The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

rooster questions, don't laugh at me!

ok. you know I have 8 roosters growing up. I would like to keep one or two, and there are 9 pullets and 9 hens 2-5 years old.

Question # 1: some of these pullets are from very small breeds (legbar, icelandic, and unknown but small!) Some of the roosters are large (lav orp) and some are small (icelandic). Should I be worried about a big rooster and a small hen? is that a reason to choose smaller roosters?

Question # 2: One of the roosters, who is maybe 14 weeks old and who started to crow at about 5 weeks or something, dances for the little tiny pullets who are no where near laying. Now this rooster also dances for my shoes, other roosters, and hens.....do I need to be worried for the pullets? So far, based on limited observation, he dances, the pullet shys away and that is that.

Question # 3: ok this is maybe more of a breeding question - there were chicks that were pure araucana, and chicks that were araucana x leghorn. A chick grew up into a roo, with a good tail, a beard, and a muff. Any way to guess whether it is an auracana or a cross?

Question # 4: the rooster in question # 2 seems to have taken a dislike to the auraucana pullets - chases them, definitely not dancing for them. Is this likely going to continue?

Question 1: I don't. I have never lost a bantam from a large fowl rooster. They mate. It scares me sometimes, but no injuries. You don't have any bantams the size of Nora (roughly 1 to 1.5 pounds) and she has been mated by Cletus (barred plymouth rock) who is at least 4-5 pounds I'm guessing (he's small for a rock).

#2: This is good! Trying to impress them at this age is really good. He's not just snatching and raping. They do it to other males and you for dominance. Don't let him do it to you.

#3: Tough one. I wouldn't hatch from your Araucana x pullets. Just the pure ones.

#4: Hard to say.

 

[lazy gardener]

rooster questions, don't laugh at me!

ok. you know I have 8 roosters growing up. I would like to keep one or two, and there are 9 pullets and 9 hens 2-5 years old.

Question # 1: some of these pullets are from very small breeds (legbar, icelandic, and unknown but small!) Some of the roosters are large (lav orp) and some are small (icelandic). Should I be worried about a big rooster and a small hen? is that a reason to choose smaller roosters?

Question # 2: One of the roosters, who is maybe 14 weeks old and who started to crow at about 5 weeks or something, dances for the little tiny pullets who are no where near laying. Now this rooster also dances for my shoes, other roosters, and hens.....do I need to be worried for the pullets? So far, based on limited observation, he dances, the pullet shys away and that is that.

Question # 3: ok this is maybe more of a breeding question - there were chicks that were pure araucana, and chicks that were araucana x leghorn. A chick grew up into a roo, with a good tail, a beard, and a muff. Any way to guess whether it is an auracana or a cross?

Question # 4: the rooster in question # 2 seems to have taken a dislike to the auraucana pullets - chases them, definitely not dancing for them. Is this likely going to continue?

I agree with PP not to let this little cockrel dance for you. When he does, just keep moving, and nudge him out of the way with your foot if you need to. However, that being said, I'd definitely show preference to keeping a rooster who dances for the girls instead of just grabbing them. Keep an eye on him for a possible breeder. My preference for a roo would be a dancer, people friendly, good provider and protector of the girls, he should also be high in the roo pecking order... add to that good conformation, and a good rooster is probably hard to come by! Re : #3: Does it really matter to you if he is a pure bred? If he meets all of the good rooster criteria, I'd consider him to be a contender, unless I was trying to breed a pure-bred flock, and in that situation, would only set eggs from known pure-breds. But, your flock is mixed to start with, so unless you want to do some serious culling, enjoy what you have, and let your best birds play in the gene pool!

Last year these same people complained about my rooster crowing, but I didn't have one. Um wrong house.

Too funny. My next door neighbor assured me that he liked the sound of roosters crowing. (I had 6) One morning, when they were crowing up a storm, he was standing out in his yard and crowing back at them. He sounded liked he was miffed or making fun of them... after they all went to freezer camp, I asked him if he missed them. He replied' "Yes." Go figure.... I sure didn't miss them!!!

 

[jlynnet]

The crabby neighbor is just one of those complaining types. She complains about other neighbors dogs too. We all have 2.5 acres or more, so it's not like we are sitting super close. I think she needs to live in a remote area or a retirement village. Good thing it's hot today, her windows will be closed. I did ask the boys if they could keep it down on the weekends. We'll see if they comply!

 

[PatQ]

So how much flax would you guys consider as too much in a feed? I do use some in my feed. I think it is at 5% but would have to check to be sure.

There are definitely different schools of thought on natural plant estrogens in people/animal diets - the body metabolizes them differently - In my experience, flax is not a bad thing - especially organic golden flax

 

[BlueMouse]

This is what I was thinking might work best for me. I do want to free range my chickens as much as I can, but I'm afraid that won't be as much as I want because my dog needs time outside too, and I think she would try to eat them. I really don't know what's going to happen, so I'll just have to see. I'm building an 8' x 17' run (not including the space under the coop), but I don't think that's very big for foraging for 9 chickens.

I do know that I really don't have the time to make my own food for them. Fermenting the bagged food is plenty for me! Ideally, I love the idea, but what you guys are doing sounds overwhelming. Maybe I'm just feeling stressed about the inconceivably long to-do lists I have, but I'm thinking that taking care of the chickens can't be a huge part of my day.

I agree with what some have said about avoinding estrogenic compounds, and I'm sad to realize that it seems like every day I learn about something else I should be avoiding (didn't know about flax - I thought it was a recommended food because of the omega fatty acids). Sigh.

I plan to feed them kitchen scraps, but only as a supplement, not as something I think about and try to balance.

Honestly, doing your own feed is not that hard. Once you've figured out a formula and gotten a couple of big old galvanized trashcans to store it in, it's as easy as every few months going down and buying a bunch of 50lb bags, tossing into aforementioned cans, and stirring. No big. Then you ferment like you would anything else. Although I like to ferment my grains more long term because they're harder and not processed. I feel like it takes longer for them to really ferment. So I keep all my fermenting grains in a 20 gallon pickle crock. when it gets low I scoop a bunch out of the trashcan in the basement, add with water, stir with my spurdle, and get on with my day. Easy peasy. Right now it's not as easy because I haven't been able to get field peas so I'm using bagged game bird feed to raise the protien, which I have to ferment seperately..... and I can't wait to get field peas again!

There are definitely different schools of thought on natural plant estrogens in people/animal diets - the body metabolizes them differently - In my experience, flax is not a bad thing - especially organic golden flax

Yeah. From what I understand flax is not a bad actor like soy. your body metabolizes everything differently. And flaxseed oil is just about the best source of useable omega 3 fatty acids you can fiind. I take a tablespoon of it a day, gross, but I've noticed such a difference both in my immune system, and my skin. I think it's best to do the research and then make the best choices you can for your particular situation. From my end of it, omega 3's are HUGELY deficient in our diet, even though we eat very well, and very important especially to immune function. Flaxseed oil is one of the most concentrated useable sources you can find. Walnut oil is a close second, but it has only a third of the concentration that flaxseed oil has. On balance I think that the flaxseed (for our family) is less of a concern than the fish sources that are readily available. Chickens get flax too, it translates into a higher amount of animal based omega 3 in their eggs, which is also good for us.

 

[MEMama3]

My first attempt of FF smells like baby poop (it's on day two). Did I do something wrong? It's bubbling like crazy.

 

[aoxa]

My first attempt of FF smells like baby poop (it's on day two). Did I do something wrong? It's bubbling like crazy.

Baby poo? Like farts?

 

[armorfirelady]

My first attempt of FF smells like baby poop (it's on day two). Did I do something wrong? It's bubbling like crazy.

Bubbling is good it means its fermenting!! Give it a good stir and maybe a little water and see if it smells better tomorrow. It's suppose to be a pickling/sour smell but everyone's nose is different.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Just a quick link on the omega 3 in vegetable sources vs animal sourced:


Quote: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/01/01/fish-oil-part-thirteen.aspx Also see: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/04/03/evolution.aspx



Krill oil seems to be a safer option than regular fish oils. There are also other animal sources as as well as fish.

Estrogens aren't my only concern with these and other grain/seed sources. There is also the issue of ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fats which can cause many problems when they are out of kilter. The grains we feed to our animals have a pretty poor omega 3: omega 6 ratio, unfortunately.

 

[Leahs Mom]

My first attempt of FF smells like baby poop (it's on day two). Did I do something wrong? It's bubbling like crazy.

Should smell slightly sour - like pickles or sauerkraut. If your feed has fish meal in it there will be a stronger smell...but still the predominant smell should be that sauerrkraut-like smell assuming you're doing lactic fermentation.