The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[misbhaven]

not sure where tractor supply gets theirs from, i know that farm and fleet gets their chicks from cackle and they had ee marked as araccanas so my dh got all his money back since he thought he was get pure bred birds. find out what hatchery your tsc get their chicks from and you will know if they are true americanns or not.

 

[Ms Jellybean]

What do you folks think of these chics? My DH picked up 6 chips from tractor supply on March 3. He said they were labeled as Americana so I assumed easter eggers. Two of them don't seem to have tails are they defective?



I wonder about the electronets.. how do they hold up in high winds. Winds seem to be a big battle when picking things to use here. I have to get my garden season plans for the chickens under way or my neighbor will have them for dinner!

P.s. I don't know how they spelled Americana .. my phone is auto correcting it

You have tortoises! I believe it is normal for EE's to not have tails. I'll look it up.... Yep normal. Here is an article that talks about the differences between Ameraucanas, Araucanas and EE's

not sure where tractor supply gets theirs from, i know that farm and fleet gets their chicks from cackle and they had ee marked as araccanas so my dh got all his money back since he thought he was get pure bred birds. find out what hatchery your tsc get their chicks from and you will know if they are true americanns or not.

Many hatcheries sell the EE's as Ameraucanas. I know Ideal is one that does. The call them Ameraucanas but then say they are EE's too. That is why the feed stores sell them that way too. So much misinformation out there!!

 

[misbhaven]

i agree but i my DH argued with them and told the store that they should put on the sign that they are not pure bred so that someone buying chicks for their kids 4h project aren't mislead. would be really upsetting to a child to spend alot of time raising a chick for the show and be told that they cant enter it in the category that they want since the birds weren't pure bred

 

[chicalot]

Can it be that some of their genetics are aracauna which makes the no tail. I was counting on EE when he got them knowing that most don't sell true breeds especially with Americana and arcana. I know those are spelled wrong. I have to get my speller fixed on this phone.lol

thanks for the info on the netting.. I'll look more in to it

 

[subhanalah]

Araucanas are rumbles birds, they are probably that variation of easter egger.

 

[armorfirelady]

What do you folks think of these chics? My DH picked up 6 chips from tractor supply on March 3. He said they were labeled as Americana so I assumed easter eggers. Two of them don't seem to have tails are they defective?

I wonder about the electronets.. how do they hold up in high winds. Winds seem to be a big battle when picking things to use here. I have to get my garden season plans for the chickens under way or my neighbor will have them for dinner!

P.s. I don't know how they spelled Americana .. my phone is auto correcting it

Electronetting does great in high winds IF you get the "double"step in posts. That's why I got mine from Kencove originally, although I've heard the Premier now sells the double also. I use mine year round (wind, snow, tall grass, etc)and have some rolls that are 10 years old. You also want to look for brands that the bottom row is not hot on (reducing grounding)

I agree with red ridge they are fine in high winds. The only time mine sag is when the ground is saturated like now since the snow melted. . I also got the double set in posts from premier. They hold up awesome except I take mine down in winter because they sag with our heavy snow and I am not shoveling such a big area for chickens since they won't go out in 2-3 ft of snow

 

[chicalot]

Well that's good to hear about the electronet. I'm sure going to need it! My dad was talking putting up fencing high enough they couldn't fly out. I just don't think that would work well. I'd like something I can deal with on my own and move reasonably well without my DH and not even for winter as they just don't range that far in winter

 

[hellbender]

This raises a question for me. There are a lot of folks that use sand as their litter. I KNOW that the chickens eat it while scratching through, picking up food from the ground, etc. Seems to me like that kind of litter base has the potential to cause damage and illness over time.

I don't see where anyone responded so I'll have at it. I have large 'sand box' for construction that can be filled from the fear and covered wit ha heavy tarp. Naturally, sand can not be used without spill some...often quite a lot. Our birds mess in it all the time and I'm sure they eat it because when we butcher the capons, their gizzards always have some in it along with larger bits of stone and the granite grit we keep in fixed areas in the houses.

If we didn't have snow coverage of up to a week, we wouldn't really need to put out the granite grit but it is so inexpensive, we'd do it anyhow, as we do in the warmer months. They actually get into it quite a lot, even when the weather is fine but that's ok. I'd rather have them out grubbing for natural food than rocks!

 

[delisha]

I was so far behind..I skipped so many pages..sorry all

great information sharing..
I am waiting on more sharing on the use of the hot plates. I do have the Brinsea. lets face it they are expensive. The other ones are less expensive, but constructed very differently and will not take much abuse. I would love to support the Wisconsin based business since I live right here. I might give them a try later in the year if I do not hear any negative feed back from this group.

The pup is doing pretty good. I am working on basic commands.
She knows: Does very well

sit
leave it
cookie come

working on:


don't run
don't chase
no bite
no sniffing
ack (poop eating)

I m taking her for collar fitting and shots next week.

 

[chikenscratch]

When you say collar fitting, you mean shock collar? Has she increased in her attacking the birds since we talked last?