The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Del, my larger meaty girl has laid an egg! WOOT! She started BEFORE the Pennies! I am shocked/happy/amazed. It's a medium size, greyish cream coloured with some speckles

She looks much bigger than she feels. I'd say she's 10 pounds. Still very active.

ETA: She is 19 weeks old.

An egg?

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Speaking of predators, there have been reports of some kind of wild big hunting cats in my area stealing chickens and barn cats, so I was very alarmed to read this headline ... 911 call: Man horrified after finding woman dead, killed by cougar ... Turns out she was cleaning its cage ... at a wild cat sanctuary. In my town.

It's a real shame for sure. I gather she left a young child. That said, I have a hard time calling things like this "accidents."

"WildCat Haven houses tigers, cougars and other predators. The facility is not open to the public, but does provide on-site tours to donors. The facility has nearly 60 cats, including four tigers, according to its website."

Can't say I'm overly pleased to have that in the neighborhood ... especially if it is habitually understaffed and the management allegedly tells organized lies about both practices and "accidents."

 

[mlowen]

LeslieDJoyce, apropos of nothing...your avatar is the "spunkiest" little thing! I laugh every time I see it.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

LeslieDJoyce, apropos of nothing...your avatar is the "spunkiest" little thing! I laugh every time I see it.

Yeah ... that's Cheeks.

Cheeks was one of only two chicks I picked out myself. Who could resist that face!

I wish I had a better camera and more patience for photos.

 

[Shan30]

Yeah ... that's Cheeks.   Cheeks was one of only two chicks I picked out myself. Who could resist that face!

I wish I had a better camera and more patience for photos. 

Very cute Easter Egger? Amerecauna?

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Very cute Easter Egger? Amerecauna?

Feed store birds ... so I say Easter Egger. We were lucky and got a good variety of "looks" in our EEs, and eggs that range from a very pale blue up to nice olive. Maybe some day I can have "real" blue egg layers. I'm just getting started with my first "real" breed of chicken ... Delaware. I got a trio about a month ago, and though they were hatched in April, still no eggs. I'm not used to waiting ...

 

[CedarAcres]

I love those thermometers! I wish I could use them in my coop, but it's too far away from my house. I guess I could just leave both parts in the coop and I would be able to tell the highs and lows. I was curious to see what the temp difference would be inside & outside the coop, since the sun doesn't get into the coop even with the windows uncovered, so all the heat would be from the chickens.

So I just tried the temp outside & inside comparison really quick before I headed inside for the night.. it was 39.6 degrees outside, and 46.8 inside! I took the temp just as they were getting onto the roost. Definitely warmer inside.

 

[Shan30]

So I just tried the temp outside & inside comparison really quick before I headed inside for the night.. it was 39.6 degrees outside, and 46.8 inside! I took the temp just as they were getting onto the roost. Definitely warmer inside.

Interesting, I didn't really think it would be any warmer inside my coop but now I'm going to have to check.

Every side of the coop has windows that open and I usually keep them all open. Maybe I will make some adjustments this year...hmm it's windy today, will just have to check things out when I get home.

On another note, I scored 17 BIG garbage bag of maple leaves yesterday. Problem is, they are wet and I don't really have anywhere to dry them. Guess I'll just have to wait for a sunny day and make a big mess! Unless of course any of you have genius idea to dry them.

 

[delisha]

Del, my larger meaty girl has laid an egg! WOOT! She started BEFORE the Pennies! I am shocked/happy/amazed. It's a medium size, greyish cream coloured with some speckles

She looks much bigger than she feels. I'd say she's 10 pounds. Still very active.

ETA: She is 19 weeks old.

great news..next week fire up the incubator and make winter meaties..the eggs will get really large pretty quickly.

Quote: take them out of the bags in the run..the birds will spread them out for you and help dry..great score..after a few days..put them in the coop.

 

[armorfirelady]

So after I got home today I checked on the girls. Edie was Mia again. Checked the whole yard and my mom & I walked thru some neighbors yards. No feathers anywhere. My friend was in And out of my garage all day trying to put up my new garage door opener and my mom stopped earlier as well. Neither checked on the girls during the day so I had no idea when she disappeared. The other girls were out in the run which they normally are not if the hawk was near. I helped my friend some and decided to walk the front yard of a neighbors house. The neighbor next door came running down asking if I was missing a chicken. Apparently one was at her door. It was a very dirty, scared Edie. It took us about 20 minutes and 3 people to catch her. She was very lucky. that neighbor has 2 dogs that run the yard. Thank goodness she saw her before letting her dogs out. I carried her home and she was shaking. She ate like she had not eaten in days. I had to wait for her to roost before she would eat, it was past her roosting time and she was anxious to get up there. I really need to clip her wings :/

On a different note, you guy aw ere talking about molting. I noticed yesterday Lucy had the white/grayish color to her head. Today there was more. Apparently she is molting her tiny feathers around her head lol. And I finally answered my own question about whether they lose the feathers on their feet. A look today showed the same whitish gray color as the new pin feathers peek thru. I'm curious to see if she gets more feathers on her shanks.
.

It almost looks like a bare spot......poor girl looks like she shrunk in half with her missing feathers.