The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote:
I do have about 20 ducks and 25-30 10 week old chicks in the pen. I'm thinking one of them got their scent on the eggs while the broody duck was off the nest for her daily bathroom break. I'm almost happy about it though. The broody duck was a mean broody and the other ducks would lay right next to her nest. It made getting the eggs in the morning a bit more dangerous. I couldn't send my boy out to do it anymore.

 

[lazy gardener]

These birds are way smarter than we give them credit for!

 

[Shan30]

I keep picturing her stomping all over them going "this is what I think of your chicken eggs lady"

Totally unrelated, what is the best thing I can give a chick with splay leg for niacin/vitamin b? Outside of actually purchasing a vitamin mix. Liver? Can a day old eat liver? It might be unnecessary, hobbles seem to be working.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I keep picturing her stomping all over them going "this is what I think of your chicken eggs lady"

Totally unrelated, what is the best thing I can give a chick with splay leg for niacin/vitamin b? Outside of actually purchasing a vitamin mix. Liver? Can a day old eat liver? It might be unnecessary, hobbles seem to be working.

She was mainly using her bill to roll them viciously against a larger gravel rock. Then she would use the bill to smash it and dig into the egg. Then the shell got tossed in the air because it was stuck on the bill. I think the shell being on the bill is what started off the ducks into alarm mode then the roosters. By the time I got out there she only had a few maybe 5 of 12 or so left to go. It was amusing to watch and i new I could not save any started eggs so I watched for a bit.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I keep picturing her stomping all over them going "this is what I think of your chicken eggs lady"

Totally unrelated, what is the best thing I can give a chick with splay leg for niacin/vitamin b? Outside of actually purchasing a vitamin mix. Liver? Can a day old eat liver? It might be unnecessary, hobbles seem to be working.

You can use tiny chopped liver.

Brewers yeast can be stirred into feed or top dressed. This Brand of Brewers yeast: http://lewislabsdirect.com/collections/our-products/products/new-brewers-yeast-12-35oz the only one that is certified grown on non-gmo substrate out there. It does have a high amount of phosphorus to calcium balance so I only use it from time to time but it is purported to work for the B vitamin issues. Usually you can find this brand and type in most health food stores on the shelf. I put it in the regular feed for everyone sometimes too...great source of protein!

For quick (and not natural): Can use children's poly-vi-sol in the waterer: NO ADDED IRON


All that being said, splayed leg may not be a thiamin/riboflavin related issue. However, giving the liver or brewer's yeast won't hurt either.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
That is quite a picture. She obviously thought something was remiss.

 

[misbhaven]

anybody ever use their incubator for something else? i have a bunch of boss sunflowers and while i would like them to dry naturally the wild birds are eating them all..i bet i could put the flower heads in there to dry so i have them for the winter..going to slice some cherry tomatoes and dry those too iI think for winter treats...I have 5 kids can all the time just haven't got a food dehydrator yet..need to sell some more eggs
and I got a permanet Campsite at a very wooded campground i can pick all the berries i want bet the hens chickens might like some dried berries also in the winter when the pickings are slim...hmm I but for those that have a dehydrator but no bator could be converted the other way also...I have a forced air 48 egg plastic one no germs etc are not an issue as i can clean very well..

 

[Kassaundra]

@Kassaundra has started raising rabbits too. She may have something to add.

I just started only 1 month in so not much to add, except you can cut your food bill by harvesting forage and growing fodder.

 

[misbhaven]

my favorite thing is to let things like broccoli grow after the head are harvested the deep green leaves continue to grow all summer and the rabbit love them...cabbage etc all work for this

 

[Leahs Mom]

One of our "fellow BYCers" daughter raises rabbits and I happened to get to see her presentation for the 4H fair and meet her mom this week. She was making a case for allowing people to raise animals in the backyard and used this WW2 Booklet as the basis of her presentation....It's our patriotic duty!

I was hoping to get a paper re-print of this but haven't seen it yet. This is the E-version:


https://archive.org/details/domesticrabbitsi218temp