The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

Stella finally laid an egg after weeks of no eggs and a few fart eggs. It's the one on the right. She must be making up for,lost time.

She's also going to,get a rake up the toosh if she doesn't stop cornering & chasing the babies. I chased her with the rake today & she was not impressed. I thought it was only roosters that needed 'training'

 

[Leahs Mom]

Yes! That's exactly what I'm doing from now on. No more started birds! My kids and I are building an incubator.

What material makes good litter?

I use pine shavings. They also make the best deep litter when you clean out the chicken house to put into the outdoor run. Avoid straw as it has hollow shafts and can harbor mites very easily. It also has a tendency to accumulate mold in the outdoor break-down process which can cause respiratory issues that can actually cause illness.

See this post also:


Quote: Leahs Mom

 

[lazy gardener]

Onmelissa:

For litter in contact with the ground, I use what ever is free or as close to free as possible. My favorite is a mix of fall leaves (I bag them up, even mooching them from other folks yards, and save them to bank the coop through the winter, and ration them out in the lower coop level, tractors and garden. I have just one bag left.)... Fall leaves mixed with grass clippings. Perfect blend of carbon and nitrogen by the time you add in the chicken poo. I never see any poo on top of the litter, and the stuff just melts into the ground. If cleaning out the pine shavings from the upper level of the coop, I usually stock pile them, and save them to put in the garden after it's harvested. I'm experimenting with a hybrid of B2E and Hugelkulture in my garden, so consider those shavings to be too important to just dump into the run. I don't have any qualms what so ever about using hay in the lower level (contact with the soil) b/c I think the soil microbes and other insect action will do a number on mites. Probably incredibly naieve (sp?? how do you spell that word, anyway?) on my part. If i want to get the girls shut up in the coop before they're ready to turn in, I just throw a couple cups of scratch in the litter, and they scratch away! I'm not concerned about mold in hay if it is out in the open. (Would not choose to use it in a regular coop) I have plenty of wet hay in my mulched garden. When spreading it, the dry mold in the middle of the bales can be an issue, but once it's on the ground and has had a couple of rains, it's pretty benign, and well on it's way to becoming one with the soil.

congrats on your decision to build an incubator. You won't regret it. It's a fun project, both the building, and the joy of hatching. Hubby provided the electrical expertise, and I did all the rest with mine, and if i say so, it's done a good job for me. first hatch 5/6 with an early quitter. Second hatch 20/28, not bad taking into account 1 cracked egg that went about 9 days, and i had humidity issues at the end. Both times, I got hatching eggs from local flocks.

 

[lalaland]

Don't fret. I've heard of that very same thing from a couple of folks that had the same issue and both of their birds are okay today. Just keep doing what you're doing for a little longer!

Sophie's was the same way. I figured the hard pieces were grit which I had in with her when she was in the crate.

I really appreciate the encouragement. She is desperate to get out. Cheeps to the cat, and the cat now lays in front of the kennel and sticks her paws into it, pullet gives her friendly pecks.

She did finally eat some coconut oil - can't wait to get home from work and see how she's doing.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@lazy gardener

I did an experiment this last year and I really like the outcome. I put every bit of the indoor pine shaving litter out onto the run instead of the garden. I was hoping to create a winter yard where they could still scratch and get worms throughout the winter if I could make it deep enough.

My idea was that in the spring it should be broken down well enough to dig out and use on the garden as composted litter.

It worked better than I could have ever imagined.

When I dug down in the spring it was beautifully broken down into some of the richest soil I've ever seen. Smelled heavenly like rich soil. Was full or worms. We then dug it out by the wheelbarrow-fulls and put it on the gardens. My daughter and son in law shoveled out a pick-up truck load and took it to their house; my other daughter did the same and used it alone in a raised garden.

Both of those gardens are thriving beyond anything they've ever had there.

I'm sold on letting it compost right out in the chicken run. We didn't even come close to removing it all and we continue to put the wood chips and wood shavings on from the chip piles and inside the chicken house as we clean out.

I absolutely love the results! Both for the birds health and the garden's!

 

[gevshiba]

I have a friend who's chickens have gapeworm. I remembered it was discussed a while back and I've gone back and read those posts. They weren't very encouraging. She's already lost one hen, her rooster and another hen aren't looking good. She has treated with a drug (can't remember what), but so far, it's not helping. She asked me to post here to see if anyone has any remedies and/or preventatives. She was told grasshoppers can carry gapeworm and we've had 3 years of bumper crops of them. She's had chickens for a year or so, and there weren't any on the ground before that. She's pretty desperate. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

 

[armorfirelady]

@lazy gardener

I did an experiment this last year and I really like the outcome. I put every bit of the indoor pine shaving litter out onto the run instead of the garden. I was hoping to create a winter yard where they could still scratch and get worms throughout the winter if I could make it deep enough.

My idea was that in the spring it should be broken down well enough to dig out and use on the garden as composted litter.

It worked better than I could have ever imagined.

When I dug down in the spring it was beautifully broken down into some of the richest soil I've ever seen. Smelled heavenly like rich soil. Was full or worms. We then dug it out by the wheelbarrow-fulls and put it on the gardens. My daughter and son in law shoveled out a pick-up truck load and took it to their house; my other daughter did the same and used it alone in a raised garden.

Both of those gardens are thriving beyond anything they've ever had there.

I'm sold on letting it compost right out in the chicken run. We didn't even come close to removing it all and we continue to put the wood chips and wood shavings on from the chip piles and inside the chicken house as we clean out.

I absolutely love the results! Both for the birds health and the garden's!

I love it also. And I have found that when the DL is really dry that spraying a little with the hose helps it to break down. From spring to fall I add very little to the DL. The girls are rarely in the coop except to roost. So a little extra moisture helps it break down and keep the dust down. Also during the winter I dump the peat moss/wood ash mixture into the DL as well.

And I use hay during the winter. The bales are used around the outside of the coop as a wind block. And last year I used it in the coop a couple times when we had record low wind chills (-30) But I only use hay not straw. Didn't have any problems with mites thank goodness. And the little hay I did use broke down easily in the DL. But I have found that using to much in the DL causes it take longer to break down.

And yes I rather use free stuff. I collect grass trimmings and dry them out and bag them. And come fall when everyone puts their leaves to the street I happily go around and collect them. The grass clippings & leaves break down wonderfully and help the pine shavings break down well also

 

[LindaB220]

It was with no food at all. Hard I know but I did 3 days with no food just water then fed her just spinach the 4th & 5th day which is suppose to aid with digestion. It did finally work for Sophie.

Good luck !!

ETA: I tried liquid olive oil and massaging her crop but she fought so much trying to get it into her crop I was afraid she would inhale it and cause more problems. So I stopped trying it and just went with withholding food.

P.S I will check out your link as well

I read somewhere that you dribble coke into the crop. Think of a penny sitting in a glass of coke. It must be totally flat.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@gevshiba

I really don't remember anything natural for gapeworm.

My chicken health book says
Quote: Even at that the book doesn't sound very optimistic.


However - if I had that problem I would contact 2 different people and ask if they have any ideas or products that they would recommend:

1. Susan Burek http://www.moonlightmileherbs.com/poultryherbcart2014.html She has bee really good to get back in email especially if you mark it "emergency" in the subject line. http://www.moonlightmileherbs.com/emailpage.html http://www.moonlightmileherbs.com/emailpage.html [email protected]


2. Molly from Fiasco farm may also have ideas. http://mollysherbals.com/ She is also very good to return inquiries and is very helpful. Her expertise is more on the goat end but she also has poultry. [email protected] http://fiascofarm.com/herbs/contact.htm

 

[Leahs Mom]

This stuff is supposed to work for gapeworm but I don't know anyone that has experience w/it nor can I reccomend. But thought I'd post it for you to take a look at. http://poultrykeeper.com/poultry-medication/flubenvet-60g-packs-for-worming-chickens