The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[sunflower4you]

Oh boy...no laying problems in the past, but I don't think she's laid since she starting acting like this a few weeks ago. Think she's egg-bound?

 

[armorfirelady]

My birds won't eat mint either. I have an abundance of regular spearmint and some "Mountain Mint" that I just acquired this year. I wanted the MM to put in some perennial food areas (blueberries, grapes, fruit trees, etc.) because it's supposed to keep some bugs deterred. I've been thinking of xplanting some of the mint along the fence by the chicken yard. I can always mow it (which smells like heaven) if it gets too out of hand. But I wondered if it would accomplish anything like rodent repellant, etc. I think it was catnip that is supposed to be rodent repellant and that the old farmers used to plant it around their outbuildings.

Well I have not seen any mice in the coop since the mint grew back. I do see them in my garden where there is no mint (I need to start letting the dogs in the garden to get the mice) I haven't seen many bugs in their either except of the occasional spider & that's just because I see the webs. Its been cooler here than normal, & lots of rain, so except for mosquito's the bugs haven't been to bad.

 

[Maria G]

Great thread!

Haven't read through all posts, but here are my few thoughts on natural chicken keeping:

• I think over-consumption and waste is a bigger problem as non-organic farming, so I feed our chicks as much scratch from our household as possible - old bread, dinner leftovers, weeds from the garden, soggy fruits and what not. So - not organic, since our food isn't all organic.
• I used as much left-over materials and re-purposed items as possible when I built our coop + durable materials
• I try to encourage natural behaviour - keep a flock that is the same size as a natural flock, large run with a dirt floor so that they can pick and dig.
• Deep litter method to create heat and forage from decomposition and to reduce use of wood shavings
• Let them free range when we are home to let them explore
• Teach our kids how to care for animals
• If a chicken is ill, I would probably slaughter it rather than take it to the vet. If the whole flock gets sick, I would contact the vet and treat them, but I will not use antibiotics or deworm as a precaution
• Chose a heritage breed that is suited to my cold climate to reduce need for heat/ventilation

Keep it simple and sustainable

 

[JulesChicks]

Welcome to the thread Maria! Which heritage breed did you choose and why? What region do you live in? I live near the coast in Washington state and I've been looking at various heritage breeds for when I add to my flock. Right now we have Black Copper Marans, Welsummers, Blue Wheaten Ameraucanas, Cream Legbars and Swedish Flower Hens.

Update on the girls in the tractor with MG: Well, I have seen no improvement from the antibiotics which they have been on since last Monday night (so we're on day 9). The one who was first sick, the younger CL, still has a clear runny nose but no sneezing/coughing and seems to be fine otherwise. I did catch her eating a nasty dark caecal poop though the other day. She was the only one eating it and ate quite a lot of it. Disgusting. The smallest (Scrappy) BCMarans still has a crusty nose with discharge and is coughing/sneezing....and, well, we lost the other sick BCMarans on The 4th to a neighborhood dog. My husband went to feed the chickens and was down at the main coop and there were 3 dogs in our yard. They came to greet him and were friendly enough. He went up to the tractor and heard crunching and saw something black on the ground and thought the dog had a crow. He walked over to the tractor and counted birds and then knew he had one of our birds. He was so mad he kicked it on its way out without checking the tags. The other Marans was sunning/dust bathing in the whole the dog dug so she would have been next. We found out who the dog was but haven't had a chance to find and talk to the neighbor yet. So, we're down to 2 sick birds anyway.

The Duramycin package says to treat for 7-14 days, but I would have thought they would show improvement by now. I don't know if this strain of MG is resistant to the Duramycin or not, but I'm not willing to try another at this point. I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that we may need to cull them. Since this is the first time we're going through this I would love some moral support - should we cull? The three older girls in with them are not showing outward signs of illness, although the older CL will be 32 weeks on Thursday and is still not laying. One SFH lays fairly regularly and the other seems less often. Some days we get 2 eggs, some none, some one.

Would love to hear your thoughts...thanks!

 

[Maria G]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I live in Slependen, Norway. Our climate is pretty dark and cold in the winter, though normally not below -10 celcius for long. Summers are warm with lots of light. I chose Hedemora, an old breed from Norway and Sweden. They are among the most cold hardy breeds with thick layers of feathers and small combs. Green Farms used to sell them in the US I think. They are also good at foraging, good mothers and a peaceful and friendly breed that comes in all kinds of nice colours. They are becoming quite popular here in Norway, so i try to help by breeding healthy birds from a variety of blood lines.

Grandma (my mother in law) lives on our property, and she really loves them - as do our kids. It gives me a lot of joy to see how they all enjoy taking care of the chickens - watching them grow from the first candling, to hatching and maturing into beautiful birds.

I was surprised to see the number of predators here - fox, badger, marten and hawks - so now we have built a Fort Knox coop that is probably more solid than our house!

 

[mlowen]

Does anyone have experience/opinion as to how long to separate a bully from new pullets?

I've a hen in "jail" since Sunday afternoon. She's out of sight of the rest of the flock ("flock"--the other 5 birds!) She is not the top of the pecking order, in fact, she's the bottom and has been the more aggressive against the new young pullets I have. There have been no actual attacks as far as I know (at work all day, week days) but she intimidates them into staying on the roosts most of the time. I thought I'd haul her off for a while to see if I could shake things up and see if the other two hens were as "mean." I think they mostly ignore each other.

The pullets are still staying far away from the hens, but seem to be eating/drinking OK. Looking healthy. I let the hens out everyday when I get home until dark and the pullets make full use of the whole coop/run, then. I also have the hens out most of the weekend days. The pullets are 12 weeks, the hens are a little over 2 years.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@mlowen

I had an experienced person advise me to keep them separate at least a week and 2 if you can. I have the same issue with the lowest in pecking order when new pullets come in. They want to keep at least the rank they have now and they're desperate it seems to accomplish that.

Only bad thing about separating is that they have to find their place again and it may be pretty hard on the separated bird - especially if they're the bottom of the adult order.

I did the separation thing for a week or 2 with some of my birds last summer but they weren't bottom of pecking order birds. They have to come back in and find their place. I had limited success but it did give the oppressed birds a break. At one point I ended up sending a couple to a different flock just to have peace here. Even thought they were good layers.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@Maria G
Good to have you

You'll have to post some photos of your birds and their Fort Knox

 

[Leahs Mom]

@JulesChicks

Sorry to hear about your attack and everything you're dealing with. I think you should have seen improvement by now if your treatment was going to work too.

I hate that you have to even make the decision on what to do. Culling is extremely difficult under any circumstance and it makes me get that sick feeling just thinking about it. But it does sound like you may need to go that way. If you do, will your husband help or do you know anyone in your area that would be willing to help?

Again, very sorry that you're facing that decision.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
I think we'll try moving some of it in the next week or so over by the coop. I haven't ever had a mouse problem in the chicken shed - at least on their side of it. But I know they hang around the run at night.