The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[stonykill]

Quote: loud enough. I don't know how else to put it. Needs to be heard. We did it in the dead of winter, 18 inches to 26 inches of snow on the ground all of the time. So I only moved it every few days.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote:
my radio is not very load, i will need to look into getting a louder one. I have heard it helps with hawks too. I have to say, seeing a real live owl, it is not like the friendly versions from childhood books. And to think almost all of the science books we had in school made hawks and owls out to be great things that ate the mice. Never mentioned how much trouble they could cause to chicken owners.

 

[delisha]

Sally, if taking the resting spots down are not feasible, you can tie balloons directly on the tree or fence. Even string or a nice yellow ribbon around the tree flapping around will make them wary.

http://icwdm.org/handbook/birds/HawksOwls.asp

 

[mikkles]

kind of chicken related in that I don't want to kill them...what can i use for gigantic ant hills? thought of borax but am afraid if my ladies eat it they'll get sick?

 

[aoxa]

loud enough. I don't know how else to put it. Needs to be heard. We did it in the dead of winter, 18 inches to 26 inches of snow on the ground all of the time. So I only moved it every few days.

I have my radio on 24/7 out there. More for me... but interesting to hear that it helps deter predators.

 

[HauiBali]

kind of chicken related in that I don't want to kill them...what can i use for gigantic ant hills? thought of borax but am afraid if my ladies eat it they'll get sick?

I see that you live in Minnesota, where winter is very cold, and I learned a special treatment for the ant-problem when I lived in Lapland: hammer down an iron stick (or a few, depends on the size) in the center of the huge ant hill. Ants will not leave their home, as it is not disturbing to them a lot. The tricky part is, that when the winter comes, the iron will bring the frost deep down below surface, and the poor ants will not wake up from their sleep again.

If you dont want to wait for winter, then after a good heavy rain (or cautious hosing from a distance), when you still have those iron sticks in the ant home, grab a car battery and clamp the red and black cables on those sticks. Wear a rubber boot while doing this, and leave the ants shake for a day. Sadly the earthworms will come out too, so you can go fishing with them.

While these techniques may sound barbaric, they are much better than any chemical. We have a biogarden and we use these practices. Ducks against snails, Tagetes-flowers to protect tomatoes etc. I am finished with the fence, from tomorrow we will have hens!!!! Some not too attractive brahma-hybrids.

 

[Quailsong]

Got a closer look at his birds today.... they have IB

I decided to treat them while he's gone since it's such a contagious disease, Hopefully I'll have some extra medicine, just in case my birds get it, will be giving inject able Tylan 50, for five days, hope that clears it up. Any other advice? Probably wouldn't be treating if it wasn't for the fact that we are so close together, and I don't want it spreading.

The only other thing I'd suggest is getting paid for your hard work. It's obvious the neighbour either can't or won't raise 'em properly. He may even depend on the kindness of others; whether consciously taking advantage or not.

"Probably wouldn't be treating if it wasn't for the fact that we are so close together, and I don't want it spreading."

This kinda shows you're not so much treating out of kindness as you are fear (although you are incredibly kind to offer to help anyways). Fear shouldn't be a motivating factor to get along w/ neighbours.

I'd def expect something in return, maybe a chunk of goat or lambs meat at his next cull, some of his veggies or whatever. But nothing chicken-related, he may try to repay you w/ some of his sickly chickens. >.<

 

[Quailsong]

No.... The thing is, is that He is my senior by a few years, and I don't want to tell him something that he's doing wrong. He's already lost a few birds to " unknown reasons " And I just don't want him to lose anymore.

I'm catching up so I'm sure others have already said, it's not a good idea to treat without telling the owner. Whether for ethics or safety (who knows if he or someone in his family is allergic to that medicine). And lastly, if his chickens are dying at random, it might be better to convince him to not keep them for a while. Sometimes people need failures & to learn from them before they can do better. Maybe he can learn a few things from you later on down the road & try again.

The way I see it, you're going out of your way (time/money/etc) to temporarily suspend the inevitable. That just leads to a lot of pain, heartache & wasted efforts.

But hey, do what you want if you feel the passion for it - I say just let the guy know you're treating his flock & with what.

 

[Mumsy]

I just set 216 eggs in the incubator. This is the first time using anything other that a styrofoam job. Thinking ahead to what a job candling is going to be and knowing I better or there is gonna be a problem, and that would stink.
I have had it on for 3 days and seems to be holding steady even in the garage.
216,,,, at 3-4 dozen a day, that pushed my 10 day viability belief... I wonder what my percentage will be as I didn't set them all fat side up.... Does anyone get eggs where there is no fat side?
I kept the really dirty ones out but with setting that many I didn't give much thought to genetically perfect eggs.... Too late to have this batch ready for the moult, but I guess that it is better than hatching in November. Still exciting to see what the percentage will be with zero care taken before they were unceremoniously placed in the bator. Never marked the date for my broody, but haven't seen any action from anything but her pecker.... beak, that is.

When I have eggs that look the same on both ends, I candle and look for the air cell before setting in the incubator. Air cell up.

216 eggs!!! Holy Carp! Your incubator is going to be popping like a pop corn popper!

 

[Quailsong]

kind of chicken related in that I don't want to kill them...what can i use for gigantic ant hills? thought of borax but am afraid if my ladies eat it they'll get sick?

Dry cornmeal on a non-humid/rainy day. Stick it inside a container so the birds can't get to it, 1' or less from the mound. The ants will eat the cornmeal & it will puff up inside of them. Killing them. If the chickens eat the ants, well they get an extra treat.