The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

Quote:
I believe it was Delisha who soaks tennis balls in ammonia then places them around her coop & runs to keep predators away.

I admit I have a couple times when we decided to stay at a friends.

Maybe the $179.00 + tax investment into an automatic pop door isn't a bad idea. I just wonder how secure they really are.

I have had one since April. Nothing has breached it.

Complaint: I'm not getting any eggs from my Jersey Giant, Bantam Cochin frizzle, and four gold Comets, and I'm getting one egg a day from my three white Leghorns.
Question: Is all the changing the reason I'm not getting eggs from my brown egg birds? Or do I need to go on an egg hunt?

The question I can't find a thread for is this:
I plan on my Jersey (at least) and hopefully my Cochin going broody this spring. I'll keep the hens and eat the cockrels.
Question: Is it okay for my to incorporate my new hens into the old flock with their dad? Or do I have to eat my rooster every year?

Fall tends to be the time production slows down. Especially if they are molting. Its a natural occurrence for the hens to slow down during the colder months.

yes you can incorprate the new chicks in with the old flock. The broody Mom should do it on her own

 

[AletaG]

I'll have to show my husband that thread and see if it is similar to ours, I know ours cost quite a bit more then the $5 I think his motor alone was about 40 online. If there is a way he could make it more economical that would be great. He is taking one of ours to give to his father (he just got chickens this last couple of months) so he is going to need to make another one for us (we have 2 chicken doors on our coop) since the inside is divided into 2 for raising chicks so they can have a covered run (protection from cats)

Hmm. must have bought it new? I think this guy went to a U-pull it place. We might go new the first time, just to make sure we knwo what we're doing.

Thanks Kassaundra and Aleta, I will show this to my boss (Electrician) when he gets in and see if I can get some help.
May ask him if he could adapt it to use a photocell so it would close when the sun goes down.
Hopefully this did occur once it was dark and that will solve the problem.
If something attacked during the day I'm not sure how we will secure such a large area.
I have the feeling that "removing" one coon isn't going to do it.

Sigh. We haven't lost any to predation YET, but it has to happen. Should be ok with a photocell. We currently have our lights with one and electricity is electricity... Thankfully, coons don't usually approach flocks in the daytime, unless you are in Port Townsend and every idiot feeds the 'wildlife' then wonders why their cats/small dogs go missing. How's the coyote population where you are? THOSE I worry about during the day. They are fearless, and fast. There are quite a few loose dogs, and they seem to keep them away from our neighborhood, but as a town, there are a lot of those things.

I think this is the thread for my question, but I'm still not sure there isn't a better thread.
The question I can't find a thread for is this:
I plan on my Jersey (at least) and hopefully my Cochin going broody this spring. I'll keep the hens and eat the cockrels.
Question: Is it okay for my to incorporate my new hens into the old flock with their dad? Or do I have to eat my rooster every year?

From what I've read on breeding threads, *intentional* tracked breeding of father to daughter or granddaughter is fine. Brother-sister is the usual to avoid. If you do intend to hatch from your own stock, you might want to look up either the Jersey or Cochin threads and ask about line breeding. If you just do "flock" breeding, you can use the same rooster until he's too old, but if you want to see improvements, definitely try to keep one or 2 of the best cockerels from your hatches, if they are at least as good, or better, than the dad. Those would be best mated over their mothers, though since obviously all the ladies their age are at least half sisters, so you would need SOME way of tracking who is who; 'cause then you might get away with half brother over half sister, for a while. Or, if you have a clean, trustworthy breeder to get a new cock bird from, go that route every few years. My 2 cents distilling to the best of my ability all the advice I've been given over on the Heritage Rhode Island thread...

 

[Allysha1990]

Welcome!

What area do you live in? I've never heard of papaya cream....

Hi, I live in Manitoba Canada, but it is an Australian product (I lived in Australia until I was 17). It is called Lucas' Papaw Ointment http://www.lucaspapaw.com.au/. I ordered a large tub of it online. I use it for everything

 

[TeaChick]

Fall tends to be the time production slows down. Especially if they are molting. Its a natural occurrence for the hens to slow down during the colder months.

yes you can incorprate the new chicks in with the old flock. The broody Mom should do it on her own

Mine aren't molting. I have been told that Leghorns and Comets don't slow down this much (that's the two main breeds that I have). DH has resolved himself to just eating whatever eggs we get and waiting til spring to start eating the chickens. lol

So, it's okay for the new hens to be bred by their own sire??? I know that's okay with some animals, but I know with others it's bad. I wouldn't line breed my dogs, for instance. I just don't want to end up with chickens that have three legs or two beaks or whatever. KWIM?

 

[TeaChick]

From what I've read on breeding threads, *intentional* tracked breeding of father to daughter or granddaughter is fine. Brother-sister is the usual to avoid. If you do intend to hatch from your own stock, you might want to look up either the Jersey or Cochin threads and ask about line breeding. If you just do "flock" breeding, you can use the same rooster until he's too old, but if you want to see improvements, definitely try to keep one or 2 of the best cockerels from your hatches, if they are at least as good, or better, than the dad. Those would be best mated over their mothers, though since obviously all the ladies their age are at least half sisters, so you would need SOME way of tracking who is who; 'cause then you might get away with half brother over half sister, for a while. Or, if you have a clean, trustworthy breeder to get a new cock bird from, go that route every few years. My 2 cents distilling to the best of my ability all the advice I've been given over on the Heritage Rhode Island thread...

I couldn't find these "breeding threads" you mentioned. Are they under the individual breeds?
Okay. father to daughter is okay, but brother to sister is not very good. Thanks.
I do have a breeder friend nearby, so I can trade roos with her each year. lol

 

[Allysha1990]

Mine aren't molting. I have been told that Leghorns and Comets don't slow down this much (that's the two main breeds that I have). DH has resolved himself to just eating whatever eggs we get and waiting til spring to start eating the chickens. lol

So, it's okay for the new hens to be bred by their own sire??? I know that's okay with some animals, but I know with others it's bad. I wouldn't line breed my dogs, for instance. I just don't want to end up with chickens that have three legs or two beaks or whatever. KWIM?

I did an agricultural program at my high school and I guess they never managed to get all the related chickens separated because we ended up having a bunch of chicks with extra toes. I had a favorite hen with an extra toe on each foot so I called her Toto. I do believe that there was several generations of hens and roosters together, so I don't think it happened after the first breeding.
I have to get rid of my roos as they are related to the hens, but I was just hoping to swap someone with the same breed and mix up the lines.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote:
ammonia scented balls ~ already mentioned
Trapping them one at a time and killing them, not releasing them. Hot dogs, $1 cheeseburgers from Mcdonalds, even white castle sandwiches all worked as great cheap bait here. But that was long before we got the chickens. We have not trapped or seen prints for almost 3 yrs now.

 

[Shan30]

Hmm. must have bought it new? I think this guy went to a U-pull it place. We might go new the first time, just to make sure we knwo what we're doing.
Sigh. We haven't lost any to predation YET, but it has to happen. Should be ok with a photocell. We currently have our lights with one and electricity is electricity... Thankfully, coons don't usually approach flocks in the daytime, unless you are in Port Townsend and every idiot feeds the 'wildlife' then wonders why their cats/small dogs go missing. How's the coyote population where you are?

Absolutely no coyotes here. Our daytime predators are bears. Saw four in ten minutes while deer hunting a couple weeks ago.

Maybe once this one is caught I'll have DH start marking our territory out there

 

[Shan30]

ammonia scented balls ~ already mentioned

Trapping them one at a time and killing them, not releasing them.    Hot dogs, $1 cheeseburgers from Mcdonalds, even white castle sandwiches all worked as great cheap bait here.  But that was long before we got the chickens.  We have not trapped or seen prints for almost 3 yrs now.

Hahaha! I'm trying liver right now. I've had multiple people tell me they go crazy for marshmallows of all things!

 

[TeaChick]

I did an agricultural program at my high school and I guess they never managed to get all the related chickens separated because we ended up having a bunch of chicks with extra toes. I had a favorite hen with an extra toe on each foot so I called her Toto. I do believe that there was several generations of hens and roosters together, so I don't think it happened after the first breeding.
I have to get rid of my roos as they are related to the hens, but I was just hoping to swap someone with the same breed and mix up the lines.

Thank you sooooo much for sharing this!!!

I will definitely make sure I don't allow any of the cockrels to breed with their sisters, knowing this!

I have a reliable breeder nearby, but IDK where you are.

What breed(s) do you have?