The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lalaland]

AFL - the SFH are like a box of chocolates - you never know what they're going to end up like. These kids will make some very dramatic changes before they are adults and often you are really surprised that what they were like as kids is totally different from their adult coloration. One thing I like is the camouflage effect. They really blend in when they stay still.


On the wandering chicks...
I was afraid of hawks with the young ones. I felt like I didn't protect them very well on my prior 2 broody hatches so I decided I was going to be more protective in the future. Not sure just how that will look, but at least with these kids I haven't let them out of the deep littered run. Of course they don't have a mom and the other birds would likely attack them once they are out there so I'm waiting until they're a little older. Kind of frustrating not to have them out running free. I do see hawks here every day.

Leahs Mom,
I've had good luck making a small enclosure inside a run for the babies. Cobbled together with stakes, chicken wire, something for shade, something to climb on jump off, and fruit or garden netting on the top. I like those binder clips or paper clips to hook the netting to the chicken wire.
THe babies are safe from overhead, and safe from the big girls.
I usually keep half of a dog kennel/pet carrier - you know, just the top half, on the ground for protection from sun and scary things.
Even though you have a huge run, you could do the same adn then the babies would get out in the grass bug world. My 3 or 4 week olds have been out for a week and love it.

If there isn't any bare ground where I put the baby run, I take a spade and make a hole for them, kind of scraping off the top layer of vegetation so they can get down to the dirt.
They are outside every day unless severe weather is coming....

edited to add: I see we were cross posting. I think you could still make a playpen for them outside...but they are getting some outdoor time/stuff with your set up!

 

[Leahs Mom]

lala - you and I must have been writing at the same time!

See post above yours. My area just doesn't have grass for them... only deep litter. I think I should go out and dig up some sod and put in there more often than I do.

 

[lalaland]

yeah, but I thought you had this huge grassy area bordered by woods....could you put a playpen enclosure type thing out there? maybe up against the run you have? this would be just a daytime thing, I have to transfer the 3 chicks there in the morning and back into the coop at night.

Last year with 17 chicks, it was too much to catch and move them, so I built a chickenwire tunnel over a board ramp to get them where they were going. it was cumbersome, and in the way, but it worked.

I'm realizing that the 6 chicks and 3 mamas are outgrowing the little coop. I have to move the chicks soon, but was hoping mamas would be done being, well, mama! almost but not quite yet.

seems like there is always something to do with the coop and run arrangements - you get it all set and then someone grows up, or hatches, or you get more, or the roosters get going, or something!!

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Does anyone on here have Yokohama fowl???

 

[Sally8]

I think you may be right on the survival. I keep tossing that back and forth in my mind. The 2 birds here that did have a hawk strike were birds that had issues (in my opinion) that would have hindered either themselves or a flock in a natural setting. I think both of them would have been picked off by predators early in their lives. I really debate on the young chicks without a mamma. It just seems like I need to be more protective of them. And I know that even the mamma couldn't protect all her kids. Debate, debate, debate.

When the hawk does come around the new kids listen to the olders in the flock even though they're divided away from them. I saw all 3 of them run and hide when the signal was given. That's a good sign that they're listening even if they are separate. I have them in this area and we cut out a new door on that side so they can go in and out from their own side of the hen shed. Mister was in there temporarily before the door was cut.

I have a smallish area that we just made and have 3 hens and their babies in there. Because we've seen hawks we put the netting (like in your photo) over top. I've been weeding the garden and have always thrown the weeds into their run as there isn't really any grass. Guess how any times I've thrown the weeds into the run AFTER I put the netting up? Twice! Ugh! Then I have to go through and try to get the weeds back off as the netting sags to the ground. Has to be that "Old Dog Learning New Tricks". I got under the netting and tried to throw them off from under only to throw them on hubby and he got hit with a small stone. He says he's done helping. He has no sense of humor.

 

[misbhaven]

Flash floods..lost 3 to 5 3 confirmed 2 are missing hope they are just hiding somewhere ..3- of 3 weeks olds that got lost free ranging and got too cold...one 18 week old silkie was covering 3 chicks half as big as her or i think it is a her. iIhave 4 in with 20 or so younger chicks they Tend to act like nursemaids round them up at bed time etc ...I now have about 25 chickens in my bathroom in various cages drying out..

 

[Bethel3330]

Flash floods..lost 3 to 5 3 confirmed 2 are missing hope they are just hiding somewhere ..3- of 3 weeks olds that got lost free ranging and got too cold...one 18 week old silkie was covering 3 chicks half as big as her or i think it is a her. iIhave 4 in with 20 or so younger chicks they Tend to act like nursemaids round them up at bed time etc ...I now have about 25 chickens in my bathroom in various cages drying out..

Oh dear me! I'm so sorry!! I hope the others turn up and all else is well.

 

[misbhaven]

I will look in the morning...2 of my coops are on blocks off the ground chickens hide under there during the day ...so maybe there is a chance...the others are well I gave them all electrolytes and vitamins in warm water had a hair dryer, and electric heater and then just a heat lamp going..they look like they will all pull thru they all hungrily ate some oatmeal I gave them ( chicken food is in the garage this lady was soaked also making all those trip bringing animals inside..I can say having a saint Bernard size dog crate comes in handy!! all the older /bigger ones are in there with room to spare i didn't want them to pile on the littler chicks so separated them by size..and the little guys are in a rabbit cage...All the  grown LF ,and growing up bantam's  18 to 24 weeks were ok in their coops, just the little guys and my camper  suffered which has a lovely basketball sized hole in the roof ...could have been worse I am just glad i had those older Silkies in there ..a city 20 minutes from here is reporting over 2 ft of water in the streets I live only 30 min fro the Mississippi there was a horribly big storm that went across several states Iowa had baseball sized hail only 100 miles from here
...Any suggestions that I am not doing they are all dry and warm singing in my bathroom with the big male saint babysitting the door he loves baby anythings..

. My bathroom is big and not to say I am cheap but the vanity is a kitchen sink base a long one $300 cheaper a little taller

 

[Sally8]

Flash floods..lost 3 to 5 3 confirmed 2 are missing hope they are just hiding somewhere ..3- of 3 weeks olds that got lost free ranging and got too cold...one 18 week old silkie was covering 3 chicks half as big as her or i think it is a her. iIhave 4 in with 20 or so younger chicks they Tend to act like nursemaids round them up at bed time etc ...I now have about 25 chickens in my bathroom in various cages drying out..

I:m so sorry. We've had 3 floodings this year but have been so lucky. My beautiful little creek is so serene most of the time but someplace upstream things are clogged and caused it to run completely around our house in the last storm. I saw the storms on tv yesterday. We're due later today. Take care, I hope you find them.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Last year with 17 chicks, it was too much to catch and move them, so I built a chickenwire tunnel over a board ramp to get them where they were going. it was cumbersome, and in the way, but it worked.

I like the idea of a tunnel. Now you have me thinking again.

I had thought about ways to get them out into some little area but the only thing I could think of would have required cutting a dog kennel. Strangely enough, we had some kennel panels given to us that had come from another chicken keeper and one of them DOES have the kennel cut where they must have had a door out to somewhere. Not using that panel right now and really don't want to have to re-set our panels. But it's hanging around if I ever want to trade them out and do something creative.

Anyhow, I can imagine how I could do a tunnel right out the back gate. Have to see what kinds of materials I might have around.

Flash floods..lost 3 to 5 3 confirmed 2 are missing hope they are just hiding somewhere ..3- of 3 weeks olds that got lost free ranging and got too cold...one 18 week old silkie was covering 3 chicks half as big as her or i think it is a her. iIhave 4 in with 20 or so younger chicks they Tend to act like nursemaids round them up at bed time etc ...I now have about 25 chickens in my bathroom in various cages drying out..

Where are you located? We had the big storm come through too but it was around midnight - 1 am before it got here.

Mister is still out in a separate dog kennel with only a plastic dog house for cover. I went out around 1:30 am to be sure it hadn't blown over (we had semi-trailers blown over in loading docks around here). It was upright but looked like it had moved 12-18". But when I went out this morning, it wasn't the dog house that moved----it was the WHOLE KENNEL!!! Apparently the wind was able to catch on a tarp that I have zip-tied onto the kennel that goes down the south side to provide some shade. Wind was blowing south and the kennel had moved south.