The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

Thanks for he info Leah's mom. I used to use round up in my flower gardens to try & kill invasive plants. But it wouldn't even kill them. Then when Lily was a pup she followed me around as I sprayed & I was always afraid she would lick up the poison. I gave my round up to my mom finally. She uses it but has no pets it can harm.

I also used to use preen in my garden to keep weeds down. It's a powder and Lily ignored it. But I have not used that either since getting the hens. I'm guessing it has just as bad stuff in it as round up does.

This year I'm using plain cardboard and newspapers as weed preventers. These I know won't cause any harm and I am happy to use something that will break down in the garden and make the worms happy

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks for he info Leah's mom. I used to use round up in my flower gardens to try & kill invasive plants. But it wouldn't even kill them. Then when Lily was a pup she followed me around as I sprayed & I was always afraid she would lick up the poison. I gave my round up to my mom finally. She uses it but has no pets it can harm.

I also used to use preen in my garden to keep weeds down. It's a powder and Lily ignored it. But I have not used that either since getting the hens. I'm guessing it has just as bad stuff in it as round up does.

This year I'm using plain cardboard and newspapers as weed preventers. These I know won't cause any harm and I am happy to use something that will break down in the garden and make the worms happy

Problem with it is that they don't have to eat the product itself. It is taken up into the plants themselves. And, according to the studies, actually making changes to the genetic material in the body of those that eat them as well as building up over time.

Very frustrating as almost every processed food that you can imagine is affected. And not only is it showing in human breast milk, but it's also in the milk we're drinking from any animal that is on a gmo or conventionally grown crop as glyphosate is use very widely to the point of causing soils to become toxic themselves.

Very frustrating indeed.


(Edited because I can't ever seem to get the typos taken care of before posting.

)

 

[gevshiba]

Just lightening the mood a bit!

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
that video showed a standard dairly farm with cobbled/concrete flooring (non-slip) that's been recently hosed down. the cows go in for feed and back out for the rest of the day to whatever pasture they're kept on. the cows go in 2-3 times a day for milking and feeding, so the floors get cleaned pretty regularly or they'd be belly deep in muck pretty quickly. the stanctions used to hold the heifers that were used in the video are simply to keep the cows captive and calm when something needs work, like the pink eye, hoof care, vaccines, etc.

unhealthy or mis-treated cows do not produce milk. so the short and sweet is that if you want them to produce, you need to give them adequate nutrition and care.

another thing I've heard many times while working at the dairy, were how horribly thin the cows were. LOL but they're not bred for meat production, they're bred for milk. as such, they have a much larger frame with less muscling than you would see on a beef cow. there is still a layer of fat and muscle over the bones, just not as much.

 

[flagirl]

OK, I am back to searching for grit.(my girls are on all sand) Hellbender mentioned he gets a bag of granite chips. I searched all stores(homedepot, lowes, farm) here in central fla and no bags of chips except bags of small river rock. they look pretty big-can they be used? today I was in petco and thought to see what they use in aquariums. found a bag of rock-$15 for 20 lbs-do you think that can be used-looked smaller. Stopped by a kitchen place and got a small piece of leftover granite , but it is too hard to hammer to get chips. only other option is really expensive chick grit.

 

[MrsHall28]

Can deer corn be used as grit?? I'm trying to get all of this figured out before I buy my hens next week. So much to consider!

 

[subhanalah]

Can deer corn be used as grit?? I'm trying to get all of this figured out before I buy my hens next week. So much to consider!

no, they need grit to digest the corn.

 

[hellbender]

Can deer corn be used as grit?? I'm trying to get all of this figured out before I buy my hens next week. So much to consider!

In a word...NO! Please excuse my scream..it's been a very trying day.

Depending upon how many birds you will have and the amount of land, you quite likely have to buy granite grit and in fact, it is cheap enough that you should just go ahead and buy it to be safe.

I know three or four products that can be and are called 'deer corn' and I wouldn't consider any of them to be proper or safe feed for poultry. I feed my birds a little bit of cracked corn in the evenings when they come into the houses. I wouldn't have to but I just do it because they like it. Too much of it can prevent chickens from performing at their best.

I hope others will come in here and give feeding advice.

RON

 

[MrsHall28]

In a word...[COLOR=FF0000]NO![/COLOR]  Please excuse my scream..it's been a very trying day.  Depending upon how many birds you will have and the amount of land, you quite likely have to buy granite grit and in fact, it is cheap enough that you should just go ahead and buy it to be safe.  

I know three or four products that can be and are called 'deer corn' and I wouldn't consider any of them to be proper or safe feed for poultry. I feed my birds a little bit of cracked corn in the evenings when they come into the houses.  I wouldn't have to but I just do it because they like it.  Too much of it can prevent chickens from performing at their best.

I hope others will come in here and give feeding advice.

RON

It's ok, I'm here to learn! Let me know when I'm wrong! Lol
So do feed stores carry this granite grit?? Do I just toss some in with there food or do I lay it out seperate? Gotta learn all of this stuff!!

 

[armorfirelady]

I get my grit at the feed store. They have chick sized or adult. It's rarely out I have to ask for it. Also tractor supply carries it. I think aquarium stones would be to large?

Eta like hellbenders said its vey cheap for a 50# bag doesn't go bad & last a long time for me but of course I only have 8 hens lol