The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Lacy Blues]

Did you witness your girls snuggling all around that heater?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: My "edible plants" book tells how to harvest hosta to eat for people so I imagine it's just fine for the birds. But it also says that it's best (least bitter I think) first thing in the spring.

Did you witness your girls snuggling all around that heater?

yes I had the same question...did you use it to try to keep the chill out of the air?

I don't use heat (so far I haven't had cold-sensitive breeds) but I'm still curious to know if anyone has ever used a Sweeter Heater and what your opinion of it is. Wondering if it would make a larger heat area than the heat plates for brooding.

 

[armorfirelady]

Did you witness your girls snuggling all around that heater?

yes I had the same question...did you use it to try to keep the chill out of the air?

I don't use heat (so far I haven't had cold-sensitive breeds) but I'm still curious to know if anyone has ever used a Sweeter Heater and what your opinion of it is. Wondering if it would make a larger heat area than the heat plates for brooding.
My only concern would be what would happen of there is a power loss? That's probably the main reason I do not use heat or fans. Even being in a suburban area I tend to lose power frequently.

Last year when wind chill temps were -30F I just added hay into the coop so they could nest down in it if they were cold.

 

[BethanyS]

ok so I can't catch up on this thread.Maybe this has already been discussed

I'm looking into different breeds to mix for a sustainable flock.I want mix in breeds that will lay well compared to food they can forage most of the year without feeding much.Living in TN they need to be cold ans heat hearty.

We have over an acre fenced in enough to keep dogs out but the chicken COULD go visit the neighbor lol ( old bull fence) and a large back yard fenced more securely where the chickens spend most of their time.We plan on growing squash and other things to feed for winter and have lots of clover and wild stuff like chick weed.Also going to collect leaves this fall and pile around the property for bugs.I currently have a road island red hatchery roo who is a fantastic forager and tie hens also 2barred rocks and 3young Black Australorp.Considering mixing in game birds for lighter bodies assuming they would need less protein to produce eggs.Any suggestions?

 

[lazy gardener]

Bethany, I think you have an excellent plan for mixing your flock up to eventually produce a bird which will perform extra well in your climate and conditions. I am headed in a similar direction, but my criteria will be a bit different than yours due to my zone 4 weather. Your RIR roo x PBR hens will produce black sex linked chicks. They'll give you excellent eggs and have good hybrid vigor. An other bird that might be worthy of consideration would be the Dominique. They are lighter than the PBR, and have a wonderful personality, are great foragers. Not at all aggressive. You would also get black sex links using your RIR with the Dom pullets/hens. Have you considered EE? They are a bit lighter weight, and will give you a colorful egg basket. They are excellent foragers, and temperament wise, get along very well with Doms.

 

[lazy gardener]

Re: flower pot heater: No, I never saw them clustered around it to get warm. I was not at all concerned about it making them too soft, so they couldn't deal with a power outage. We get those all the time, sometimes for a day and a half. However, usually when there's a power outage, the weather is a bit warmer. It's very rare to have an extended outage when the temp is below 0 F. All the flower pot did was take the edge off the bitter cold. I gathered eggs often, and in years past, in spite of frequently gathering eggs, they would be frozen and cracked a couple of hours after being layed. I NEVER once lost an egg to freezing last winter. Again, I'm not advocating one way or an other regarding supplemental heat. I'm just telling you what I did, and how it worked for me. Also, an other compelling reason for giving them their flower pot was the fact that my Alpha hen, followed in succession by all the rest of them went through a severe molt in the dead of winter.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Another breed that was bred to be cold hardy is the Buckeye. I haven't had any yet, but one of my plans was to get some heritage (breeder quality, not hatchery stock) and try some. I've heard they have very good personalities and forage very well. But the personality is contingent on getting some from a good line rather than a hatchery quality. They were first bred by a woman in Ohio (thus "Buckeye") to be cold hardy for their weather and be good foragers. They have the Rhode Island Red background I believe, but bred with a small comb (pea I think...I'd have to look it up).

I hear there are some good breeders of those that may not be too far from you.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Re: flower pot heater: No, I never saw them clustered around it to get warm. I was not at all concerned about it making them too soft, so they couldn't deal with a power outage. We get those all the time, sometimes for a day and a half. However, usually when there's a power outage, the weather is a bit warmer. It's very rare to have an extended outage when the temp is below 0 F. All the flower pot did was take the edge off the bitter cold. I gathered eggs often, and in years past, in spite of frequently gathering eggs, they would be frozen and cracked a couple of hours after being layed. I NEVER once lost an egg to freezing last winter. Again, I'm not advocating one way or an other regarding supplemental heat. I'm just telling you what I did, and how it worked for me. Also, an other compelling reason for giving them their flower pot was the fact that my Alpha hen, followed in succession by all the rest of them went through a severe molt in the dead of winter.

You know, my old BR girl was almost totally naked in December - exactly when it got really cold last year.

Could you post a photo of your pot? (A picture is worth 1000 words.)

 

[lazy gardener]

Yes, the Buckeye has a pea comb. I agree with you, if trying this breed, it would be well worth it to get them from a good breeder. I'm not at all fond of the RIR temperament. I hear that Buckeye's are great mousers as well. There is someone in my state who is breeding them, and they're on my list of "considerations." For now, I'm content with the breeds in my flock. However, I think the RCBL are too flighty for my needs. It will be interesting to see what the chicks from them are like. (EE x RCBL) They should produce a nice blue egg if their sire is anything like his Daddy!

 

[BethanyS]

Bethany, I think you have an excellent plan for mixing your flock up to eventually produce a bird which will perform extra well in your climate and conditions.  I am headed in a similar direction, but my criteria will be a bit different than yours due to my zone 4 weather.  Your RIR roo x PBR hens will produce black sex linked chicks.  They'll give you excellent eggs and have good hybrid vigor.  An other bird that might be worthy of consideration would be the Dominique.  They are lighter than the PBR, and have a wonderful personality, are great foragers.  Not at all aggressive.  You would also get black sex links using your RIR with the Dom pullets/hens.  Have you considered EE?  They are a bit lighter weight, and will give you a colorful egg basket.  They are excellent foragers, and temperament wise, get along very well with Doms.

I love the thought of pea combs so Buckeye or Easter eggers are a good thought!Are they a heavy breed?

I left out my golden buffs.We started with our RIR roo, 2barred rock 2golden buff and 2rir hens.These were a small order from 2012 the hens seems fair as far as health and production although my Roo seems very healthy and thriving on mostly forage.We had a golden go broody and she didn't seem to stay on the nest enough so maybe bad brooding was to blame but only 2eggs hatched and neither the gold or the sex link survived the summer.I'm not sure if I should continue genetic of general hatchery birds.

We had friends start a project and not finish lol long story short out of 25chicks of each breed I now have 5rir and 3black Australorp(kicking myself for not keeping more BA) females who performed best foraging this summer.The rest were sold its not a sad long story

I'm now questioning letting my old girls go this spring and hatching some eggs from my new hearty babies(still hatchery stock but pick if the litter lol).I'm debating using my RIR roo or maybe something else.We got these breeds for their production and meaty possibility but I'm realizing heavy breeds eat more.I'd like to toss in some lighter weight genetics but still want weather tolerance and decent egg production .....sigh my brain hurts so many possibilities