The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[ki4got]

Quote:
well, I'm now lacking a red dorking rooster, since the last turned out to be a $#!+... but he was tasty.

 

[hellbender]

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.

 

[gevshiba]

First question-I have a Silkie egg with an external pip at the wrong end. Can it hatch?

My incubator is running at 99.4 to 99.7. Out of curiosity, I used a meat thermometer to check it yesterday and it read 101.3. I set the eggs on 3/18, so if I don't count the first day, they'd be due to hatch on the 8th, right? Last batch hatched exactly 21 days from the day I set them, so if that happens this time, it would be the 7th. I have 2 Silkies pipped this morning. I did have 2 or 3 days this past week that were very hot and humid and the temp and humidity went up in the incubator. I had to run my ceiling fan to get the temp down. I can't tell you what the humidity is because it has an acceptable range for incubating and for hatching. It doesn't give percentage. Should I turn the heat down for the next hatch?

 

[gevshiba]

 

[Leahs Mom]

@gevshiba

Everyone must have taken a Sunday afternoon nap! I don't know enough about hatching to answer that question so I was hoping someone else that hatches a lot would have an answer...

@delisha @aoxa @ki4got

 

[delisha]

@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?

the food withdraw does not work if they have access to GL..they need to be crated..it sounds like she is fine to me.

Quote: spinach is one of the few natural green things we can give a chicken that aids in neuturalizing the crop. It has some roughage with out it being aggressive. It had mild antibiotic properties. It is sort of a fix all for mild crop issues. If you have a full blow crop infection or impaction, spinach does nothing. You need to find the cause and starve them first to empty the crop. Address the issue by finding what and why. What did they get into..why is is ..sour..infected..etc why is it this bird and not that bird..what natural items can I give to aid her body to recover. What can I make available or change so this does not happen again.
I have spinach available all spring summer and fall for the chickens. I buy spinach in the x large packages during the winter. I try to remember to toss out a small handful daily. We go though a ton of spinach here. I probably plant 10 packages of spinach yearly.





uote:

First question-I have a Silkie egg with an external pip at the wrong end. Can it hatch?

My incubator is running at 99.4 to 99.7. Out of curiosity, I used a meat thermometer to check it yesterday and it read 101.3. I set the eggs on 3/18, so if I don't count the first day, they'd be due to hatch on the 8th, right? Last batch hatched exactly 21 days from the day I set them, so if that happens this time, it would be the 7th. I have 2 Silkies pipped this morning. I did have 2 or 3 days this past week that were very hot and humid and the temp and humidity went up in the incubator. I had to run my ceiling fan to get the temp down. I can't tell you what the humidity is because it has an acceptable range for incubating and for hatching. It doesn't give percentage. Should I turn the heat down for the next hatch?

eggs have been hatching on the wrong end..not often, but they do for me.
invest in a good thermometer you can calibrate for every hatch...it is worth ever penny...do not mess with any knobs or adjust temps until you do.

looks good to me..sometimes we may thing that is the bottom, but perhaps it really is the top and the egg was misshappen.

 

[gevshiba]

the food withdraw does not work if they have access to GL..they need to be crated..it sounds like she is fine to me.

spinach is one of the few natural green things we can give a chicken that aids in neuturalizing the crop. It has some roughage with out it being aggressive. It had mild antibiotic properties. It is sort of a fix all for mild crop issues. If you have a full blow crop infection or impaction, spinach does nothing. You need to find the cause and starve them first to empty the crop. Address the issue by finding what and why. What did they get into..why is is ..sour..infected..etc why is it this bird and not that bird..what natural items can I give to aid her body to recover. What can I make available or change so this does not happen again.
I have spinach available all spring summer and fall for the chickens. I buy spinach in the x large packages during the winter. I try to remember to toss out a small handful daily. We go though a ton of spinach here. I probably plant 10 packages of spinach yearly.





uote:
eggs have been hatching on the wrong end..not often, but they do for me.
invest in a good thermometer you can calibrate for every hatch...it is worth ever penny...do not mess with any knobs or adjust temps until you do.


looks good to me..sometimes we may thing that is the bottom, but perhaps it really is the top and the egg was misshappen.

Thanks. I now have 6 eggs pipped and not a chick hatched. This is more nerve wracking than foaling out mares.

 

[armorfirelady]

@delisha thank you for the info on spinach. I never did get any today and Sophie was out all day and I never saw her do the neck stretch thingy. But spinach is on my list to get from the store now that you shared your info. I am going to continue to monitor her. If she starts up again she is going in a dog crate so she will have no access to anything.

LM remember awhile ago you were talking about a shower curtain on your coop? Well months and months ago I bought one and it sat in my garage till today. I found a purpose for it

I took down the old plastic I had on here. This is the old run attached to the old doll house coop. The girls can't get in the the coop but spent most of their winter in here during the day. It's attached to the back of my garage. The white aluminum siding most hold heat quite well since they loved being in there. So I decided to use the shower curtain since it's heavier duty & see thru. I stapled the top to the wood frame. The part with the holes to hang it are on the bottom so I can attach them with those cords with the ball & loop for winter & rainy days. The part covering the door will stay put since it's such a pain to roll up & down. The long part I keep rolled up except on rainy days & during the winter. I need one more curtain to do the end. So nice to be able to just glance in & see who's in there doing what. I also store shavings, leaves, grass, etc for the DL in there. Also oyster shell, peat moss......just about anything hen related that can go into a tote (keeps critters & hens out). It's a dirt floor so it gets damp in there.

It got up to 59 today & I spent a few hours outside and took down the dog crate food shack. All heated bowls are done for the season I pulled all the tarps down, plastic on north end of coop and rolled the hay bales a few inches from the sides of the coop. I can always move them closer if need be. The bales will be used next to grow veggies in this spring so nice to have fresh air in the coop. This week I plan on start removing the DL & putting it in the veggie garden. I'm hoping spring is here to stay !!

ETA I didn't feed the girls this morning like usual so they spent all day foraging. And when I gave them their grains tonight they didn't eat it all. looks like its time to start cutting back their serving amount

 

[Jewelwing]

I'm guessing you've never had a problem with collars like this so far, but I can't let everyone see this picture and think it's OK to leave a choke chain on a dog as a permanent collar. It's a very dangerous and risky thing to do, and here's why. That ring at the bottom of the choke chain collar in this picture can get caught on something (like a branch or even on the tooth of another dog in play or during a fight). When a dog is snagged, his natural instinct is to pull away, and that causes the collar to tighten. The more panicked he gets, the more he pulls, the more the collar tightens. The end result, you can well imagine.

This is not just my opinion. The Humane Society as well as most veterinarians and dog trainers will advise people to never leave a choke chain on a dog as his regular collar. Most will also recommend using a different type of collar (like a Gentle Leader, Halti-collar, or Martingale) for training purposes too, because of the risk of causing serious problems such as injuries to the trachea and esophagus, injuries to blood vessels in the eyes, neck sprains, nerve damage, fainting, transient paralysis, and even death (according to this website: http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/collars.html).

OK, 'nuff said. Good looking dog, though!

NO cookies ever!

I think her name is Cookie.

I have a Brahma hen that has taken to sleeping in the corner on the floor. she also lays her eggs on the floor of the coop.
If I put her up to roost at night with the others she stays all night. She eats with all and ranges with the flock should I maybe lower the laying boxes? they are at 4' as are the roosts.? Or just add a lower level maybe?

Or could this be a sign that something may be off?

IMHO, 4' is too high for a large body like a Brahma to drag herself onto or into. She may also injure a leg or foot hopping down. We have a 4' fence that keeps our Wyandottes in the yard!

I agree, Scott. I have two Brahmas and nest boxes that are about 3' off the floor and a roost that is 4' off the floor (without deep litter - considerably less now!). When the Brahmas were about 5 months old, I noticed them starting to have trouble getting up to the roost at night. They seemed to really have to work themselves up to flying up to it. Instead of lowering the roost, I added a ramp. My deep litter is pretty deep and spongy, though, so I'm not too worried about them injuring themselves jumping down.

Soooo cute!!!


Edited for clarity.

 

[hellbender]

I'm guessing you've never had a problem with collars like this so far, but I can't let everyone see this picture and think it's OK to leave a choke chain on a dog as a permanent collar. It's a very dangerous and risky thing to do, and here's why. That ring at the bottom of the choke chain collar in this picture can get caught on something (like a branch or even on the tooth of another dog in play or during a fight). When a dog is snagged, his natural instinct is to pull away, and that causes the collar to tighten. The more panicked he gets, the more he pulls, the more the collar tightens. The end result, you can well imagine.

This is not just my opinion. The Humane Society as well as most veterinarians and dog trainers will advise people to never leave a choke chain on a dog as his regular collar. Most will also recommend using a different type of collar (like a Gentle Leader, Halti-collar, or Martingale) for training purposes too, because of the risk of causing serious problems such as injuries to the trachea and esophagus, injuries to blood vessels in the eyes, neck sprains, nerve damage, fainting, transient paralysis, and even death (according to this website: http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/collars.html).

OK, 'nuff said. Good looking dog, though!


I think her name is Cookie.

I agree, Scott. I have two Brahmas and nest boxes that are about 3' off the floor and a roost that is 4' off the floor (without deep litter - considerably less now!). When the Brahmas were about 5 months old, I noticed them starting to have trouble getting up to the roost at night. They seemed to really have to work themselves up to flying up to it. Instead of lowering the roost, I added a ramp. My deep litter is pretty deep and spongy, though, so I'm not too worried about them injuring themselves jumping down.

Soooo cute!!!


Edited for clarity.

The collars can be fixed not to slide. All collars have rings.