The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Scott H]

@Leahs Mom...Z traps showed today and are set using smoked oysters....traps got 2 each...I ate the rest.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@Leahs Mom...Z traps showed today and are set using smoked oysters....traps got 2 each...I ate the rest.

If I were a coon I'd be right on those oysters. I expect a report tomorrow.

 

[Scott H]

Who could resist oysters...lol

At least with these traps I won't be catching any more cats!

 

[fenwickchic]

Coutrs - did you see mlowen's moveable fences on the diy thread? I think those are the ones. A guy does sell them too. It's pretty sweet!

And I love books too. I have all the books you mentioned (and more) but Harvey's is my favorite! I won Lisa's book in a give-away...the first time I've ever won anything in an on-line give-away

I found the site again: http://www.ranch-coop.com/Portable-Fence-Posts.html It is similar to mlowen's and I love the video. Go watch it. I also have Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow, The Small-Scale Poultry Flock by Harvey Ussery, and Free-Range Chicken Gardens by Jessi Bloom. I bought A Chicken in Every Yard by Robert & Hannah Litt. I love books too. When I said I wanted to buy a couple more chicken books my DH was less than enthused. LOL It's not even about the money with him; it's just more BOOKS!!! He thinks I have plenty.

 

[fenwickchic]

Thanks! I love my coop! We were not planning on moving in the next couple years (when we built it last year) but we didn't know if this was the forever place either.... we only have just under an acre and had always imagined ourselves on much more way back off of the road with all kinds of animals (sheep, goats, chickens, pigs and maybe a couple cows!). It is amazing how all your life you will think you want one thing but then end up so happy with something so totally different. Our subdivision is out in the country and we have wonderful neighbors-- 2 of the houses have couples that are just like extra sets of parents to us! We bought this house right so if we wanted to go somewhere else we could really just easily sell it and go....It is weird but I am really at this point in my life that I want to grow some roots-- I want to change the house around the way I really would love it and I have been landscaping and planting trees and I want it to be for "me" not the next guy. We have 2 other properties (rentals) and the first one we lived in for 5 years and remodeled it-- it is beautiful but it is right in town! The second one we never lived in but put a new kitchen in it and some other work and it is right in town too! So-- I guess what I am getting at is that I am used to doing things for other people (as far as improvements to property goes) and I am ready to do it for myself. We have been here 4 years this spring. When DH built that coop last year out of my parents old barn he put together with screws so that all the decking and walls could be taken down in 1 piece each and moved if we decided to moved because he said that he knew that there was no way I would go anywhere without it. It sounds crazy but it is probably true....

I grew up on a farm where we dappled in all sorts of livestock-- but honestly with Chickens it was just "dappling"-- I have way more experience with larger livestock like pigs, cattle, sheep and goats! We bred sheep and goats for years-- in fact Dad still has breeding sheep with baby sheep! The only thing I can get away with here is chickens, but ya know, I have enjoyed the learning experience and I LOVE THEM so much!!! I started out with "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens" by Gail Damerow (very good, informative basic book) and Jessi Bloom's "Free-range Chicken Gardens"---which I love! That book not only has wonderful information about integrating your chickens into your space, small or large, but also has BEAUTIFUL pictures! Every-time I look at those pictures I am like-- "oooohhh, oooohhh I want that (and then I see another one and I am like).....but maybe I want that....

Just recently I bought (I have a book obsession, can you tell?) Harvey Ussery's "The Small Scale Poultry Flock" and Lisa Steele's "Fresh Eggs Daily"-- both which focus on raising chickens naturally. Harvey's is more about tapping into your natural resources in your garden, yard, etc... where as Lisa's focuses a little more on herbs and natural remedies.

We do have a fenced in yard so I do let mine out to free-range. I know they could easily fly up over the fence but to date they haven't tried. I love your idea about the portable fencing around the garden and then around the compost! Share your plans when you get it worked out! I always put in a very large garden (about 30'x40'-- not large by some's standards but large enough for just me!) and while I would love the chickies to do the weed work I have no idea how this is going to go down yet--- I have a feeling I will be in Jessi Bloom's book A LOT! Our compost is accessible to the chickens when they are free-ranging and it isn't far from the coop but I get concerned about that because I think that other critters (coons, opossums) probably frequent it as well as we had both in our yard prior to having the chickens. Our Old English Sheepdog brought us a opossum up to the back door as a gift one day (it was playing dead but he was laying there with it) and he has held coons up on the fence until hubby came out at 3am and fended it off with a shovel! He is 7 so was our pet long before he was the chicken dog.... I never had to train him with the chickens and he can be trusted 100% to be with them...but he is our pet above all so when I had him shaved down do to his unruly hair matting up in December-- he has spent a lot more time indoors in these extreme weather conditions...prior to this he has always been outside or in the garage. He would prefer to be out laying in the yard though.

I would love to hear your ideas about your fencing!!!! I did see something on the inventions forum about using clothesline as a bird's netting. I don't know how expensive bird netting is but someone used clothesline as an alternative. We have many hawks around here (not so much vultures in our immediate neighborhood) and I often fear one will get my girls. I haven't actually seen them scoping us out but you do have to be cautious in the winter especially. One did try to get my neighbor's chicken around Christmas but he is on the outside of the circle that borders a field-- I don't think that is in his favor.

I can certainly see why you would want to disassemble the coop and take it with you. It has sentimental value and is beautiful. Your husband knows you well and cares about you to do that. I found the fencing link and posted in reply to another comment. My memory is shot so I don't recall who. You will also see in my response that I have 3 of the books you do and I like Harvey Ussery's "The Small-Scale Poultry Flock" best. I need to get Lisa Steele's "Fresh Eggs Daily". I love gardening. I get that from my mom. Her flower beds are beautiful. I get a lot of my plants/flowers from her gardens. Saves me a lot of money and they mean a lot. Once I get my vegetable garden and composting plan drawn, I'll PM it to you. I wanted to let my girls out today (I chicken wired a small area) and figured I would watch them, but only 3 wandered out, went about 6 ft. and decided it was too windy and cold. They didn't like being out of their tractor/run today. I was really happy about that though because I saw two hawks in the distance and that makes me really nervous. My dog is would be no help. He is only 22 lbs.


I think the hawk could take him too! That's my daughter with him. I sew a lot so I bought about 20 yards of nylon netting. It is not strong, but I can put sparkly stuff on it to deter the hawks and I will just clothes pin it to the chicken wire for a temporary solution and I will only let them in the area while I am outside. I will use it in the garden later because I have put it over strawberries in the past to keep birds out and it works great.

 

[fenwickchic]

I have Lisa Steele's book too (if that is the one you are talking about - this thread is hard to keep up with!). I love the book. I just won 4 of Ashley English's books, one is on chicken keeping. I haven't read much of it, but so far so good.

I got a Kindle for my book obsession. I do like a real book, but you can't beat how many you can take with you on a KIndle.

I would probably love a Kindle but what would you do if the SHTF? No, power = no books. Not only that but DH reminded me that no one could inherit my books when I'm gone. I go; then they are gone. That's not really right since I would have bought them. Definitely want my reference books to be physical books just because of power issues. I have a few free books on my computer's Kindle Ap.

 

[fenwickchic]

I really don't know. I average 300 views a day. I do post in my local area farming groups on facebook and link my website, as well as Kijiji and our facebook farm page. Most of the requests have come through our website though. I need to upgrade my account to see how they made it to our website in the first place.

Oh you guys are really going to think that I am stupid. When I saw the question asked about how you get traffic to your website, and then below saw the "cooking heritage chicken" directions and finally a website link below I didn't even bother to look at the link I just thought that you had put a recipe in food.com and put your farm's website info at the bottom. Since that was not the case, you might want to put a recipe in and do the web link if they allow it. Might work!

 

[fenwickchic]

Quote:

Oh my husband would just love your dog. His first police dog was a black German shepherd.

 

[fenwickchic]

Oh...and I want to hear if they like the cabbage or not.

My chickens absolutely LOVE cabbage. Of course they love anything I hand feed them. LOL

 

[Jewelwing]

My dad bought my kids a Heeler for Christmas. He is doing great with the chickens so far!

He is too cute!! What's his name?

Handsome fella! Firm hand and a kind word and he will be an excellent protector. (In all truth, I wouldn't want to be a stranger, walking up to my chickens). My farm is remote, isolated and the back door is where the 1plus mile gravel drive ends. The property on both sides of the road belongs to me...so strangers have NO business there.

I'ts well known that I brook NO visitors unless they are invited or someone calls ahead.

Here's a pic of my door bell.

Just about half kidding but you get my meaning...

That's awesome!

they have armadillos in florida? hm. never noticed any when I lived down there (16 years!) but then, I was in south fla. near the glades.


LOL if people want to come up, unless they've been here before, I warn them of the "dogs" (1 standard poodle)... but my driveway is enough to deter all but the bravest who may also be driving 4x4... LOL heck, hubby's mom just lives 30 miles away and she won't come up here unless she has to... and she's got 4wd now.

That's our deterrent too. We live past a scary concrete bridge with no sides. One of my daughter's friends' mom won't drive over it! Luckily, the mail carrier will. The UPS truck comes all the way to our house too. But we get some people who just wonder where the road leads to, and end up turning around in our drive when they hit the end of the road that the sign "Dead End Road" warned them about a mile earlier.