The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Mumsy]

My hubby and I finished a hoop coop in the fashion of Bee's sheep pen today! I'm so excited! In the Spring I will be raising turkeys for the first time as a joint venture with my children. The two steel cattle panels and four steel t posts cost just about $100. We used tarps and zip ties we had on hand. We will also put up an electric wire about six inches from the ground all around the coop and pen (that isn't built yet). It's about 8'x8'x6 1/2'. The outside run will be three times that. Need to budget another bunch of $ for that.



DH figuring out how to cut up the first tarp.


Second tarp proved to be trickier to fit.


Pulling the biggest top tarp down to cover the fence was hardest. It did work out.


Done! Can't be seen from the house or the road. Took only three hours to erect and can come down in no time at all. Ready for the next stage. A fenced in run to surround the coop.

 

[Miss Lydia]

What a beautiful coop! Looks like a beautiful guest house!

MB

Thanks Melabella, the part the chickens sleep in was a storage building we converted and then my wonderful dh and ds built the duck house onto it, before this part we had little huts all over for the ducks to sleep in. and they were falling apart. lol Now I have taken over another storage building for my geese and feed room. It's never ending.

 

[aoxa]

My kids have been sick and I have been using essential oils to help treat them. Eucalyptus and Lavender mostly, because that is what I have. I need a diffuser. I think it would work better. We also use ivy leaf for coughs. I made a huge pot of chickens soup with lots of garlic and thyme. The thyme will help with the mucous. They are also putting an herbal salve on their chests and feet before bed. I just let the fevers run their course, unless I have a baby who is very lethargic. Then I will treat. I don't ever remember blueberries for fever! We also take elderberry syrup to support the immune system. I may have everyone take a dose of that daily this winter.

I LOVE peppermint for colds. I forgot about that! I usually steam a nice big pot of water with peppermint in it, and make a teepee with my head under it and breath all that steam in. It works wonders!!

OEGB - Old English Game Bird

Close, it's Old English Game Bantam. There is a standard size as well. Mine is a bantam. She's mixed with something else. I think Phoenix.

 

[texasmomma]

I LOVE peppermint for colds. I forgot about that! I usually steam a nice big pot of water with peppermint in it, and make a teepee with my head under it and breath all that steam in. It works wonders!!

I think I will have my biggest cougher do that tonight. She will complain, but she will do it. My eldest is acting more like herself today. Sunday is usually a big school day for us, and I didn't really make them do a lot of school. I did leave for a while and go pick up some new chicks, so maybe that was part of why they watched tv.

My 9 yo is really not feeling well. Not sure what will help her. Just time and prayer, probably. I put more than a head of garlic into tonight's supper, if she will eat it. I've been trying to pour bone broth into all of them as well. It's so good for healing.

 

[texasmomma]

Do you have a place for storing your feed already ?this might be the place, my dh made a small room off the goose shed so i can keep my feed in garbage cans in there plus some of my chicken equipment. works great. Will move my ff out there in warm months.

Seems like I might have answered this already. Can't remember. I store my feed in another shed. Dh gave me a few feet of it. Mostly, I leave the ff buckets on the porch unless it is going to freeze. Then, I put them on a table in his shed. I have my trashcans of feed in the shed, too.

I hate the shed because we have rats in there. I despise rats.

 

[ChickChickChicky]

I have a bit of an odd question for everyone that knows about natural fixes. I have retainers i wear at night only, and as you can imagine they get pretty gross. One is the clear plastic type, and the other is the typical Hawley with metal. I use a little machine to clean them, it's a little bowl that I put water and a powder cleaner in. I'm starting not to like the cleaner, it's smells chemically and doesn't rinse off too easy. I was thinking maybe a vinegar water mix maybe? But with the metal in the hawley I'm just not sure. Anyone have any ideas? Being an adult that paid for her own braces, I wear these things every night without fail, I just can't stand the ick factor.

Try hydrogen peroxide, straight from the bottle or mixed 50-50 with tap water (start with the diluted mixture to see if it does a satisfactory job). Peroxide is cheap, very effective, and breaks down to oxygen and water.

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: My 4 Partridge Rocks are heritage breed and started later laying. The 1st started laying at 30 weeks, 2nd at 31 weeks & todays 3rd hen is 33 weeks old. Still one more to go........tho I think she was in the nesting box today so maybe she will lay on Christmas for me

Tho honestly the first 2 dont lay every day. I get one egg a day and every other day 2 eggs. No clue of this 3rd hen will be an every day layer yet or not. I am just happy to have fresh eggs. Its going to be the best Christmas breakfast yet

 

[lalaland]

anyone think bacon fat has too much salt to dress the feed with for chickens?

 

[armorfirelady]

anyone think bacon fat has too much salt to dress the feed with for chickens?

Nope one of the OT's uses it as a top dressing for his hens. Not as an every day thing but a few times a week. My hens will be having some Christmas Day in fact

 

[Mtn Laurel]

This is my first Christmas with "the girls" and I've been so very thankful for them the past few days. I've been doing my baking and I still marvel at the size of each egg as I crack it into the batter, dough, or whatever. I've noticed a difference in my baked goods, too. My sour cream sugar cookies dough didn't look pasty white as usual and my breads seemed to have an improved texture. I swear the carrot cake was firmer - very dense and no trouble handling it out of the pan. Homemade pumpkin pies are in the oven now and I can't wait to see how they'll be.

I mumble and talk to myself as I cook and I've been saying a "thank you" to the girls with every egg I crack. Don't worry, they'll get a special treat come Christmas morning, for sure!