The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

Leah's mom that girl looks like a couple of mine, they are doing fine out in the cold. We actually moved them back to the coop so they have some more room. The snow cleared off and seems better now, they like having more room as well. In my moms boredom of being stuck in the house she cleaned out the fridge and the girls for the leftovers. They sure didn't seem to mind

 

[islandgirl82]

Yikes! That poor girl. I thought my oldest hen's molt was bad this year...

 

[LindaB220]

I don't remember who it was but years ago someone told me that they put the miniature Christmas lights in their coops all along the perches. They had modern game bantams and these little birds found out that these little lights gave off a little heat. The person said that the birds would position themselves over a light when they went to roost. Pretty interesting. I would likely use the regular large bulbs (4 watts) but then there's that electrical problem too and would the birds peck the bulbs? Probably. If there were possibly Christmas lights that would plug into a cigarette lighter and run directly off the battery, I don't know if it would make any difference or not, it's still electrical.

Isn't the problem with electricity related directly to mice and their chewing "disorder?" If you ran electric wiring through metal conduit pipes, that would eliminate the mouse side of the problem.

I saw something on pinterest that was quite nifty. Cut a small plus sign on one side of a ping pong ball. Open it up a little and fit the light on your string over it. It gives off a lot of light.

 

[Leahs Mom]

This is the one that has the most beautiful, healthy, shiny feathering all year long since her last brood. I call her "the mamma" because she brooded 2x for me. I attribute her beautiful, healthy feathering to the fact that she's had 2 broody fasts which I think makes them much healthier. She hasn't brooded, however, in over a year.

I've had a couple others that have molted as heavily, but they never exhibited the other symptoms this girl did. Last year 2 of them stayed out the whole time but, again, not exhibiting extreme lethargy and none had fallen off the roost in the night!

We had a young lady in Indiana last year that had one like this that fell off the roost and ended up dieing in the cold. Remembering that made me go ahead and bring her in as I thought she might end up dieing of hypothermia.

Once she has a little more feather cover she'll be back out again. I think I figured out a way I can slowly re-acclimate.

 

[mlowen]

We had a young lady in Indiana last year that had one like this that fell off the roost and ended up dieing in the cold. Remembering that made me go ahead and bring her in as I thought she might end up dieing of hypothermia.

Once she has a little more feather cover she'll be back out again. I think I figured out a way I can slowly re-acclimate.

Bless her heart!! I've have brought her in, too. I bet she will acclimate just fine, once she has some insulation on.

 

[lalaland]

wow, that is amazing Sue. I think I would either do a heat lamp on her or bring her in, too. Especially since she was showing signs of trouble. Did she fall off the roost too?

AFL, are your girls bare backed like Sue's? And can your mom come to my house?

Been deep cleaning, its been way too long and I'm hosting thanksgiving this year. I have added some old grits and quinoa to the feed. Haven't tackled the frig yet....but found a bottle of mushroom oil - never used it. says it is olive oil infused with mushrooms....gonna use it for topdressing for the feed dishes.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Yes...she was on the floor yesterday when I went out at 5:30 am. Was on the roost in the evening before. That morning was when I brought her in.

Mushroom in there eh? If you've had any issues with yeast infection I probably wouldn't use it since mushrooms are a yeast. (Sour crop, favus, etc.) That would be my only caution

 

[Lacy Blues]

Well, I had to put my poor little red henny out of her misery. I've had her in the house for about 3 weeks and I just couldn't get that infection in her skin under control. It kept spreading further and further out, then it started getting deeper too so I did the deed tonight. I'll miss that sweet little thing. At least I have 4 daughters from her and a bunch of sons this past year. I need to pick one or two to keep.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Well, I had to put my poor little red henny out of her misery. I've had her in the house for about 3 weeks and I just couldn't get that infection in her skin under control. It kept spreading further and further out, then it started getting deeper too so I did the deed tonight. I'll miss that sweet little thing. At least I have 4 daughters from her and a bunch of sons this past year. I need to pick one or two to keep.

I must have missed something. What was the situation with her?

 

[lalaland]

lacyblues, I'm sorry to hear that. I also don't remember you trying to get an infection under control. Hope you can fill us in.
Poor baby.