The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

Good luck with the new layers!

Thanks I hope they start laying soone

!!!!!I GOT A PULLET EGG TODAY!!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME
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Congrats

Maybe it will be contagious and my pullets will catch it lol

 

[CoopChick719]

I used my old gas grill as a burn pit for dust bath ashes. I just picked up twigs & sticks that were all over the yard. I do have a friend who gives me his stove ash but it has large clumps in it that I like screened out. I put the clumps in an old feed bag and drove over it with the car a few times. My girls like to bath in the deep litter in the coop.

Still getting 5 eggs or so a day. Not lighting the coop this year. I've got a leghorn molting right now. The coop is hovering around 40 degrees at night even with vents & the big window cracked open.

Merry Christmas my NCK peeps!

 

[konachicks]

[COLOR=FF0000]!!!!!I GOT A PULLET EGG TODAY!!!!!![/COLOR]​

[COLOR=006400]MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME [/COLOR]​

Yay!!! How old is your pullet ? I ended up using an old empty hibachi lol burned a whole bunch of wood. I want to get some construction sand to mix with the ash and dirt

 

[Leahs Mom]

33 weeks old! They're spinsters!

 

[vpatt]

33 weeks old!  They're spinsters!

 

[rowerjen]

Saw an ermine on my deck this morning. Fortunately one of my dogs spotted it before it could get to the coops. There are definitely some gaps in the new run that this thing could squeeze through. I know they are around, but hadn't seen any before today. Looks like I will be spending the morning improving security. Any suggestions for deterring these critters ? Does ammonia help?

 

[jtn42248]

Saw an ermine on my deck this morning. Fortunately one of my dogs spotted it before it could get to the coops. There are definitely some gaps in the new run that this thing could squeeze through. I know they are around, but hadn't seen any before today. Looks like I will be spending the morning improving security. Any suggestions for deterring these critters ? Does ammonia help?

1/4 inch fence fabric up the side of the run fence and buried at least 8 inches deep. healthy male dog marking the perimeter of the run. flashing lights at night and a gun. And, you will still probably have problems with them. Don't know if ammonia will help. I would be concerned that the fumes might hurt your birds.

 

[rowerjen]

Reading up on my little friend. This might explain why the chipmunks have disappeared and I haven't gotten any eggs for the past 2 days. I have hardware cloth on my coop and run (and under both) but there are some gaps at the top. Grrrr. Don't trust myself with a gun but I can set some traps. Off to the hardware store...

 

[potagergirl]

Thank you all for your responses I have them written in my chicken care book now.

We tried to turn the light off all together. It lasted two days. For some reason the roosters will not let the hens go in if
there isn't a light. Hubby had to pick them up and put them in the house one by one. Finally we decided to turn the red
light back on. However, we changed the time to 20 minutes. We know the chickens go in between 4 and 4:15 so it goes
on at 4 and goes off at 4:20. In the mornings it comes on roughly 20 minutes before sunrise.
I am happy with this. The chickens have continued to lay eggs, the roosters are still calmer, they happily come out in the
morning and go in of an evening.

I know you said the light wasn't on long enough to make a difference which is true according to other things I've read but
still I want my chickens as natural as possible. We put a lot of thought into the idea that 20 minutes 2x a day is better then
an hour twice a day they don't need.
If my chickens weren't crazy or perhaps afraid of the dark I wouldn't use the light at all.

thank you again for your replies they really help me think about the care I give my chickens =)

 

[SallyinIndiana]

!!!!!I GOT A PULLET EGG TODAY!!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME
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I got one today too. Now if my other breeder pullets will catch on, that will make filling the incubator so much easier.