The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

As silly as it sounds my 8 crowd themselves in the old run for most of the day this winter. For some reason they don't pester Lucy unless there is food around. Maybe you could put plastic around some sides of your fence for the littles with a tarp over head to give them a dry spot outside the coop? I don't keep mine in on cold yucky days. I let them decide what they want to do. They venture between the coop, old run & the A frame when the weathers nasty. And they have to venture into the elements to get to anything besides the coop and the dog crate that holds their food.

Some of the youngers are attacking her now too. She is the lowest of the low unfortunately. They do have the area outside that they can get away, but when Heckle and jeckel get in there (the 2 sisters raised with her) they torment her too. No rest for the weary.





Okay....I don't really call them Heckle and Jeckle. But they do make me think of the old cartoon.

 

[texasmomma]

That sounds like it will be a really large, nice hen house once you can get it predator proof! 

I think so. Dh has it set up so 2/3rds is for the chickens and 1/3 is for either chicken supplies or bikes or something else. We are going to try a pop door and I am wanting to make it solar. We will see how that goes. He did make me a chicken tractor, so I know he can do it. It will just depend on how long it takes for him to finish the project.

 

[texasmomma]

Still just as skittish as before.  Still not standing up for herself. 

I had a sfh that looked a lot like your Miss Gray. She followed me around like a puppy, but was a loner. The only way she ate was because I fed her first. For a while, I fed her on top of the coop, but two young basques figured that out and shooed her away. She layed rarely.

 

[armorfirelady]

That sounds like it will be a really large, nice hen house once you can get it predator proof! 

I think so. Dh has it set up so 2/3rds is for the chickens and 1/3 is for either chicken supplies or bikes or something else. We are going to try a pop door and I am wanting to make it solar. We will see how that goes. He did make me a chicken tractor, so I know he can do it. It will just depend on how long it takes for him to finish the project.

I love my solar powered pop door. I was concerned that it wouldn't work well when covered with snow but it's worked all winter except once. And I didn't bother to scrape the snow off of it. And one time it had 3 ft on top of it. I don't how it worked covered with snow but it did. And that's a good thing since all it's done is snow here since October. Girls would of had me tarred & feathered by now if they had to wait for me to let them out at 4 pm when I work days

Leah's mom maybe they are jealous of her pretty feathers?

 

[texasmomma]

About the zeolite... I trust the dirt doctor about many things all natural. He seems ok with using it, but doesn't say anything specifically about chickens.

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Zeolite_vq763.htm

Here is a short blurb, "Zeolite can also be used for air and water purification, cat litter material, shoe deodorizers, animal feed supplements, garage floor spill removers, cooler and refrigerator odor and moisture removers, animal stall odor and moisture removers, and soil amendments. Mix raw zeolite (powder or granular) into the soil for new bed preparation. Broadcast onto contaminated soil to detoxify. Rates can vary from 10- to 50 pounds per 1,000 square feet. More than 50 pounds won’t hurt anything but is probably a waste of money. Zeolite has a very high cation exchange capacity (CEC). It helps fertilizer to be more efficient. A natural ore used to absorb odors, gases, liquids and as an amendment to most soils. Zeolites are natural volcanic minerals with unique characteristics. Their chemical structure classifies them as hydrated aluminosilicates, comprised of hydrogen, oxygen, aluminum, and silicon arranged in an interconnecting lattice structure. Zeolites heave the ability to change and absorb certain harmful or unwanted elements from soil, water and air. An example is the removal of calcium from hard water. Zeolite has a strong affinity for certain heavy metals such as lead and chromium. Zeolite works as a soil amendment by absorbing nutrients, especially nitrogen, and then releasing them at a rate more beneficial to plant root development. "

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: Did you have other SFH? Was she the only one that behaved that way?

 

[Leahs Mom]

About the zeolite... I trust the dirt doctor about many things all natural. He seems ok with using it, but doesn't say anything specifically about chickens.

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Zeolite_vq763.htm

Thanks for posting that! Very helpful!

Based on what he is saying there I would definitely not use it. There are elements in the mix that I wouldn't want in my gardens or around my animals for several reasons. Probably not a huge deal if contained to a small area that doesn't get into the litter or their outdoor run, or in the compost/garden...but I wouldn't want to take that chance myself.

 

[lazy gardener]

Re: hens that just don't seem to fit in... I wonder if there is a form of chicken autism???

 

[Leahs Mom]

Re: hens that just don't seem to fit in... I wonder if there is a form of chicken autism???

I do think there are chicks with birth defects that cause them to not fit in for sure. Most likely in a setting outside of human captivity those birds wouldn't last long.

On my gray girl, I think she doesn't have a defect and would likely last much longer than if she did have one. But I think she will be more likely to be take out by an overhead predator.

Interesting that when we had the hawk attack last fall, her bio-mom was the one that the hawk got. Bio-mom looked almost identical to this girl.

And this little one separated herself from everyone else by running which was not good to be separate from the flock. Was a very smart cookie, however and got up against the pole barn door which is white and stayed perfectly still. It was the only light colored place in the whole yard and that's where she ended up...right in a place was was great camo for her.

I found all the others but I thought she was taken. After I got everyone else secure, I began calling and walking all around the property and after about 10 min. she became comfortable enough to begin peeping which is when I found her. I think she was around 8-10 weeks old at the time.

 

[Scott H]

I read the dirt dr. article and it made me feel better about using PDZ...:-\