The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[BlueMouse]

Bulldogma, so sorry that you lost your roo! I really hope it was nothing terrible.

I am fine with all kinds of bugs. I raise honeybees, I'm not a very "girly" girl in fact, but I can NOT stand earwigs. They give me the heebie Jeebies. They are the one and only bug that I squash on sight for no reason except that they give me the creeps. Have ever since I was little. Now I just call the chickens over. They love some tasty earwig

We are also in what seems like the tick capital of the state. Wasn't this way when we were growing up, but it's terrible now. Even my seven chickens have really knocked the population down though, especially in the yard. I rarely pull a tick off the kids anymore (and if they play outside they get a good search at bathtime.) and DH and I mostly only get them going into the weeds. I can't wait until my guineas are out doing what they do best though. I will not be sorry to never see a tick again.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I lost my roo, Gunnar.

Monday he was fine and today he passed away on the ride to the veterinarian.

Yesterday he became a bit lethargic and disoriented. No respiratory symptoms - clear eyes/nose... but last night the top of his comb started turning a purple/black color... and today he died.

I'm pretty torn up over this, not to mention worried about the rest of my flock... and I won't have answers for a couple days. (These will be the longest couple days in history!)

I took this picture of him on Sunday... picture of health.

So sorry. I'll also be waiting to hear what you find out.

 

[Bulldogma]

Well...I was going to say that BDM sells hatching eggs...but

It may be awhile...

I have 18 left that aren't spoken for. I was going to give them to a friend to hatch and experiment with incubation techniques vs hatch rates in this breed, but I may have to sell them to defray costs. I had the choice of either allowing the local vet to do the testing for $100 or driving the carcass 3 hours (one way) to the state lab. They don't take shipped carcasses.

DH is going to kill me for spending money we don't have, but I need to know what it was and that I'm not going to lose the rest of my flock!

(Let me know if anyone is interested in these fertile hatching eggs. The funds will go straight to the vet to help with the cost of testing.)

 

[Kassaundra]

Bulldogma, so sorry that you lost your roo! I really hope it was nothing terrible.

I am fine with all kinds of bugs. I raise honeybees, I'm not a very "girly" girl in fact, but I can NOT stand earwigs. They give me the heebie Jeebies. They are the one and only bug that I squash on sight for no reason except that they give me the creeps. Have ever since I was little. Now I just call the chickens over. They love some tasty earwig

We are also in what seems like the tick capital of the state. Wasn't this way when we were growing up, but it's terrible now. Even my seven chickens have really knocked the population down though, especially in the yard. I rarely pull a tick off the kids anymore (and if they play outside they get a good search at bathtime.) and DH and I mostly only get them going into the weeds. I can't wait until my guineas are out doing what they do best though. I will not be sorry to never see a tick again.

I thought those were just in scarey stories you tell children didn't know there was an actual bug. Guess I'll have to google that.

MY OH MY!!!!!!!! How did I miss those all these years???????????? That looks like the result of a mating of a roach and a scorpion, after the Borg got finished w/ it!!!!!!!! The article said they were all over the America's so we must have them, but I've never seen one.

 

[jlynnet]

BDM, so sorry for the loss! He was beautiful! If only you lived closer to me, I'd hook you up with one of youngins. I have at least 3 male SFH. Hopefully you get some solid answers.

 

[jlynnet]

I too hate earwigs! Creepy little suckers! I have my house sprayed every year for bees. They LOVE my house!

 

[RedRidge]

Quote:
I am soo soo sorry about your roo.
I'm a little confused about the eggs... are they Swedish Flower?
I've been wanting Swedish Flower for a while... must have missed the details...
Can you catch me up...

 

[Bulldogma]

I am soo soo sorry about your roo.
I'm a little confused about the eggs... are they Swedish Flower?
I've been wanting Swedish Flower for a while... must have missed the details...
Can you catch me up...

Yes - the eggs are pure Swedish Flower Hen fertile hatching eggs. Folks have been getting good hatch rates on my shipped eggs.

 

[RedRidge]

Quote: VERY interested... PM me and tell me how many you have... price, etc...

 

[lalaland]

We had a terrible problem last year with ticks... so I bought 7 guinea keets...
They have been hard at work on the farm here since the first of March... haven't found a tick yet.

I don't find many ticks in the chicken yard, but the rest of the area is absolutely ridiculous. I can come up to my screen door and find 20 ticks on the screen, and countless others on the cement porch/stoop in front of the door.

Guineas won't work for me because 1) too many predators - neighbors have been unsuccessful in keeping them more than a few months, and 2) I hate the noise.

I have a lot of flower gardens, and those don't mix with chickens, so they don't free range up by the house. I keep them out in the field by the run when they free range. guess there are always drawbacks to everything, but I don't know why I ahve them so bad and friends only 20 miles away have hardly any problem. I do have a huge deer population...