The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[MumsyII]

I popped in to see what's happening. Fun to see "Johnny Cakes' are still being made. I'm getting ready to feed some to my flock now that the weather is changing. Cold, rain, wind,....same old same old this time of year.

One of my HRIR cockerels dropped dead off the roost last night! Really a weird deal. I had banded him early on as a keeper for breeding. He was beautiful but as the months went on, other boys passed him by in quality. I still kept him, waiting to see if he would be a late bloomer after starting out as a early bloomer. The only thing the necropsy showed was a large heart with a huge clot in it. His organs and everything else looked perfect. I was going to cull him next month because he has a bit of a roach back. A serious defect and if he didn't outgrow it, he wouldn't be breeding worthy. I'm sad to lose his meat. He was long cold when I found him this morning under the roost. He was buried in the rose garden.


This is him a week or so ago.

Any way....Nothing much else to report. My flock free ranges every day. No sight of a hawk. My twirly gigs, streamers, and flags still flying and keeping them away. For now anyway.

Not getting many eggs. Everyone settling down for the long winter. I've been baking cookies for the freezer.


Left these out for the weekend. Husband has finished them off! I got one!

 

[aoxa]

I popped in to see what's happening. Fun to see "Johnny Cakes' are still being made. I'm getting ready to feed some to my flock now that the weather is changing. Cold, rain, wind,....same old same old this time of year.

One of my HRIR cockerels dropped dead off the roost last night! Really a weird deal. I had banded him early on as a keeper for breeding. He was beautiful but as the months went on, other boys passed him by in quality. I still kept him, waiting to see if he would be a late bloomer after starting out as a early bloomer. The only thing the necropsy showed was a large heart with a huge clot in it. His organs and everything else looked perfect. I was going to cull him next month because he has a bit of a roach back. A serious defect and if he didn't outgrow it, he wouldn't be breeding worthy. I'm sad to lose his meat. He was long cold when I found him this morning under the roost. He was buried in the rose garden.


This is him a week or so ago.

Any way....Nothing much else to report. My flock free ranges every day. No sight of a hawk. My twirly gigs, streamers, and flags still flying and keeping them away. For now anyway.

Not getting many eggs. Everyone settling down for the long winter. I've been baking cookies for the freezer.


Left these out for the weekend. Husband has finished them off! I got one!

Sorry to hear that... Stony was saying something about boys around this age dying for no apparent reason. He had a theory, though I can't remember it...

Mmm cookies... Christmas is coming..

I got four eggs in my new nesting boxes and none eaten! WOOT

 

[armorfirelady]

Leah's mom- whenever I see the studies you post I always think "boy I bet she loved research papers in school" lol

Mumsy glad to see you. Sorry to hear about the Roo. The numbers on the paper behind him are they to measure his length?

ps Those cookies look yummy. I don't blame your husband for eating them all

 

[Leahs Mom]

AFL - I like reading and questioning. Only if it's of interest to me

Mumsy - I just made a batch of Johnny cakes last week and thought of you. Sorry to hear about that boy. And I remember stony talking about that too.

I need to go back and look at your garden photos to see what you put up for hawks. I'm seriously thinking about putting some of the bird netting in strategic open places. Those rolls are 100 ft. long and 7 ft. wide for about $8.99 here locally so that' a lot more coverage than the fishing line. And it's not obnoxiously visible from a distance so it's not a eye-sore to the neighborhood.

 

[lalaland]

I'm seriously thinking about putting some of the bird netting in strategic open places. Those rolls are 100 ft. long and 7 ft. wide for about $8.99 here locally so that' a lot more coverage than the fishing line. And it's not obnoxiously visible from a distance so it's not a eye-sore to the neighborhood.

I did put up some netting in part of the run - came down with the leaves! got those off, and then had a slushy snow that lasted for maybe an hour before it melted, and the netting came down with that too. it was 5 feet off the ground, now it is about 2 feet off the ground around the edges but way in the center it is grounded again. just as well as it won't keep out a determined hawk. I thought it might buy the girls some time, though.

 

[armorfirelady]

I've used that netting before. I found putting some tall in the middle in several places worked well to hold it up against leaves and snow. I used Shepard hooks

 

[Leahs Mom]

I've had that stuff on top of the kennel run for about a year now - through the whole last winter. It was meant to be a temporary cover from hawks (no other preds) until I got something more permanent up. Never did.

When it snowed last year I'd go out and shake it off and it would just fall through. When we got a few of those heavy wet snows it did sag way down but I was still able to shake it through. I have it zip tied to the kennel top bar.

Not that I want to keep it there. I want something more permanent but everything I've thought of so far is a major undertaking as 2 sides of the kennel just but up to the hen house itself so there is no top rail there. Just the hen house.

Part of it is just laziness on my part.

(This is me slapping myself.)

 

[Leahs Mom]

Shepherd hooks. That's a great idea!

 

[zinia8]

AFL - I like reading and questioning. Only if it's of interest to me Mumsy - I just made a batch of Johnny cakes last week and thought of you. Sorry to hear about that boy. And I remember stony talking about that too. I need to go back and look at your garden photos to see what you put up for hawks. I'm seriously thinking about putting some of the bird netting in strategic open places. Those rolls are 100 ft. long and 7 ft. wide for about $8.99 here locally so that' a lot more coverage than the fishing line. And it's not obnoxiously visible from a distance so it's not a eye-sore to the neighborhood.

I used the deer netting over my run. It's heavier and stands up to the weather. Our heavy wet snows did bring it down.

 

[aoxa]

I posted this on FB, but figured I'd share here as well, since it cracks me up