The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lalaland]

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.

Well, as lazy gardener says below, I already have a mixed flock...I wouldn't sell anything as a purebred, but am wondering about egg color, so I wanted to see if I could figure out whether the roo was araucana or a cross.
Now Delisha reminds me that the tail means he is a cross. The two pullets are tail-less, so I guess I figured it out belatedly.

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!

Thanks Aoxa and Lazy, I thought it was funny and forgot I shouldn't let him dance for me. He is behaving well, and the other roo candidates are too young yet to tell much about them. But he isn't one I would keep except for his good behavior - I have no idea what breed he is, and I am partial to the araucana x leghorn roo, and the mystery roo, and the sweet little lav orp roo. The icelandic roos aren't making much of an impression on me, partly because they have to keep out of the dancing roo's way.

Delisha, I'll try to get pics of the two araucana pullets. Hard because they are definitely skittish and dark to boot.

 

[Gramma Chick]

Quote: Vent or pop the cover a bit ..so the smell doesnt build up .

 

[MargaretYakoda]

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.

Newbie here: How exactly would you ferment the feed? I'm currently buying organic pellets from the local feed store. I hadn't even heard of fermenting chicken feed until reading this thread. And, to tell the truth, I'm really only skimming because the thread is so huge.

While I'm asking newbie questions, some folks seem to have a concern about using galvanized feed containers. Is that just for the containers used to feed the chickens daily? What about long term storage in a dry can? And what exactly is the concern?

 

[MEMama3]

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.

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.

It is lactic. I'll give it stir and try letting in a bit more air. BTW, when do I know it's done?

 

[lalaland]

Newbie here: How exactly would you ferment the feed? I'm currently buying organic pellets from the local feed store. I hadn't even heard of fermenting chicken feed until reading this thread. And, to tell the truth, I'm really only skimming because the thread is so huge.

While I'm asking newbie questions, some folks seem to have a concern about using galvanized feed containers. Is that just for the containers used to feed the chickens daily? What about long term storage in a dry can? And what exactly is the concern?

Welcome! there is lots of info on the fermenting feed thread, and there is a lot of variation in how everyone does it. I use pellets when my neighbor is caring for the chickens, otherwise I use mash that is maybe fermented a few days, or is at least wetted down til it is oatmeal consistency. But some ferment pellets too.

I store feed in galvinized cans, no problem. My mash or fermented feed doesn't sit long enough in the galvinized feed containers that I have to worry about any reaction with it.

Others will weigh in and you'll have lots of things to consider!

 

[uglychickens]

...

  I also have a silkie cockerel who tries to breed a 10 lb hen..now that is funny. She just goes about her day and does not notice him on her back.

You have got to take video of this!!!!!!

 

[flagirl]

I use 4 raw eggs in my morning breakfast smoothie and have been for 4 years. have been making mayo for at least that long. walnut oil can also be used, but is more expensive.
I also use raw eggs and raw cream and milk in my ice cream-yum I have an amish cookbook that says to add 1 tbl of whey to uncooked mayo, leave set a room temp, well covered, for 7 hr befoe refrigeration, allows for lacto-fermentation-increasing enzyme content and prolonging shelf life (refrigrated) to several months instead of weeks. It will also become firmer.

 

[uglychickens]

I use 4 raw eggs in my morning breakfast smoothie and have been for 4 years.  have been making mayo for at least that long.  walnut oil can also be used, but is more expensive.
I also use raw eggs and raw cream and milk in my ice cream-yum  I have an amish cookbook that says to add 1 tbl of whey to uncooked mayo, leave set a room temp, well covered, for 7 hr befoe refrigeration, allows for lacto-fermentation-increasing enzyme content and prolonging shelf life (refrigrated) to several months instead of weeks.  It will also become firmer.

Now if we could just get companies to do that!

 

[uglychickens]

I got 4 girls laying now!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I use 4 raw eggs in my morning breakfast smoothie and have been for 4 years. have been making mayo for at least that long. walnut oil can also be used, but is more expensive.
I also use raw eggs and raw cream and milk in my ice cream-yum I have an amish cookbook that says to add 1 tbl of whey to uncooked mayo, leave set a room temp, well covered, for 7 hr befoe refrigeration, allows for lacto-fermentation-increasing enzyme content and prolonging shelf life (refrigrated) to several months instead of weeks. It will also become firmer.

Cool tip! Now ... where to get the whey!