The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[BlueMouse]

Seeing everyone's moulting photos makes me feel much better.... I went out and got a few photos this afternoon.

this is Mary the cuckoo Marans. She is 28 weeks old and shows no sign of laying anytime soon.

Mary, and Charlotte, the EE. about 20 weeks old and not showing any signs of laying either.

Here's Mrs. Bennet. My scruffy looking hen. Comb nice and pinnk. beard... missing, back feathers, scruffy, generally not looking sleek or glossy.


Anyone care to take a guess on gender? Buff Orpington, 10 weeks.


as i took this shot I noticed that where her beard was ins all pinfeathers now. I'm hoping that means this is just a moult and that the weight loss I noticed is just because she's been broody recently... She's always been a lighter bird. Here's another angle of the cheeplet. I'm SO hoping it's a girl. Her legs seem slender.

So when you guys have everyone in a moult do you give extra animal protien? or just leave them to forage for what they need? These are my laying flock and they have all day free range. They cover probably almost an acre of our land. This chick has been raised almost exclusively on forage and it's always been bigger and better feathered than brooder babies of the same age. How's that for a good advertisement for natural chicken keeping!!

 

[delisha]

Red Ridge, Mumsy and all that process the heritage RIR -

At what age do you find they're ready with enough meat but not so tough that you can't eat them as regular "fried chicken" or the like?

HRIR take a while to get meat on them. They are all bone for a while. I would say a solid 6 months for a good butcher age. They are delicious. I would say my favorite eating bird besides the Basque. The flavor profile is remarkable. I did butcher one out pretty early and was disappointed at lack of meat at age of 18 weeks.

These two ladies (power of positive thinking) weren't suppose to hatch until Tues, yet here they are this morning, they hatched last night, in a hurry to see the world. There is one more in the bator, she just hatched though and was still wet. 16 more eggs to go.

cute as can be



Justine,
Those are delightful pictures..thanks for sharing

 

[delisha]

Seeing everyone's moulting photos makes me feel much better.... I went out and got a few photos this afternoon.

this is Mary the cuckoo Marans. She is 28 weeks old and shows no sign of laying anytime soon.

Mary, and Charlotte, the EE. about 20 weeks old and not showing any signs of laying either.

Here's Mrs. Bennet. My scruffy looking hen. Comb nice and pinnk. beard... missing, back feathers, scruffy, generally not looking sleek or glossy.


Anyone care to take a guess on gender? Buff Orpington, 10 weeks.


as i took this shot I noticed that where her beard was ins all pinfeathers now. I'm hoping that means this is just a moult and that the weight loss I noticed is just because she's been broody recently... She's always been a lighter bird. Here's another angle of the cheeplet. I'm SO hoping it's a girl. Her legs seem slender.

So when you guys have everyone in a moult do you give extra animal protien? or just leave them to forage for what they need? These are my laying flock and they have all day free range. They cover probably almost an acre of our land. This chick has been raised almost exclusively on forage and it's always been bigger and better feathered than brooder babies of the same age. How's that for a good advertisement for natural chicken keeping!!

I see nothing wrong with your birds..I see no signs of excessive moult or bad condition in any feathering. ACV in water?
Your Orp looks like a pullet..if a cockerel the wattles and comb should be colored already.

 

[MumsyII]

I'm started seeing HRIR feathers yesterday. I was wondering if it was roos not getting along or moult. Thanks for the heads up. Mine are about a week younger than yours and the same line. Have your roos started crowing yet, a couple of mine are squeaking at night? The one I have in with the girls is not even trying yet, just the roos in the boy pen.

Early on I put a few leg bands on some of my HRIR cockerels that stood out even all the way across the yard. My favorite cockerel started trying to crow just yesterday. He sounds like a fog horn. And I should know! I hear fog horns out on the Sound every foggy morning! Hah! He is looking like a keeper.

After all the talk yesterday and today about processing, I went ahead and butchered the half blind cockerel. He dressed out on the small side as I knew he would but he's what's for dinner tonight. Lean. Skinned. Succulent. Got him chilling in ice water right now. Going to fire up the grill tonight and get a nice BBQ rub on him soon. Some baked Purple Majestic potatoes and a nice fresh slaw on the side from the garden to round out the meal. Sunday dinner at it's best.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote:
He sounds very tasty. I went a head and put leg bands on my HRIR too. I only have 10 total right now so it was not a big task. But one already fell off so I'm waiting a week to put back on. It was the youngest hen and I thought it might be too soon for her but I was right there with the bands and had to try.

 

[aoxa]

The silkies are starting to look quite nice. The girls anyway. Any boys I have I just don't really like much.. but I'll have to pick one.. Even if their colour isn't what I like right now.. I'm starting from scratch with partridge. Here is one of my girls. She looks very nice for a f1 partridge.

She's 13 weeks old.

Here are a couple more that are 11 weeks old.

 

[MumsyII]

It took only a few minutes to process a half blind HRIR twenty one week old cockerel. He had very little body fat. After swirling his body in a five gallon bucket of soapy water, he skinned and processed very quickly. Less than ten minutes until he was into ice water.

I could have culled this bird when he was a chick and blinded in one eye by a nasty peck from one of his brooder mates. I let him grow out instead. I am the alpha on my property. I made sure he got enough groceries to eat until his life could be honored by feeding my family. He did not suffer in life. He did not suffer in death. Tonight his body will be put to use as three meals. Two of meat and one of broth. This is enough meat for my husband and I.



I do not have the hand strength to cut up chicken with a knife. I use kitchen shears instead. It works for me.

 

[Sally8]

I sold 6 hens and a roo yesterday, today we processed 5 roo's. moved the chicks outside and put in new roosts under the lean to. Not as safe as locked in the coop but safer than being outside. The turkeys probably won't be as happy there but they've been stomping the chickens.

Immediately after beheading the roo's there was this one roo that would run over and jump on the roo lying on the ground. He was attacking the already dead rooster. It was so upsetting that he went to freezer camp also he though I hadn't intended for him to.

It feels good to have such a productive day.

 

[MumsyII]

I sold 6 hens and a roo yesterday, today we processed 5 roo's. moved the chicks outside and put in new roosts under the lean to. Not as safe as locked in the coop but safer than being outside. The turkeys probably won't be as happy there but they've been stomping the chickens.

Immediately after beheading the roo's there was this one roo that would run over and jump on the roo lying on the ground. He was attacking the already dead rooster. It was so upsetting that he went to freezer camp also he though I hadn't intended for him to.

It feels good to have such a productive day.

I understand. Some days are days to process and get things under control. The last two days I've been letting the five turkeys integrate with the flock. They are also doing some stomping. It's interesting to me that they ignore the small bantams and silkies but try to stomp the HRIR and layers. I see some Karma justice taking place of late.

 

[aoxa]

I understand. Some days are days to process and get things under control. The last two days I've been letting the five turkeys integrate with the flock. They are also doing some stomping. It's interesting to me that they ignore the small bantams and silkies but try to stomp the HRIR and layers. I see some Karma justice taking place of late.

Your turkeys are not unique in that way. My turkeys lived with the silkies and bantams. They were the body guards of them for some odd reason. They'd flog every rooster that came near. They would jump the fence I used to separate the bantams from the large fowl and lounge with the silkies.

I found it enchanting!