The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

PS: Use gloves when handling them. You can get it from them!

Should probably separate the ones that have it from the others so as not to spread it to the others as well if possible

 

[Lacy Blues]

I'll have to measure mine tomorrow. So far I've just set it out there with no "upgrades". This is what the boys may have to use. Okay in summer but I don't like it for winter time. So your upgrades are of great interest to me.

My husband got the dog house for $5 on the side of the road.

Looks like the exact kind of dog house except for the part above the door. I would hold a piece of plywood over that part and trace its size and shape on the back side of the plywood. Cut out your piece of plywood so its ready to attach, and then cut out a window in the plywood. Hold the plywood back in its place and trace the window onto the dog house. Using a skill saw, you can do a plunge cut through the plastic, then put hardware cloth between the plywood and plastic and some 1x2s to frame the opening and screw it from the back side.

Or if you don't want to permanently alter your dog house, you can make a door to fit the opening but use the same process to have a door with hardware cloth for ventilation purposes... unless you're not worried about predation getting into that pen.

 

[armorfirelady]

@Leahs Mom love, love, love the pics. Someday I may have to take a road trip your way for a couple chicks. I love the variety in their coloring. Funny tho half my hens are black.......such a boring color but I love the iridescence colors when the sun hits them just right. Oh and the dark colored eggs as well lol.

But SFH are def on my wish list for the future

 

[hennible]

I have not.  Often this is the result of having had antibiotics (it's a fungal infection that is comparable to ring worm in people) or it can be attributed to fungus spores either in feed or wet bedding....kind of like aspergellosis.

You can also swab with a 2 percent iodine solution every other day rather than the nystatin.  It's supposed to take about 2 weeks. You can get the iodine at a regular drug store.



ETA:  I always try to find out what the cause of something like this is so that I can take care of the source and focus on natural chicken keeping husbandry for PREVENTION rather than treatment.  So it's important to try to figure out what's at the root of the symptoms.

Good feed, no antibiotics... Lots of rain and wet bedding. Thanks again. They have all been moved ( for other reasons ) to a dryer coop with a better quality of hay. That should help. I will swap in the iodine if this proves hard to beat.

 

[hennible]

PS:  Use gloves when handling them.  You can get it from them!

Should probably separate the ones that have it from the others so as not to spread it to the others as well if possible

Yup I'm using gloves, which really seem to be freaking the birds out... My second coop is out of commission due to predators so I can't separate them right now
I'll just have to make sure the environment doesn't allow yeast to flourish... As best I can.

 

[sunflower4you]

Subscribing

Now to go back and read this whole thread, new to chickens, this grasshopper has much to learn

Welcome. I am new-ish to this thread, too, but I keep learning so much it's great! The only downside is that the more I learn about natural chicken keeping, the more flack I get from family members that know how to keep chickens a different way.

You need to light the coop, why aren't you going to light the coop?, you won't get eggs if you don't light the coop, and a heat lamp, you need to heat the coop too (me: the coop is insulated), still you don't have enough birds to keep each other warm, you know heat rises, etc. etc. etc. Winter is bringing a whole new set of challenges!

 

[slayv4petz]

Haha sometimes I think some people aka family just like to be argumentative and not open minded enough to take the time to learn something new or a different way to do things.
Thank you for the welcome, at the present time we're raising chickens for egg consumption, neither one of us grew up on a farm, so we're not ready yet to get into the raising for supper, although we're certainly not going to rule it out totally, but I'm most definitely interested in doing things in a natural way.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Welcome to both of you new-ish bees!

Be strong in the face of adversity. They're your birds and you can raise them as you see fit.

 

[armorfirelady]

Subscribing


Now to go back and read this whole thread, new to chickens, this grasshopper has much to learn

Welcome.  I am new-ish to this thread, too, but I keep learning so much it's great!  The only downside is that the more I learn about natural chicken keeping, the more flack I get from family members that know how to keep chickens a different way.    You need to light the coop, why aren't you going to light the coop?, you won't get eggs if you don't light the coop, and a heat lamp, you need to heat the coop too (me: the coop is insulated), still you don't have enough birds to keep each other warm, you know heat rises, etc. etc. etc.  Winter is bringing a whole new set of challenges!

I do not add extra light during the winter months, I believe in letting them have the rest nature intends. I still get eggs all winter just less.

As for heat they don't need it. Cold won't kill hens but drafts will. They need ample ventilation all winter also. My hens are in a hoop coop covered with a billboard. They puff up at night and snuggle together to keep warm. A few hay bales around the perimeter keep out cold drafts. The window on the door is open year round and I have 2 roof vents as well. I live in the snow belt where temps in the teens are normal all winter with windchills below 0. I've never lost a bird to the cold or have they ever gotten frost bite. If you provide heat for your birds and you lose power the birds won't do well since they are used to a heat source.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

I have been using extra light in my coop, but now I'm re-thinking it. If I decide to turn off the light, should I take it out gradually, or just go cold turkey (so to speak)?