The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lalaland]

I want to ask possibly a very stupid question

when you guys say natural...does this include no Merks etc...

if so can you explain why and what you du instead...

I am very into natural things but was told that the jerks or medicated food were my 2 options...

would love to be educated on this
thank you...

welcome! you don't have to feed medicated feed - to prevent cocci which is a gut bacterial disease that can kill chicks very quickly at a very young age - I haven't ever fed medicated in 15+ years. Vaccinations are for a different thing - mareks - and you can decide whether you want to vacinnate for that or not.
this whole thread is an education, so dig right in.

 

[COChix]

So I have been reading on hatching and came across this hatch guide and thought I would share.

 

[vpatt]

One of my nests is large and at least five or six hens lay in it. I have noticed that one hen is laying a poopy egg that has consistently gotten more dirty. Do you think there is a problem or something I could/should do? I'm pretty sure it is one of the Doms. The nest does not look dirty and the other eggs are clean other than just the occasional spot or speck.

 

[COChix]

So I have been reading on hatching and came across this hatch guide and thought I would share.

Maybe someone could explain what exactly a wet bulb might be, listed as the bottom of each category of egg layer. I have no clue.

 

[potagergirl]

Maybe someone could explain what exactly a wet bulb might be, listed as the bottom of each category of egg layer. I have no clue.

this was the best definition I could find that was understandable to me:

psychrometer

1. (Physical Geography) a type of hygrometer consisting of two thermometers, one of which has a dry bulb and the other a bulb that is kept moist and ventilated. The difference between the readings of the thermometers gives an indication of atmospheric humidity. Also called: wet-and-dry-bulb thermometer

 

[lazy gardener]

I want to ask possibly a very stupid question

when you guys say natural...does this include no Merks etc...

if so can you explain why and what you du instead...

I am very into natural things but was told that the jerks or medicated food were my 2 options...

would love to be educated on this
thank you...

Mareks disease, like coccidiosis is a common pathogen in all soils. Both are most likely to infect chickens who have a weak immune system. Cocci are normally present in the chicken's gut, and only cause disease if their numbers grow out of balance with the rest of the organisms in the chicken's gut. The way to keep the chicken from getting coccidiosis is to give the chicks early access to your native soils, while still in a nice warm dry brooder so they can develop good immunity to the organisms specific to your soil. The chick has the highest number of available antibodies within the first 2 weeks of hatch. So, that's when you want to foster that immunity. Toss a plug of sod into the brooder. They'll thank you for it. (Be sure of course, that it hasn't been treated with fungicides, herbicides or insecticides.) Medicated feed contains Amprolium, which is a thiamine blocker... The cocci take up the Amprolium, instead of thiamine and are not able to replicate. JMO: I assume that the feed is otherwise lacking in Thiamine, which is an important nutrient for the chick's health. I prefer to give my chicks all the nutrition advantage of having a good supply of Thiamine. There is also a vaccine for coccidiosis. I have no idea how that works, but if you use the vaccine, you can't use the medicated feed.

As far as Mareks disease goes: it is truly a devastating disease. But, the vaccine does not actually keep the chick from getting Mareks. What it does is decrease the symptoms if they do get it. So, you can have vaccinated chicks, and down the road, still end up with Mareks in your flock. The best way to combat it (IMO) is to do everything in your power to foster healthy immune systems in your flock: DL, FF, access to free range, not being kept in a poopy, barren run, plenty of room in coop and run so that bullying doesn't become an issue. An other natural Mareks deterrent: Access to soils frequented by wild turkeys. Turkeys carry a less virulent strain, and serve to naturally inoculate your flock. Kind of like the days of old when the milk maids never got Small Pox because they'd been infected with Cow Pox, which was close enough to kick the immune system into gear against ______Pox.

I've never used medicated feed, never had issue with coccidiosis. Never vaccinated my birds. Thankful that I have a healthy population of turkeys gobbling through my yard every year. Chicks get sod frequently in the brooder. Use DL, FF, and let my flock free range as much as possible. Use electronet fencing so that their run stays green. (New challenge this year with recently cleared land, all bare around coop. That will require immediate attention as soon as the snow mountains melt.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I found this gem at a barn sale yesterday. Cost me a whopping $1 I love old stuff & this will make weighing grains out soooo much easier

@armorfirelady
This is a really old post but....
Do you use this scale to weigh your grains? I'm about to purchase a scale and trying to decide what to get. I may go w/the old fashioned kind like this or may get a fancy-pants digital but I don't want to spend tons of money.

If it is "reasonably" accurate that's fine as I'm not using it for selling items...just weighing feed ingredients. I guess I might consider a postal scale so I could actually have an accurate measure, but I just need to get something relatively quickly so I was hoping for a review.

 

[Leahs Mom]

There's a chance to win a Brinsea incubator here:

http://bit.ly/1E13Saf

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: Yes I do. I still have it. It's nice because you can zero it out after putting whatever container your going to use to weigh stuff on it. Its currently being used to weigh puppies

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks. I had purchased an old hanging type scale from a junk/antique place several years ago because I wanted to have it just for "decor". I think it would have been one used for weighing buckets of milk in the milking shed, and it goes up to 50 lbs.

I've been thinking of just using it, but it won't be perfectly accurate. I'm going to try to see if I can weigh something and see how close it is.

They do make the same kind of hanging scales now, and there are some that read digital with English/Metric measure choices and down to the ounces. I guess if I like using the old one and need something more minutely accurate I could look into getting one of those.

I've looked at several platform scales and I think it would be hard to get a good sized bucket on them and also would be hard to see the read-out well. Some folks have told me that they are hard to read and balance on it.