The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

Child of Noah- I fill up the FF feed trough every couple days or when I remember. It's never gone bad even when the temps were recently in the 80s. It dries out some but the girls seem to think it tastes better when I scrape it onto the ground

RR- I have 4 hatchery girls that were on layer pellets at 10 weeks when I got them. I continued that until I learned about FF. 2 of them had prolapse. I stated adding manna conditioning feed to their FF (layer pellets, scratch, BOSS & layer pellets) About a month or two after adding the conditioning feed their prolapse is GONE. It's the only change I made in their FF. I also add various herbs & garlic to it as well. They filled out wonderfully. For the warmer months I feed at night. I use a small dry wall pan. Fill it about a 3rd full. It usually last 2 or 3 days. While I don't free range because I live in town they are let out in 300ft of electric netting. They are at the door waiting to go out & look for food. Lots of dirt and bugs. Rarely do I see them at the FF trough. that tells the newbie in me that they are getting plenty to eat in their fenced area. They love when I mow the grass. Brings the bugs out. I also keep some pieces fire wood on the ground to move around so they can get bugs under them. Oh and I also give en eggs and animal protein several times a week. They change in them since I added the conditioner was great. And more animal protein seemed to help as well. But yes they do run to the coop when I get close. More habit than anything I think since they just peck a little at the food then back outside.

LM- thanks for the Great info again. I do read it all.

 

[stonykill]

Your ducks should not be consuming this much. They should be foraging for a high % of their diet.

I know raising ducklings, they eat 3 times that of a chick.. It's crazy. My geese ate less than ducks!

agreed

 

[aoxa]

so how does a 6 lb wild duck or a 20 lb wild turkey survive?

I was just thinking of this on my way home from work! I thought.. all this talk about protein.. what about the wild ducks, and turkeys, and Canadian geese? How do they manage to live and look so dang fabulous on top of that. It's because they are born with the ability to find their own food. Their own protein.

Of course this wouldn't work if you confined your birds, but for those that free range, you should not worry about the protein. They should find it themselves, and if they can't? Are they really meant to be a part of a free range flock if they can't?

Winter is the exception. In areas where bugs are dormant and grass is covered by snow you have to feed. You still don't have to free feed though.

 

[stonykill]

I was just thinking of this on my way home from work! I thought.. all this talk about protein.. what about the wild ducks, and turkeys, and Canadian geese? How do they manage to live and look so dang fabulous on top of that. It's because they are born with the ability to find their own food. Their own protein.

Of course this wouldn't work if you confined your birds, but for those that free range, you should not worry about the protein. They should find it themselves, and if they can't? Are they really meant to be a part of a free range flock if they can't?

Winter is the exception. In areas where bugs are dormant and grass is covered by snow you have to feed. You still don't have to free feed though.

very well put.

The flock of Sumatra's I started with were only fed cracked corn by the previous owners. And not much at that. They free ranged all day, laid lots of eggs, went brody, made more Sumatra's etc.

The big picture. ALWAYS look at the big picture.

 

[RedRidge]

Quote:
This is the reason I have changed how I am feeding my BSF. It is easy to raise BSF here during the warm months but I have never attempted to perpetuate crawl off during the winter months. They stay alive, but they go dormant. The dilemma I finally realized this presented was that I was getting a great source of animal protein in the BSF I was collecting, but I was probably doubling up on the animal protein the flock needed since they free ranged all day. So... this year I am freezing (and dehydrating some) of the BSFL to feed over the winter. I am NOT giving it to them right now... they have to forage and hunt for their own bugs right now, and then in the winter I will have BSF to provide for them.
I haven't yet figured out if I'm going to prefer freezing or dehydrating, which is why I am doing both.
Does anyone has any experience with raising BSFL and preserving them with either method?

 

[delisha]

Stony and Delisha -

How many acres are your birds running to get most of what they eat...and ratio of birds to acreage.

(I believe stony has 30 acres...that's a lot!)


What the real question is - for a flock of say 10 birds, how much space would they need to be able to get enough food from it to be at peak?

I only have about 5 acres give or take. Part of it is swamp and loaded with geese nesting this time of year. The birds avoid it. It is also loaded with coyotes and fox. They use a very small portion. Maybe 2 acres. I have a very small flock. I am going to go lock up and take pictures of crops. I know they are coming in now.

Quote: I have to pull my silkie off FF to condition for the show..ugh

Ok, I must be butchering wrong or something, because the last two Roos were SO stiff we couldn't eat them. What am I doing wrong? Why aren't they loosening up after one to two days?

brine them for the the last day.

Quote:
This is the reason I have changed how I am feeding my BSF. It is easy to raise BSF here during the warm months but I have never attempted to perpetuate crawl off during the winter months. They stay alive, but they go dormant. The dilemma I finally realized this presented was that I was getting a great source of animal protein in the BSF I was collecting, but I was probably doubling up on the animal protein the flock needed since they free ranged all day. So... this year I am freezing (and dehydrating some) of the BSFL to feed over the winter. I am NOT giving it to them right now... they have to forage and hunt for their own bugs right now, and then in the winter I will have BSF to provide for them.
I haven't yet figured out if I'm going to prefer freezing or dehydrating, which is why I am doing both.
Does anyone has any experience with raising BSFL and preserving them with either method?
I wish I could raise them..

 

[aoxa]

I only have about 5 acres give or take. Part of it is swamp and loaded with geese nesting this time of year. The birds avoid it. It is also loaded with coyotes and fox. They use a very small portion. Maybe 2 acres. I have a very small flock. I am going to go lock up and take pictures of crops. I know they are coming in now.
I have to pull my silkie off FF to condition for the show..ugh
brine them for the the last day.
I wish I could raise them..

Vicki, my new feeders helped Doc considerably. No more messiness with her, but the feeder is way too big for chicks!

 

[delisha]

Ok..I took only a few..you can see a full crop in the back ground too..bulging..good hunters.




I have two hens on nests too..She made such a cozy nest. I have no idea how many eggs are under there. She keeps buildings.

I feed my FR very little this time of year. I put out a cool whip bowl for 9 birds. There was a bit left on the bottom. I feed only at night this time of year.

 

[BlueMouse]

Reading all this I think I'm overfeeding the kids. I do only feed them at night, so they're higly motivated foragers in the morning. but they're getting maybe 6 cups of fermented whole grains at night... might cut that back a bit. I was going to soonish, once I feel like the bugs are out a bit more.

Got my cornish cross! But they were all out of turkey poults, (and they just got them in yesterday!!) So I'll pick them up next week when they get the next shipment in. I do feel better hearing that other people haven't found them horifically fradgile. I really wanted to get a nargansett pair, but my DH thinks it will cost more to overwinter a pair than it will to buy 6 turkey poults every year. He may be right. I'll keep good records this year, and we'll see where we're at next year.








they're ridiculously cute even if they ARE mutants.

 

[delisha]

Justine,

It is more that they all love him so much they clean him off. He is not so nice to baby's.

I am so surprised. He loves all the big birds only. I have one silkie who loves baby's. She screams when I take her away from them...lol..she is a bit of a freak.