The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[FridayYet]

I think it is all about options, not every person's circumstance or needs are the same. Dr. James option of crowless roos is great for those that want a quiet roo able to make babies, caponizing is a great option for quiet roos for eating or pets or pretty yard birds, no roos work for others, crowing roos for others. Whatever fits your budget and needs. My thinking is whoever is paying the chicken bills gets to make the chicken decisions.

Totally agree with you there!

 

[RedRidge]

Day 2 of the breeding pen construction project...


I still need to put the wire up on the partitions.
The plywood on the lower half is designed to be easily removable so that the entire unit (or just sections of it) can be made into larger pens.
The bottom half of the back will have hinged access doors for both the nesting box and the feeder.
The water will be accessed from the front doors - this will prevent any moisture in case of spills in the back part of the pen.
The roof and doors will be added next week... roofing is metal.

Now... nesting box question... I have always have slanted roofs on my nesting boxes.
With only a breeding pair and only one box, how necessary is it to have a roof on the nesting box.
Is it over kill, or do some folks think there is a good reason to make the entire box enclosed (except the opening of course).

Also... roost...I hesitated to put my roost at the same height as the top of the plywood because of potential rooster fighting.
But.. it was a convenient height. I'm trying to decide if I should change it and would love opinions.
This is the first time I have used plywood between breeding pens and have simply never had an issue in the past. Or at least, not a serious issue. The periodic bent chicken wire is evidence of some fighting, but never anything serious.

Feedback welcome before I finish up... thanks...

 

[RedRidge]

Someone asked to see my coops and tractors also.
Here is a pic of the inside of one of the coops - these are old 12x14 stalls that have an exterior door which is screen and a solid door outside of that. We rarely close the solid door here with our mild winters, but it is handy for extreme cold nights. The doors to the interior of the barn are just screen... the front wall into the barn is screen on the upper half - this is where most of the roosts are since it would be too drafty on the outside walls.
The hinges you see are access panels to the nesting boxes in the adjoining coop... with the access panels I can gather all the eggs from this one coop (except for the breeding pens).

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Day 2 of the breeding pen construction project...


I still need to put the wire up on the partitions.
The plywood on the lower half is designed to be easily removable so that the entire unit (or just sections of it) can be made into larger pens.
The bottom half of the back will have hinged access doors for both the nesting box and the feeder.
The water will be accessed from the front doors - this will prevent any moisture in case of spills in the back part of the pen.
The roof and doors will be added next week... roofing is metal.

Now... nesting box question... I have always have slanted roofs on my nesting boxes.
With only a breeding pair and only one box, how necessary is it to have a roof on the nesting box.
Is it over kill, or do some folks think there is a good reason to make the entire box enclosed (except the opening of course).

Also... roost...I hesitated to put my roost at the same height as the top of the plywood because of potential rooster fighting.
But.. it was a convenient height. I'm trying to decide if I should change it and would love opinions.
This is the first time I have used plywood between breeding pens and have simply never had an issue in the past. Or at least, not a serious issue. The periodic bent chicken wire is evidence of some fighting, but never anything serious.

Feedback welcome before I finish up... thanks...

For the roosting bars, I was thinking shower curtains or a thick plastic that would still let in light. They could be cut down and hung on one side of the chicken wire like the plastic dividers some people have in the cages at the show.
For nesting boxes, my best boxes are old dresser drawers with the open side being the top. But in tight quarters i would stick with the slanted roof kind and possible consider putting a curtain on the front of those too to keep out dirt and poo.

 

[Leahs Mom]

The kiddos "Sunday Brunch".

When we get the old produce from the local organic store, we put a lot of it on the garden for them to pick through. Today there lots of cherry tomatoes and pears.










Charlie is molting...scruffy girl!





And these are for you, AFL.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thank you RR for the photos. Very inspiring! It will be interesting to see more roost and nest box ideas. And I can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[delisha]

Got a question about a cockerel, he is about 20 weeks old and up until the past couple days he has been the sweetest onne out of the flock of 9. Have had him since he was a day old, likes to sit on my shoulders and play in my hair or just look around. The past two days he has been biting my feet, and hard, holding on too persistantly. I have to push him away and kinda square off with him. Is this his way of trying for dominance? Could it get worse? The other cockerel I have gets a fluffed up and studder syeps sideways at everything, other chickens, us, cats, but has never done anything and he's the head roo. Just wondering if the one biting is just trying to show dominance... I've grabbed him and held him when he tries , but this is a complete 180 of his normal behavior and started 2 days ago out of nowhere

Advice please and thank you!

Advise?

Treat your chickens like chickens. You are training for aggression.

New chicken owner for the past 2 months. I've been doing lots of reading pre-chickens and still. I was reading about herbal tea for colder months. Using fresh herbs, steeping and serving warm for the chickens. Has anyone done this? Trying to plan for winter. Will grow sprouts and continue with herbs as well. Any other good suggestions for winter feeding. They love free ranging and it makes me sad knowing snow will be coming

Many of us give fresh herbs and sprouts to the chickens.So far i have had no need to make any infusions for the chickens.
I will make my birds hot tea or hot oatmeal for breakfast when one of the hens drag out a fry pan and cook her kids breakfast..

 

[Leahs Mom]

Whoops..on the Sunday Brunch photos I forgot to say that we keep some of the produce to feed throughout the week. This time we dumped every tomato out because they might go bad waiting much longer.

Each week when we pick it up it is a surprise as to what will be in the boxes. Some of it I have frozen for use during the winter just in case they decide to quit supplying us! If they keep allowing us to get it all winter long, these kiddos are going to be eating like summer in the winter.

Hubby says they're "spoiled". But it was him that wanted me to go get the camera and take photos and post them because he thought it looked so nice with all the color out there

 

[FridayYet]

@Leahs Mom: Beautiful pictures, and yes, they look happily spoiled to me! (Just like they should be.)

 

[Myrth]

Advise?

Treat your chickens like chickens. You are training for aggression.

Many of us give fresh herbs and  sprouts to the chickens.So far i have had no need to make any infusions for the chickens.
I will make my birds hot tea or hot oatmeal for breakfast when one of the hens drag out a fry pan and cook her kids breakfast..

I agree. I have kept chickens for years. I have also had other species of pet birds.


Birds are very hierarchical in their psychology. The bird keeper is a part of their flock, from the birds' perspective. Equals roost at the same level. Allowing a bird to sit on one's shoulder, puts him at equal height to the flock keeper. This invites the bird's viewing the flock keeper as an equal. If a rooster is prone to a dominant, aggressive personality, believing himself to be the flock keeper's equal means that the rooster will challenge the flock keeper for dominance.


Personally, I don't allow a bird of any species to sit on my shoulder. It only invites trouble. If you want to make a pet of a bird, let it sit on your lap, or on your forearm.


Much aggression can be prevented by always making sure that the birds understand that they rank below humans in the flock pecking order.