The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

When trimming nails..
keep bar soap on hand..(dove or ivory)
Just shoving that bleeding nail in the bar will stop it..(I have small hotel bars for this reason)


we still have three feet of snow on the ground..I don't think we will ever have green grass..by the time the snow melts..it will be a mud hole..then it will be fall..

 

[Alibabe]

Yes and no... I have suspicions about the F1 generation so they have been marked and categorized into groups. I suspect the group above are all pullets. True Rhodebar males will have a head spot. Because these chicks in the F1 generation carry one wheaten gene and one wildtype (e+eWh), they are not accurately marked as they would be for guaranteed autosexing. (Not to mention barring genes required, etc - But I won't go into that). But ultimately they will be autosexed. I have six groups I have divided them into based on down color and markings. Here is another group. .. I suspect this group is male.

It will be very interesting to see if you are right about the males and females.

I hatched 5 eggs from my cream legbar girl who had been mated by a RIR and the chicks look very similiar to yours. I have 3 with definite chipmunk stripes and 2 which I think are male because they look similiar to your boys above. There is however 1 that had a faint chipmunk stripe that I first thought was male but not sure now. I will try to post some pics when I can get them to stand still long enough to photograph them. They are 4 weeks old now so have feathered up quite a bit. It would be interesting to see what they end up being.

 

[armorfirelady]

When trimming nails..
keep bar soap on hand..(dove or ivory)
Just shoving that bleeding nail in the bar will stop it..(I have small hotel bars for this reason)


we still have three feet of snow on the ground..I don't think we will ever have green grass..by the time the snow melts..it will be a mud hole..then it will be fall..

Great idea thank you!

Sun is shining today & the snow is starting to melt. I shoveled the veggie garden & the girls are out enjoying the sun while scratching thru the garden.

 

[lalaland]

When trimming nails..
keep bar soap on hand..(dove or ivory)
Just shoving that bleeding nail in the bar will stop it..(I have small hotel bars for this reason)


we still have three feet of snow on the ground..I don't think we will ever have green grass..by the time the snow melts..it will be a mud hole..then it will be fall..

soap is a good Idea, I haven't tried that!

and I know how you feel about the #%!(*& snow! my chimney guy told me I had 2.5 feet of compressed snow on my roof when he was up there working on the chimney pipe that got knocked over by the snow load. It sleeted here this morning, and its almost 30, but the snow is just sitting there. I can't imagine the mud. Maybe we will be like vermont with a mud season.

 

[Shan30]

When trimming nails..
keep bar soap on hand..(dove or ivory)
Just shoving that bleeding nail in the bar will stop it..(I have small hotel bars for this reason)


we still have three feet of snow on the ground..I don't think we will ever have green grass..by the time the snow melts..it will be a mud hole..then it will be fall..

You just never know. We had 2-1/2' a week ago. Now we have very soggy grass with some snow patches. Even snow drops and daffodils trying. Of course we always have freaky weather but it will be green again one day I promise!

 

[Jewelwing]

huh! I was surprised to read it was not native, as it is pretty well entrenched in my veggie gardens. but then, so are dandelions. I regularly grab handfuls to throw to the chickens when I am weeding, but thought it would be nice to start reseeding parts of their run where all the "good" weeds have been eradicated by the chickens . there is no dandelion, no violets, no chickweed, no plantain, etc just goldenrod, burdock, grass....

I think there are over 100 species of chickweed. "Common chickweed" is most common (and exotic and invasive) species and is called Stellaria media, while I was talking about "Star chickweed," which is Stellaria pubera. Star chickweed is much, much less common (probably because it's not invasive!) and is a native of some parts of the US. We have some, but not very much. I was thinking about planting some more, if I can find some seeds! It sounds like the source for seeds you found sells Common chickweed seeds, if they were warning about it taking over.

You might have Common chickweed entrenched in your gardens! Here is a site that describes how to tell the difference between these two:

http://identifythatplant.com/stellaria-chickweed-species/

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
Interesting about the different species. The one that wild garden seed sells is the "common" but they claim that it is best for eating. Here's what they say:

Quote: http://www.wildgardenseed.com/index.php?cPath=55
So...I'm wondering about the flavor of the other chickweeds. Is yours one they mention? (Mouse Eared or other...)

 

[lalaland]

I think there are over 100 species of chickweed. "Common chickweed" is most common (and exotic and invasive) species and is called Stellaria media, while I was talking about "Star chickweed," which is Stellaria pubera. Star chickweed is much, much less common (probably because it's not invasive!) and is a native of some parts of the US. We have some, but not very much. I was thinking about planting some more, if I can find some seeds! It sounds like the source for seeds you found sells Common chickweed seeds, if they were warning about it taking over.

You might have Common chickweed entrenched in your gardens! Here is a site that describes how to tell the difference between these two:

http://identifythatplant.com/stellaria-chickweed-species/

I bookmarked that so I can take a closer look when there is some actually growing here. After all I've pulled up weeding, you'ld think I could easily remember enough to identify it as one or the other, but it will have to wait. thanks for the link!

 

[Belott]

I've been noticing lately that many processed food items have [COLOR=FF0000]propylene glycol[/COLOR] in them.  This includes human and animal food items, vitamins (including vitamin drops/drenches routinely used for poultry and sold on farm store shelves), etc.

This is somewhat disturbing to me as I work in an industry that uses these chemicals and they are definitely not something that you would want to ingest.  In fact, propylene glycol is one of the glycol products that is used in anti-freeze (along with ethylene glycol which is very toxic), paints and other chemical products.

So...I did a little looking around and decided to post a few quotes on [COLOR=FF0000]propylene glycol[/COLOR] just to raise awareness on the NATURAL Chicken Keeping Thread about this item. 

[COLOR=800000]I encourage you to read the labels - especially on vitamin preparations, food/feed bags and other items that you may be either feeding or using around your chickens.  It is one of those things that I think we should all think long and hard about before giving these items to our animals - or ourselves.[/COLOR]



On to the quotes:

 




From the MSDS
 
 
[COLOR=000] [/COLOR]
It is also interesting to note that the FDA considers propylene glycol "GRAS" (Generally Regarded as Safe") to be used in food and cosmetic products.  However, there is plenty of evidence that adding this chemical to your food source would not be a wise thing to do.

This is one of those things that I choose to avoid for myself and my animals. 

Leah's mom,

Propylene glycol is also found in shampoo, toothpaste, shaving cream and many many other products.
Look up the MSDS on it from the companies who actually make it such as Dow, Huntsman, and Lyondellbasell. These companies one of which I work for has been making Glycol since 1970. I have personally handled Glycol, both food grade and non food grade for 27 years now with no ill side effects.

Not trying to argue but to avoid all products with propylene glycol you have a lot of ingredient labels to read.

Of all the chemicals out there Propylene Glycol is the least of my worries!!

Just Sayin

David

 

[Leahs Mom]

Leah's mom,

Propylene glycol is also found in shampoo, toothpaste, shaving cream and many many other products.
Look up the MSDS on it from the companies who actually make it such as Dow, Huntsman, and Lyondellbasell. These companies one of which I work for has been making Glycol since 1970. I have personally handled Glycol, both food grade and non food grade for 27 years now with no ill side effects.

Not trying to argue but to avoid all products with propylene glycol you have a lot of ingredient labels to read.

Of all the chemicals out there Propylene Glycol is the least of my worries!!

Just Sayin

David

I know! And I do read labels and I commonly avoid as many items that use it - and other various chemical additives - as possible.

That is one of the reasons I'm working toward raising my own meat and eggs. Or buying from folks who raise them in a way that's natural to their species. And I'm SURE none of the animals find propylene glycol natural to their species including humans

And I'll say again that I want to encourage the conversation and I don't see it as "arguing".... Keep the conversation going.

Edited to fix a spelling error.