The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

Speaking of brooders..One of the people on the Orpington thread just had a custom made brooder done..it is soooo beautiful.


I showed this to DH and he said, absolutely not! That is ridicules for chicken, ...well not this year anyway. Maybe next year if your good. ..
wonder what I gotta do to be considered good?

 

[aoxa]

lol


I cleaned off 110 bricks today. These were free! I have about 10,000 to go! That cutie pie is my DH

Love the tub!

I have never had Guineas...They sound like fun.

We are having crappy weather too. Been freezing at night and I brought the chicks in the house. GRRRR

This was actually cleaned for pictures. The phone rang and by the time I was off the phone this is what it looked like..sheesh
A batch of Silver laced Wyandotties..I love the Eco-Glo too I need two of the large ones next year. The chicks love them.

I didn't know you used the ecoglow!

Free bricks?! That's awesome!

 

[4Hgirl]

Fermenting update...
Well... a combination of research and advice (thanks Leah's Mom for the off line help ) and I finally got my fermented feeds going.
An update for those interested... I figure this "recap" may help some of you who are on the fence about fermenting...

I grind and mix my own grains and feed, so this transition to fermenting isn't as bad as I was worried it might me.
I am fermenting grains and then adding the premix to them each day as I go... grinding the grains in 50 lb batches every 5-7 days.
I have a LOT of chicks right now ranging from just hatched to almost 3 months old in 3 separate groups (and a fourth group are in the incubator).
So... I decided to ferment some ground grains about a week ago knowing I'd have newly hatched chicks a few days ago.  Grinding may not be necessary, but I grind for the babies and I figured starting with only one group of chicks rather than all - this would allow for less trial and error and I wouldn't be as overwhelmed.
The newborns seemed like the logical choice.
The got offered their FF from day one with no other feed. 
They play in it and walk in it, but more importantly they DO eat it.
Hint #1:  Because they walk in it I have gotten in the habit of stirring it mid-way through the day so it isn't "packed down" and potentially easier for newborns to pick at - probably not necessary, but makes me feel better. 
Figuring out how much for 22 chicks has been dicey, so... what they don't eat by that evening I move to the pen with the 4 week old chicks.  They have free choice access to my ground chick feed all the time from a hanging feeder, so I didn't know if they'd go for the FF or not... especially since it was not "fresh".
Good news... they ate it right up! 
I was a little surprised since I didn't really expect them to since they couldn't possibly be hungry with the feed they've had access to 24/7... but within 30 minutes the half day old FF was gone.
Hint #2:  Waste not want not!

So... I feel better now about fixing it for the new chicks each morning because I know what they don't eat won't be wasted.
Don't know how that will work once I have everyone on FF... maybe I'll just continue to offer dry to the older chicks until I feel confident that they are getting enough FF.

We'll see how the next few weeks progress and hopefully by the time the last batch hatches in a week and a half I will have all the chicks on FF. 
The laying hens free range this time of year and don't each much feed anyway, so they will be the easy group to transition when the time comes.

I am having about the same experience as well. We got day old chicks this week (although some were a week old) and started them out of the box on FF, and they gobbled it up. I have to say there is much less poop and it is much drier than when we've had chicks in the same brooder and I've never had this many before in it. I do use a plate and it is getting quite smashed down and dries up with the brooder light over it, gets so dry and hard they can't eat it. I'm wondering if I should add liquid back from the FF mix or just scrape up the dry so they can eat it. I've tried both, they will eat it either way but anyone have a reason why one is better??
I just feel so uncomfortable about them not having feed 24/7 as I am used to giving chicks and grown chicken alike, but especially the babies. How often should I give the chicks FF, I'm doing it 4x a day.
Also wondering about brooder bedding. All our area feed stores are out of coastal hay so I'm using bagged pine shavings. They actually eat the smaller pieces. Is this ok? I can buy oat hay is that alright to use, it is extremely thick and coarse. What do you all use??

 

[4Hgirl]

I have been quite busy this weekend, but coming in to say hey. I have kept up with the posts, just haven't posted anything in response. But here are some pictures to share... Henry Ivy She is our green silkie.. Long story short, Jamie and his daughter dyed a few silkies for Easter. Bath, and than rebath with food colouring. She is white. and she will be white again. I just liked her type. All of them are in poor condition from breeding season. They've been plucked, clipped, and were very smelly. I gave all the girls baths, and still have to do the two boys. Boy #1 white. His tail and crest is all clipped.. I can't wait to see them in their full potential. and Blue boy with his girl in the back. She is the most out of condition. I won't even bother posting a picture of her.

oh my dyed silkies, I don't think I'd ever do it, but how cute it could be. Good luck with them!

 

[4Hgirl]

Speaking of brooders..One of the people on the Orpington thread just had a custom made brooder done..it is soooo beautiful. I showed this to DH and he said, absolutely not! That is ridicules for chicken, ...well not this year anyway. Maybe next year if your good. .. wonder what I gotta do to be considered good?

wow! Luv luv luv it!

 

[jlynnet]

...

just killed a raccoon at mom's. It was hunting the chickens that live over there. Happy Mothers Day Mom! 8:30 am a coon was out chicken hunting. WAS! Now it is coyote bait

now to carry the stuffed French toast to mom's and have breakfast

That's a great present! Hope you had a fantastic day with your Mom!

 

[jlynnet]

...

You can see why I've used it as a brooder I use a 100 gallon stock tank as a brooder. I have two of them, one metal and the other black plastic type. Love the black one! It's shorter which makes it wider and more room for the babies to move around. We built a lid for it with chicken wire attached to a wood frame. Works great.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Del - Have you been using the ecoglows in the unheated chicken houses? How low temp outside have you been able to use them? (I'm guessing that's why you brought them into the house due to the ecoglows?)

On the FF for chicks - I don't know what everyone else does, but mine still get it free-feed. My bowls always have feed in them.

 

[RedRidge]

On the FF for chicks - I don't know what everyone else does, but mine still get it free-feed. My bowls always have feed in them.

My newborns just get FF... but as they get older I provide dry also as free choice...
They don't eat much, but if they eat any is when I know I need to increase the FF I am offering... they will eat 12 hr old FF before they eat dry.

As far as raised brooders...
There was an old rabbit hutch in the barn when we moved here so we converted it to a brooder, divided it in half, then enclosed the bottom.
We use each half of the top for brooders and the bottom currently has a Duccle who hatched 4 Buff chicks (although that's not what's in this pick - those are Frizzles I am saved... long story... waiting for pickup by the new owner).

 

[Melabella]

Thought there were some new tips in this I hadn't heard before... not chicken related...but good natural tips...

http://www.kitchendaily.com/read/10...d=maing-grid7|main5|dl4|sec1_lnk3&pLid=311427