The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Sally8]

I'm so many posts behind but want to say how cute every ones babies (and adults) are. My family thinks I'm nuts for loving to look at poultry pictures. I'm always making them look.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

This last pic is what you get when the nest is high jacked. I named him/her Jacob because of the beard (s)he is sporting.

That looks very convincingly like a pullet to me.

 

[lazy gardener]

Love the coloring. If chickens were capable of human emotion, I'd say that one was being "coy".

 

[lalaland]

Your friend did indeed seem extremely nice. I wonder why I ever incubate chicks when it is so easy letting Mom's do it. Here are sister hens to yours with their babies, cousins to yours (I think) They both sat on the eggs the whole time. Just like yours, some are pure BCM and some
are EE or OE. I know why I incubate. You all post pic of your chicks hatching in incubators in January and I pull my incubator out!!!! Not my fault!!!!!





This pic is Edy's Sister. She has 3 chicks under her but hasn't brought them out yet. She's a nasty hen when you approach her with a hand outstretched.

the little chick peeking is my fav pic in the group! and I have a hen (coco chanel) who is vicious when you fetch eggs from under her. She actually grabs skin and pinches, leaves immediate bruises and blood blisters too. I never understood why people were worried about hens pecking them until she came along!

 

[armorfirelady]

@Sally8 love love the pics. Thankfully when Edie went broody last year she was nice. She is my social girl. She comes up,to me to talk in her dinosaur voice, she has learned when I am giving out food or snacks to stay close to me because I give her extras. She also has learned to run with her goodies to the other side of the compost pile so no one sees her

I see you have a grey chick. What do you think it is? I have one to I'm hoping is a pullet.

I keep looking at her to see if she is getting a comb yet lol

2 black chicks look like they are starting to sprout combs. And apparently hey can hop/fly pretty high. I caught one on top of the herb garden around the coop. It jumped off before I could get a pic.

I gave them all meat today. 2 black chicks grabbed big pieces and took off running. Guess they learned the game keep away fast. I wish I had my camera with me. At one point one black chick had the other 4 chicks and both moms chasing it thru the yard as it tried to keep its meat piece those stinkers are fast !!!

 

[gevshiba]

I think you're describing egg yolk peritonitis. Hens will mount and tread each other, especially in the absence of a rooster as a dominance act.

Thank you. I looked it up and it sounds like that might be it. Sure glad I culled them before they got really sick. I think there last few weeks were pretty happy ones. I'm also glad they never had contact with any of my chickens and mine will never be on that same ground.

 

[RedRidge]

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And @RedRidge a question for you. Do you feed chick feed or grower when you have chicks? Or do you tweak your whole grains for them to eat? I need to have food for the chicks ready so if they hatch after I leave it's all set for my friend chick sitting.

My grains that I ferment are the same for all management groups, although sometimes I will grind the field peas a little smaller during hatching season.
For chicks that are not hatched by broodies I use a different premix. I keep 2 buckets of premix (the powdered ingredients I add after ferment at feeding time) during hatching season and the one for chicks contains added fishmeal.

I have hatching eggs with 2 broodies sitting on them. So they will be momma raised chicks. Ok so I need to grind the peas then. That's what I figured. Since I use fish meal already I can just mix it like usual?

Oh and I tried a bag of those pine pellets you recommended. Threw a bag down in the walkway that's muddy and then wet it down some with the hose and it turned out wonderful. It dries out fast after a rain unlike the pine shavings.
Do you use them in your coops also? I was just afraid the chickens would try to eat the pellets

I was afraid of that too but they didn't eat them. I used them in the breeding pens this year. My Rhodebars tend to scratch more than my rir so they terraformed some, but other than that they worked great.

 

[Leahs Mom]

What brand/kind are you using on the pine pellets?

 

[armorfirelady]

What brand/kind are you using on the pine pellets?

Honestly don't know I tossed the bag when I was done. I got them at TSC.

Red ridge that's good to hear. I haven't used them in the coop yet. I rarely put new bedding in this time of year except grass clippings. They are usually only in there for bed.

Here is a pic of what the area where the pine pellets were put a month or 2 ago

They are keeping the weeds down also.

So I think I figured out why the chicks were coming out the electric netting. Half wasn't powered. I never noticed till this morning when Bear touched it with his nose. Guessing I forget to connect it to the other one when I put it up. Problem rectified & bear learned quick it's charged now. Now to see if the babies come out again. They were about 30 ft away from their moms in the back yard this morning. Glad I noticed before the dogs. And I think they grew tail feathers overnight !!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

So the pellets keep weeds from growing up too? I could use them on an area that I want to make a walkway?