The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[mlowen]

Okay so I'll ask my first controversial question to you folk, I have always taken any cracked or soiled, or unwanted eggs and have cracked them on the side of a board tossed them in a high arc and let them splat on the ground, my chickens and ducks fight like mad over them, I make sure they do not resemble an egg anymore, I was told on this website that I would make egg eaters out of my chickens, been doing this for like 20 years, never had an egg eater. So my question is does anyone else do this, and am I insane like others have told me? Will I after 20 years make egg eaters out of my chickens?

I feed eggs back to my hens. Most times I scramble them; but sometimes they have an "accident" and one is laid from the roost. The girls love the raw egg, eat every morsel, and have never tried to eat a whole egg in the nest. Ever.

 

[lazy gardener]

I think the only time that eggs get eaten out of the nest is when the shells are weak, or the birds have a nutritional deficiency that they are trying to correct. IMO, listening to all of the "they say's" will do one of 3 things: A: it will make you neurotic. B: It will drive you crazy trying to convince the "they say" people that there may possibly be an other option, or C: it will provide an infinite source of amusement. So, carry on with what has been working for you, and choose what you will listen to!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thanks, I do try to keep my chickens as natural as possible, I will follow this forum and hope to learn from others who do the same, And I like your name as I am a lazy gardener as well, never do to much and let it go so it can grow.

 

[lalaland]

welcome oldhenlikesdogs!

I agree with lazygardner, the only eggs i've had eaten are the weakshelled ones, cracked open ones....they ignore the ones in the nest and walk around the occasional egg laid on the ground. And thats with who knows how many chickens over who knows how many years? i think I started with chickens in the 90's. and boy have I improved since starting out and boy do I have a lot to learn!

nustock: get some flowers of sulphur off the internet or go to a garden center and get pure sulphur. you can mix it with pine tar (sometimes avail at hardward stores or sporting goods because apparently it has something to do with the care of wooden bats? or the internet) and a carrier oil of some sort. you want a paste like consistency that you could apply.

now, I know pine tar has some good properties, but I have just skipped that and used the sulphur plus some oil. THe sulphur is what used to get sprinkled in wounds pre-drug manufacturing. Depends on the wound you are dealing with. The paste can form a kind of barrier, so if the chicken isn't being held in a kennel or something, its a good idea.

If you have the chicken recovering in a small kennel, then sprinkling with the sulphur is sufficient. IF the surface area of the wound is large, then the paste is kind of good too.

I have also used the sulphur as a dip (add to water) and as a feed additive too . It is a very useful substance but smells like the dickens. Even after washing, your clothes will retain that scent for a few more washings.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:

Quote: @lazy gardener
I LOVE the idea of a "catch crop" to draw in the J. Beetles for the birds! Never thought of that (duh)

Could you please explain "BTE Approach" and why you can't use electronet?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks, I do try to keep my chickens as natural as possible, I will follow this forum and hope to learn from others who do the same, And I like your name as I am a lazy gardener as well, never do to much and let it go so it can grow.

Welcome

I give mine raw eggs too. Never a problem w/egg eating.

 

[lazy gardener]

Do a google search for "back to Eden'. It will turn up a video that gives a thorough explanation of the concept and the benefits. Bee has converted her garden to BTE this year. She was off to a rocky start, but now seeing some good stuff happening. I think the problem she had was b/c she was working with fresh materials, and starting in the spring instead of fall. In a nutshell, it's gardening with a permanent mulch of wood chips. I'm working on getting a 6" layer around my fruit trees now. (6" x 10' x 100+'... that's a LOT of chips to spread w/o power equipment!) Hope to be able to convert some of my garden this fall. Can't use the electronet, b/c the chickens love to scratch in the stuff and will bury the EN, grounding it out. I'm still rolling that issue around in my head, trying to figure out how to work around it.

My favorite catch crop for JB is wild primrose. I let them grow up as weeds all over the edges of my property, and may start a patch of them in the chicken run. Well fed, they will grow 5' tall. Would be a nice shade and aerial predator screen as well.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Got it. I had not seen the term "BTE" used before for the Back to Eden.

I also use wood chips in any pens for the chickens. (I keep a run in case we have to be away and have someone else taking care of them or other "emergency" situations. It's open most the time, however.) I also put all the shavings from inside out onto that run whenever the shed needs to be cleaned out. It makes an amazing deep litter out there, and then my daughters and I have dug out pickup truck loads full of the dirt from underneith the chips to take to their gardens. One did their whole garden with this soil only. Full of worms ... great for making a healthy run for the birds!

We have done some of that on the garden area straight-up as well.

I have been able to use the electronet a couple of ways and I haven't had a problem with chips getting in it. But you could just leave a grass perimeter around your garden area in which you use the net rather than putting it up close to the mulching.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thanks for the encouragement, I don't want to sound arrogant, or know it allsy, but I am past learning breeds, and how to feed, or sex poultry, I can see I'm going to learn a lot with this forum.

On another note I noticed extra feathers in my pens already, is it already time for the molt, seems like a month early, I like to watch natural signs to predict our winter weather.

I too will shovel the shavings out of the pens and into the runs, as well as putting grass clippings, fall leaves and hay, nice dry run for deep digging, plus in my big shed the donkeys dig through it and eat stuff, crazy donkeys.

I practice no till, intensive gardening, throw stuff on top, let the worms do the work, I am able to plant as soon as I see the garlic come up, I have been eating tomatoes for three weeks already, I am proud of this and sorry if I am bragging.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Not bragging....just happy!

I've heard several other folks saying they're seeing molt right now too. Mine seem to be starting or close to it.