The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lalaland]

ki4got, those are great pics! and the way his coat looks, makes me want to run my fingers through it.

 

[tjo804]

Please indulge me a silly little trivial stroll through chicken-owner philosophy....such as I have noticed on this BOARD in general.


I could say this redolent to the feminization of our american male youth...but I won't.

I'm tired so I will stop here and respond to my PM's later...Don't want to get too deep into it.

RON

Dear Ron
I enjoy hearing from you! you know what your talking about and you are not afraid to say it!

I LOVE THAT! I spend time here for answers. as well as ideas

I would go as far to say this is redolent to the feminization of our American male youth

Boys are no longer raised to be Men. society doesn't like it. They are raised to be softer

However Knowing this and changing the thought process I was raised with is a struggle
And sometimes just knowing that it is okay to have feelings and still do what is right for a group is what matters!
I believe that is why your input here is so valuable!
Because you care too!
If those PM's are upsetting or not nice then they probably were not ready to read the truth. I wouldn't respond

You and a few others I have noticed have such a wealth of knowledge and share it freely even though you take a lot of poo for it

But from a Novice to a hopefully Corrected thinking Back Yard Gal,

HATS OFF AND THANKS.

 

[armorfirelady]

I guess when you're the smallest you learn what works. Not a great pic but I couldn't resist when I walked past the brooder and saw the littlest chick IN the feeder. This guy has his own little breakfast bar. Lol

@RedRidge I see you have the feeders from Strombergs...do you think I could use those with water in the water...would the top on it deter them from stepping in it? I'm always contemplating ways to make winter water better. I'm still not completely happy with what I'm doing.

I have both sizes and really like them for ff because they don't waste any and can not step in it. Keep in mind these are all chicks under 3 weeks so adults are much bigger relative to the size of this feeder. The one in the pic is the small size. I never thought about using them for water but it would work well to prevent stepping in it but. .. Not for keeping wattles out if you are worried about frost bite

I need something as well for both water & FF for winter. I thought having both heated bowls sitting on cinder block would deter the hens from getting in the bowls. But Lucy's frost bitten toes prove that didn't work lol I was thinking maybe a plastic lid (sorry LM) with the center cut out and 2 inch by 2 inch wire screwed onto it might work? I do not now tho so I am still thinking on it. I also know I need to put the dog crate food house on cinder blocks. Darn thing has standing water in it from all the melting snow!! So with my work schedule the last 2 days I couldnt see if Sophie was doing the neck stretch still. So tomorrow she will be freed from captivity. Wx suppose to be in the 50s so they can go back out on the fpgrass again. At least then when I take breaks from finishing up inside renovations I can watch her. If she is still doing it I think I'm going to have to resort to a dog crate in the garage to keep her off shavings. Unless I can get the plastic one working with its door again. Her crop was full tonight and all she had since last night was eggs. Her wattles & comb is a nice bright red. She is still very vocal and acting normally. So fingers crossed she is starting to pass stuff out of her crop

 

[delisha]

Please indulge me a silly little trivial stroll through chicken-owner philosophy....such as I have noticed on this BOARD in general.

When a hen has gone 'rogue', every sort of effort is mentioned to shield her and bring her back into avian society. Few concepts that one might see proffered in a court room are left out of the pleas to save her,
ranging from postparatum depression, postparatum anxiety to blaming the other chickens for making her feel unwanted.

However if a cock/cockerel shows even the mildest form of aggression to humans or if he is thought to be too aggressively trying to breed the hens, the hue and cry goes up..."off with his head"..."this sort of behavior can not be tolerated"!!!

So many of these cries are coming from novice owners and some exhibition folks who don't seem to realize that when they are breeding away from the very thing many of them need in their breeding flocks...virility and viability of the eggs to be hatched. It is really kinda' funny.

I could say this redolent to the feminization of our american male youth...but I won't.

I'm tired so I will stop here and respond to my PM's later...Don't want to get too deep into it.

RON

Ron,
I doubt you have pms giving you the business..lol
the difference is not sex based..it is egg based.
you get eggs from one and not the other so logically one has more value

Quote: I have both sizes and really like them for ff because they don't waste any and can not step in it. Keep in mind these are all chicks under 3 weeks so adults are much bigger relative to the size of this feeder. The one in the pic is the small size. I never thought about using them for water but it would work well to prevent stepping in it but. .. Not for keeping wattles out if you are worried about frost bite
I need something as well for both water & FF for winter. I thought having both heated bowls sitting on cinder block would deter the hens from getting in the bowls. But Lucy's frost bitten toes prove that didn't work lol I was thinking maybe a plastic lid (sorry LM) with the center cut out and 2 inch by 2 inch wire screwed onto it might work? I do not now tho so I am still thinking on it. I also know I need to put the dog crate food house on cinder blocks. Darn thing has standing water in it from all the melting snow!!

So with my work schedule the last 2 days I couldnt see if Sophie was doing the neck stretch still. So tomorrow she will be freed from captivity. Wx suppose to be in the 50s so they can go back out on the fpgrass again. At least then when I take breaks from finishing up inside renovations I can watch her. If she is still doing it I think I'm going to have to resort to a dog crate in the garage to keep her off shavings. Unless I can get the plastic one working with its door again. Her crop was full tonight and all she had since last night was eggs. Her wattles & comb is a nice bright red. She is still very vocal and acting normally. So fingers crossed she is starting to pass stuff out of her crop
if her crop is full..she is not..
try spinach and another 12 hours
does she have access to the ground? like deep litter?

 

[Shan30]

Please indulge me a silly little trivial stroll through chicken-owner philosophy....such as I have noticed on this BOARD in general.

When a hen has gone 'rogue', every sort of effort is mentioned to shield her and bring her back into avian society.  Few concepts that one might see proffered in a court room are left out of the pleas to save her,
 ranging from postparatum depression, postparatum anxiety to blaming the other chickens for making her feel unwanted.

However if a cock/cockerel shows even the mildest form of aggression to humans or if he is thought to be too aggressively trying to breed the hens, the hue and cry goes up..."off with his head"..."this sort of behavior can not be tolerated"!!!

So many of these cries are coming from novice owners and some exhibition folks who don't seem to realize that when they are breeding away from the very thing many of them need in their breeding flocks...virility and viability of the eggs to be hatched.  It is really kinda' funny.

I could say this redolent to the feminization of  our american male youth...but I won't.

I'm tired so I will stop here and respond to my PM's later...Don't want to get too deep into it.

RON

Hahahaha! Love it! I swear I am not a poultry sexist!

Seriously though, I think most of us feel that there is just more value in a hen. Unless an aggressive roo is your only roo or somehow significant of course. I for one never have a rooster shortage. At the moment I could definitely use more hens to fix the ratio.

 

[armorfirelady]

@delisha
I will try spinach tomorrow.

She is on shavings in the old run. There was DL on top of it and I tried to get most out but portions of the ground were still frozen so it was not possible. Do you think I should try her in a dog crate with nothing on hither bottom for a day or two?

 

[lalaland]

if her crop is full..she is not..
try spinach and another 12 hours
does she have access to the ground? like deep litter?

Delisha, why spinach? just curious?

and AFL, yeah, wonder if she is doing what my hens are doing and chowing down on the mud? I left them out yesterday and didn't feed for an hour or so - some of them had full crops and I know they were eating mud again.

did your mom feed her enough eggs to fill her crop? or maybe snuck her some food?

does her breath smell? personally, if she is eating and laying, and not contagious, I'ld keep her. Doesn't sound like she is in pain, although admittedly that is a very hard thing to tell.

 

[armorfirelady]

if her crop is full..she is not..
try spinach and another 12 hours
does she have access to the ground? like deep litter?

Delisha, why spinach?  just curious?

and AFL, yeah, wonder if she is doing what my hens are doing and chowing down on the mud?  I left them out yesterday and didn't feed for an hour or so - some of them had full crops and I know they were eating mud again.   

did your mom feed her enough eggs to fill her crop?  or maybe snuck her some food?

does her breath smell?  personally, if she is eating and laying, and not contagious, I'ld keep her.  Doesn't sound like she is in pain, although admittedly that is a very hard thing to tell.

My mom & I made 4 eggs up for her & Lucy & both had full crops. I just let everyone out this morning & she is happily eating grass & soaking up some sunshine. I want to see if she does the neck stretch thing after eating.

The only time her breath smelled was the other day when she vomited on me when I picked her up. They have dirt under the shavings in the old run. They could of been eating dirt but I'm sure there were bugs in there also.

 

[NanaLynn]

too much fat isn't good, but.......when I processed roosters all the same age last fall, there was a big variety in the amount of fat - most were "normal" and one had hardly any, and one had sooo much fat I couldn't believe it. They were all raised together with the same food, although they were different breeds. If the fat rooster was the only one I had culled, I would have thought my whole flock was overweight! My point is that perhaps your hen doesn't represent the whole flock. Not sure what you are feeding with treats, so it is something to watch anyway.

congrats on getting it done. Always hard, but gets easier!

Thanks, that does make be feel better. I need to look closer at the pictures of chickens being processed that are out there, maybe it was the normal amount of fat. Plus, I was not quite sure what I was looking at some of the time. I did find the eggs in all different sizes too which was kind of neat to see.

@hellbender

Miserable roo vs Miserable hen.... or Sadistic Roo vs Sadistic hen

Here's a story for you. My Indiana friend had a roo that would mate the girls, then mercilessly attack them to the point of drawing blood. Every time. She tried separating him for a couple weeks in the crate. Did it 3X to give him a chance to reform. Didn't work; culled. I think she want the 3rd mile for that boy. I don't think I would have given him that much.

She also had some boys that were "tag teaming" the girls. One would mate while the other would attack the hen. She crated them and they reformed from what I understand.


For me, a hen is productive. Makes eggs. it's really hard to "off" a good layer because I only have a total of 10 layers. The 2 offenders that I'm working with right now were doing the 'tag teaming" thing... Rooster would have one of 3 particular girls pinned down mating and these 2 would go over and look under him to see who it was. If it was one of the 3, they'd attack her head and face to the point of blood if she was down long enough. If they looked and it was any other hen, they would just walk away. They were very targeted.

I'm not sure if crating them will do the job. I'm going to try. But I'm not going to keep them if they continue that kind of behavior after some reasonable effort at reform. And I'd treat a rooster the same.

Good luck with your two trouble makers! As far as roosters go, I can honestly say that I have never culled or given away a rooster, but I have culled a hen now.

Thanks again everyone for your help. I enjoy reading all of your other posts from both the ladies and the gentlemen on here that give experienced ideas and suggestions. I'll go back to lurking in the background again.

 

[Scott H]

Please indulge me a silly little trivial stroll through chicken-owner philosophy....such as I have noticed on this BOARD in general.

When a hen has gone 'rogue', every sort of effort is mentioned to shield her and bring her back into avian society. Few concepts that one might see proffered in a court room are left out of the pleas to save her,
ranging from postparatum depression, postparatum anxiety to blaming the other chickens for making her feel unwanted.

However if a cock/cockerel shows even the mildest form of aggression to humans or if he is thought to be too aggressively trying to breed the hens, the hue and cry goes up..."off with his head"..."this sort of behavior can not be tolerated"!!!

So many of these cries are coming from novice owners and some exhibition folks who don't seem to realize that when they are breeding away from the very thing many of them need in their breeding flocks...virility and viability of the eggs to be hatched. It is really kinda' funny.

I could say this redolent to the feminization of our american male youth...but I won't.

I'm tired so I will stop here and respond to my PM's later...Don't want to get too deep into it.

RON