The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aaggjg]

Whitewash recipe is here: http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.htmlscroll down on the page.


I finally ordered these for spraying oil. Working well so far. Heck, I couldn't even get the regular sprayers to spray normal liquid for very long!

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=84567

Ooh thanks for the link! I ordered 2 sprayers with my Shaklee's soap ... haven't tried those yet but if they fail me I will try this!!

 

[Mrs.SB]

When you say iced, what do you mean by that? Just put them in the fridge, freezer?? Last time I butchered some extra roosters, we put them in the fridge for 3 days, then threw them in the freezer.

Us too! (organic and non GMO) See my reply below as I mention how we we were able to cut our feed costs and there's NO waste ever.

Welcome! I do the fermented feed with an organic grower mash from the co-op, (www.azurestandard.com) - there's no shipping. You might want to see if they have a drop in your area. I priced all the organic feed from everywhere in the area, including the feed stores, and theirs came out to be cheaper by the pound. It's about $33 for a 50lb bag. There is a place about 2 hours away from me where I can get 50lbs for $22 but by the time I pay for gas and my time, it doesn't really matter. Once I started fermenting, I cut my feed by 1/3-1/2 so it really does help! My MIL uses the same feed and does not ferment - just wets it down and still saves feed cost because they eat less of the organic than they did when she was just feeding a regular Purina feed - so I think they must have better nutritional value. A lot of people make their own feed but I just haven't done that yet.

Thank you, I will def check that site out!

Is there a way you could make a little partition within the coop for the babies?  My coop is tiny (6x9) but the back is a shelf (3x6), and I can partition off either under the shelf or the shelf itself for two seperate isolation areas, which is nice for new chicks.  It doesn't take long for the littler ones to be big enough to hold their own- maybe 8 weeks max, especially if they see each other in the mean time.

I actually just thought about that tonight.. The only thing is 1/2 the coop is where they sleep and the other 1/2 is where their nesting boxes are... I don't know. I'll have to do some figuring lol

Mrs.SB-- I used to work with a "Mrs.SB"... You aren't Krista irl are you? Oh my, wouldn't that be a riot!

Lol that would be crazy but no not Krista.

 

[delisha]

iced...
means..after butchering you put the chickens in an ice bath. An ice bath is many ice cubes on top of the chickens covering them and keeping them covered. The ice will melt, but keep the chicken very icy cold.

mite treatment..I posted a great video a few days ago..I posted herbs that work for mites yesterday too. I probably should keep better records of all the stuff I post. I will look for it.
And yes..burn it. or you will have them crawling all over and finding a new place to live till they come back.
You have to do what works for your environment. Some places you can't burn, than you will have to bag it up and haul it out the same day.

Basil - antibacterial, mucus membrane health
Catnip - sedative, insecticide
Cilantro - antioxidant, fungicide, builds strong bones, high in Vitamin A for vision and Vitamin K for blood clotting
Dill - antioxidant, relaxant, respiratory health
Fennel -
Garlic -
Lavender - stress reliever, increases blood circulation, highly aromatic, insecticide
Lemon Balm - stress reliever, antibacterial, highly aromatic, rodent repellent
Marigold - laying stimulant
Marjoram - lay stimulant
Mint (all kinds) - insecticide and rodent repellent
Nasturtium - laying stimulant, antiseptic, antibiotic, insecticide, wormer
Oregano - combats coccidia, salmonella, infectious bronchitis, avian flu, blackhead and e-coli
Parsley - high in vitamins, aids in blood vessel development, laying stimulant
Peppermint - anti-parasitic, insecticide
Pineapple Sage - aids nervous system, highly aromatic
Rose Petals - highly aromatic, high in Vitamin C
Rosemary - pain relief, respiratory health, insecticide
Sage - antioxidant, anti-parasitic
Spearmint - antiseptic, insecticide, stimulates nerve, brain and blood functions
Tarragon - antioxidant
Thyme - respiratory health, antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-parasitic

​

 

[CoopChick719]

Bumping this up....Anyone with Silkies, are these 2 Roos? Thanks for your help!

 

[PeepsCA]

HELP??!! One of my guinea keets (1 week old today) turned up with an impacted crop. It seemed harder than everyone elses this morning when I changed the bedding (I use the shifting them around to check on everyone) So I sprayed his foot with blue kote, and checked on him frequently. They all have huge distended crops a lot of the time, but most of their crops feel squishy, this ones feels HARD. Tonight I showed it to my mom who has lots of experience with parrots, and she say "oh my, that's impacted isn't it." So, I got so EVO Down it, and gave it a good massage, seems like the crop is emptying some. I was afraid to massage too much and/or empty the crop all the way by force? I don't want to hurt him. He went right to sleep afterwards. Right now he's sleeping in a towel in my lap. So what now? I was going to repeat the EVO (I used about 0.5 mL in a baby syringe) and massage again in a couple hours and keep him separated with no food overnight. Is that the best? I'm worried he won't be warm enought by himself though... Assuming his crop empties overnight, should I feed yogurt? Egg? Go back to regular feed immediately? any help anyone can give me would be much appreciated!

I have never in somewhere around 2000 keets hatched had a keet with an impacted crop from just over eating on starter feed (dry, not even fermented)... are there whole grains or scratch in your FF mix? Are they on shavings for bedding? Keets cannot digest/pass grains or shavings, but will readily gorge on both... so either could cause an impaction. It may be lower down, than being just the crop, and could be backed up all the way to the crop. I'd keep up the EVO, with some molasses mixed in, light/gentle crop massages and plenty of water... I'd also separate him into a small shoebox or another similar small box on the edge of the heat lamp light glow with a stuffed animal to snuggle up to/under, and a mirror. I'd withhold food for a while until the crop empties, and if they are on shavings... get them ALL off ASAP, and back on paper towels or shelf liner immediately. Keets are bad about eating shavings.

 

[PeepsCA]

Bumping this up....Anyone with Silkies, are these 2 Roos? Thanks for your help!

They are still pretty young for guessing their sexes with much accuracy... but in that pic I can't see if they have swept back crests or not. Can you post individual profile pics of them?

 

[PeepsCA]

Mumsy, congrats on your new Turkey Babies, so SO cute. I want to be added to your hatching egg waiting list, whenever/if you eventually sell eggs next season.

I've been hatching poults from my own Turkeys the past couple days... 10 poults have hatched so far and there are 2 pipped eggs left in the hatcher, so hopefully they'll hatch overnight. No Blue Slates, but there are 5 Black poults and 4 Narraganset looking poults so far, plus 1 White (or almost completely White/yellow) poult that just hatched out a couple hours ago. I am scratching my head as to where the genes came from to produce a poult that color, lol but I am so NOT complaining (parents are a Narragansett Tom, covering a Narragansett Hen and 2 Black Mottled Hens).

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: I don't remember how big your coop is but - how 'bout just using a corner instead of 1/2? Maybe could use something like this to temporarily divide off a corner: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...eeping-thread-ots-welcome/13020#post_11049960

I used these fence pieces from Lowes outside to make them a corner to escape. http://www.lowes.com/pd_260261-1641...e&pl=1&currentURL=?Ntt=black+fence&facetInfo=

 

[Pozees]

SNOW? Keep it Keep it! This week end is supposed to be sunny and in the 70's, or until I heard about the snow.

I'm on way out to move poultry again. A couple weeks ago I tried and all they did was beat each other up. Even though they have plenty of room to hide, they just ran to the chain link fence and poked their heads through squawking, "Let us out, Let us out!" while the bigger chickens are pecking them in the butt. My mother used to tell me that life wasn't fair, so I'll just tell the chickens that.

One of my favorite quotes, and I have no idea who first said it but I read it in The Road Less Traveled:

"When a robin eats a worm, the worm doesn't think it's very fair, but that's life."

 

[aoxa]

So some actual progress. Road put in to go from the driveway to the barn so that they can bring the heavy machinery in without sinking. Our yard is quite low, so it stays wet longer than most.. even in the summer it is quite soft and if it rains they wouldn't be able to work.



Here is the road that is in. We have to get the sod on the right moved, but no big deal.



The contractor has put in temporary power to start the job, and a big load of gravel. Very exciting!