The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Eggcessive]

Melabella, Great looking run. It might help to put some clear tarps on some of the sides of the run to cut the wind and rain. I bought some last year from Tarps.com (clear poly tarps) and they are pretty thick, but allow light. You have to fasten them well so they don't flap around and scare the chickens (I made that mistake at first.) Just read about your cousin, sorry. So sorry about your dog Sally.

 

[Bulldogma]

Thanks. They are cream legbar roosters.

You can already tell they are roosters? Do the hens look different when they hatch?

 

[texasmomma]

You can already tell they are roosters? Do the hens look different when they hatch?

They are auto sexing at hatch. Roosters are lighter colored and have a white spot on the top of their heads. Hens have darker chipmunk stripes down their backs and eyeliner. No white spot.

I really wanted blue eggs, but may be able to make green layers with some of my others. We can't really have roosters, so these will have to be eaten or sold or given away. I am also not fond if the incessant crowing.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Love the picture of the '32! My dad had a 5 window when I was growing up. I remember learning how to sand on that thing. LOL It was mostly my sister's by the time I got married and we had wedding photos taken with it. That was quite a feat, though, as the engine didn't like to start with the key. So a friend had to go out during the service and start the car so that we could drive from the church in it. Of course, I drove, big white dress and all.

I've had some eggs in the incubator. They were due to hatch Wednesday night and we had our first chick Wed night. Then, got another one yesterday. It took over 24 hours to hatch. I think the humidity is off, because I had to pull some of the shell off of it. I still have another egg that is moving around, but no external pipping. I really, really want to help, but I know that is not my job. I will be incredibly sad if it dies in the shell, maybe more so if it's a hen.

Here is the first little guy that hatched out. For some reason, you can't see the dot on the top of his head.



And here is the second one.

So cute, Congrats..

 

[Melabella]

I like your set up. Is this before any birds lived in it? Wondering how there is grass in there Mine would eat that in days!

I would skip the straw unless you put tarps around the straw. It will mold.

Why don't you use the stuff for windows in old houses during the winter on 1/2 your run? It will help keep some of it from being saturated, and that could be your feeding area.

Inside the coop will make your job harder. Water inside the coop is not good in my situation, as I have ducks and geese who will get it everywhere. It smells terrible when they do. I am going to toss my heated waterer and get a rubber pan for water. It will come out easily once frozen solid, and I can put it outside without worrying about electrical cords.

You are right! They would mold now wouldn't they..Should have realized that. Thank you for the insight! The picture was before I started using it, but since they free range so often the grass is still hangin in,, not quite as good albeit, but still there. The whole bottom of the floor is wired, so it may have a chance of surival. Was going to add some leaves and dirt from the woods.

MB- My run is set up sort of like yours. I purchased heavy duty roll of plastic from Home Depot in the aisle where roofing is sold and attached it to the outside of the run with the staple gun. I left a few inches on the bottom open & the top for ventilation. DL is dry and not damp at all except where the pop door is. Blocks out the high winds we have had with no tearing and the rain. Very inexpensive. When I first put it up I only secured the top so I could roll it up on the warm days. Its the opaque kind so its not so dark in the run/coop.


Plastic attached to outside the coop



Just a picture to show that its still bright inside the coop with the plastic on.

We are starting to get snow here but my 4 hens are still busy outside scratching through the leaves & grass looking for goodies. Snow doesnt seem to bother them....they like to catch snowflakes but it should be interesting to see what they think of the the inches of snow we are suppose to get with the storm coming. As for treats I just bought them some meal worms......curious to see what they think of them later when I give them some

Very helpful info amoreFL,,, I have to do something...

Melabella, Great looking run. It might help to put some clear tarps on some of the sides of the run to cut the wind and rain. I bought some last year from Tarps.com (clear poly tarps) and they are pretty thick, but allow light. You have to fasten them well so they don't flap around and scare the chickens (I made that mistake at first.) Just read about your cousin, sorry. So sorry about your dog Sally.

Thank you Eggcessive. It's a bit of Fort Knox,,, huge fox den right behind my property line. Not sure if it's because of Jack my dog or just aren't hungry enough into the winter, but so far so good. Every other predetor lurks about as well. Thanks for the link, I think I had come accross it one day, but had long forgotten...

Thanks all,
MB

 

[jockeyeba]

Sad day in our house on this day, for us, it truly is the longest night. 24 years ago I lost my first cousin Joyce DiMauro in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. We grew up together in the Bronx, and she was more of a sister than a cousin. I will never forget her infectious laugh, and her smile, and the way she made me feel. Till we meet again sweet Joyce.

​

Sorry for the personal side note. Couldn't say another word without remembering her. Please say a prayer for everyone who was taken too soon, and those missing from our lives. Blessings to all, Carmela

That was a sad day, praying for all that has happened lately

 

[delisha]

Delisha,

You know you are my new go-to OT right?

aww Thank you

That is so sweet.
I think you are many peoples OT go-to

 

[Melabella]

SOOOO envious! WOuld love some Cream Legbars....

"Cream legbars are medium-sized fowl that are known for their active foraging and ability to survive in a free-range environment. The roosters are vigilant and protective of the hens, and the hens efficiently go about the business of gleaning every seed and insect from the fields and pastures they prefer. The hens are rarely broody and produce a large number of eggs. This breed has the social skills to accommodate the complexities of life in a large flock. They are usually more calm than their distant ancestor the leghorn and are well-suited for the small homestead and life outdoors.aditionally, the American poultry industry has relied on the sex-linked function to create visually sexable chicks. If you go to your local feed store and want to buy visually sexable chicks in the spring, you are buying sex-linked –as opposed to auto-sexing– chicks. Sex-linked chicks are the first generation hybrids of two separate chicken breeds. They are produced by the hundreds of millions each year in large commercial hatcheries. If you allow the sex-linked chicks to reach adulthood and breed with one another they will not produce visually sexable chicks in the second generation. In other words, until recently if you wanted to buy visually sexable chicks in America, you’d be traveling to that feed store year after year to buy sex-linked birds produced by large commercial hatcheries. Your flock of sex-linked birds will not be a self-sustaining flock that can produce visually sexable chicks.
By contrast, auto-sexing chicken breeds like the cream legbar breed visually sexable chicks generation after generation. You can buy a pair of cream legbars now, continue to breed their offspring with each other, and eventually your grandchildren can one day be breeding their progeny and still be producing visually sexable chicks. In this sense auto-sexing chicks are like heirloom vegetables. They have a stable genome that always breeds true, and by saving a little seed stock with each generation you are ready to begin anew each year. Auto-sexing breeds like the cream legbar can help the small-scale chicken breeder to create a self-sustaining, visually sexable flock. With the introduction of the cream legbar to America, this is a new opportunity for American poultry enthusiasts.


Not to mention BLUE EGGS! AND what EYE Candy!!!!!!

Definitely on my Fantasy Flock list......

OH Santa...pleeeaaaasssseeeeee

MB

 

[jockeyeba]

Love the picture of the '32! My dad had a 5 window when I was growing up. I remember learning how to sand on that thing. LOL It was mostly my sister's by the time I got married and we had wedding photos taken with it. That was quite a feat, though, as the engine didn't like to start with the key. So a friend had to go out during the service and start the car so that we could drive from the church in it. Of course, I drove, big white dress and all. I've had some eggs in the incubator. They were due to hatch Wednesday night and we had our first chick Wed night. Then, got another one yesterday. It took over 24 hours to hatch. I think the humidity is off, because I had to pull some of the shell off of it. I still have another egg that is moving around, but no external pipping. I really, really want to help, but I know that is not my job. I will be incredibly sad if it dies in the shell, maybe more so if it's a hen. Here is the first little guy that hatched out. For some reason, you can't see the dot on the top of his head. And here is the second one.

Our only hatching using a bator was mostly a failure, I think the humidity was off too, we tried to help 3 out of their shells(even though being told not to) & they lived from 3 to 5 days-all had leg problems

 

[Melabella]

That was a sad day, praying for all that has happened lately

Thank you jockeyeba....

{{{hugs}}}