The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[CoopChick719]

Check this out!!!! One of the folks on the IN thread is using this for their profile photo. I want a roller coaster chicken!!!!!!

Too Cute!

Funny happening today. I had 2 drumsticks for the hens. I threw them in the yard for the hens. Edie took off with one & Stella with the other. Imagine my surprise when one of the peepers snuck up on her & stole it from her. Stella stood there for a minute or two before taking off to find the other one. I think if hens could be speechless she certainly was. She torments those peepers around food so they normally stay away from her. Guess chicken legs are to tempting. I was happy to see it happen. Stella is the meanie of the yard

I love watching The Chase when one steals something from another! I was at a wedding last weekend...talking about the girls

The people at our table said, "I didn't know chickens eat meat!" I told them, "Well, they are descendants of dinosaurs...sooo yeah, they eat chicken, steak, snakes, frogs & mice!". I said "Don't passout in the chicken coop, they might eat you!"

undernourishment can happen with FF when birds are ill..or the FF does not contain proper nutrition.

garlic in water containers..just drop in a clove for cocci
I concure with LM's suggestion. I would skip the ACV if you ferment. ACV will help shrink tissues if they have mucus and you do not FF.

Mine love Chicken..

Thanks delisha! Ya'll went through this with me last winter. And I appreciated all the advice & TLC you guys gave me!!

On the garlic--do you crush it? How long do you leave it in the waterer if you don't change it daily?

Mine love chicken too! DH is amazed whenever we put a chicken or turkey carcass in the pen and they strip it within hours.

 

[Lacy Blues]

There "should" be plenty of ventilation as the barn has high ceilings.

I was reading reviews on the TSC site just now and some folks use the mats for exercise mats in their homes. A couple people said to leave them outside for a few days so that they "air out" and the fumes won't be as strong. One person said they could hardly be in their house the fumes were so strong but that they did subside in a couple days. That particular mat weighs 100 lbs so she wasn't able to drag it outside and just lived with it. But she did say she'd let them air out before bringing them in in the future.

Yep, moving those mats is extremely difficult if you're trying to do it yourself. They're even difficult to move with help. Reason being is that there are no handles and they're not stiff, they just kind of flop. If you are going to use them, I'd move them ONE TIME. Put them where you want them and then put your kennels over them.

Something else you might do... you could completely enclose your pole barn with 6' welded wire fencing... leaving a door for yourself and then each day, after they've gotten accustomed to their new homes, you could open one of the kennels. That way they could roam around and scratch around and be chickens.

This is my first winter having chickens and I have kept their food and water out in the run all summer/fall. I was hoping to leave food and water outside in the winter, too, for the reasons you listed. I put a tarp over part of the run to keep the snow off that section. If I put their food/water in that covered area, will they come outside for it? I live in the northern Midwest where temperatures are at or below freezing for a good part of the winter. Others have said that even cold-hardy chickens will not come out of the coop in some winter weather. I have 3 EEs and 2 BAs that are 5-6 months old.

Depending on how much snow you get, you may want some kind of a structure under that tarp. It will catch snow and hold it until your tarp rips. If you have a slanted structure underneath, the snow should just slide off once some of it accumulates.

@sunflower4you
I'm in Indiana. When the flock was smaller I kept the feed inside. I prefer the feed inside, but my hen shed was such that I did not get rodents inside (and still is).

Last year I had to put it outside because of not having enough room indoors. I really don't like the feed outside as I feel that it draws rodents to the living area. Funny how the inside feeders say they like it because it keeps rodents away; the outside feeders like it because it keeps rodents away

. But in a barn-type setting which isn't rodent tight, it would be totally different for which I like better.


Anyhow... They will go out if they can see ground to walk on. I did a lot of shoveling last year. Alternately you can throw wood chips or leaves on a path to the food which helps them see that it is the ground.

I refuse to do all that shoveling this year which is why I want to move the flock into the pole barn for the winter. Food will be inside and I'll have to keep mouse traps set all the time unfortunately. I really prefer them to stay in their normal setup as they will be able to get outside more. But last year the older hens wouldn't let the pullets go inside and it was way too cold weather for that ridiculousness. Since the hen shed was really too close of quarters for them to be inside all day long, it was a constant issue. On the worst days I left the pop doors shut to protect the pullets from being shut out in the extreme cold. But it was NOT a good solution.

Therefore...kennels in the pole barn this year. It's an experiment and I may hate it but I'm going to at least try it. The part I won't like is that they won't be able to go outside freely if they choose to do so. But it will give them more indoor room and keep the youngers from being banned outside in extreme weather.

I think that having chickens, period, attracts rodents. They apparently can smell food from an unbelievable distance.
LM, how is your hen shed set up that rodents cannot get in? I'd love to be able to do something like that but in my situation, I don't think its going to happen.

Somebody, I don't remember who, has their birds in a raised coop of sorts and is putting straw bales and windows around the perimeter outside underneath to make a nice warm spot for them that is snow free and they can spend their days there being somewhat toasty. Good idea.

 

[armorfirelady]

There "should" be plenty of ventilation as the barn has high ceilings.

I was reading reviews on the TSC site just now and some folks use the mats for exercise mats in their homes. A couple people said to leave them outside for a few days so that they "air out" and the fumes won't be as strong. One person said they could hardly be in their house the fumes were so strong but that they did subside in a couple days. That particular mat weighs 100 lbs so she wasn't able to drag it outside and just lived with it. But she did say she'd let them air out before bringing them in in the future.

I thought they would be like the rubber feed bowls. They had an odor but after a few days it was gone. I bet of you put them in the sun (or what sun there is this time of year) it would help. Even if you just tried on in one run to see how it does?

This is my first winter having chickens and I have kept their food and water out in the run all summer/fall. I was hoping to leave food and water outside in the winter, too, for the reasons you listed. I put a tarp over part of the run to keep the snow off that section. If I put their food/water in that covered area, will they come outside for it? I live in the northern Midwest where temperatures are at or below freezing for a good part of the winter. Others have said that even cold-hardy chickens will not come out of the coop in some winter weather. I have 3 EEs and 2 BAs that are 5-6 months old.

My hens feed & water is kept outside all winter. Its in a lean to that is covered on 3 sides. I haven't noticed anymore mice around with it being outside.

My hens will walk thru the snow to get to their old run and the other shelter I put out for them. They very rarely stay in the coop. But I do have to shovel a path for them if the snow is more than a couple inches high. And since I need to shovel when its get deep to make it to the coop myself they always have a path. I also feed their other goodies like veggies and meat outside in the veggie garden. Thats probably why they don't mind coming out. They are very food motivated.

The only time they dont come out is when the wind chills are very low or its snowing hard

This is an old picture but it gives you an idea of my setup

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I don't know anything about ducks.
With our chickens we needed a house. The property we moved to had an old chicken house with the
floor half rot. Hubby repaired the floor and laid stainless steel down. Sounds expensive but it wasn't.
Go to your local recycling yard they buy it by weight in tons which adds up to a few dollars sold to
an individual.
Don't know if this will help but it was a great idea for us making it easier for me to scrub the floor of the
chicken house when it's time. I'm thinking maybe a duck house is much larger?

our duck housing is on the small side I guess at roughly 6*8. Most nights the ducks don't even go in the coop. But during the day they sure do like to track water in there. They will swim in the tiny pool, then head to the shed coop and shake like a dog then back to the pool or a sunny place. That shaking is what really gets water all over the place.

Quote: A hint from us moving the birds in. If you are planning to keep the birds in only part of the barn, the lower parts of their pens need solid walls or shavings will be scratched out all over the place. Plastic tarping would work I think. We used spare scrap pieces of plywood last night.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Yes...already have plans to put something around the bottom

 

[Turk Raphael]

Too Cute!

I love watching The Chase when one steals something from another! I was at a wedding last weekend...talking about the girls

The people at our table said, "I didn't know chickens eat meat!" I told them, "Well, they are descendants of dinosaurs...sooo yeah, they eat chicken, steak, snakes, frogs & mice!". I said "Don't passout in the chicken coop, they might eat you!"

Thanks delisha! Ya'll went through this with me last winter. And I appreciated all the advice & TLC you guys gave me!!

On the garlic--do you crush it? How long do you leave it in the waterer if you don't change it daily?

Mine love chicken too! DH is amazed whenever we put a chicken or turkey carcass in the pen and they strip it within hours.

I ordered some chicks a few years ago that got screwed up by the post office..BIG SHOCK...Anyhow they were two extra days getting there and a few of the chicks were either sacrificed or died on their own but the rest were well fed when I finally got them.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

I ordered some chicks a few years ago that got screwed up by the post office..BIG SHOCK...Anyhow they were two extra days getting there and a few of the chicks were either sacrificed or died on their own but the rest were well fed when I finally got them.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I ordered some chicks a few years ago that got screwed up by the post office..BIG SHOCK...Anyhow they were two extra days getting there and a few of the chicks were either sacrificed or died on their own but the rest were well fed when I finally got them.

Ewww!!!!

What kind of chicks were those?

 

[Turk Raphael]

Ewww!!!!

What kind of chicks were those?

Australorps. I don't think the breed matters...chickens are cannibals and will kill a weaker member for the survival of the flock.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Yah...especially Australorps. My experience w/BAs is that I'd never get any on purpose. Mean scrappy troublemakers from my experience!