The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Kacey's Krazee's]

I do garlic and ginger..I need to add something for the cockerels..I am doing some reading and have not run across anything yet.

raw oysters???? Heard it helps the libido....

 

[delisha]

Quote: Great idea KK!!

 

[Toast n Jelly]

Re; Removing hen spurs.

Well, that didn't work. I was out observing the hen just now, and thought maybe I might try to see about them. I had watched you-tubes about spur removal and it appeared pretty straight forward.
One even showed how to twist them off.
I tried the twist method. It seemed to cause her pain. So I then tried to trim them with the wire cutter. That was worse. I put her back in the coop. That's when I saw she had blood dripping off of the tip of the spur. I guess the quick in hers goes pretty far out to the tip. I was just attempting to cut the last third of the tip off.
Has anybody else removed spurs?
I even researched here on BYC about the process.
I just worked on that one spur, not both of them.

PS: I'll try the file on the other one tomorrow.

I had a rooster with spurs that needed tending to and watched vids online. I choose the 'push down and twist method' using pliers (sp?) it worked very well but you have to push down hard and twist for it to work. It bled a bit but I stopped it with baking soda. No big deal. There were little spurs growing in the ones that I removed. Maybe hers weren't big enough to easily remove.

 

[Toast n Jelly]

Silly anecdote of the day...

I was watching out the front window for the school bus, and as it came down the road, I saw a reddish-brown flash from the corner of my eye.

My 9-year-old's bantam cochin rooster heard the bus coming and had run out to meet her right at the road as she got off the bus!

See, folks? This is why you don't want to let your kids baby their chickens... it apparently turns them into dogs! (The chickens - not the kids.)

That is so precious!

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

And y'all are a chatty group. I thought the Washington thread was chatty, y'all might pass them up in post count at this rate.

That's what I was thinking.  The Washington thread is often hard for me to slog through becuase most of the chat is non-chicken related. But this thread is fantastic for interesting well rounded information. Peppered with touch-y-feel-y non-chicken chat. My two favoritess threads on BYC. And two hardest to keep up with!

yes, they are hard to keep up. 100+ in 12hrs here.

Oh I do that too!! When we were lucky enough to witness our pastel boa female give birth we took the babies away from her and placed them in a tub to count and then let them dry a bit more before moving them to permanent tubs. All of a sudden I rub my hands on my jeans as a nervous habit and realise what I did. I was like Ewwww I have amniotic fluid on my jeans! Then stop and laugh and tell Al. I never thought Id see the day that came out of my mouth XD.

This is why I have to wear splashpants when doing chores. Save my clothes. I've had a lot of different things all over them.

You're welcome to use mine and my fathers' Norman and Norma, tho if you don't I'll understand  

Uh yes I will have a couple with just those names.

I have a trio named Sandy Mandy & Randy. I need to get a girlfriend for Carlton and name her Carolton.   Yes we mostly name for funny factor. 

i have used a mask for quite a while when stirring my coops only because I get a cough if i don't. I am pretty healthy too just don't like to breathe in the dust.    Good links LM.

I have to be very careful when handling the hay. This organic stuff has already given me and my fiance hives. I am (or was before the allergy shots) allergic to almost everything 'natural' on the test. Almost all kinds of trees. Mold. Dust. Pollen. I had to take the day off work after my test. I was dizzy and had a terrible reaction to just the test. A little over 6 months of shots twice a week, than another six months of once a week and than a year of every month.. Wow. I am never clogged up any more, and never take itchy watery eyes, hard breathing or any of that. Now it's just hives if I am touching something I was very sensitive to. 

For anyone that has a lot of allergies, I'm sure you know how terrible you can feel. I always felt like I was sick with a cold. Never could smell anything. So glad I went with the shots!

Breathing in dust doesn't even bother me anymore

I did the shot series over a three year span. Improved me a lot, but I still have to take Zyrtec.

 

[JeffOeuf]

Yeah.. I'm more upset about not getting as good of chances with the boy/girl ratio. My last hatches were really high on the pullet side.
My waters are freezing too. My cookie tin waterers suck. Time to scrap that and figure something else out.

I think I have that problem solved for you.

Check these out...look at the "hot pad heaters": http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_automotive?_encoding=UTF8&field-brandtextbin=Kat's&node=15684181

I just bought the smallest one (1" x 5" - 25 watts). They are little flexible silicone pads with peel-and-stick adhesive on one side. They're designed to be stuck to the oil pan of a car to make it easier to start in cold weather. I stuck the 25 watt model on the outside of a plastic bucket with nipple waterers on it. So far, so good. Water isn't hot, but isn't even close to freezing, either. I'm hoping this one is big enough, but if not, they go up in wattage by 25 watt increments. They're much less expensive than bird bath heaters, and if 25 watts will keep 5 gallons of water from freezing, will be more economical to run -- since most bb heaters are 75 watts or more.

More details after I have a few days and nights experience with it. For $15.99, it seemed like a great cheap solution.

 

[rrrmamma]

I DID IT !!!!I CAUGHT UP !!!

So much great information. I had been following the other threads, was off for a few days and found them gone.. Glad I found this one. I was doing FF then with a whole house full of company went back to dry for two weeks. I noticed a difference already in how much feed I am going through. Starting tomorrow it is FF again. The DLM is really working even in the very cold weather. I have 20 girls most of which went into a really heavy molt around the 1st of August. They are just now starting to lay. I went from 1-2 eggs a day for months to 6 today. 1 a day seems to be coming back to laying. I had to buy store eggs for my holiday baking. Thanks everyone. Now I can go to the blog.

 

[pigeonguy]

Also.. I'm ashamed to say I've switched back to dry in this cold wave. At least for the birds that don't have heated bowls. I don't have the energy and time to scrape out the frozen bits, and it freezes in no time at all. My birds are really angry at me. They don't like it at all. No fights over the feeding station.

Hopefully this -20F weather does not last. It's really hard on us humans doing the chores.

I'm not talking solely about the feed in their feeders, my buckets are freezing. Even in my heated closet

WOW that bites about the heated closet

I think I have that problem solved for you.

Check these out...look at the "hot pad heaters": http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_automotive?_encoding=UTF8&field-brandtextbin=Kat's&node=15684181

I just bought the smallest one (1" x 5" - 25 watts). They are little flexible silicone pads with peel-and-stick adhesive on one side. They're designed to be stuck to the oil pan of a car to make it easier to start in cold weather. I stuck the 25 watt model on the outside of a plastic bucket with nipple waterers on it. So far, so good. Water isn't hot, but isn't even close to freezing, either. I'm hoping this one is big enough, but if not, they go up in wattage by 25 watt increments. They're much less expensive than bird bath heaters, and if 25 watts will keep 5 gallons of water from freezing, will be more economical to run -- since most bb heaters are 75 watts or more.

More details after I have a few days and nights experience with it. For $15.99, it seemed like a great cheap solution.

Thats a great idea just add something to regulate the heat by having it come on at 35 or 40 degrees and off at 60 degrees or something like that. Can't think what it is called to late.

 

[OffGridMAMA]

Kinda late to the party, but I just went all over the blog and it is FANTASTIC! !! love it. All I ever wanted to know, in alphabetical order

 

[TeriO]

I'm sorry but this is kind of off topic. I am fairly new to BYC but needed to ask a question. I have 4 7 month old BO. They all started laying in October and I have been getting 3 to 4 eggs a day without fail. They are all healthy no problems. ACV in water and layer crumbles available at all times and DLM, I have one pullet that is apparently broody, no eggs under her but the others lay in the nest box next to her. I remove her at least 2 to 3 times a day to get food, water and excercise but she still insists on getting back on the nest with no eggs. I am just want to make sure her health will not suffer if I am not getting her out to eat each day. There are no eggs to sit on that are fertilized. Is this normal? Thanks I just want to do right by her. Thanks.