The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[vpatt]

Welcome to the board and good questions. I have nothing more to add to what people have already said.
Hi V, a familiar face from how many eggs today thread. Lol on your comment about not having anyone to speak chicken too, I am in the same boat. So my understanding of egg yolk color and things you can do to influence them is foods high in carotenoids. Here is a little chart I found awhile back.

Foods That Naturally Influence Egg Yolk Color
Yolk Color Ingredient
nearly colorless- white cornmeal
pale yolk- wheat, barley
medium yellow yolks -yellow cornmeal, alfalfa meal
deep yellow yolks- marigold petals, kale, greens, cabbage, spinach
orange to red yolks carrots, tomatoes, red peppers

Sorry did come through like a chart, but still helpful. So something I am doing and have been doing with ours is they get a daily ration of greens, typical favorites with them are kale and cabbage. Both of those help keep the yolks more colorful. I started this last summer and would take greens directly from our gardens. I also read Nasturiums can influence color as well.

Your Dom has gone broody as others have said, I have one that has been broody twice since November. I am holding off for spring hatching to let her sit on a clutch.
thanks for the link as well and for the reminders, being a newer chicken owner it is always a bit scary to hear of things like that and Marek's. However, it is all part of the chicken world and we should be well versed in those types of things.

I asked a question earlier but I guess it got missed. Can anyone tell me if I can use Lavendar oil on a chickens, topically?

Hey yes I love the 'how many eggs' thread! Sorry I don't know how to shorten the posts i respond to.

 

[COChix]

I have used lavender oil a lot on people...especially myself. But I have never used it on animals.... I have a dog with a sore on top of her paw. I have been using blukote....I may try the lavender. Maybe alternate the two?

We use it all the time on our dogs, w have four and they run around the farm and always have cuts, scrapes and such. We use it on their wounds, superficial wounds. Helps kill any bacteria that could cause and infection. We also use coconut oil as well for its anti microbial properties on our dogs, topically and internally. I also have put coconut oil on this chickens feed as well when they have looked rough and lacked sheen in their coats.

 

[vpatt]

We use it all the time on our dogs, w have four and they run around the farm and always have cuts, scrapes and such. We use it on their wounds, superficial wounds. Helps kill any bacteria that could cause and infection. We also use coconut oil as well for its anti microbial properties on our dogs, topically and internally. I also have put coconut oil on this chickens feed as well when they have looked rough and lacked sheen in their coats.

I love coconut oil.....use it all the time.


.

When I blocked off a hidden nest I left a bucket nest for Chickie and I just found an egg in it......four eggs today. Yay!

e

 

[Lacy Blues]

For the person who asked. Do not feed your hatchlings at all. When they are getting ready to hatch, their bodies absorb the yolks last. They have food and liquid for 3 days. The chick will be fine. If it has sipped or nibbled anything then there's nothing wrong with it. As long as the mother keeps it warm. It should be eating and drinking on the third day so be at peace and don't separate.

Yolk color. Commercial feed preparations have added marigold oil to the mix. This is to darken the yolks of commercially fed hens in battery cages. In my opinion, this just stains the yolks. It just colors it. However, if your birds get lots of greens (Vit A) their yolks will be darker because of the vitamin, not because they are stained. Better eggs, better yolks, healthier birds.

If you quote a text, the whole thing comes through. If you don't want all of it, just select the portion you don't want and hit the delete button.

 

[vpatt]

For the person who asked.  Do not feed your hatchlings at all.  When they are getting ready to hatch, their bodies absorb the yolks last.  They have food and liquid for 3 days.  The chick will be fine.  If it has sipped or nibbled anything then there's nothing wrong with it.  As long as the mother keeps it warm.  It should be eating and drinking on the third day so be at peace and don't separate.

Yolk color.  Commercial feed preparations have added marigold oil to the mix.  This is to darken the yolks of commercially fed hens in battery cages.  In my opinion, this just stains the yolks.  It just colors it.  However, if your birds get lots of greens (Vit A) their yolks will be darker because of the vitamin, not because they are stained.  Better eggs, better yolks, healthier birds.

If you quote a text, the whole thing comes through.  If you don't want all of it, just select the portion you don't want and hit the delete button.

Thnx for the 'quote' help. I think the problem is using the kindle......if there is a way to highlight I don't know it.

 

[jtn42248]

Thanks you! So I have lots of experience using it on ourselves as well as our dogs. We use it topically for burns, cuts and things of that nature. Of course it is very strong and like you mentioned needs to be diluted. So it got me thinking about our roo whose wattles stuck together after drinking water in the frigid temps we were having. Anyway, he has a patch of skin that looks like it is dying, it is not an open wound. Anyway, I put some Terramycin on it yesterday and he seemed like he appreciated that and snuggled with me after his treatment. So I thought maybe I could use Lavendar on him like we do on ourselves. Of course sourcing the oil is important, but we have our own oils that I made this fall from our Lavendar so I know it is 100% pure.

You need to go into business. 100% Pure high quality lavender oil is going for 40-60 dollars an oz. retail.

 

[COChix]

You need to go into business. 100% Pure high quality lavender oil is going for 40-60 dollars an oz. retail.

Thanks, eventually we would like to offer oils, herbal remedies and such from our gardens. I make salves, tinctures and lotions that are all medicinal. My boyfriend is a master grower of most anything he puts his hands on and I make the products. He and I both do different extractions, he is more of the alchemist than myself. Although the this past year I did do extractions with oil and even made hydrosols. I do love it, we also have bee hives and I have about 1# of raw beeswax that I need to process and refine for use. There is too much to do and we are trying to homestead, but just found out I am going to need wrist surgery and it has some pretty strict restrictions afterwords. So all very upsetting and scary, but not as scary as my two neck fusions. Not sure what the future holds for me and my physical capabilities, but the chickens have been great therapy for me. I definitely will need to streamline feeding and watering for the gang before my surgery.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: It is also estrogenic.... so you need to use it in moderation whenever you use it on yourself. I use it when I get a little cut that is becoming infected and it will stop the infection in usually just one application.


However....
EOs have very strong smell and birds are particularly sensitive to various smells. I, personally...even though I use EOs for myself, wouldn't likely use EOs on a bird as a first choice.

@aoxa treated a very bad frostbitten foot with coconut oil only and swears by it. She used it on a bird that had accidentally stepped into a water dish when the temps were so cold that the foot froze solid within a couple minutes. She brought the bird inside and used the coconut oil. This bird lost most of her foot, but never got an infection through it all. She used the coconut oil on her and after the affected toes dried up and fell off, she learned how to walk again. (This was a bird that had sentimental value as a pet so she took the time with her.)

After hearing Aoxa's documentation on this, I always thought I'd try coconut oil if I had to treat a severe frostbite. Coconut oil is anti-fungal and anti-biotic, though gentle. It also works wonders when you have a sour crop.... removing all grain-based feed and giving only coconut oil and water for several days to a week has saved the lives of several birds I'm acquainted with and that would be my first choice treatment if we ever got it here.

Of course...as always... in all these things PREVENTION....is worth a pound of cure. So always looking for the cause and, when possible, using preventative, natural husbandry is preferred to treating after the fact.

 

[vpatt]

Thanks, eventually we would like to offer oils, herbal remedies and such from our gardens. I make salves, tinctures and lotions that are all medicinal. My boyfriend is a master grower of most anything he puts his hands on and I make the products. He and I both do different extractions, he is more of the alchemist than myself. Although the this past year I did do extractions with oil and even made hydrosols. I do love it, we also have bee hives and I have about 1# of raw beeswax that I need to process and refine for use. There is too much to do and we are trying to homestead, but just found out I am going to need wrist surgery and it has some pretty strict restrictions afterwords. So all very upsetting and scary, but not as scary as my two neck fusions. Not sure what the future holds for me and my physical capabilities, but the chickens have been great therapy for me. I definitely will need to streamline feeding and watering for the gang before my surgery.

Cochix what do you think of adding calendula petals in some of the feed. Is it edible & do you think it would help color the yolk? I used to infuse oil with it and have even put some in soap, I believe. That was many moons ago.

 

[COChix]

It is also estrogenic.... so you need to use it in moderation whenever you use it on yourself.  I use it when I get a little cut that is becoming infected and it will stop the infection in usually just one application.


However....
EOs have very strong smell and birds are particularly sensitive to various smells.  I, personally...even though I use EOs for myself, wouldn't likely use EOs on a bird as a first choice.

@aoxa
treated a very bad frostbitten foot with coconut oil only and swears by it.  She used it on a bird that had accidentally stepped into a water dish when the temps were so cold that the foot froze solid within a couple minutes.  She brought the bird inside and used the coconut oil.  This bird lost most of her foot, but never got an infection through it all.   She used the coconut oil on her and after the affected toes dried up and fell off, she learned  how to walk again.  (This was a bird that had sentimental value as a pet so she took the time with her.)

After hearing Aoxa's documentation on this, I always thought I'd try coconut oil if I had to treat a severe frostbite.  Coconut oil is anti-fungal and anti-biotic, though gentle.  It also works wonders when you have a sour crop.... removing all grain-based feed and giving only coconut oil and water for several days to a week has saved the lives of several birds I'm acquainted with and that would be my first choice treatment if we ever got it here.

Of course...as always... in all these things PREVENTION....is worth a pound of cure.  So always looking for the cause and, when possible, using preventative, natural husbandry is preferred to treating after the fact. 

Thank you for the input on EO's and using on birds, that is kinda what I was looking for. I agree on the coconut oil and will use that more often. Agree on prevention and everyone here has been very helpful in providing tips to help avoid future issues, especially regarding frostbite,