The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[vpatt]

I fed the gang Calendula this summer from our garden and yes it did change the yolk color.

Found this online as well, it is a yolk color wheel.

Ill have to try some this summer. Love that fan.....my yolks are definitely not pale......

 

[COChix]

On the yolk color...

I noticed last winter things got much more pale, but still not as pale as the store eggs year-round.  I found that if I give sprouts and greens on a regular basis the eggs stay nicely healthy.

One of the tricks of confined egg operations is to add the marigold petals to the feed to make the eggs "look like" they are more healthy.  From what I understand, it is more of a cosmetic change rather than an "health of the yolk" change...although I think that getting marigold would add some nutrition benefit myself.

So...
This year I've been going down to the local store that sells organic veggies.  I get organic kale in HUGE BUNCHES for about $3 for 2 of them.  I stuff some into the large size suet/seed cake feeders so they can pull off small mouthfulls easily.  I currently have only 9 birds so the perspective is that the kale is enough for about 3 - 4 days if I put some out every morning.  I also get cilantro and rip into thirds and put them in the feeders too.  I've also kept some sunflower seed and oats sprouting in an ongoing basis and put those out as they're ready.  And a local farm does fodder of barley which he'll give me for $1/ gallon size zip-loc but I don't always have time to get there...they also sprout clover for people to use and he sells those to me after they're week-old at a greatly reduced price.

They always want to eat the sprouted grains before they eat anything else.  Second choice is the kale.  Then the regular feed. 

For winter I've been melting lard/butter/coconut oil and stirring into the dry feed every few days.  I use a "mash" which, by the time they get down the the bottom of the bowl, can be pretty powdery.  When it gets down to mostly powdery stuff in the bottom of the bowls ( I can stir in the fats and they absolutely love that.  I had read one of the poultry "showmen" say that he would top dress his feed with lard for healthy skin and feathers and that has stuck with me and I continue to use some from time to time and more in the winter.  Sometimes I just stir it right into the feed bucket before it's at the bottom with the powdery stuff.

Anyhow, I think the kale and cilantro make a HUGE difference and they really devour it during the winter.  They could care less about it when it's summer and usually won't even eat it at all.  So far the egg yolks have looked very close to the same quality as during the summer.

Nice winter regimen you planned for your birds and sounds like they enjoy it as well. Thanks for sharing.

Ill have to try some this summer. Love that fan.....my yolks are definitely not pale......

yes I think some of it could be that you just get use to your own eggs not realizing how Orange the yolks truly are.

 

[mlowen]

Yay on the egg to be!

Can those of you that got the gloves tell us how they run size-wise?  I usually end up purchasing a large glove for the fingers to set right.  But if these are men's sizes, that might change down a size...

I think I have average sized women's hands and the small fits me great. My firend said the small was too small for her and she got the medium. I say try one pair, return if it's wrong (Amazon's returns are pretty easy) and then stock up on your right size.

 

[armorfirelady]

leahs mom I ordered the gloves in small. I have small hands and they fit well. Still have some,wiggle,room but not to big that I can folds ends over my finger tips.

I hung a cabbage in the coop & one in the old run. They have slowly nibbling at it. I buy parsley every couple weeks and cut it up with scissors and put in a dish for them. They eat it like its candy lol

Temps were in the 50s today and rain so everyone was put digging in the garden finding worm treats. Temps are back in the low 30s now. Mother Nature needs to pick a season and stick with it. This is the first year I have had to keep giving my dogs flea preventive after November. Ground still hasn't froze yet.

I got a nice surprise today. I got a pullet egg early this morning & imagine my surprise when I went out later and found another one 2 pullets are laying the 3rds still not red so I am guessing a few more weeks for her. They look so tiny compared to Stella's XXL eggs

 

[COChix]

Hey guys thought I would post a shot off he boys damage from frost bite.

Bruno, second in command and not nearly the damage that Rocco has.

Rocco, his wattles were swollen for about two days.

How bad is it for Rocco and what types of things should I be doing from here to help healing?
Thanks

 

[vpatt]

Sorry their combs are injured....I don't know anything about treating it, but I'm trying to learn from everyone in case it happens here. I hope they heal good.

 

[thechickenflock]

Hey guys thought I would post a shot off he boys damage from frost bite.

Bruno, second in command and not nearly the damage that Rocco has.


Rocco, his wattles were swollen for about two days.




How bad is it for Rocco and what types of things should I be doing from here to help healing?
Thanks

From Fresh Eggs Daily

"Homemade Frostbite Ointment

This all-natural ointment can be used to prevent and treat frostbite.

Ingredients
2 ounces beeswax
3/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon liquid vitamin E (helps repair damaged skin)
10 drops calendula essential oil (anti-inflamatory, aids in healing wounds)
10 drops lavender essential oil (relaxant, pain reliever, antibacterial, anti-fungal)
10 drops lemon essential oil (antibacterial, antiviral)

To Make
Grate beeswax and melt with coconut oil over low heat in a glass mason jar set in a saucepan of boiling water, stirring with a wooden chopstick. Remove from heat and stir in the Vitamin E and essential oils until well mixed. Leave in the mason jar or pour into a covered container and cool. Store in a cool, dry place and use as needed."


Just apply a coating once they have roosted and are calmed down, it will, prevent more frostbite, heal whats there and prevent infection in the affected areas.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Hey guys thought I would post a shot off he boys damage from frost bite.

Bruno, second in command and not nearly the damage that Rocco has.


Rocco, his wattles were swollen for about two days.

From those photos they look like they are healing great!

I'll repeat what I said before..I RECOMMEND YOU DON'T DO ANYTHING WITH THEM...DON'T TOUCH... unless they are wet/oozing or deteriorating/infected in any way.

I've seen over and over where folks put ointments, healing balms, etc. on and caused the damage to be far worse. And I still recommend that you take a "hands-off" approach. Just observe for any of the things listed above. If you don't see any of those, let the healing take place on it's own. Of course, preventing any more damage. (Restricted opening waterers and restricted opening feeders if you use wet feed...no wattles in water dishes or wet feed dishes!)

I actually made up some of the "frostbite ointment" that was listed above last year and never used it on my frostbitten boy. But we loved using it on ourselves as a general first-aid balm!

 

[Lacy Blues]

I'm going to try doing a progression as I go here.

My boys are doing lots better. I'm taking them out during the days so they can at least move around and stretch their wings and flirt with the girls.

My worst boy has recovered quite a bit. His wattles are still bad but not nearly as swollen and they look to be to almost normal sizes again... which is about half of what was in the first picture.

His wattles look a bit smaller today too but I don't have that picture yet.

I have done a variety of things. First I put on castor oil... not sure if that helped or not. Then for a couple days I put on coconut oil and last night I put vitamin e oil on them. Today they look quite a bit smaller.

Also sharing pics of what I'm doing in the feeder/waterer departments...



Chick feeder long tray bottom set on an angle to keep wattles out as much as possible. The boy you see here has very slight issues with his wattles right now and it seems that the stiffer the wattles are, the more they get into the food and water.



Chick waterer set on a platform attached to a post. The wire keeps it from being knocked off and spilled.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@Lacy Blues
Thank you for documenting. That will be helpful to us all!

His are looking good as well. I'll be interested to see how they do w/the coconut oil and vitamin e. Can you tell us how you applied it? (Cotton ball, fingers, qtip, etc.) Also, how did they react when you applied?