The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

Quote:

Aoxa - LOVE the commercial.

SallyinIndiana -

X2

New chicks hatched..can you see them all?

 

[armorfirelady]

Delisha congrats on the new chicks. I see 8?

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Quote:

Aoxa - LOVE the commercial.

SallyinIndiana -

X2

New chicks hatched..can you see them all?



Congratulations! Hoping to have some new faverolle chicks in a few weeks.

 

[FreeRanging Hen]

I just lost a chicken that I think was from eating styrofoam. They managed to make a hole to get under the porch where we had put recycled sheets of slab styrofoam and the dog pulled a couple down. The chickens thought it was lunch, I guess. By the time I found it, it looked like it had snowed.

Are you sure it's from that? My birds have eaten plenty and never fell ill. Now I make sure not to have any around at all.

It's a chicken thing. Maybe the texture?

I very much believe that polystyrene CAN be fatal to chickens.
I lost MULTIPLE chicks this winter to polystyrene. Every time I thought I had collected them all up, they found another one to peck at!
As far as I know, there are a couple different types of polystyrene (or was when we started collecting ours years ago) Perhaps this could explain why some chooks do ok, while others don't.

I noticed my chicks LOVED the stuff and every time I caught them at a box, I was sure to find at least one dead chick that night

These buggers would peck a hole through the box in no time and the most determined ones always ended up quietly secluding themselves for half a day, crapping out half liquidised lumps of white polystyrene and dropping dead by the next morning.

We have heaps of them, as we've used them for storage and temporary planters. They're all over the property and those chicks sure know how to hunt them down and find one I didn't know existed still. We had no deaths for a long time. Then the last of my flock found another box down behind the shed. I lost another that night in exactly the same circumstances.

Between polystyrene boxes and the unusally freezing cold temperatures we experienced here this winter, (plus one unexplained/unknown death) I lost all but 4 of 20something chicks

I'm devestated.

Needless to say, this year has resulted in a huge proprety cleanup to make sure there are no more poly boxes about.
I haven't lost another chook yet, but I don't have any accessible poly boxes anymore.

 

[fallenangel79]

X2 New chicks hatched..can you see them all?

so cute

 

[ki4got]

Surgery is never easy...doing it is a necessity when you have chickens and farm animals sometimes. It helps to know how to do sutures too.

well, I can do sutures, but I left his open because I want it to drain.

Way too cute. I'm not a fan of silkies, however, when ever I see one brooding chicks, it makes me think long and hard about my preferences!!!

there are plenty of other breeds that are broody, if not AS broody. LOL my buff orp girl has been broody 4 times this year, several dorking and cochin girls at least twice this year. AND these other breeds are much more capable of being "normal" chickens, rather than fluffy muppetts. LOL

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Have you guys ever heard of a chicken's vestibulo-ocular reflex?

I have never heard of it until yesterday and find it absolutely fascinating!

Pay attention to the head. It stays stable while the body is moved. Mercedes Benz did this commercial, and I think it's the best car commercial of all time hands down.

ETA: Make sure you have sound!

So awesome!

 

[ki4got]

Have you guys ever heard of a chicken's vestibulo-ocular reflex?

I have never heard of it until yesterday and find it absolutely fascinating!

Pay attention to the head. It stays stable while the body is moved. Mercedes Benz did this commercial, and I think it's the best car commercial of all time hands down.

ETA: Make sure you have sound!

That was great! thanks for the laugh...

 

[Jewelwing]

Have you guys ever heard of a chicken's vestibulo-ocular reflex?

I have never heard of it until yesterday and find it absolutely fascinating!

Pay attention to the head. It stays stable while the body is moved. Mercedes Benz did this commercial, and I think it's the best car commercial of all time hands down.

ETA: Make sure you have sound!

That was great fun!

When I googled it, I found another commercial using chickens the same way - done by Fujifilm earlier this year. So I guess they were first, but the commercial isn't quite as good. Still fun, though - and make sure you watch it until the very end, because there's a little more to it after the credits:

 

[Jewelwing]

Have you guys seen this map from Mother Earth News? It pinpoints a bunch of places to get organic poultry feed across the country, so you can see what's near you. There's nothing near me, co it wasn't too helpful, but it might help some of the rest of you, if you're interested.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/home...ers-directory-zl0z1308zmar.aspx#axzz2fmTdEvXY

Also, I have a question. The article says "all adult birds need hen scratch." Is this true? I thought it was just a treat, and I haven't given mine any yet.