The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

Delisha what kind of of flower is that? Looks like a gerber daisy to me but I am guessing it's not........


Sally8 That's a great story. Glad to hear your chicks are doing so well

 

[lalaland]

I'm thinking it might be a painted daisy which is in the tansy family. needs zone 4, so as a perennial it is always a little iffy in my garden - might come back when I remember to cover it in the fall.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Ok I was not going to get into the Borax - Boric acid debate..but I am going to add my two cents.


They are both toxic and as long as you are aware of what you are doing and using there should be no problem. I use both and would never put them directly on an animal or my kids. I would use it in soap to lower the PH and wash birds or other animals. I would make sure I knew what I was doing.

Thank You!
I didn't mean to imply that borax was 100% safe. It isn't, but... many useful things are safe enough if used properly.

I use borax to make my own laundry powder, to make my own dishwasher powder, and, when we get an infestation of fleas in the house, I will use a little sprinkle in the couch cushions and under the couch. Just a little, and I leave it in there, because fleas like to lay their eggs in close, dark places such as down deep in carpet fibers, and in the cracks in between couch cushions. It is the dehydrating nature of the borax that kills the eggs, so it doesn't make sense to me to sprinkle it into a carpet and then vacuum it up right away. I've also mixed borax with a little powdered sugar and used that to kill ants. When I did that I made sure to keep the mixture well away from food, animals, or children.

 

[delisha]

Delisha what kind of of flower is that? Looks like a gerber daisy to me but I am guessing it's not........


Sally8 That's a great story. Glad to hear your chicks are doing so well

*Tanacetum coccineum*

It is a Pyrethrum Chrysanthemum..they come in a flower that looks just like a daisy too.

It is a hardy zone 5

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Tanacetum+coccineum

 

[Jewelwing]

Tonight I was mowing lawn and my grand daughters came running to me crying that the chick was stuck under the arm. How were we going to get it out? Thankfully, my DIL was taking pictures. lol. A third chick hatched nearly a week after the other 2. I had put the egg in the incubator, so after the chick was fully dry I stuck it under her and so far she's taken to it too. I was worried today, being day 1 that it was too cold for the new born. So far, so good.

Awwww, it's so cute!

 

[Jewelwing]

Thank you..and great job girls!!

Plant these..when they no longer look beautiful, toss them in the coop

I also toss in all citrus peels..

Don't the chickens eat the flower petals?

I love these daisies! We have them planted just because they're one of my favorites.

 

[Jewelwing]

Oh, I hadn't gotten to your post where you said the flower was a chrysanthemum. My husband probably knew that (he's the gardener). I just call them painted daisies - I think I'm not the only one who calls them that. When I showed my DH the picture and said they might be somewhat insecticidal, he said, "yeah, the pyrethrum."

I just think that color is so vividly awesome.

 

[delisha]

Quote: Sometimes they do..I let my chickens decide what they will or will not eat. I have all kinds of things planted and growing that some say are toxic to chickens. If they eat something and die, it was a stupid chicken and not one i want to reproduce. I had a chick once that loved to eat any thing shinny. I did not go around removing all shinny things. I tried to grow it out to 4lbs but had to butcher early since it tried to eat a box of nails. I don't do stupid.

 

[Jewelwing]

Sometimes they do..I let my chickens decide what they will or will not eat. I have all kinds of things planted and growing that some say are toxic to chickens. If they eat something and die, it was a stupid chicken and not one i want to reproduce. I had a chick once that loved to eat any thing shinny. I did not go around removing all shinny things. I tried to grow it out to 4lbs but had to butcher early since it tried to eat a box of nails. I don't do stupid.

OMG, I burst out laughing and had to read your post to my DH!

That's too funny.

Actually, I meant that if the chickens eat all the flower petals, what's the point of putting them in the coop as an aid against insects and mites? I didn't even think about them being toxic to chickens.

And I agree with you about letting the chickens decide what they will and won't eat. I do know they all try to eat the paint spots off my painting jeans, and the moles & freckles off my arms. But throughout history I doubt chickens were pampered much, and yet here they still are.

 

[ki4got]

ok, well, it had to be done...

I've been fighting bumblefoot on my one remaining red dorking roo for months now... he got stepped on (by the blind horse) and broke one foot, and i think the excess gimping caused problems with the other. first one toe, then I get that one healed and it'd go to the next... then went to the center mass of his foot... kept hoping it would come to the surface so I could do something about it, without having to add extra holes to him, but it wasn't to be...

meanwhile, with one foot infected and the other broken, he was putting a lot of weight on his hock (broke-foot side) while resting, and propping the foot up by his spur... interesting way to do it, but meanwhile the hock also became infected, but that was taken care of immediately and now he's just got a calloused area there. that spur also curves upwards dramatically now too... it'll have to be trimmed big time once the rest is back in shape.

his broken foot is back to normal now and he's been standing on it consistently, while his other foot kept getting bigger and bigger. but nothing was showing, so I picked a spot where the skin felt thin, used a scalpel blade to make about 1/2" long incision then enlarged it a bit more oval-shaped. got 2 huge lumps of ICK out of there, each about half inch across! bleh! don't think I hit any major blood vessels, since it was bleeding, but more oozing than anything when I was done poking and prodding and squeezing on him. hubby held him on his lap, and for the most part, he was a good roo. didn't complain. I think there might be more in there, but I couldn't get to it, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens...

after I was done getting what I could out, I packed it full of Neosporin and wrapped it well with a pad over the hole (top of his foot, not bottom, since that's where the skin was the thinnest) and secured with vet-wrap. afterwards, he hobbled around some, ate a late dinner and then went back to bed (hospital cage/brooder) all on his own. which is more walking than he's done in a while.

cross fingers that he heals up quickly... i'm sure he misses being an outdoor roo as much as his girls miss him. LOL

I want him OUT before he starts crowing again, if possible. that's the last thing I need my macaw learning!