The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

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[salt and pepper]

Has any one seen their chickens eat a snake? Mine caught a little foot long one, and were chasing each other over it!!! RIP little snake.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Kassaundra has a photo of one of hers w/a snake...and I think I remember stony too.

 

[CAjerseychick]

Day 21--looks like this little one didn't make it past day 14...but this is good news because it means my roo is NOT shooting blanks! I have two broodies on 14 more of his eggs. Will know by the 18th whether he can have offspring. I have ordered 12 chicks just in case. Today's broody that was due was only on three eggs (two exploded already) and I broke this and two others open today thinking there would be no sign of development. Looks like one out of five started to develop. I have hope again that my flock can reproduce! So today's broody is on golf balls, hopefully staying broody until the 18th when the chicks are ready for transfer. This picture is bittersweet. I'm VERY relieved that I didn't kill it. I was so convinced there would be nothing there. I'll be more careful from now on.

Hey I am thinking of candling the eggs my broody is on... (she is on day 8 or 9 but there have been some gaps in the setting d/t 2 hens competing)..... Its my first year with chickens and they have a coop and a small run that is Not secure - they leave daily to forage on our 2 acres)-- should I wait til day 10 or 11 or wait? We have 11 eggs left under the broody... and I think the other one is out in the bushes starting up another clutch of eggs (we have big dogs that roam the property and we have not had a predator loss - its been a year, and the cats and dogs have been killing lots of rodents and I have seen raccoon possum and skunk )....Posted on the egg hatching Forum about just leaving the 2nd broody in the bushes?
What do you guys on the natural chicken keeping thread think about this? They are 10 jersey giant hens and 1 roo that oversees them... Also the dogs are leaving with us to go camping in July.... so the chickens wont have that protection for 5 or 6 days....

 

[BlueMouse]

Did my Eggtopsy outside in a nice brisk breeze, next to the hole we dug all our garden dirt out of. after I cracked each egg I threw the remains into the hole and covered with dirt, this did actually keep the smell down. Only three out of 8 of my cream legbars had developed at all. all but one of my buff orpington eggs had developed. They all looked like they deceased right around day 14, which is when we had that big power outtage. So, I guess that solves that myster. It makes me feel MUCH better about the eggs currently in the incutbator.

I'm excited about the comfry for a number of reasons, it's the best possible mulch for fruit trees and berry bushes, it is a great compost pile activator, you can make a "tea" out of it that is an amazing fertilizer, and you can feed it to livestock since it's super high in nutrients. I'm hoping to be able to feed it to the chickens who are confined in tractors, and eventually if we have goats it's excellent for ruminants.

I know nothing about the anise hyssop except that it smells nice and the bees LOVE it, which is reason enough to plant it in my mind

yes, I am that crazy lady that plants stuff just for the bees and the chickens.

 

[PatQ]

Anybody ever plant this for your chickens?
http://www.growyouthful.com/remedy/purslane-omega-3.php

I just planted Purslane in a shady area that won't grow anything much else - and it is supposed to grow in full shade - just poked up through the ground this week

Mine is different though - maybe another type of Purslane - "Miner's Lettuce"

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/WEEDS/miners_lettuce.html

 

[Leahs Mom]

An incubator question.

For those of you that have incubated, what was your FIRST experience like?
-Was it easy?
-Confusing?
-Would you do it again?
-What would you say to a person who has never used an incubator before - your #1 tip (or 2 or 3).

 

[Mumsy]

On the earthworms - interesting that you say they can tell if there is something wrong. I never thought of that but -

I started a worm farm w/redworms last fall. Every time I've tried to feed one of those worms, they won't eat them. However, I see them eat the worms in their area all the time. In fact, one of the ee girls got hold of a night crawler (huge) just yesterday and slurped it down in one piece!

So, perhaps the worms I got for my worm bin have issues that they can tell by smell or whatever. They'd just always look at them cock-eyed, and walk away.

I agree. Chickens have an extraordinary sense of smell. Some people like to give chickens magical powers of reasoning when they won't eat something or push bad eggs out of the nest. It is most likely that they can SMELL when something is not good. My local worms must smell pretty dang amazing because they go nuts for them.

 

[Ashdoes]

I have an earth worm bin, and my chickens eat them just fine. Each chicken is different though, my sex-links will not eat a stink bug, but my Silkie came over and tore it up and ate it.

 

[Leahs Mom]

How can you tell the difference between the beginning of a molt and "rooster damage" on a hen?

I have one that is looking pretty bad just above the tail area on the back. The cockerel does mate her and the others. The feathers started to get "white" and scruffy there and now it is getting to the point where I can see skin.