The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[stonykill]

I should add most of mine also free range all day

 

[JeffOeuf]

Free feed ADM layer, but they eat very, very little. They free range from sun up til sun down and eat very little chicken feed.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

My chicks get a little over a cup of FF twice a day(6 7-9 week olds) and the adults(9) get about 6 cups in 2 dog bowls in the morning. They have access to dry feed all day and the range also.

 

[jendodd79]

I put about 3 cups of FF out in the morning and then top it up around 4:30 in the afternoon with another couple! They are out in the run all day, though not much to scavenge out there at this time of year.

 

[kian]

I put out a pan of FF in the morning and leave it. In the afternoon or about 1/2 an hour before they go in for the night I give them scratch. I also toss some greens in for them if they won't be leaving the run.

 

[Mumsy]

A rare picture of all five on the roost at the same time. Johnny on the far right. Then Edith, Phoebe, Judy, and Janet. My DL is about eighteen inches deep under the 2"X2" roost. The pop door is sealed for the winter. This is the small sleeping pen. Door open 24/7 to the main barn isle. The main barn door is open from 7:30am until 5:30pm every day. They come and go at will.
The four pullets are Orpington crosses. I bought them two months ago at the WFF Spring Brisk show. The two buff girls are laying every day. Judy is looking closely at the nest boxes. She is also redding up. Johnny doesn't like the two blacks but he allows them to peck FF off his beak. This is the first time I've seen the two blacks on the roost. They have been lurking in the corners on the ground since I got them. They are just now being tolerated on the roost. Good news!

 

[armorfirelady]

My 4 hens get about 1 1/2 cups FF a day in the morning. Anything left from day before (which is little) gets dumped on the ground. They get fresh veggies or table scraps as well. Just depends on what I have. They spend most of the day outside in a 12x20 fenced in area. They run by the FF to get out in their run and scratch through the leaves & dirt. Scratch is a treat once a week or so.

 

[armorfirelady]

Mumsy your girls are beautiful!!! And Johnny just looks so handsome with his shiny feathers. He doesn't look anything like the Roo you originally posted some time back. I bet if you put the pictures side by side people would think it was 2 different birds

 

[Mumsy]

Mumsy your girls are beautiful!!! And Johnny just looks so handsome with his shiny feathers. He doesn't look anything like the Roo you originally posted some time back. I bet if you put the pictures side by side people would think it was 2 different birds

Thank you armorfirelady! That is very kind of you to say.
Yes. He doesn't look and act anything like the sick, mite infested sorry roo he was last summer and Fall. I came on BYC at that time in desperation. Looking for help. Nu Stock, wood ash, FF, and DL. Changed everything for him, me, and the way I raise chickens now. All the great folks I have met along the way in this new thread is just pure gravy!

 

[Bulldogma]

I feed FF 2ce daily. Now that my Swedish Flowers are starting to lay, I'm going to start rotating free ranging to keep the right roos with the right hens.

Love the picture, Mumsy!!