The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[BlueMouse]

I got 4 girls laying now!

am I ever jealous! My one older girl who was laying is moulting. My Cuckoo marans is 7 months and not an egg in sight, my little bantam and my easter egger are five months, and not an egg in sight, and my other "hen" is six months and I'm 99% sure a rooster. No crowing. we should know for certain once his/her adult tailfeathers come in the rest of the way. Sure looks like a cockerell to me, but my husband keeps insisting that it might still be a hen. I'm beginning to think I'll never actually have a steady supply of eggs!

 

[delisha]

Quote: galvanized containers are toxic to birds. It leaches into feed and water.

Quote: you can use it anytime..if you smell it..its good to go. In this weather it might take 24 hours. In winter..3 days.

Quote: Easy peazy

Make plain yogurt
get a strainer and layer it with cheese cloth
add the yogurt on top of the cheese cloth and let it drain for a few hours
after it stops draining, tie the corners of the cheese cloth and slip a wooden handle in the tie part and let it drop for a few more hours.

The liquid is whey and the stuff in the cheese cloth..is...cream cheese...yum..now go make me some cheese cake.

 

[BlueMouse]

galvanized containers are toxic to birds. It leaches into feed and water.
.

I thought that was only true for wet foods? Not for, say, dry grain storage? (my trashcans may be stainless anyway, I should remember to read the tag on the side next time I scoop grain out...)

 

[MargaretYakoda]

I just bought a spiffy locking galvanized can to keep rats out of the feed. If I keep the can dry, say, up on blocks and out of any direct rain, would that avoid problems?
I take it it's the zinc in the galvanized coating that causes the problems?

Also, ya, the 12 lb feeder we have is galvanized. When I bought it the girls were still pretty tiny. I thought it would be perfect! But, for a variety of reasons I don't like it. So I'm totally fine with replacing it with something else.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

dry food in the metal feeders has not made my birds sick. But wet or fermented food will save you money if you feed them outside of the coop, in the run perhaps.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I just bought a spiffy locking galvanized can to keep rats out of the feed. If I keep the can dry, say, up on blocks and out of any direct rain, would that avoid problems?
I take it it's the zinc in the galvanized coating that causes the problems?

Also, ya, the 12 lb feeder we have is galvanized. When I bought it the girls were still pretty tiny. I thought it would be perfect! But, for a variety of reasons I don't like it. So I'm totally fine with replacing it with something else.

Those DIY drain pipe feeders are very inexpensive and easy to make. I trust them with dry food and the ones we made are virtually waste proof. I haven't found large potable water pipes to make them from, but that kind of pipe must exist somewhere ... the associates at Home Depot just gave me goldfish face when I asked about it.

 

[Jewelwing]

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!

Going down to where? Buying a bunch of 50lb bags of what? I haven't found any organic source for anything near me, and I don't even know what field peas are. How do you figure out a formula?

I'm just completely lost on this, which is why I press a button and food gets delivered to my door in a bag. I was actually really hoping the birds would get most of their food by free-ranging, but I may have to put more thought into the whole food situation if I can't let them free range because of my dog. And I guess they don't get much in the winter anyway, so I have to figure out the feed before then.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: CR -
You can try to find a feed mill that still sells bags of individual grains/legumes and fresh ground feeds.

There are a couple of ways to go about finding a source (if there is one in your area).
-Look for any feed mills in the area. Call them and find out what they have. Some only sell conventional; some sell conventional, non-gmo, or organic. They will all have different prices.

-If you can't find any feed mills, try driving around in the country in your area and look for farms with animals outside. Stop in and ask them if there is a feed mill/source where they purchase their feeds. Sometimes they can give you leads for places you never even knew existed.

 

[armorfirelady]

I'm just completely lost on this, which is why I press a button and food gets delivered to my door in a bag. I was actually really hoping the birds would get most of their food by free-ranging, but I may have to put more thought into the whole food situation if I can't let them free range because of my dog. And I guess they don't get much in the winter anyway, so I have to figure out the feed before then.

Don't give up on the free ranging yet. I have 2 dogs & one who has a high prey drive. My solution was 200 ft of electric netting. My hens can happily free range, it is moved easily by myself so they can range in other areas & after 2 days fo shocking themselves on the fence the dogs keep a WIDE berth from the fence. Heck they wont even get within 1OOO ft of the fence now. And they don't even pay any attention to the hens anymore.

The 200ft gives them ample food ranging....2 kinds of clover, grass, weeds & bugs.

As for winter yes I do feed more food but I ferment so it goes further. Plus I try & keep parts of their winter area covered so it doesnt become snow covered & rotate it. (You can't use the electric netting with heavy snow)

 

[aoxa]

dry food in the metal feeders has not made my birds sick. But wet or fermented food will save you money if you feed them outside of the coop, in the run perhaps.

I've used FF (no ACV in my FF) in the metal feeders. I will admit it. Never had an issue, and I've since stopped because they are so hard to clean.