The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

I too am from German lines, so I understand her cranky personality. I still think she's gorgeous. She and I would be having quite a few conversations about her pushy attitude.

 

[CuzChickens]

@JanetMarie


Well, I might end up contacting you to incubate.  But, honestly, I don't feel like messing around with new chicks this spring.  I guess I'll have to see what I'm thinking a few weeks down the road.

MORE CHICKS, MORE CHICKS!

Stop posting pictures of your GORGEOUS SFH's. Now I want them.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You and I share a similar interest in coloration. I prefer the ones that you do too. They certainly are a diverse breed. Too bad none of those boys worked out. If you get a young enough male you might be able to slip him in. Otherwise I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I have had good luck integrating older roosters by penning them in the coop or next to the flock for months, usually starting in late summer or early fall, before releasing them in late winter. I recently integrated my two bantam mottled cochin boys into last year's hens. They are holding their own against the barred rock rooster.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

These two fellows, though i need a more recent picture, they are bit more white and prettier since last falls molt.

 

[CuzChickens]

Pretty boys. They look very nice.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Pretty boys. They look very nice.

Thank you, they are typical bantam cochins roosters, trouble but adorable.

 

[eggbert420]

I have a flock of Rhode Island Reds that I haven't fed or watered in two years. They are truly free range chickens . All I do is collect ther eggs.

 

[1cock2hens]

I have a flock of Rhode Island Reds that I haven't fed or watered in two years. They are truly free range chickens . All I do is collect ther eggs.

thats really neat // where did you get them? are they hatchery stock or from a breeder?

 

[eggbert420]

I got them about 3 years ago from a lady who lives in Davila Tx about 20 miles from me. She raises ducks,chickens ,goats, geesse, quail... you name it she's got it. We have a old barn with nesting boxes and a roost that they sleep in. They head out every morning in the pasture and come back about a hour before dark. They drink from a stock pond and eat what ever they can find. I think they are healthier than my chicken that we keep in coops and feed high protein feed. Every now and then we lose a few to predators .So we just pop a few in the incubator and integrate them when they are old enough.

 

[JanetMarie]

@Leahs Mom Let me know and I can incubate for you at the same time as the goose eggs, in a separate incubator. I didn't want to mess with chicks either this year, but I could not pass this up. They are a rare South American breed, Colloncas, one of the two parents of the Araucana.