The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[jockeyeba]

 


Hi, I also get my feed from Countryside Organics and ferment it.  I use filtered water too.  Don't worry about the "fart" smell.  My family HATES the smell, but they have to deal with it.  I've tried moving it to other locations besides the kitchen but I found I got mold issues and the "bubbling" action ceased when I moved it to the basement.  It was not warm enough and apparently too damp.

I also use Countryside Organics, and my family also HATES the smell (it doesn't bother me so much!).  My DH just made me move it out into the garage since it's not freezing overnight anymore.

Isn't it strange that dampness would cause a problem in the fermentation, when we cover it with an inch or more of water anyway?  I seem to get mold growing on mine after just two days, and I've never had a vinegary smell - maybe it's not warm enough?  Not much I can do about humidity.  I don't have as much of a problem with mold when I'm removing some & adding some fresh food every day.

Quick questions:

I just purchased two 6 week old chickens. Is there still a chance I'll be able to get them comfortable with me? Right now they are terrified of me. I'd hate for it to be like thy forever.


Do they eat "treats" at this age? I put watermelon in there and they were scared of it. I put small tomato pieces and they ignored them. Is that something that changes with age??


Thank you!

Mine were terrified of watermelon and tomatoes at that age, too!  And pretty much all treats except cut-up noodles (cooked).  They LOVED those!

And even though I got mine at 1 day old, they still didn't want to be touched until they started "squatting." They got especially flighty a month or two before they started squatting. I have five different breeds, and I find some breeds are friendlier than others.  My two Brahmas are the ones that will now hop up on my lap and snuggle their heads under my arms and fall asleep.  The Speckled Sussex were the first (till one of them died this winter) to come running over when they see me, and generally seem friendly but don't like to be picked up.  The Welsummers will come over and peck at me (in a friendly, "do you have food" sort of way).  My two Australorps are pretty stand-offish, and I can only touch them when they're roosting.  They won't even squat for me anymore - they just run away.  And my Faverolle is touched in the head.  She really is neurotic.  Maybe because her "sister" Faverolle died at only a week old, so she grew up as the only one looking like her in the flock.  Maybe they treated her differently because of that?  Or maybe she's neurotic just 'cuz.

All that said, they all come running as fast as their little legs can carry them when they see me heading towards the run (where I dump our compost)!  They all gather around me without fear and hunt for goodies.


I had one making horrible noises while breathing (both inhaling and exhaling), and occasionally stretch her neck out really far and swallow.  I was sure she was a goner.  I could hear her breathing from 100 yards away!  But she was still acting completely normal besides that, running around and foraging.  That evening she sounded a little quieter, and I gave her an egg I scrambled (shell & all).  The next day she was fine!  My best guess is something was caught in her throat.  I hope yours gets better too!

She seems fine now, I think she laid an egg today also, the only other Wyandotte in the pen is molting. I feel so much better

 

[jockeyeba]

@jockeyeba


Update us on your bird, please!

Sorry it's taken me so long, I'm used to reading the BYC posts on my email, they're disappeared & I can't figure out why or how to get them back.(Last ones were on April 30th). She seems fine today, haven't heard any weird sounds from her, she's eating & running around normally, I'm pretty sure she laid an egg today also

 

[Jewelwing]

She seems fine now, I think she laid an egg today also, the only other Wyandotte in the pen is molting. I feel so much better

Yay!!

What encouraged me about mine was that she was acting completely happy and normal, but I was still worried since over winter I had one die and the only warning I had was watery poop and labored breathing for one day.

 

[Jewelwing]

Another random question (sorry!)

I plan on keeping mt 6 week old chickens in their coop for a few more days so they can get used to their new environment (we just purchased them this past Saturday). Eventually I do want them to be able to roam around my backyard, but the idea is making me nervous. They are still very scared of me, and I'm not sure how they'll act if allowed to roam around. I live in a subdivision and my backyard isn't super large, but its plenty of room for two chickens. I plan on clipping their wings before we let them roam around. Should I wait until they are a little older to let them roam around though?

Thanks to everyone who is answering all of my random questions!

Is your backyard fenced?

I don't clip my birds' wings - they only use them to help them run faster, and to get up on the roost. But we live out in the country, so I"m not really worried about them escaping. They wander, and then come back to the coop to lay and roost. And of course they come running back to it whenever they see me heading for it, since I'm bound to have goodies! That's how I get them locked inside the run when I need to in the middle of the day.

I guess if they were my chicks, I'd wait until they come running when you call them, so you can lock them up on your schedule instead of theirs if you need to.

 

[Didymus]

joyfulkeeper from Didymus

Thank you for your response. w them su If I keep my hens in the "house" they have a fit. Squaking and noisy and unbearable. I saw them sucking worms out of the grass. They are so having too much fun. They are little slackers for sure. So I guess that we will have to put up with them since they are pets. Maybe we should just cut their treats and let them eat their "chicken" food. Any advise welcome. They have laid their eggs in specific places, but are not doing that now. Little slackers?

 

[aoxa]

Some pictures to share.

 

[lalaland]

@lalaland
How long did it take your girl to heal? This looks really bad, but I observed her eating and drinking which is good. She ate all her regular food tonight.

One thing that is really frustrating is that since she is the bottom of the pecking order, I was already having issues with her fitting in. Isolating her like this then trying to re-integrate her is probably not going to happen. Right now, because of the way they treat her anyway, it's not safe for her to be out with them. And if she heals...by the time she can go back out I think it would not be good for her, unfortunately.

I'm not even sure I have a bird that I can bring up front to join her without hazard to her at this point.

SHe healed pretty fast, I'm trying to remember. One was a puncture wound under her wing, and under the other wing was a huge tear in the skin, a big triangular gash -a little bigger than my palm, smaller than my handprint. I only applied nustock once! I was lucky because I was there when the attack occurred, and there wasn't any debris visible in the wound. I made her puncture wound bleed out a bit more to clean it out, but I didn't wash her other wound. I remember it was hard to apply the nustock since there was nothing to make it stick to the wound - raw flesh.

I don't think she had any muscle damage.

She had a few days where she was quieter and a little less active, but I never separated her from the flock - her wounds weren't visible because they were under the wings.

So with yours, is the wound visible to others? Is it deep? Is she moving slowly? Do you think she has to be isolated because her wound is visible?

When you want to bring her back to the flock, Is it possible to remove a bunch of hens, even if you just keep them for a day or two and while they are gone put Mrs Gray back? let her reintegrate with just a few and then let the others return. Don't know how many dog crates, etc you have, but I would think about putting as many in chicken jail cells as possible. It might work!

I think it is normal to have a mrs gray in every flock, bottom of the pecking order

 

[lalaland]

ok, BROODY UPDATE

well, she didn't eat or poop for two days, her comb is perfectly red, but.....I hand fed her this morning - as thin of a gruel as I could manage to scoop with my hand. mix of mash and hardboiled egg. She ate really really well, I did not remove her from the nest....so halfway taking everyone's advice. I sure hope these danged eggs are fertile. 8 eggs!

I was expecting four pullet cream legbar chicks this weekend, but the woman hatching them had a funeral and was gone all weekend and there was a power outage. She called to say there were only 4 viable eggs in the hatch and they are on lockdown. I told her I would be ok with 3 pullets, but one or two was too much trouble for so few. She offered me some 5 month olds that are rejects from her breeding program, but I want chicks! So, a very small chance there will be 3 pullets from this weekend's hatch (legbar chicks can be sexed at hatch based on their coloring).

She will start another hatch Monday.

 

[Leahs Mom]

This is a "hit and run" post. At work but wanted to share this really quickly:


Overview:

2. Strawberries
3. Grapes
4. Celery
5. Peaches
6. Spinach
7. Sweet Bell Peppers
8. Nectarines (Imported)
9. Cucumbers
10. Cherry Tomatoes
11. Snap Peas (Imported)
12. Potatoes
+ Hot Peppers
+ Kale/Collard Greens


2014 Clean 15
It's not all bad news! These produce picks contained the lowest pesticide levels.
1. Avocados
2. Sweet Corn
3. Pineapples
4. Cabbage
5. Sweet Peas (Frozen)
6. Onions
7. Asparagus
8. Mangoes
9. Papayas
10. Kiwi
11. Eggplant
12. Grapefruit
13. Cantaloupe
14. Cauliflower
15. Sweet Potatoes

 

[Leahs Mom]

Beautiful birds, @aoxa Thanks for posting!