The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Wow this thread moves quick. In the time it took me to write that post about 5 other replies to the thread were up.

 

[armorfirelady]

welcome home!  the snow must be a bit of a shock after the cruise.  Bet you are happy to see your flock.

Thanks!! Came home to over 3 ft on top of the hoop coop. But it was still standing!!! Spent an hour shoveling it off since it was no longer as round on top as usual and we are suppose to get another storm tomorrow with another foot or two. Plus the vents were blocked & there was an odor in the coop that was gone as soon as the vents were cleared. No poopsicles but some snow made it in the coop. I blocked those spots and gave the girls some shavings and leaves.

No frostbite here. I've had the ice crystals inside tho even with all the vents not blocked and screen door partly open. I really think it's just caused by the low temps. Sophie did try today to get frostbite today tho. She dunked her wattles right into the fresh water for a big drink. I grabbed her & dried them off. Later she got yogurt all over them. I wiped them clean. I checked her about a half hour ago and they are dry & warm. i think I need to make her some wattle covers

Girls were happy to see me. One of the heated dog bowls died and they had frozen food and water. They ate like they were starving. My friend said they ate a lot for him to. He put double the feed out for them. Bought a 1.5 gallon heated dog bowl.....I don't have a bowl big enough to fit in it lol. It's all they had. Apparently they ran out when all the snow came.

And I found a couple frozen & cracked eggs. Apparently my hen sitters missed them. The girls didn't seem to care since I made them up and a big plate of scrambled eggs, garlic, coconut oil & fish. I felt bad they had frozen food when I got home but they all had nice bulging crops at bedtime.

And my girls all roost at night also no matter the temps. We don't have Lala temps but the wind chill has been below zero & the last few weeks temps rarely made it out of the teens. Heck tonight Edie was almost under Sophie roosting. She is no dummy Sophie is bigger and has more feathers.......I would roost under her to if I was Edie

(Anyone having problems posting pics? I can't from my iPad. I've been trying for days and while it uploads and says it embeds it the link never shows up in the box we type comments in)

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Okay..here's a photo I took of Mister's comb today.

This is the side I normally see. Just discolored at the top:




But when I went out to take photos and saw the other side I see that he has a blister:


I have not done anything to it at this point. I am observing and if I see any weeping or any change I'll decide what to do at that point. Had a bit of a conversation with Aoxa and Sally8 about it. Aoxa has some pretty low temps up there so I wanted to hear her thoughts.

Hmm... One of my roosters comb was bleeding a bit the other day.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Mister doesn't look too bad, LM. I thought he was going to look a lot worse. ...
Not to rub it in but when I got up this AM, it was 37dg and it got up to mid 40's... no snow on the ground! Girls are loving it.

Supposed to get to 40s on Thursday here. With rain. Then go back down over the weekend. That'll make a nice underlayment of ice for driving on.

BTW Leahs Mom, did you hook up on that killer deal?

Still procrastinating.

I kicked all the deep litter in the run around to cover the snow. The girls thanked me by running right out of the coop.

I do the same thing. When it gets too deep, I throw it out on there too. Haven't put any out since it's snowed. As long as they see something familiar to walk on it's all-good.

Originally Posted by Leahs Mom

Okay..here's a photo I took of Mister's comb today. But when I went out to take photos and saw the other side I see that he has a blister:


I have not done anything to it at this point. I am observing and if I see any weeping or any change I'll decide what to do at that point. Had a bit of a conversation with Aoxa and Sally8 about it. Aoxa has some pretty low temps up there so I wanted to hear her thoughts.

What about some NuStock?

I may put something on it if I think it needs it. I have this feeling that if I mess with it I may make it worse than it would be if I just let it heal on it's own. I'll observe and decide as time goes on depending on how it looks.

Quote: That's a nice looking boy! Too bad he was a bad boy.
That's about par for the course on the molding BRs. Seems like everyone's look like that. And mine decided to molt right when it got extremely cold.

 

[Scott H]

LM, maybe after Xmas they'll be $99.... or wait another year, who knows! LOL

 

[aoxa]

Sue, his comb is not bad at all. Leave it be

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Quote: That's a nice looking boy! Too bad he was a bad boy.
That's about par for the course on the molding BRs. Seems like everyone's look like that. And mine decided to molt right when it got extremely cold.
Thank you. Barred rocks seem to be very mean, especially the roosters.
That's what mine did too! Bad timing for sure. At least they can retreat to the coop when they want.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

BTW Leahs Mom, did you hook up on that killer deal?

Still procrastinating.
Use what you can, can what you use. Or something like that.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Sue, his comb is not bad at all. Leave it be

That's the plan. I just have this feeling that nature is equipped to take care of it without my meddling. He's strong and healthy and should be able to heal on his own...

 

[Leahs Mom]

AFL!!!!! Glad you're back.