The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

Looks great. I love all the windows.
Somehow all the windows still don't seem like enough when you're in it (except in the chicken area - lots of LIGHT in there!) Not enough in the brooder room or in the goat room.. or the hallways. Probably because of the direction of the sun... or the darn OSB. I have to paint the hallways. Really dark in there!
 
Yarrow made into a tincture with alcohol makes a good bug spray, doesn't smell good though, could add something to it.... Running to hide now since it isn't chicken related.


well, a good bug spray is what I need to spend time with the chicks now that mosquitoes and black flies are out. So it is chicken related for me! I'll google and see if I can learn how to do that (yarrow tincture). I don't care about the smell!
Nice to see you, Trav!
x2
 
Last edited:
justine, I love the old door! and the barn is gorgeous. Seeing all those outside doors in the first pic, I've got to go back to your plans to figure out what they are. It looks wonderful. Congrats
 
I found one of my turkeys dead this morning. It was a total shock- they were all totally fine last night. So I was seriously thinking about (just thinking about... I have an irrational fear of dead things) doing a necropsy when I went in to get the body, and I saw a bunch of blood splattered on a trough near the dead turkey. So I used that as a completely lame reason not to do a necropsy, and figured it was a predator of sorts. But there doesn't appear to be any damage done to the fencing, so ??? I'm thinking one of two things- a raccoon reach through (but it's chicken wire around the bottom, and I figure a racoon would try to get through and stretch the wire, and I saw no sign of that) OR a weasel or mink. I've never seen any sign of weasels or mink here before, and we don't live super close to water... but there is a river like 3 miles away. Anyway, I'm thinking the turkeys, who were in a tractor last night, might be sleeping in the main coop with the broodies tonight. But even my main coop isn't 100% weasel proof. There's hardware cloth around the vents and everything, but there were a few places where I couldn't get my hands/tools up under the eaves to secure it very well. Here's hoping it was a one time thing...
Stony is the weasel expert, but i think they bite the heads off birds. Sorry for your loss.
 
Last edited:
ok, I need a camera, because these are with a cell - and Justine, how do you take pics of chicks? they don't stay still, by the time the camera flashes they are no longer there!

the littlest swedish flower hen, she has to be a girl - 3 weeks:





see the little sideways feather? when she is running she looks like she is wearing a tutu!




close up of her coloring - am in love with this



and finally, one of her sibs. Roo?


 
glad to hear all is well.

one of our hens tripped while running from the cat, who was not chasing it. She just happened to notice that he was sleeping in the nearby grass. Now my hen is limping. I did not see or feel anything out of place. But the best I could do was compare it to another hen's leg. It did not act in pain when I was examining it. She puts her weight on her sore leg for a flash of a second but does not appear to be using her wings to balance or walk. I have her by herself tonight to keep her away from the others and to make sure she gets food and water. About how long should a sprained leg take to heal? Is there anything I can give her for the pain?
My speckled sussex sprained her leg in the winter, and she held it up and hopped on one leg for a month. She was able to get out to free range and up to her 4 ft. roost by jumping on the garbage can. It took a month to 6 weeks, but she fully recovered.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom