The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[TeaChick]

I guess there wasn't a question in my last post, more of a rant I suppose.
Here's a question:
How can I tell who's at the top of the pecking order?

 

[delisha]

Quote:

This is what i do..
I have leghorns (2) they are an older breed and not hatchery birds ..however I breed these birds and hatch out chicks..I raise them to sexual maturity, keep two pullets and butchery out the rest. I hatch early in the year so i have new birds to lay all winter long. New pullets lay the first full year with out moulting. If they stop laying the first year I butcher them in March or April .I do not want that in my flock. That work for early hatches only. late hatches might light molt and full moult in October/November so you end up with less eggs the first year from late hatches. So hatch early!!
Keeping a few leghorns every year will make sure you have eggs all winter. Hatching early will make sure you have winter eggs.
I hope this helps.
I would soup out all hens not producing by March. I would soup out all hens taking longer than two months to molt. You save the hen before health issues kills them and you get to use them for your family or feed them back into the flock if you are a vegan.

Please define: "early in the year"

What month specifically? Do you brood outdoors in the coops?

I start gathering and incubating in January and February to hatch in late February and early March. I hatch in the house and they go out in a few weeks in the outside brooder. It is cold but they do fine. My brooder is insulated and I do use the Brinsea out side. I am using it now with these temps. The chicks are very cold, but it is enough to keep them from freezing. I have the Brinsea in an insulated small area, too in addition of the insulated grow out area. The small area with the Brinsea is a double cardboard box with insulation in between the boxes.

Here's what we get today....

Quote:

Bleh.....so Delisha, how did I get so lucky to get a Wyandotte that's molting before turning a year old?

You may have had a later hatch...those later hatches seem to short molt, she should start to lay right after she is done.

Ok I have a question about deep litter. I cleaned out my coop about 6 weeks ago and threw a couple of feed bucket fulls of dirt out of the woods onto the floor of my coop. It is 5x8 wooden floor with linoleum... nest boxes at ground level and lowest roost about 15inches from floor. Anyway.... I used pine needles and leaves that we raked out of our yard and my moms. I have been turning them at least once a week and adding a little more. Today when I turned them it was pretty wet and had a little ammonia smell. I didnt add anymore and left the big door open to help air it out and dry it out. Do I need to just clean it all out and rebed it?

I would add a 1/2 bag of wood chips and leave it.

Quote: answered above..

Quote: I love those big eggs..
the are good to use for training..young pull lets test shells to see if they are good for chick growing and it prevents them from breaking eggs from experimental practice.

 

[TeaChick]

@ Delisha:

Thank you very much for your answers!!!
I have been making plans to hatch sometime in February, so I'm right on track to have winter eggs next year. =D

You're a wealth of information; thank you so much for sharing it!!!

Also, how are your chickens? I haven't seen an update, but I might have missed it. (I haven't been feeling super wonderful and my kids interrupt my reading a lot, so I miss some posts; if I missed an update, I'm sorry; I've been trying to keep up.) =)

 

[Scott H]

Tina, our Partridge Wyandotte went into the coop to lay. The other two just stood under a bush for like 3 hours. I finally had enough of featherless Oprah looking so cold and sad that I showed her a treat with one hand and grabbed a leg with the other. Into the coop she went.....she immediately went over and got in the nesting box with Tina. No there is not enough room in the nesting box for 2 LF Wyandottes.

Tina growled at her but Oprah butt is still in there with her. Ought to be cozy in there.

As far as spell check, every time I type Wyandotte, spell check underlines it. Wants to replace it with Sandlotter....really...on a chicken site. Is sandlotter some who plays ball on a sandlot?!?!

It's up to 8dg at noon here with the wind still blowing. The two with feathers can come out and play but Opie's in the penalty box....

 

[Leahs Mom]

I have this "sentry" issue with one of mine against another one. My Jersey Giant, by size and age, should be at the top of the pecking order (and I do think she's moving up); however, the hen who seems to be at the top is my buff-colored gold Comet (Sandy). Well, Sandy will take every chance she gets to peck Beauty (Black Beauty is my JG). If I throw treats out, Beauty dodges in there grabs something big and runs off with it and then comes back to see if there's anything left. Sandy, however, pecks Beauty whenever she gets a chance, feeding time, time to go in at night, etc. Some evenings, if Sandy knows Beauty is out or if she remembers to do it, Sandy positions herself just inside the doorway and pecks Beauty upon entry. >:-(

Yep. Sounds familiar. Even before I had the little ones, this was going on with another bird or 2.

It's all hell at roost time too. I just put 3 extra short saw horses in there. Sometimes one of the mean ones stations herself on one of the saw horses and attacks anyone that tries to come up. The lower ones wait til almost too dark to get up on roosts or sometimes give up and go to the nest boxes. When I go out to be sure everyone is in I take whoever may be in a nest box out and put them on a roost somewhere.

 

[armorfirelady]

Yes LM your right sorry. My tots go in first to roost to avoid being pecked and to get their prime spot. Thankfully when they all decide to stay inside all day they don't fight much that I can tell. I just went in to check for eggs and the girls dug a crater in the DL. Apparently they approved of me turning it all up

Scott my girls do the same thing.....a kitty litter box is a little small for two large fowl PR but somehow they all got in there ......a third tried to join the party but ended up just sitting outside the box on the roost with her tail inside.

2 hens inside and he third outside. The funniest part is there is an empty box next to them. Silly chickens !

 

[TeaChick]

Tina, our Partridge Wyandotte went into the coop to lay. The other two just stood under a bush for like 3 hours. I finally had enough of featherless Oprah looking so cold and sad that I showed her a treat with one hand and grabbed a leg with the other. Into the coop she went.....she immediately went over and got in the nesting box with Tina. No there is not enough room in the nesting box for 2 LF Wyandottes.

Tina growled at her but Oprah butt is still in there with her. Ought to be cozy in there.

As far as spell check, every time I type Wyandotte, spell check underlines it. Wants to replace it with Sandlotter....really...on a chicken site. Is sandlotter some who plays ball on a sandlot?!?!

It's up to 8dg at noon here with the wind still blowing. The two with feathers can come out and play but Opie's in the penalty box....

I'm with Oprah on this one!!! I don't care how cramped it is, I'd rather be warm than comfortable!!!


Yeah, it's underlined for me too. I hate that!

I'm not that good at spelling, so sometimes I'll type and re-type the same word until it isn't underlined (then I give up and put "(sp)" after it.) Anyway, IDK why spellcheck won't learn to spell Wayndotte, spellcheck, and autocorrect.

Really, it's kind of funny. I can say I spell better than "Spellcorrect".

But "sandlotter"??? That's just silly. I don't know what it is, I guess that's at least one definition.


Ah, the penalty box, she and Lucic should be happy together. lol

 

[TeaChick]

Yep. Sounds familiar. Even before I had the little ones, this was going on with another bird or 2.

It's all hell at roost time too. I just put 3 extra short saw horses in there. Sometimes one of the mean ones stations herself on one of the saw horses and attacks anyone that tries to come up. The lower ones wait til almost too dark to get up on roosts or sometimes give up and go to the nest boxes. When I go out to be sure everyone is in I take whoever may be in a nest box out and put them on a roost somewhere.

Yeah, I have two pallet "ribs" across the most protected part of my hen house and Beauty (and my junior rooster "Speckle" used to) sleeps on the top of the back pallets. *SMH*

I don't have a problem with them sleeping in the nesting area; they're just getting where they're laying in them. lol

 

[TeaChick]

Yes LM your right sorry. My tots go in first to roost to avoid being pecked and to get their prime spot. Thankfully when they all decide to stay inside all day they don't fight much that I can tell. I just went in to check for eggs and the girls dug a crater in the DL. Apparently they approved of me turning it all up

Scott my girls do the same thing.....a kitty litter box is a little small for two large fowl PR but somehow they all got in there ......a third tried to join the party but ended up just sitting outside the box on the roost with her tail inside.

2 hens inside and he third outside. The funniest part is there is an empty box next to them. Silly chickens !

 

[TeaChick]

Also @ AFL (if I may call you that):

She's a pretty bird!