blue copper marans roosters from a person local to me I met here on this site. Well the.birds were very skinny to me. Now I don't really know exactly what a "normal" healthy chicken is supposed to feel like exactly(this is my first flock), but they didn't feel any where close to what my girls feel like. I posted this on the marans thread and they said they should not be skinny, theyre meat birds, and to worm them asap, and even though I didn't see worms they could still have them.

Now this lady kept them inside, she wasn't allowed roosters, and from what I understand they ate whatever she cooked. I figured this was why they were skinny. Now they have put on weight in the last month and a half but not a whole lot. I have no clue how fast they are supposed to put on weight.

But, I noticed a couple of my hens breastbones are slightly more prominent now. Still no worms in the poor tho. I think this is because the boys are really aggressive with the girls, but that's a whole other issue, and its stressing them a little.

Sorry this is so lengthy, just trying to paint a clear picture. Long story short, I do not know if they have worms, I have not seen any, but like a previous poster replied, I too believe an ounce of prevention is worth pounds of cure. Hence the reason I came here! Not wanting to pump my birds full of chemicals, and not knowing if they are infected, and possibly causing a resistance of some kind, I wanted to find a more gentle and natural approach.

Once again, sorry for rambling, but I wanted to get you as much info as possible. Thank you all so much for your help.
My hens were underweight as well. Their keel bone was very prominent when I examined them. I started adding game bird conditioner to their FF. I think its just a genetic thing with them. But between the FF, larger ranging ares with a lot of available bugs & the game bird feed the hens have successfully put on some weight and their keel bone is not as pronounced. And thats with their decrease in eating their FF since they have such a large area to forage in

If they were my hens I would add pumpkin seeds (or the other seeds mentioned) and garlic & other herbs to their FF and see if they start looking better. I dont believe in treating for something that isnt obvious to me unless I started seeing them in their poop or obvious decline in health. And I would never use a chemical dewormer. A lot of people choose to worm their birds at the first sign of illness or yearly. I believe that prevention is much better. So far it has worked well for us

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
And here is another link to a 3-part article with information about LACTO-FERMENTING feed for chickens.