The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

I was going to say a bunch of stuff and forgot.
I like your progress Justine..looks like you will have your animals out in the barn in no time.
Tons of great information shared lately..keep up all the good work everyone


My second duck of the year has hatched out a ton of ducklings. I have no idea how many. She is stuffed full. I am excited to count how many there is tomorrow or Saturday. I think it might be over 8 possibly a dozen.
I think my leghorn hatched out all of her eggs too. I gave her all Orpington eggs but one of her own. She will look funny with a bunch of dark chicks and one light one. My other two ducks should be hatching out in the next few weeks too. My other hen is on duck eggs so I think I might have to give her some of the chicken eggs in the incubator. I have not decided what to do yet. I will have ducks coming out my eye balls this year.

As far as paint..paint fumes are toxic so please be careful. Oil based in a coop is something to seriously consider. That is why most white wash. It dries faster with less fumes in the air. The lime is good for bug control and determent. That is why the OT use it.

 

[BlueMouse]

We used a sprayer when we painted our house (This house was flooded we bought it for a song and re-built) and WOW did it go quickly. I would highly reccomend it! Wear a mask though. a lot of fine particulate gets into the air.

 

[countrygirl74]

So, I've been dealing with bumblefoot on my ducks and thought I would share the progress and what has worked so far.

I took pictures of my worst bumblefoot patient, "Ping", my Jumbo Pekin. After discovering hers, I inspected all the ducks and the other 3 had some in various degrees. The drake's is now completely gone, the female Rouen's is almost gone, and my other Pekin is slowly recovering as well. Since Ping's was the worst, I used her as the example as her bumblefoot still has a little ways to go. I was actually quite amazed that the others' disappeared so quickly.

The first photo was taken on May 25th, so it's been a little under 2 weeks. I ordered the koi meds but they took about a week to arrive. In the meantime, I soaked her feet in epsom salts about 4 times - during the first week. I applied NuStock to her feet daily for about a week, then switched to every other day. I did place "socks" on her feet for the first week to keep the NuStock on better. The next week, I just applied it and then placed her back into her run of clean shavings. I did limit her swimming and took out the shallow pan of water to keep her feet dry with the socks and meds on. I also increased her thiamine intake by letting her have dark leafy greens and peas more often. I also added niacin to their water for a few days. Because I ended up getting sick with a cold for a few days, I actually missed a couple days of treating her at all AND as a result, I hadn't started the koi meds as planned. So, the improvement has been NuStock and diet alone so far. At this point, I might not use the koi meds...we'll see...
The 'after' pics were taken today.

BEFORE


AFTER



And here's the other foot...

BEFORE



AFTER

 

[Leahs Mom]

I was going to say a bunch of stuff and forgot.

Ya know, they say that happens the older you get...

 

[Sally8]

Was never going to use oil base in the coop only white wash. I was only commenting why I hadn't used it yet to seal kitty litter smells in 1 room in the house. I'm actually thinking of going to my mothers after painting for a couple of days. I only want to do this once.

 

[aoxa]

So, I've been dealing with bumblefoot on my ducks and thought I would share the progress and what has worked so far.

I took pictures of my worst bumblefoot patient, "Ping", my Jumbo Pekin. After discovering hers, I inspected all the ducks and the other 3 had some in various degrees. The drake's is now completely gone, the female Rouen's is almost gone, and my other Pekin is slowly recovering as well. Since Ping's was the worst, I used her as the example as her bumblefoot still has a little ways to go. I was actually quite amazed that the others' disappeared so quickly.

The first photo was taken on May 25th, so it's been a little under 2 weeks. I ordered the koi meds but they took about a week to arrive. In the meantime, I soaked her feet in epsom salts about 4 times - during the first week. I applied NuStock to her feet daily for about a week, then switched to every other day. I did place "socks" on her feet for the first week to keep the NuStock on better. The next week, I just applied it and then placed her back into her run of clean shavings. I did limit her swimming and took out the shallow pan of water to keep her feet dry with the socks and meds on. I also increased her thiamine intake by letting her have dark leafy greens and peas more often. I also added niacin to their water for a few days. Because I ended up getting sick with a cold for a few days, I actually missed a couple days of treating her at all AND as a result, I hadn't started the koi meds as planned. So, the improvement has been NuStock and diet alone so far. At this point, I might not use the koi meds...we'll see...
The 'after' pics were taken today.

BEFORE


AFTER



And here's the other foot...

BEFORE



AFTER

Good job!

 

[bluebirdnanny]

Oh here came the Natural Policeman...... LMBO! I thought it but bit my tongue.....

LOL!! My daughter saw 2 of the girls lying on their sides in the sun. She ran to them thinking they were dead. It scared her half to death! Of course they hopped right up & ran away like their tails were on fire. She came back in shaking her head. She said it took her a minute to realize they were sunning themselves.

Ya know, they say that happens the older you get...

NOW I've laughed so hard stress incontinence caused leakage.... gotta change my drawers!!!!!!

Good job!

And thank you so much for the photos! Really helps.


Ok now finally caught up and lost all the other multi I was going to comment on. But like someone else said..... my post would be sooooo long if they had. lol

 

[bluebirdnanny]

Oh yeah! Though off topic yes, I did enjoy the 'cheesy' convo! Wish I had space to do that.

 

[aoxa]

BDM: That's really weird that they used your image from ANOTHER thread without asking.. or at least informing you...

 

[stonykill]

Y'all crack me up sometimes..... No offense to you pet owners out there. I have some "Carla" at home.....

Can a 2 week old chick eat whole corn? Hmmmm..... I don't know, mine eat 16% hog feed from day 1. My broody chicks? I have no idea what the eat, but I have seen them eat big bugs....

In my way of thinking.... who cracks something too large for them in the wild? Mama? Or do they work it til it is manageable?

Another point that is getting to be a pet peeve of mine.... Wasted feed.... I adore Jules and miss her greatly. In fact, I have a feeder with welded wire over it. That said.... I probably paid more for that welded wire than any feed I wasted.

I have 100 birds.... So they toss some around. Don't they look for those and scratch it out?

I wonder, in dollars and sense, how much in feed I have lost? I fed the hogs on the ground today because I didn't feel like chasing feeders..... Heck, that that seeps in the ground.... They root don't they?

Am I wrong to think this way?

you said what I was thinking

I really don't have food loss. I also have 100ish or more birds. My thought is this. If they can't be bothered to eat the food off the ground and only from feeder you are feeding them too much.

I feed most of my chickens on the ground, no feeders. It is natural for them as it is for hogs. I think your thought process is correct.

Back to the can a chick eat whole corn. I watched a 3 day old chick yesterday catch and eat a bumblebee. Just saying........