The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

@delisha
It sounds like your assessment of the premier heat plate is that is won't hold up as well as the Brinsea?

@gevshiba
We all want to hear about your hover heater. Did you get it at sweeterheater? Do you like it? Please give us a review.

 

[RedRidge]

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.

Some suggestions. .. You want her to run... she needs the exercise. There is a difference between running and chasing. When she runs the livestock will run too... That's OK as long as she isn't chasing them. .. Big difference. Sniffing is good. .. poop eating is good. I would not fuss at her for either one, it is all patt of how she learns, bonds, and communicates (don't worry. .. The poo eating will pass and will not hurt her - they all do it). Most importantly. .. Do not take her anywhere you don't have to. .. no fun trips to petsmart etc. If she HAS to go anywhere I would only take her to the vet. .. No side trips. Most collars are adjustable these days so the collar my 8 month old 80 lb pup is wearing is the same one he wore at 3 months. He has finally maxxed its expansion so I just did switch him to the one he will wear from here on out. Just a hint. .. In case you ever get another lgd. .. Make each dog a specific color for life. If you ever have to leave town and leave someone to fool with them you would be surprised how others cannot tell them apart. Any time I need someone else to feed i simply tell them that orange collar gets 3 cups, pink and blue each get 4, And purple gets 6. People get my dogs mixed up all the time... which amazes me but can be very important. .. especially with neighbors who love to reach through the fence and pet orange color but they know pink collar will eat them. ;-) They are very smart so it is so tempting to "train" them. .. especially for an obedience competitor like myself. But I've learned over the years that you DO NOT want them focused on you more than the stock. So I don't teach them things with treats. NO cookies ever! This will create more focus on you than her livestock. If you go out to work in the garden and the poultry is 2 acres away you want her to stay with her poultry not come to you - that's just one example. Mowing or bush hogging... Or any other outside activity. She shouldn't be drawn to you. She will love you... You feed her afterall. But you want her to love your livestock more. Calling them at feeding time is enough of a "come when called" command. Other than "sit" while I put their food down, "off" meaning no paws on me, walking nicely on a leash, and "wait", I teach them nothing else. Wait is the most critical... they are not to go through an open gate without permission.

 

[hellbender]

Some suggestions. ..
You want her to run... she needs the exercise. There is a difference between running and chasing. When she runs the livestock will run too... That's OK as long as she isn't chasing them. .. Big difference.
Sniffing is good. .. poop eating is good. I would not fuss at her for either one, it is all patt of how she learns, bonds, and communicates (don't worry. .. The poo eating will pass and will not hurt her - they all do it).
Most importantly. .. Do not take her anywhere you don't have to. .. no fun trips to petsmart etc. If she HAS to go anywhere I would only take her to the vet. .. No side trips.
Most collars are adjustable these days so the collar my 8 month old 80 lb pup is wearing is the same one he wore at 3 months. He has finally maxxed its expansion so I just did switch him to the one he will wear from here on out. Just a hint. .. In case you ever get another lgd. .. Make each dog a specific color for life. If you ever have to leave town and leave someone to fool with them you would be surprised how others cannot tell them apart. Any time I need someone else to feed i simply tell them that orange collar gets 3 cups, pink and blue each get 4, And purple gets 6. People get my dogs mixed up all the time... which amazes me but can be very important. .. especially with neighbors who love to reach through the fence and pet orange color but they know pink collar will eat them. ;-)
They are very smart so it is so tempting to "train" them. .. especially for an obedience competitor like myself. But I've learned over the years that you DO NOT want them focused on you more than the stock. So I don't teach them things with treats.
NO cookies ever! This will create more focus on you than her livestock. If you go out to work in the garden and the poultry is 2 acres away you want her to stay with her poultry not come to you - that's just one example. Mowing or bush hogging... Or any other outside activity. She shouldn't be drawn to you. She will love you... You feed her afterall. But you want her to love your livestock more. Calling them at feeding time is enough of a "come when called" command. Other than "sit" while I put their food down, "off" meaning no paws on me, walking nicely on a leash, and "wait", I teach them nothing else. Wait is the most critical... they are not to go through an open gate without permission.

In essence, one-word commands. Absolutely no treats. I give my own shots...worming. As mentioned above, try to handle her as little as possible and try to never let any stranger handle her.

Even (especially) for a rough coated dog, I like the wide link collars. They can be fixed not to side and they do no damage to the coats.

One more chance to show my dogs..for the purpose of showing the collar. This is Pinga.



and...


Panama Red. I don't have pics of the new collars (flat chain) on the Heelers.
I order these from a military/police training group Ray Allen Inc....one to fit your gal as an adult would cost about $28 bucks and would last a lifetime.


EDIT: These are my pets...I pet them, Jason pets them...anyone allowed to the farm can pet them because their 'second' job after being the pet...is killing or making predators flee after dark.

The Heelers are NOT pets, live with the flock and while they are treated very well, they don't even expect a pat on the head....

 

[NanaLynn]

Very new - I'm just getting my first batch today! SO excited!

Congrats!!!

So adorable!!!

 

[armorfirelady]

Delisha the puppy is getting big !

Well today I picked up Sophie this afternoon and she puked liquid what smelled like vomit all over me. A few grass blades as well. I tilted her forward (not upside down) to try and prevent her from aspirating. I barely touched her crop when I grabbed her. I'm guessing the yogurt mixed with grit was a poor choice.

So I picked up some chick electrolyte & digestion powder envelopes. Mixed one of each in a gallon of water (directions said I could mix them together) I cleaned out the old run to remove as much hay as I could, put shavings down and put a roost back up.,tonight after they roost her & Lucy (a sleeping buddy for warmth it's still getting below freezing at night) in. In the am Lucy will come out & Sophie will stay in. She will only have access to grit, water & the water mix(it's orange I've been calling it kool aid lol). Hopefully she eats lots of grit & maybe the digestive aid will get whatever is stuck in her crop moving. I figure she will stay in there till at least Saturday when I get home from work. Try and clean her out I guess.

But I do want to give her something to eat. Delisha or any other OTs do u think eggs would be ok? I know she gets needed nutrients from the electrolytes so do you think I should just keep her on the liquid diet for 24 or 48 hours then give eggs? She is eating & pooping......but her vomiting on me tells me she is getting more obstruction perhaps? She still out walking but I can def tell she is a little off. My mom stopped and she actually started squeaking at her which is the first time I heard Her do that today. She is usually more vocal. I plan on giving her at least 48 more hours to see if there is a change. If not I will cull her
Thoughts??

Oh and anyone want to guess who was first to try the 'koolaid'?? Stella has to be in the middle of anything I do outside.

 

[gevshiba]

It's a Sweeter Heater. I used it with my last 2 chicks also. I like it a lot. I always worried about the heat lamp last year. I don't worry at all with this. You can see the chicks are right against it. It had only been on about 15 minutes and I had just picked them up from the PO, so they needed a bit of heat. The only thing I don't like is, I can't see them under there and I need to push it out of the way to clean under it. But that seems a small thing compared to peace of mind. I believe the web site is www.sweeterheater.com

Here's what I posted earlier. I'll buy another one if I build another brooder, or if I need one for the grow out pen. I'm happy with it.

Lost another chick. It started sleeping a lot and got pasty butt this afternoon. I cleaned it up, but it went downhill while I was at work. He died shortly after I got home. All the others are eating, drinking and running around. I hope that's the last weak one.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
Thanks! I don't know how I missed that

 

[Leahs Mom]

@armorfirelady

I sent you a pm with some info from a book. Not much different than you're doing except that it warns NEVER to force-feed liquids (including oil) because of the possible aspiration issue - which we know already.

 

[armorfirelady]

@armorfirelady


I sent you a pm with some info from a book.  Not much different than you're doing except that it warns NEVER to force-feed liquids (including oil) because of the possible aspiration issue - which we know already.

Thanks I will take a look tonight. I've been redoing my bedroom, drywall painting etc and dr yelled at me so I have to sit all night. I have metal plate in my neck & looking up to paint the ceiling didn't work well together lol. So I'm resting now so onto morrow I can finish painting. Also cleaning out the run didn't help lol

I'm hoping the olive oil I put down her throat via syringe didn't harm her. She seems to breathing fine. I'm hoping an empty crop and only liquids and grit will maybe help clear her crop. I might just leave Lucy with her all day. The only problem is feeding Lucy. But she can see the other hens from the old run so maybe she will be ok alone during the day.

 

[armorfirelady]

On a happy note the big girls enjoyed perching on the hay bales. I figured the top one was hawk look out
I haven't seen a hawk in awhile but my crows have been around every day