The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[ki4got]

I got my Natural Chicken Keeping calendar, today. It's fabulous!

yay! I haven't ordered mine yet. need to wait for a pay check. LOL

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
some are prettier than others. LOL I just don't post the 'ugly' pics.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
actually I broke down and put one of the older ones in with them tonight... didn't take more than probably 20 minutes for them to devour the FF I gave them tonight.

and a total oddity... these chicks hatched Friday/Saturday, I candled yesterday and didn't see any movement, but left everything in place (laziness struck). today, I've got a pip and he's screaming his head off. humidity had dropped because I hadn't added any more water to the hatcher, and he was seriously superglued in... well against my better judgement, I busted him out and had to use scissors to trim the feathers that glued his wing to his head... slightly dehydrated, but active as can be. I made sure he drank and gave him a drop of vitamins, and he'll go in with the others either tonight or in the morning depending how he's getting along.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thoughts and advice, please.

Here are the dynamics:
6 hens 1.5 yo
2 Pullets will be 1 yo end of December
3 (I think Pullets) 13 wks old
1 Roo will be 1 yo end of December

Mom has ditched the 13 week olds. They're fending for themselves.

The 2 pullets that are coming up on a year old are seeming to be at the bottom of pecking order among the adult group but one is more protected by the Roo. The other has trouble getting feed and runs if any of them even looks her way. If I'm throwing down individual pieces of meat she WILL get her share. She's quick that way. Just doesn't seem to be able to stand and eat feed at peace.

I have 2 feed stations inside the coop and I throw feed outside in the run on the ground as well. She still runs and doesn't seem to get her share of the feed.

The older girls take all the good stuff out of the feed and leave the peas. It seems that she always misses the other stuff. I wish I had that second coop ready. If I did, I'd divide this group into 2 anyhow. But I don't.

I have a protected area that the 13 week olds can go into that the others won't fit so they are faring okay that way.


Any ideas on how I can be sure the one pullet in particular - and her sister - get their share of the regular feed?

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Hey!

Just stopping in.

 

[Allysha1990]

I'm curious to know how many people are feeding the following ... (fermented, sprouted or "as is")

Nothing (they forage)

Traditional poultry rations (layer or all purpose)

Organic commercial rations

Soy free rations

Corn free rations

Home-mixed rations (details please)

Some combination of the above

What am I forgetting.

I ask because I sell eggs and my biggest customer has just found a source for eggs from chickens fed "organic" and "Corn & Soy Free" feed (I have no other details about what the feed DOES contain, just what it doesn't). I'm sure my customer will be switching away from my eggs in a dizzying hurry.

I currently feed traditional poultry rations, with some supplements. I've looked into something more "special," but it seems that replacing corn and soy in a ration introduces various problems that need to be solved with nutritional counter-measures. I'd LOVE to avoid soy for various reasons related to MY health, but not if it compromises the health of the birds or the flavor of the poultry products. Also, the feed experts I've spoken to tell me there simply is no such thing as truly organic feed choices, especially with the GMO ingredients. So I'm reluctant to pay a premium for those products until I can find one I can "trust."

It's a big topic, too big for me to include every nuance in this one post, but I am interested in knowing what this group thinks about the "corn and soy free" movement in particular.

I feed a layer pellet in combination with a crumbled feed (Temporary as it was all I could get at the time), a small portion of chicken scratch and a small potion of cracked corn (at night). I don't want to feed corn but it helps keep them warm at night and in a Manitoban winter (down to 40'c some days) it is pretty important to keep them warm. I mix all of this together and add some crushed herbs into the feed too.
I also feed plenty of veggies and a bit of fruit which I get from the grocery store that I work at
I have also been considering adding some peanuts to their diet to help prevent Fatty Liver Disease

 

[Allysha1990]

I would love to go soy and corn free, but it is almost impossible to get any feed around here that doesn't have any of that in it. For now the most important thing is that my feed is medication free and hormone free
Next growing season I plan on growing a lot of their food: Amaranth, Quinoa, Sunflower Seeds, Wheat, Mangels, Pumpkins, etc

 

[Allysha1990]

Whoops,, also forgot to say that in the spring, summer and fall they forage for majority of their food

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote:
some are prettier than others. LOL I just don't post the 'ugly' pics.
Very nice looking chicken.

Thoughts and advice, please.

Here are the dynamics:
6 hens 1.5 yo
2 Pullets will be 1 yo end of December
3 (I think Pullets) 13 wks old
1 Roo will be 1 yo end of December

Mom has ditched the 13 week olds. They're fending for themselves.

The 2 pullets that are coming up on a year old are seeming to be at the bottom of pecking order among the adult group but one is more protected by the Roo. The other has trouble getting feed and runs if any of them even looks her way. If I'm throwing down individual pieces of meat she WILL get her share. She's quick that way. Just doesn't seem to be able to stand and eat feed at peace.

I have 2 feed stations inside the coop and I throw feed outside in the run on the ground as well. She still runs and doesn't seem to get her share of the feed.

The older girls take all the good stuff out of the feed and leave the peas. It seems that she always misses the other stuff. I wish I had that second coop ready. If I did, I'd divide this group into 2 anyhow. But I don't.

I have a protected area that the 13 week olds can go into that the others won't fit so they are faring okay that way.


Any ideas on how I can be sure the one pullet in particular - and her sister - get their share of the regular feed?

This one might not be the best depending on your schedule. But perhaps there is a way to get the two in the coop alone for an hour or two and feed them by themselves. I'm thinking either early for the night or let the others out in the morning but somehow manage to keep the two low ranking chickens inside.
The other idea I had was to put the lower ranking ones in a brooder type setup until you know they are eating well and weigh them. Once you know about how much they weigh when eating without a worry in the world, you could monitor weights to determine if they are getting enough in the large flock. But setting up a brooder corner might be as much work as making a second coop, and it does not really teach the lower ranking chickens how to get their share of food.

 

[Pozees]

Very nice looking chicken.

This one might not be the best depending on your schedule. But perhaps there is a way to get the two in the coop alone for an hour or two and feed them by themselves. I'm thinking either early for the night or let the others out in the morning but somehow manage to keep the two low ranking chickens inside.
The other idea I had was to put the lower ranking ones in a brooder type setup until you know they are eating well and weigh them. Once you know about how much they weigh when eating without a worry in the world, you could monitor weights to determine if they are getting enough in the large flock. But setting up a brooder corner might be as much work as making a second coop, and it does not really teach the lower ranking chickens how to get their share of food.

I like the idea of getting them in early and keeping them in a bit after the others leave, but it could be pretty tough to do. I wonder if you could separate them with your pieces of iron fence for a while each day to let them eat? I would worry about separating them completely and then later trying to reintegrate them into the flock. You could also add more feeding stations.