The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

This house is somewhat GF. I can't tolerate gluten in any form, but my partner can. Though this year he's taken to enjoying our GF flax/poppyseed bread.

aoxa & nova, I read something about quinoa being tested recently to have gluten in it & can actually sicken people with celiac. I don't know if you guys use quinoa at all but for now I've personally decided to skip it.

No one in our house is actually Celiac, just against wheat

I have never even heard of quinoa before.

 

[Quailsong]

No one in our house is actually Celiac, just against wheat

I have never even heard of quinoa before.

Oh I see. I'm also against wheat in that sense, but I do have digestive issues w/ it as well. Can't take soy, corn, GMO, MSG, and all the other 'fancy stuff' that is often another word for toxic (at least, my gut thinks so).

Quinoa ('keen-wa') is kinda cute little grains. They're a bit annoying to wash (very small) and when they're cooked they're harder to drain. But yeah some recent studies say they're on the border of (or in some cases breaking it) the minimum gluten level for an average celiac. As I'm still trying to rebuild my gut (villi), I don't want to risk them slowing down my healing.

 

[countrygirl74]

For those of you with any size flock that free range any size property:

Could you tell us:

-What kind of feed you give.

1. Number in your flock. 19 chickens & 4 ducks (Pekin & Rouen)
2. About how much area do they have to range? about 1/4 acre
3. How long do they get to range each day? 2 hours in the morning as many days in the week as I can
4. What is your experience with predation? have to watch for hawks, have to watch for the neighbor's cat around the pullets, my dogs - however, at night, I let my dogs run that area as they keep all other possible predators out (coyotes, skunks) haven't lost a bird to predator yet
5. Is the property primarily open pasture, wooded, or mix? how about open dirt with some weeds - lol - but I am planting a bunch of stuff for them in their 1/4 acre area
6. Compare the amount of feed you have to give them during a typical June or July vs. the amount of feed given in a typical January. they definitely eat less when there are more wild greens, bugs, etc. - the real difference I notice is when they are on their organic ff mash as opposed to dry crumble - usually they go through 50lbs a month, if on dry crumble they will go through 50lbs in 10 days or less!

you don't think that a roo chasing a hen pullet is bad behavior I hope. If you do don't ever get a roo. Roosters are horny and like sex. A lot of it. That behavior is beyond normal. One morning I watched my head Sumatra roo mount every one of his 8 girls one after the other. Mount 1, jump off, mount the next.

I love having roosters. I really miss my big boy as I recently sent him to a home with more girls. I didn't have enough for him and he was too hard on them while waiting for the new chicks to grow up. I am sure he's happy with 9 girls all to himself now. He was wonderful! He would feed the girls straight from his beak, he was a great protector, really good daddy to the chicks, etc. I still have one little silkie roo for now and he is also really good - he has also just recently tried to mount a couple of my 11 week old girls. It's just the way they are...

 

[FlySammyJ]

This house is somewhat GF. I can't tolerate gluten in any form, but my partner can. Though this year he's taken to enjoying our GF flax/poppyseed bread.

aoxa & nova, I read something about quinoa being tested recently to have gluten in it & can actually sicken people with celiac. I don't know if you guys use quinoa at all but for now I've personally decided to skip it.

You don't have to drain quinoa! If you use the correct proportion of water it just cooks up like rice. There has been some talk about the expanding quinoa market in the States and Europe creating shortages in the Andes where it is grown. Thankfully, the short growing season makes it attractive to Northern farmers and some folks Stateside are picking up the gauntlet, so just check the point of origin to enjoy guilt-free. I'm trying some in my garden this year, but I'm afraid it will be too hot to set seed and I'll have to switch to amaranth.

 

[camilleathome]

Hey guys. I have a problem. Two of my Chanteclercs were rather severely plucked and I see one or two other RIR with a bit of feathers plucked on the top of their backs. Any idea what I can do about this? The two Chanteclercs are now inside again in the playpen with the ducks which I had to remove as they were scaring the chickens so much they refused to get into the coop XD

 

[FarmerJH]

For those of you with flocks of 20 or more chickens that have free access to at least 1-2 acres or more:

For those of you with any size flock that free range any size property:


Anyone willing to join in and keep records to share with us all if you don't already know your usage? (This doesn't have to be "anal" just a general idea for comparison.)

And..those of you that do know, please share!

(And I'm thinking once all the info comes in it would be great to compile it all into a blog post to have all together in one place )

For those of you with any size flock that free range any size property:

Could you tell us:

-What kind of feed you give.
Nutrena naturewise unmedicated chick starter/grower crumbles fermented + free choice oyster shell

1. Number in your flock.
7 currently - 6 bantams 1 standard sized
2. About how much area do they have to range?
3 acres but they only use about 1/3 acre
3. How long do they get to range each day?
all day on weekends and some weekdays, but usually after work until they put themselves away M-F
4. What is your experience with predation?
lost a roo to a hawk a couple months ago, otherwise no other predator losses. There is a hawk's nest in one of the trees above the coop and a couple owls nearby and not sure what else yet, only just moved here in February
5. Is the property primarily open pasture, wooded, or mix?
Mostly wooded with a small open area, they stay in the woods though
6. Compare the amount of feed you have to give them during a typical June or July vs. the amount of feed given in a typical January.
a lot less when the snow isn't piling up - 50#/6 months if no snow, 50#/ 3 months when snow

Great idea @ blog post with compiled results!!

 

[520farmer]

Hey guys. I have a problem. Two of my Chanteclercs were rather severely plucked and I see one or two other RIR with a bit of feathers plucked on the top of their backs. Any idea what I can do about this? The two Chanteclercs are now inside again in the playpen with the ducks which I had to remove as they were scaring the chickens so much they refused to get into the coop XD

your chickens are pecking each other? try adding 1 tablespoon of salt to 1 gallon of warm water and give that to them in the morning then switch it out in the afternoon with clean water. you can repeat this every two to three days until the pecking stops. if they have an open wound then I would also isolate them. ive done this a few times and it works every time. the most applications ive had to do is 3

 

[midnightroo]

  the whole previous discussion always gets me. Here is why. People tend to try to humanize chicken behavior. They try to put human emotion and expect chickens to act like a human would in a social environment. Can't happen. They are chickens, not human. 

    I think once natural chicken keepers get past that they are then well on their way to being able to raise their chickens naturally.

  my .02 or .0005 in this economy

This comment irks me. I wasn't intentionally trying to humanize my chickens behavior. I have read the posts about humanizing their behavior. I have only been keeping this small flock since August. I have no other experience before this, never handled a chicken and only saw a chicken through a cage. So I have no clue how a roo is to act except from what everyone said here. I spend a fair amount of time watching them and I have never seen him chase one of his girls so this IS new to me and you take offense that I am humanizing her feelings. Do I think it bothers her, maybe, but I wouldn't cull him just for that.

 

[Kassaundra]

I can finish reading this thread and go to look at other threads that Im subscribed to and there will already be new posts!

Does anybody use Madagascar hissing cockroaches as animal protein?

No on the Madagascar hissers, but I do raise dubias, and have for several years. The hissers just get way to big and hard shelled to be easily eaten by the chickens, it is still doable, but you would need to use the sub adults as feed out, leaving your adults to breed. Dubias are the perfect size and not so hard shelled. I start my chicks at several days old eating the very young dubias. They all love them. They are very easy to raise.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I use tennis balls soaked in ammonia to keep raccoons and possums away.



This is the worm bed. All kinds of critters live here. They can spend hours digging daily.



January I usually have few birds. By June and July I have hundreds. I do not feed my Free range flock at all usually in June and July. They are stuffed on bugs and can barely wattle back to the coop.

Re Tennis Balls please elaborate:
-How long to you soak the balls?
-Put them on the perimeter? How far apart?
-When do you re-soak..how long are they good for?
-For raccoons and possums only, or do they effect coyote too?
-Do you use them all summer?

Worm Bed:
-What's in there?
-How do we start one?
-How do we keep the worms proliferating?

Lots of Birds in Summer and Less in Winter..Where do they go?:
-Do you sell some?
-Do you process some for freezer?
-?