The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

I have a dog house in an enclosed run and the chickens would sleep on the ground before getting in there. Ducks use to lay eggs there but the ducks are gone. Maybe with no other choice in time they would go for it.

Would it help if you set it on blocks?

This wouldn't be my first choice but I seen birds housed this way with great success, all over the country, including northern areas. This is not just summer housing...they seem to thrive in this type of shelter in VERY cold climates.

Thanks for all the input. This would be pretty temporary as I will be moving everyone into the barn within a couple of weeks. But I wanted to get those boys acquainted with the rest of the flock and let them be outside some before the move to the barn.

Then again, I wonder if it would just be less stressful on them to wait to move them out of the garage until they go to the barn. I keep hoping it will stay snow-free (at least on the ground) for a few more weeks. If it does, I have no need to move them to the barn until the real snow hits and I'd prefer they get more daily outside time while they have the opportunity.

Decicions Desicions.

Edited to add that there will be a roost out in the kennel and "Mister" would sleep out there and only go into the dog house for sleeping if the weather was bad.. I imagine it will be pretty windy and cold on that roost at this time of year even though there are tarps on one side of it.

 

[lalaland]

@lalaland
I'm only getting about 1-2 eggs every other day. The 3 pullets haven't started laying yet.

Was going to ask you also, if you got the full report on the birds and how the rest of the flock is doing...

I agree w/the others. Any change in feed is going to change poos for awhile. And there is a wide variety that are considered normal.

After the little rooster's necropsy report came back with the mareks diagnosis, a week later I had a hen whose eyes turned grey, and was having vision probems, and losing weight - symptoms of mareks. The prelim report was cocci, the eye report came back to say it was not mareks! and the rooster I was going to cull anyway and took to the lab also had no marek's. Having said that , the definitive test is a pcr test which Minnesota doesn't do - you have to have live blood drawn and sent to Texas.

It was awful because it made me wonder whether I could have kept the hen going - I was presuming she had mareks. She was losing weight....lost vision in one eye. I don't know. I'm learning there is lots of unknowns with mareks.
I have high hopes that the turkey litter will prove helpful. When the flock is at rest in the run, they do not look good. some in penguin posture, some with tail down, many puffed out. When foraging, they look good except for the molting part. Its a wait and see, and provide as much immune support as possible, and avoid stress. Well, I built this winter's sun porch and that stressed them out.

I think they are eating less - it might be the rapid drop in numbers so maybe I am feeding too much. I keep cutting back the feed but there is still some left at the end of the day. But loss of appetite is also a mareks thing. I'm adding eggs, yogurt, treats in the afternoon every few days to help boost protetin and to keep some caloric intake going. they are getting 18% feed.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks for the update.

Are they also molting right now? Some of mine that are in heavy molt have been looking a little out of sorts right now. I think it's really hard to judge overall health during a molt.

 

[lalaland]

some are in the middle of molting, most have finished, and a few are just about done with only a few pinfeathers in the head/neck area.

There are a couple of really healthy hens and it makes the not so good ones look awful. You are right that molting hens look like they feel as bad as they look!

 

[armorfirelady]

While these hot topics are great, I was wondering if I could bring it back to fermented feed for a moment.  Since I started soaking my organic layer mash the last couple weeks (not really fermented yet, just soaked overnight), I have noticed my chickens' poos have gotten smaller and are black.  Is that the "difference in poo" everyone talks about when feeding FF?  Should I be concerned about black poo?  The chickens are all acting normally and nobody is sick or unhappy.

I've seen black feces as well. I don't worry about any poop unless I have Ill hens.

A "housing question" for those of you that may have experience....

I am wondering if anyone has ever used a dog house, inside a kennel that is fenced on all sides and top, to house birds in the current weather.

Reason for the question is that I want to put the new boys out with the elders, but I don't want them in the same run quite yet and side 2 of my hen shed is currently occupied.  I had "Mister" using that kennel with the dog house as his only shelter...and an outdoor roost...earlier this summer.  I just don't know it it would be way to cold for just a dog house at this stage in the game. 

It isn't as secure as being locked into the hen shed either as something could presumably get under it at night - though it is enclosed by electric netting on 3 sides.  There is always the 4th side.

So...
Opinions and experiences, please.

I wouldn't think you would have any problems. Mine live with just billboard as walls all winter with no problem. Cold won't hurt them just drafts (but you knew that already

)

 

[Leahs Mom]

Yah...I know. Just really nowhere to get out of the wind if it's blowing the wrong direction... And not very predator proof....

 

[armorfirelady]

Yah...I know.  Just really nowhere to get out of the wind if it's blowing the wrong direction...   And not very predator proof....

Wrap end not protected by electric netting in hardware cloth? As for the wind.....2 sides of the coop are still up and we have had strong winds and rain for weeks off and on. I have the roost up high enough it doesn't bother the hens.

 

[armorfirelady]

Edie loves to come "talk" to me. Maybe it was to thank me for the mound of new leaves.

I think I have enough leaves in there for awhile. You can just barely see the top of Stella's head lol

And poor black is molting horribly. The coop looks like pillows exploded.,I've never seen her molt so hard, she has feathers hanging off her lol. They all gave he a scare a couple weeks ago when I checked on the them after dark. All preening a lot. Turns out it's not critters they just all have new itchy feathers coming in. I went 3 days with no eggs before Edie started back up again. And she still has a couple bare spots lol. They will def be huddling together this weekend when the temps drop to the 30s

 

[Turk Raphael]

Thanks for all the input. This would be pretty temporary as I will be moving everyone into the barn within a couple of weeks. But I wanted to get those boys acquainted with the rest of the flock and let them be outside some before the move to the barn.

Then again, I wonder if it would just be less stressful on them to wait to move them out of the garage until they go to the barn. I keep hoping it will stay snow-free (at least on the ground) for a few more weeks. If it does, I have no need to move them to the barn until the real snow hits and I'd prefer they get more daily outside time while they have the opportunity.

Decicions Desicions.

Edited to add that there will be a roost out in the kennel and "Mister" would sleep out there and only go into the dog house for sleeping if the weather was bad.. I imagine it will be pretty windy and cold on that roost at this time of year even though there are tarps on one side of it.

Just one more point...many of the folks who keep birds stationed have roost boards nailed into the upper parts of their 'house', about 2/3rds back so they can escape weather and be comfortable at night and in bad weather.

 

[gus2pp]

I know.  That's the problem. 

Can somebody just tell me if they ferment without a starter?  I guess that's my main question.  Water and feed sitting in a bucket for a few days is easy enough for me!

I have fermented my feed using ACV, and also bit using ACV. Both work great, and my chickens didn't care one way or the other, they just really enjoy the fermented feed.