The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lazy gardener]

Some promises are made to be broken.

 

[vpatt]

Bahahahaha.  Talkin' to the choir here.   Nobody, but nobody in my family can stand to hear me talk about them.  After all, we can buy eggs from the grocery store and God Forbid that I actually mention eating one.  Not gonna happen.  I had to promise, word of honor, that I wouldn't try to sneak one of the processed birds into the family dinner.  I kid you not.  

Lol

 

[CoopChick719]

On the subject of EOs, I bought some oil of oregano/ropadiar 10% liquid. The website suggests 5ml/gallon of water for a general health dose and 10ml/gallon for stress & loose droppings. I tried 5ml in the girls water. They were not big fans. It smelled very strong to me! Anyone else think that's a strong dose??

 

[flyladyrocks]

So I have not been on this forum in a LONG time (got on the computer to do work - lesson plans, see how well that is goign!). But I thought I would answer however I probably won't be much help.

Shells - sometimes I get really hard shells, I mean crazy hard, I have trouble cracking. I wonder if they just decided to eat more Oyster shell (they usually hardly touch it!). I also save their eggs and once every 3-4 weeks grind up their shells and leave those out for them too - or if I notice some particularly soft shells I will sprinkle it on top of the feed.

The critter population seems to directly affect my egg yoke color. My egg yokes got much lighter this winter when there are way less critters to eat. I am sure you still have more critters for them to eat than me (everything is frozen solid here up North) but the yokes are probably lighter b/c the critter population decreased.

The first time I saw my parents after we got the chickens, my father looked at me with a completely horrified, disgusted look and said "WHY chickens??". I was good, I had some really smart aleck retorts I refrained from - I held my tongue. I mean my hobby is a lot less expensive than theirs and I get good nutritious food from it! My mom gets it, she is a farm girl at heart (spent summers on the family farm). My husbands family does not even ask about them anymore - I seem to have trouble stopping once I start talking. They are really just being polite and asking not really wanting more than a 2 word answer. "How are the chickens?" all they want is "Good". Although my FIL thinks we are really smart to have them, he just doesn't want to hear about it! Fortunately I have a best friend with a large flock (all her fault for getting us hooked!) and a friend planning to start her flock this spring. Plus a daughter who has become a total chicken addict, and a husband and son who are not far behind. We all need someone to talk chicken with!

We have seriously been talking goats since we started with chickens - can't wait to hear what people say then!

I have a couple of things I've been wondering about. One is that my FIL raised chickens probably about twenty years ago. The eggs he gave us had the hardest shells I've ever seen. I mean I think you could have injured someone with them, lol. I wonder how he fed them to get such hard shells. Do you think he added extra calcium to their feed. I am not concerned about the shells on my eggs. There is calcium in their feed and I leave out oyster shell in case they want it. I have not asked him .....he is close to 90 and I'm not sure he would remember or that he would hear me. He refuses to wear a hearing aid. I am just curious about what he did.

My other question is about the color of my egg yolks. My chickens are free ranged. I feed them fermented feed with occassional scraps, scratch, BOSS and pumpkin seeds. I don't think the yolks are especially dark. It may be that they are darker than I realize because I don't see many commercial eggs to compare them to. Also,even tho they are free ranged I only began collecting them in september so the bug population was going down and they are eating more of what I am feeding them and fewer "wild things". I'm just curious if anyone has any ideas.

Also, one of my Doms is sitting on four eggs right now so she is not laying. It now seems that her sister has stopped laying, too. Is this normal chicken behavior?

And last, what is the best way to encourage the hens to lay in the designated area instead of hiding eggs. I cannot catch most of my chickens so I don't know how I could contain them...especially as most of the nests are not enclosed. I have closed off the last hiding g spot...I don't see any more places they could use but I know they may find other places that I don't see. I don't mind walking around the yard to gather eggs, but this last place was one I couldn't reach and would not due to snakes in the summer.


Just curious and I hope its ok to ask on this thread. I know that was more than a couple....can you tell I have no one to talk "chicken" with in person?

 

[Leahs Mom]

I'm just not sure on the chickens and EOs. I have taken it myself and it is very strong. This is one thing I did do with oregano, however.

I purchase the organic dried oregano by the lb. package from the local health store. It is cheaper if I get the lb. then I just seal it into a canning jar to keep it fresh (using my jar sealers and the food saver.)

I would stir some of that into their feed from time to time during the winter and when I'd do that, I'd also add about 1 drop of the oil too. That was in wet feed - about 2 C. wet feed, 1 drop oregano oil and maybe 1 Tblsp of the dry oregano ... all approximate numbers.

They did tolerate it in the feed without a problem. I haven't done any garlic or oregano at all this winter. I saw my jar sitting there the other day and thought maybe I'd put some out soon. If you do the garlic at the same time (also in the feed) it smells like pizza in the hen house!

 

[flyladyrocks]

Bahahahaha. Talkin' to the choir here. Nobody, but nobody in my family can stand to hear me talk about them. After all, we can buy eggs from the grocery store and God Forbid that I actually mention eating one. Not gonna happen. I had to promise, word of honor, that I wouldn't try to sneak one of the processed birds into the family dinner. I kid you not.

Some promises are made to be broken.

 

[flyladyrocks]

I have a couple of things I've been wondering about. One is that my FIL raised chickens probably about twenty years ago. The eggs he gave us had the hardest shells I've ever seen. I mean I think you could have injured someone with them, lol. I wonder how he fed them to get such hard shells. Do you think he added extra calcium to their feed. I am not concerned about the shells on my eggs. There is calcium in their feed and I leave out oyster shell in case they want it. I have not asked him .....he is close to 90 and I'm not sure he would remember or that he would hear me. He refuses to wear a hearing aid. I am just curious about what he did.

My other question is about the color of my egg yolks. My chickens are free ranged. I feed them fermented feed with occassional scraps, scratch, BOSS and pumpkin seeds. I don't think the yolks are especially dark. It may be that they are darker than I realize because I don't see many commercial eggs to compare them to. Also,even tho they are free ranged I only began collecting them in september so the bug population was going down and they are eating more of what I am feeding them and fewer "wild things". I'm just curious if anyone has any ideas.

Also, one of my Doms is sitting on four eggs right now so she is not laying. It now seems that her sister has stopped laying, too. Is this normal chicken behavior?

And last, what is the best way to encourage the hens to lay in the designated area instead of hiding eggs. I cannot catch most of my chickens so I don't know how I could contain them...especially as most of the nests are not enclosed. I have closed off the last hiding g spot...I don't see any more places they could use but I know they may find other places that I don't see. I don't mind walking around the yard to gather eggs, but this last place was one I couldn't reach and would not due to snakes in the summer.


Just curious and I hope its ok to ask on this thread. I know that was more than a couple....can you tell I have no one to talk "chicken" with in person?

 

[Leahs Mom]

One of my 3 newly laying pullets is insisting on laying on the floor under the nest boxes - even though her sisters are using the boxes. I put an upturned bucket under there and she just pushed it over and layed next to it! I put a second bucked in.... we'll see what she does tomorrow.

I get the feeling that she likes the darker, more private area. I may just make another box in a darker corner at floor level and see if that suits her. Last time I completely blocked it she just nuzzeled up as close as she could to under and layed away!

 

[mlowen]

Bulldogma's is the Coop Picture of the Week!! Sure wish she could get back on BYC! I miss her on this thread. I know she's wicked busy with her Grit Magazine illustrations, but she was such a happy, helpful presence here.

 

[vpatt]

One of my 3 newly laying pullets is insisting on laying on the floor under the nest boxes - even though her sisters are using the boxes.  I put an upturned bucket under there and she just pushed it over and layed next to it!  I put a second bucked in.... we'll see what she does tomorrow.

I get the feeling that she likes the darker, more private area.  I may just make another box in a darker corner at floor level and see if that suits her.  Last time I completely blocked it she just nuzzeled up as close as she could to under and layed away! 

Lol...I don't seem to have much luck with my birdies ....as far as convincing them to do things my way. Except I did block off the hidden nest and was able to get the new layer to use a bucket nest next to her chosen spot. And I noticed that her eggs have harder shells than the other girls. But for most things it is done THEIR way.