The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[TeaChick]

stop apologizing..you asking question helps many others so you are doing everyone a service..most are new to raising chickens and even people who have been doing it a while need help and resources..

You can feed your chickens almost everything. as long as they have the basics..
as a suggestion..keep a journal of all medications/treatments..and feeds/treats you give your birds.

Okay.
I see.

Mine free range, so I assume that they're...IDK what to call it except "self balancing" their diet. Is this a safe assumption?
I don't give them medications, but I have a chicken notebook and I hadn't thought of writing feeds/treats in it. Thank you; I'll start that. =)

 

[armorfirelady]

Booster update: still active, still eating, seems just fine. No change in his comb appearance, but I'll get a pic tomorrow and post.

I got a second egg from Edie, twice as big, and definitely definitely green.

Question: one of the australorps went naked, all of a sudden in one heck of a hard molt. I am wondering about supplying heat for her. Not now, it is above zero, but in below zero, wouldn't you think I would have to help her out?

Glad to hear Booster is holding his own. You never realize how resilant chickens are until you just sit back & watch

Thats great about the egg

As for your Australop I think if it was mine I would just watch her and add some extra shavings inside if she wants to snuggle down in them to keep warm during the day. I am guessing at night she is it getting between 2 henmates that will keep her warm all night.

 

[TeaChick]

Bert on a post I started about cold temps made an insulated chicken waterer with nipples. His description of what he did is here: (I couldn't paste it for some reason)

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ns-have-experienced-happily/230#post_12514444



Frostbitten rooster feet: A minnesota woman had her rooster die after his comb froze over the roosters nostrils. And she had a vet come check her flock, and he found a rooster with frostbitten feet. what the heck would that look like? How would you know if the feet were frostbitten?

Booster update: still active, still eating, seems just fine. No change in his comb appearance, but I'll get a pic tomorrow and post.

I got a second egg from Edie, twice as big, and definitely definitely green.

Question: one of the australorps went naked, all of a sudden in one heck of a hard molt. I am wondering about supplying heat for her. Not now, it is above zero, but in below zero, wouldn't you think I would have to help her out?

Coconut Oil pulling: And justine, I went and got cocount sugar after reading about it. And then I found something about oil pulling, not sure I understand it, but you take a quarter size glob of cocount oil, and let it melt in your mouth, swish it around, keep it in for 15 minutes and then spit it out. It is supposed to do all kinds of exalted things for you. Anyone know anything about this and has anyone tried it? http://coconut-oil-pulling.com/

Yay for Booster!
Yay for Eddie!

On the Chatterbox Chooks' Club thread, there are patterns for knitting and crocheting sweaters for chickens in molt.

Never heard of the Coconut Oil Pulling thing. I'll have to check that out.

Snowed about 6 inches today. Chickens refused to go out of the coop. Anyone else have snow?

No, I don't get snow that would affect my chickens. But I've read (IDK whether it was on this thread or another, but...) that throwing some litter from inside the coop onto the snow can get them to go out on it; that way, at least they're getting outside. I think that would be good when it's time to muck out the coop, then you're replacing the litter anyway.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Coconut Oil pulling: And justine, I went and got cocount sugar after reading about it. And then I found something about oil pulling, not sure I understand it, but you take a quarter size glob of cocount oil, and let it melt in your mouth, swish it around, keep it in for 15 minutes and then spit it out. It is supposed to do all kinds of exalted things for you. Anyone know anything about this and has anyone tried it? http://coconut-oil-pulling.com/

I had a nutritionist prescribe this to me once. He called it "chewing" the oil. The people who sent me to that particular nutritionist (and seemed to think he was a guru) thought maybe the nutritionist was punking me with that prescription. I thought I'd try it anyway ... it didn't change my life in either direction.

 

[fosterson]

No, I hadn't seen these; they're hilarious!!!
DS and I are ROTFLOBO!!!

Go, Jaguar!!! lol

OMG. What a great morning. First chickens wearing gnome costumes in one thread and now this.

The dog thinks I've lost my mind.

 

[lazy gardener]

After viewing the muppet chickens, please view the Sweedish cheff making popcorn shrimp.

 

[Nickeyo]

Those videos are hilarious

 

[delisha]

ok I know this is totally OT, but is anyone able to get on fb? I'm getting the emails of threads I'm following, and able to reply via email, but I can't get the web page to load at all. or youtube for that matter now. maybe it'll be fixed by morning.

I posted a pic and had some comments about it from friends, (about pumping out more crumb crunchers when you can't afford the ones you have now) and thought at first maybe fb blocked me or something... but I've seen much worse and more controversial things than what I've said, so I would doubt that. LOL

edit: ok even weirder... I clicked a link to a post I got on email, and it opened right up on my laptop, but still won't on my desktop...

I did not have a problem

Quote: I really do not know if it is safe or not. I do nott know where you live or how many bugs youhave available for them to eat. Chickens seem to do very well on free range as long as they have enough land.

 

[lazy gardener]

~~?s of the day: Any readers familiar with Kakhi Campell Ducks? They are reported to rival chickens at laying, especially in the winter months. I'm thinking that my coop set up with a loft for the hens to roost, and the 8 x 8 lower level might be a perfect setting for a couple of ducks. I've had ducks in the way long ago past, and know how messy they can be, but I've never wintered them over. How hard would it be to keep them in the lower level and put a bird bath heater out in the winter chicken run for them? Would they be content to stay in the lower level if I made them a "dog house"? How well do ducks and chickens get along? How much extra work would be added to "chicken" chores? I'll be brooding chicks this spring. Could a couple of ducks be added without too much difficulty? I have a couple of kiddie pools that my 7 y.o. no longer uses that would be useful in the non-frozen months. Do ducks usually return to the coop at night, or are they more apt to want to stay out and do their own thing? Do they seem to be more or less predator proof than chickens?? And lastly, I know that chickens have successfully hatched ducks. Are ducks successful hatching chickens?

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

~~?s of the day: Any readers familiar with Kakhi Campell Ducks? They are reported to rival chickens at laying, especially in the winter months. I'm thinking that my coop set up with a loft for the hens to roost, and the 8 x 8 lower level might be a perfect setting for a couple of ducks. I've had ducks in the way long ago past, and know how messy they can be, but I've never wintered them over. How hard would it be to keep them in the lower level and put a bird bath heater out in the winter chicken run for them? Would they be content to stay in the lower level if I made them a "dog house"? How well do ducks and chickens get along? How much extra work would be added to "chicken" chores? I'll be brooding chicks this spring. Could a couple of ducks be added without too much difficulty? I have a couple of kiddie pools that my 7 y.o. no longer uses that would be useful in the non-frozen months. Do ducks usually return to the coop at night, or are they more apt to want to stay out and do their own thing? Do they seem to be more or less predator proof than chickens?? And lastly, I know that chickens have successfully hatched ducks. Are ducks successful hatching chickens?

I haven't cracked the duck code yet ... every feeding/watering/housing/socializing/nesting/brooding problem I solved for the chickens has remained elusive for the ducks. And I haven't been as successful finding useful information online about ducks as I have been for the chickens. So ... my advice is sucky.

However I feel confident stating one particular caution with housing ducks in with chickens: Drakes might rape/murder the hens. The pair of Rouen ducks I have moved here because the drake didn't treat his hen (chicken) coopmates well at all. He has also proven to be pretty jerky to ducklings ...

Your milage may vary on this ... plenty of people run mixed flocks of chickens and ducks ... and you can get sexed ducks, too ...