The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

We just got dumped with a foot of snow over night and another foot to go..I shoveled all morning. The birds have water now, but I do not have the energy to go back out and feed. They can wait till lunch. I love snow..I love snow..I love snow..ugh

 

[ki4got]

Quote: I like the silver grey's type better, but my reds are larger... one of the plans for later in the season is to put my sg roo over the 2 Horstman/Tice red girls. I have 2 girls from Sandhill also, but both are a bit 'off color'. one is more tannish, I believe carries dilute, and the other is more orangey. but both have good type, size is somewhere between the silver greys and the other 2 red girls. I will be putting them with the red roo also but plan to hatch their chicks separately so I can track the development and lineages more easily. with so few red dorkings to work with, keeping track of the bloodlines is going to be critical.

I also have a rooster from Craig Russell, and while not the best in type or size, he is from a totally distinct line. unfortunately he's also got a mangled foot, so I may have to resort to AI for breeding him, but it may be very well worth it in the long run... that would give me 4 separate breedings to work with and maintain diversity while increasing size and improving type.

 

[Pozees]

I like the silver grey's type better, but my reds are larger... one of the plans for later in the season is to put my sg roo over the 2 Horstman/Tice red girls. I have 2 girls from Sandhill also, but both are a bit 'off color'. one is more tannish, I believe carries dilute, and the other is more orangey. but both have good type, size is somewhere between the silver greys and the other 2 red girls. I will be putting them with the red roo also but plan to hatch their chicks separately so I can track the development and lineages more easily. with so few red dorkings to work with, keeping track of the bloodlines is going to be critical.

I also have a rooster from Craig Russell, and while not the best in type or size, he is from a totally distinct line. unfortunately he's also got a mangled foot, so I may have to resort to AI for breeding him, but it may be very well worth it in the long run... that would give me 4 separate breedings to work with and maintain diversity while increasing size and improving type.

I was just looking at Horstman's site earlier today, lusting after some Partridge Rocks, and clicked on his Red Dorking pic. I am completely ignorant of Dorking type. Do your girls from him resemble the picture on his website?

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
mine aren't from him, but their parents were from a combination of his and roger tice's lines together...

and no, I don't think they look a lot alike. mine have better type IMO, and their color isn't so dark. I don't have any good pics of them right now, but the type is almost identical to this girl...

This is Orangey... one of my Sandhill girls mentioned earlier.

 

[armorfirelady]

We had the rain the last few days & finally this morning it stopped. The snow is gone except for big piles. Temps in the 40s and the girls are loving being out, wings flapping, back scratching......it's so nice to see them out being chickens. Well except for my trouble maker

This was taken from my kitchen window as I attempt to make Christmas cookies with my broken oven. It's the 3rd time she hopped over. Then she convinced Sophie to join her. I just left them out. They thankfully don't venture more than 10 ft from their run area. Stella has been jumping in and out all morning. I'm waiting to see her on the back deck. She has come as far as the stairs......she knows that's where the lady comes out with food. Perhaps because the dogs are at the door staring at her she has decided not to, tho with her attitude I don't think the dogs concern her.

And threats she will be coming to Christmas dinner as the center piece didn't faze her either. She is my brat hen always up to shenanigans. Her only saving grace is she is one of 2 that are laying now.

The rain is back at it again. People a 1/2 hour north of me are without power because of freezing rain storm and trees and lines are down. It certainly has been a weird weather year.

Off to bring in my living Christmas tree and decorate for Christmas some. I am way behind schedule......

 

[lindz8504]

Well playing musical chickens has begun!

I moved 8 SFH chicks (hatched between sept 16 and oct 13), 2 bantam blrw youngsters, one blrw/cochin cross and all my bantam cochins (3 red pullets, 1 buff cockerel, blue mottled trio, 1 blue pullet and 3 silver laced pullets) except the mille fleurs into my largest hoop pen / big house. I've lost 3 bantam cochins this week while free ranging, so no more cochin freedom.


my mille cochins and sfh are penned once again too, and i'm getting an egg or 2 from the sfh, so i'm wondering if it was the free ranging or the switch to FF that triggered the laying... now to cross fingers that whoever's laying KEEPS laying, since they've been on strike since August!

ki4got.... I may have to make a road trip up there to get either some chicks or hatching eggs sometime in the spring if you happen to have extras!!!!!!! Right now all I have is my 4 buff chicks, and I need to get rid of the 2 cockerels because they are full siblings to the pullets....

 

[TeaChick]

Well playing musical chickens has begun!

I moved 8 SFH chicks (hatched between sept 16 and oct 13), 2 bantam blrw youngsters, one blrw/cochin cross and all my bantam cochins (3 red pullets, 1 buff cockerel, blue mottled trio, 1 blue pullet and 3 silver laced pullets) except the mille fleurs into my largest hoop pen / big house. I've lost 3 bantam cochins this week while free ranging, so no more cochin freedom.

the oldest babies inside will be going out soon, but it's supposed to rain or be frozen for the next week, and with only 6, i'm worried they won't stay warm enough even when huddled. they may stay inside long enough for the next group to get a bit more feathers. one got some shavings in her eye and is battling an eye infection too, but I have no ophthalmic ointments to use. suggestions?

I've also now got my blrw pair penned too. pretty sure she's laying, so I'll start collecting for hatching in another week or so.

now if I could just get my newer silver grey dorking roo (and his 4 girls) to start going to bed in the horse trailer, since they got evicted from the big house yesterday... but so far I've had to catch them and put them up.

so I think I'm going to put the mottled cochins in the pen the babies were in, fix the doghouse pen (last used when some dogs busted into it and ate 2 of my roosters) and get it ready for them when they're ready to go out... besides I think the doghouse is better at staying dry in wet weather.

then once my other 2 pens are done, the red/buff cochin group will go in one and a silver grey dorking quad in the other.

my mille cochins and sfh are penned once again too, and i'm getting an egg or 2 from the sfh, so i'm wondering if it was the free ranging or the switch to FF that triggered the laying... now to cross fingers that whoever's laying KEEPS laying, since they've been on strike since August!

so that's where my bunch is at for the moment... the next 2 pens I put together will be for the ee's and the second group of sg dorkings.

forgot to mention my red dorkings have been together for a week now, so far I've gotten 2 eggs! so they're on the road too.

I'm sorry you've lost some.

 

[Kassaundra]

one definite NN disadvantage... they can't raise their hackles when they're sparring.

He still effectively rules the roost though!! I had in mind for him to be my second in command roo, he has other thoughts though! lol

 

[Scott H]

Karen, what got them?

Thought I was putting a dent in the raccoon population around here and this was on the camera this morning.....



And a Manx raccoon...




Oh my......

 

[armorfirelady]

Wow,Scott apparently they like your house. The Manx one is cool looking. Never saw one like that before. Good luck catching them !