The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[CoopChick719]

SO! After being all proud at how my broody is doing with her babies, and how cute it was that my other Marans was being a 'helper' to Mama....

She went a little nuts.

I had this one baby (the light splash) that I had to rescue 10 times between 8:30 and 10:30 AM yesterday morning. The last time was getting it out from under the A/C unit. When I got it out, I noticed a little blood right above it's tail. I figured I scraped it. I slathered it in NuStock and put it back with the flock. Well helper hen started going after it big time, to the point she picked it up by a wing and flung it away then pecked it. I grabbed it right up, saw a little more blood, cleaned it off and re-slathered with the NuStock.

Put it back only to watch the helper hen grab it hard above the tail. BIG hole. *sigh*

Grabbed the baby, washed it good, added more NuStock, put it in our outdoor brooder box with the run to keep it safe. Kept an eye on it and it was doing fine.

Hours later I put it back, stupid hen did it AGAIN and now, besides cursing myself, I started to think that maybe I had been rescuing it all morning because it was being rejected. Mama didn't seem to care much when I put it back or the helper attacked it.

So then, after more washing and NuStock, I put it back in the brooder and went to get Mama. I put her in with the baby and the baby ran to her and she clucked at it and tucked it under herself. So... off I went and gathered up the other 6 babies and put them all in the brooder box with Mama and injured chickie. Mama was very attentive and I watched for a long time. No one pecked at the hurt baby, Mama kept it close, it was eating and drinking, etc. I decided to leave them all in there for the night to give the baby time to heal up and be warm with Mama. I was actually expecting a dead chick this morning, from shock or Mama deciding to reject it, whathaveyou.

This morning? It was out with Mama, and eating and doing all sorts of baby chick stuff. I gave them some greens and everyone was happy. SO...

After a couple hours in there, I let them all out. She had them all over the yard, no problem. Helper hen got out and made a beeline for that splash baby. Tried to peck it a few times but I didn't let her get to it. Now SHE'S in the brooder box jail, and she is going nuts! Pacing and making noise (she has eaten). Mama has had all the babies all over the yard, and the splash has stayed close by. She's given food to it. Not one of the other chickens has even tried to peck at it, and they've all been in a big heap together when I gave them some wheat grass sprouts. So I've figured that the issue is solely with helper hen. She'll be in isolation for a couple days until it looks like she's gonna be nice. She still hasn't laid, but she won't just sit on the nest either. Maybe this will break her of that too.


This is Mama and babies one hour ago. Hurt chick is the blond splash one.

Kian, I had a similar issue with my co-sitting Sizzles. Day 21 came & went and the eggs didn't hatch so I decided to get chicks to put under the Mamas at night. Got up early the next morning to find baby out from under the Mamas, peeping away but Mama #2 would try to peck at it as it tried to get to Mama #1. Mama #1 had all babies under her when Mama #2 stomped on & over her to get to the nest. Any baby she saw, she pecked at. I finally had to take her out of the coop. She spent all day trying to get back in. I built a pen inside the coop for Mama #1 & babies. Mama #2 stalked around the pen like a prison guard. After another day, she is finally sleeping back on the roost with the other girls. Hormones are crazy things!!

 

[mikkles]

you could wrap a warm moist towel around it till u get it to where you're going to incubate...

 

[Pozees]

you could wrap a warm moist towel around it till u get it to where you're going to incubate...

Yes, excellent suggestion.

 

[Sally8]

These pic's are for armorfirelady to help to try to sex her BCM. Any comments for her would be welcome. Thanks.


Easy to tell.

Easy to tell.....



He's a good boy.


Below is a 2 year old hen. Very good layer.


My very silly dog barking at squirrels. Again. He can go on for hours.


Very common but my favorite flower. It came from my Grandmothers flower bed.

Armorfirelady, hope this helps.

 

[brandislee]

I moved the eggs, but turns out I still won't be going to bed, because I'll lay there thinking about shrink wrapping, so I may as well stay out here and monitor. One more hatched after I moved them, though, and the third one pipped. So hopefully not too much longer. Or probably another day, we'll see.

Th humidity info is actually helpful. We have humidity gauge on the porch and I know earlier it was only like 38%, but it tried to rain earlier so it may have gone up. But at the rate my damp towels are drying I doubt it.

So my next Q- how can I tell if a chick is becoming shrink wrapped, and if I can tell is there a way to help it out? I've got them pretty well draped with damp towels at the moment, but just in case.

 

[countrygirl74]

my question is, and I probably missed it..... why are we using light bulbs in Natural chicken keeping? Is there a light bulb shrub in nature I should be growing

You can also call it the turkey.. Marge did an amazing turkey impersonation when she was broody. She also got quite good at the dinosaur screech.

My EE sounds like a mad raccoon - it's pretty funny.

Mine always did it.

Never seemed to have a camera around I guess. Can't find any pictures of my own doing it.

aoxa without a camera!! How is that even possible? LOL

 

[brandislee]

My most recent broody (not this bad one, the one who is due to hatch later this week) sounds like she's screaming "owwww owwww owwwww" every time I get near her. It's pretty comical.

 

[gevshiba]

This chicken keeping is tough sometimes. Thanks to the sour crop discussion, I believe that's my little Speckled Sussex's problem. She's been doing better. The squishy crop has gone down a lot. I finally got the chicks and turkeys in the chicken coop. Does anyone know if there's a contest for the best red neck/white trash coop? I'm pretty sure I'd be in the running. I'm hoping there's a cash prize. The duct tape wasn't my idea, but, there it is. Anyway, I put all the birds in the coop, which is 6.5'x24'. The little Sussex was doing really well. She was even going in to eat with everyone, but I would take her to the other end and feed her separately. Tonight, when I went out to feed, poor little Sussex had been beat to a pulp. She has no feathers on her back, her wing tops are bloody, her comb is gone. She's holding her eyes shut, but I know she can open them. Her feet are mangled. Tomorrow I have a friend coming to get her. She has pens she can keep her in. I can't believe I've gotten attached to a chicken, but I have. I don't care where she goes as long as she gets a chance to heal and be safe. Of course, if the crop issues don't resolve, she'll be taken care of. Naturally, I believe she was one of (I think) my 2 pullets. The other 6 are roos, I'm sure. I did finally figure out that my yellow mystery chicks from the hatchery are Buff Orpingtons. 4 of the 6 roos.

Now, those delicate turkey poults are doing great. Hope I didn't jinx them by saying that.

Although I don't post much, I want to say that I do sympathize with, laugh at and celebrate everyone's posts. I especially appreciate the information. I've learned a lot. I had a loss in my family today and the distraction of this thread, especially the laughs, were greatly needed.

 

[delisha]

Quote: Transferring should not be a problem.

Just thought I would share.... I am so excited, I finally bought an incubator and ordered some eggs. I am not sure if I am crazy or not, but really wanted to try the incubating thing. I ordered a Brinsea Octogon eco 20 auto - does anybody use one of these and if so, what do you think of it? Is it a good one to get? It was going for a really good price so jumped at it as I did not recognise any of the other brands being advertised. Hoping I have done the right thing here!

I ordered some eggs 21 in total; 6 production reds (just love those birds and their eggs), 6 RIR which they say are pure but only time will tell if I hatch them successfully and 9 silver laced orpingtons - I really like the male that they showed who is supposed to be show stock but not sure of the hens.

Incubator arriving tomorrow as well as eggs so I won't have long to test the incubator before I set the eggs. I understand from what I have been reading that you should leave the eggs upright in a carton for a minimum of 12 hours before setting them so hopefully I will be able to see if the incubator is going to behave or not during the settling time of the eggs. I do have access to a backup incubator just in case.

Hopefully by the end of the month, I will have some new babies

My I ask who you got your SLO from?

I am so behind- I've been super busy for the past two weeks, and you know how fast this thread moves!

Anyway, I have a question. My broody was due to hatch in the next few days. I don't know if I can't count or what because this happened to me last time, but I got a chick today. Anyway, that's not my question- when I found this chick, it looked dead and was too the side, so I thought it had died so she had pushed it out of the nest. But then I noticed it was breathing, and that the side of the head was bloody. So I picked it up and looked at it and it cheeped. When I tried to put it back into the nest she pecked it. I took it and put it in the brooder under heat, but I don't know if it will make it, the head was pretty beat up and I don't know how long it was cold. Should I be worried about her doing that to the rest of the chicks? One of the eggs at least (I only looked for like 1/2 a second) is pipped, but who knows how long it will take the rest to hatch.

So at the moment I'm camped out right outside her nest box watching. It's going to be a long couple days. Needless to say, if she pecks the next chick her leg band is getting changed from "broody" to "cull." But is this something that she did because there was something wrong with the chick, or do hens just do this sometime? I guess a hen attacking her own naturally hatched chicks never occurred to me. Any advice or experience would be appreciated.

some hens do this the first time. It does not mean they will do it again. Some are just horrible mothers. I let them be. If they kill all the chicks next time i eat them, but I always give them a chance.

Progress for today June 3rd:

Breeding pens started. Each of these pens are 4x4 and intended for breeding trios/quads. Covered runs will be out the back. Each pen is walk into.


Mock pop door. He wanted to know if we wanted ones that slid up and latched. Yes we do! He's going to make them look more finished.


Large breeding pen in the hallway. you can see we painted this room. It has no windows (except the door will be dutch, so we will open that during the day) but the white paint makes a world of difference. We will be painting the hallway and brooder room as well. Priming first this time though.. It took 5 gallons of paint to do this 12 x 14 foot room..

Doors. The smaller chicken wire used so I don't have to worry about chicks getting through. I'll use these two pens for Silkies & Mottled Houdans in breeding season, but will be using them for Meaties on one end, and layers on the other for brooding. We have an order coming in on June 28th. 30 meaties and 40 layers. There will be pop doors to go outside to free range as well when they are old enough.


This pen is 4' wide by 14 feet long.


This one is 14 feet long by 5 feet wide.




This pen has about a foot lost. This is where our fuse box will go.



Here is our brooder room (very dark) going to paint here as well..

I have a question for you guys about these brooders.. Contractor brought up that 4 feet deep may be hard to clean... but I want lots of chick room.. Will it be worth it? Yes? No?

I figure I can use a rake to get the further behind, but if this is going to be a hassle, we can trim to 36" instead (3 feet). Thoughts?


The hallway going out the exit.

Primer will make a world of difference..it will save paint and make it last years longer, keep mold down and keep staining down and keep the paint from peeling.

So, should we candle broody eggs?

I never understood peoples need to do it.
I do not know if you should..that is a decision you need to make
I guess you could..but tell me what changes when you candle? Are you going to know anything different?

She doesn't get off the nest, so I'm going to say no. We built a pen for her, so she has room to walk around, but is safe in the barn. Leaving her alone seems to be the best option. She'll kick out bad eggs right? Or will she just leave them for us to deal with at the end?

Some kick them out and some just leave them

Okay - the turkey walk thing for a broody is new to me. Never knew that they did that. Is that pretty common? Do they all do it or just on occasion?

I do not know for anyone one else, but it is all I have ever had.

Justine,

I would leave it as large as possible and put little removable dividers in. You can always use a back scratcher to scoop the corners, and we both know a bit of meat/food makes the baby's come out. Hang a fish net for the one that simply will not come forward. Cleaning will not be that hard. Baby poop is not that hard to clean up. On FF it is like tiny little pieces of tan licorice. To help with mold and sanitation I would use two coats of latex primer on your brooders before painting. You will have a better time with clean up and it will last longer. Choose your paints with the lowest VOC's.

Pasty butt advice please!!

ok, never had a prob with this before. oh, maybe one chick, one day, type of thing, but with this batch out of the 17 surviving chicks, I am cleaning off poop covering the vent on maybe 3-5 chicks in the am, and 3-5 chicks in the pm, not always the same chicks. this has been going on for about 4 days.

I am feeding a moistened chick feed, not medicated. Fresh water w acv. sod clump. occasional minced yard greens. chicks are on pine shavings.

temp in the brooder ranges from 90 under the lamp to 75 out of the lamp range, they are 2 weeks old (13 to 17 day olds).

I've tried:
sprinkling ground up oatmeal on feed
sprinkling powdered probiotics on feed
scrambled egg w and w/out yogurt

there is plenty of room in the brooder.

the poop seems fine - it is formed ok, ok color, but is sticking to feathers or fluff, and blocking the vent. I've caught two chicks actually straining to poop without success because of the vent block. I always wondered if that was a myth, that it could actually block defecation, but it looks like it could be true.

what am I doing wrong?

its too hot..change your bulb to a regular 60-90 watt..even 75 is too hot during part of the day. Ideal is 80 directly under bulb at this age with different temps in the brooder. If it is 60 outside..they should have an area that is 60. If it is 40 outside, they should have a 40 degree area. It was 40 outside today but sunny and I had chicks outside.

I moved the eggs, but turns out I still won't be going to bed, because I'll lay there thinking about shrink wrapping, so I may as well stay out here and monitor. One more hatched after I moved them, though, and the third one pipped. So hopefully not too much longer. Or probably another day, we'll see.

Th humidity info is actually helpful. We have humidity gauge on the porch and I know earlier it was only like 38%, but it tried to rain earlier so it may have gone up. But at the rate my damp towels are drying I doubt it.

So my next Q- how can I tell if a chick is becoming shrink wrapped, and if I can tell is there a way to help it out? I've got them pretty well draped with damp towels at the moment, but just in case.

You can't keep it wrapped in a wet paper towel it will get too cold unless it was under heat... plug in a heating pad.The egg needs to stay at least 96-100 degrees. Adding additional water directly to the shell will cause excessive moisture to leach into the shell with the drop in temp. That will cause the chicks body temp to drop even faster. Shrink wrapping is from humans opening incubators, not broody raised and hatched chicks.

 

[brandislee]

I'm

This chicken keeping is tough sometimes.  Thanks to the sour crop discussion, I believe that's my little Speckled Sussex's problem.  She's been doing better.  The squishy crop has gone down a lot.  I finally got the chicks and turkeys in the chicken coop.  Does anyone know if there's a contest for the best red neck/white trash coop?  I'm pretty sure I'd be in the running.  I'm hoping there's a cash prize.  The duct tape wasn't my idea, but, there it is.  Anyway, I put all the birds in the coop, which is 6.5'x24'.  The little Sussex was doing really well.  She was even going in to eat with everyone, but I would take her to the other end and feed her separately.  Tonight, when I went out to feed, poor little Sussex had been beat to a pulp.  She has no feathers on her back, her wing tops are bloody, her comb is gone.  She's holding her eyes shut, but I know she can open them.  Her feet are mangled.  Tomorrow I have a friend coming to get her.  She has pens she can keep her in.  I can't believe I've gotten attached to a chicken, but I have.  I don't care where she goes as long as she gets a chance to heal and be safe.  Of course, if the crop issues don't resolve, she'll be taken care of.  Naturally, I believe she was one of (I think) my 2 pullets.  The other 6 are roos, I'm sure.  I did finally figure out that my yellow mystery chicks from the hatchery are Buff Orpingtons.  4 of the 6 roos.

Now, those delicate turkey poults are doing great.  Hope I didn't jinx them by saying that.

Although I don't post much, I want to say that I do sympathize with, laugh at and celebrate everyone's posts.  I especially appreciate the information.  I've learned a lot.  I had a loss in my family today and the distraction of this thread, especially the laughs, were greatly needed.    

I'm sorry about the loss in your family and your Sussex! I have to say I would be in the running, too for red neck coops for not one, not two, but 3 of my coops. One is made out of PVC and tarp, one is an old swing set and tarp, and one (and the front runner here for red neck coop) is made from an old truck cap and PVC!

On an unrelated note, my last two chicks just hatched! They zipped at almost exactly the same time. So I'm waiting for them to dry off a little and get more steady, but them I'm off to bed! Sadly I don't think that first chick I found is gonna make it, but the others are all looking good. Oh, and bad mama already got moved to the summer coop. No good place to go broody there!