The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[4Hgirl]

Usually the mamma will take care of them just fine.  I'd just keep an eye to be sure she is going to be a good mamma and take care of them.  You'll see that in the first few days.  As long as she stands up against the others and protects them they should be okay in your regular flock.  The mamma will usually show the others to stay away from their kids in no uncertain terms - which may mean a bit of head-on fighting initially  But the others will get the message.

Do you have enough space for them all where they are?

In a mobile coop I keep of fresh grass in the backyard. It's about 5'X8' this protects the bantams from my free range standards. I think I may have a problem that the other two hens still have been getting in their with her to lay every day and I've been just removing their eggs daily. I'm gonna run out there and make a new nesting box for them. Live and learn.

 

[Alibabe]

Hi all, hope you are all enjoying the beginnings of Spring!

Please can you give me some advice?

I have, for the first time, a broody sitting on eggs. She is an Orpington and looks huge when she is all puffed up on her eggs. She has broken 2 eggs so far and I have now put some eggs into the incubator so at least she will have some babies at the end of 3 weeks. The remainder of her eggs under her are covered in yolk, should I take them out and wash them or just leave nature to sort out? My inclination is just to leave her be and let her sort out all for herself as I have removed the eggs that I wanted hatched so the balance are not that important. Also she is very reluctant to come out and eat etc unless I entice her with a beaten egg (this is for my peace of mind so at least I know she is getting protein). She will stay on the nest for over 24 hours without getting up at all - again my inclination is just to leave her. Am I right in what I am doing?

Thank you for all help

 

[SallyinIndiana]

For those of you that use tractors, what do you use for dust bathing? We put ash in the runs but not the tractors. Last summer the chickens made several dusting spots in our yard. I thought just maybe the grass would come back in with spring, but it is not. We are using smaller tractors (4*8) this year as trio breeding pens. I really don't want any new dusting spots but I don't want ash all over the yard or lice on the birds either.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Hi all, hope you are all enjoying the beginnings of Spring!

Please can you give me some advice?

I have, for the first time, a broody sitting on eggs. She is an Orpington and looks huge when she is all puffed up on her eggs. She has broken 2 eggs so far and I have now put some eggs into the incubator so at least she will have some babies at the end of 3 weeks. The remainder of her eggs under her are covered in yolk, should I take them out and wash them or just leave nature to sort out? My inclination is just to leave her be and let her sort out all for herself as I have removed the eggs that I wanted hatched so the balance are not that important. Also she is very reluctant to come out and eat etc unless I entice her with a beaten egg (this is for my peace of mind so at least I know she is getting protein). She will stay on the nest for over 24 hours without getting up at all - again my inclination is just to leave her. Am I right in what I am doing?

Thank you for all help

Alibabe, I think your inclinations are good, but I'm really new at this broody stuff. Maybe you could ask your question over here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ody-hen-hatch-a-long-and-informational-thread They're all about the broodies!

 

[heartsizedfarm]

For those of you that use tractors, what do you use for dust bathing?  We put ash in the runs but not the tractors.  Last summer the chickens made several dusting spots in our yard.  I thought just maybe the grass would come back in with spring, but it is not.  We are using smaller tractors (4*8) this year as trio breeding pens. I really don't want any new dusting spots but I don't want ash all over the yard or lice on the birds either.

Yeah no idea how to deal with this. Don't want a dust bath in the coop, but when I see them dust bathing, (or is that dust batheing?) I throw a load of wood ash and DE there. One day it's my veg garden. Okay, ash and DE, asparagus won't mind. But the next day it's someplace entirely new! Okay ash and DE under the hammock. I can live with that. But then the next day someplace entirely new again. Cripes.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@SallyinIndiana
Is the tractor too small to put in a plastic container w/peat moss and ash? I'm thinking it's probably too small to leave it in there but possibly put it in for an hour or so every other day maybe?

 

[Scott H]

Hatching eggs are here...clearly marked "CALL UPON ARRIVAL" in red felt pen.....they delivered them to my neighbors house.

Letting them sit big end up for 24 hours before letting Broody Tina work her broody magic on them...if the PO hasn't already worked their special kind of magic on them. They were packed extremely well tho, IMS.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

@SallyinIndiana
Is the tractor too small to put in a plastic container w/peat moss and ash? I'm thinking it's probably too small to leave it in there but possibly put it in for an hour or so every other day maybe?

It might come to that. I'm of course looking for a less labor intensive option. Right now I have 3 pens that we move. Maybe I could come up with a good storage solution that keeps the ash dish on the tractor roof when it is not in the tractor grass. Or a rotation of sorts that moves the ash from one pen to the next throughout the day. When we were making the 4*8 pens we really thought there would be more space. But add a roosting bar in one end, a food dish and water dish in the other end, and it leaves little room for a nesting box. Still much larger and they are heavy to move. We found that out the hard way by making a large pen first. We did move the large pen around last summer but it is stationary this summer. The wear and tear that came from being hard to move made it an easy choice to keep it still this year.

 

[mlowen]

Both leghorns layed today. I knew I didn't need to worry.

 

[Scott H]

 
@SallyinIndiana

Is the tractor too small to put in a plastic container w/peat moss and ash?  I'm thinking it's probably too small to leave it in there but possibly put it in for an hour or so every other day maybe?

It might come to that.  I'm of course looking for a less labor intensive option.  Right now I have 3 pens that we move.  Maybe I could come up with a good storage solution that keeps the ash dish on the tractor roof when it is not in the tractor grass.  Or a rotation of sorts that moves the ash from one pen to the next throughout the day.  When we were making the 4*8 pens we really thought there would be more space.  But add a roosting bar in one end, a food dish and water dish in the other end, and it leaves little room for a nesting box.  Still much larger and they are heavy to move.  We found that out the hard way by making a large pen first.  We did move the large pen around last summer but it is stationary this summer.  The wear and tear that came from being hard to move made it an easy choice to keep it still this year.

Why not make a dusting area you can move the tractor over every once in a while?