The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
I'm bumping this back up... Can you comment on this, please?
When you have eggs shipped..the air cells can be all over the place. The postal service tosses boxes as we all know. The boxes are marked fragil and live embro's, however workers do not read thousands of boxes daily. They have a very short window to move those boxes and sort them.

If you candle your own eggs that have not been shipped, you can easily see the yolk in the center and at the blunt end of the egg you see an air space. If you tilt the egg, the yolk stays in position. In shipped eggs, that usually does not happen. They can have air bubbles any place on the egg, and have one on each end. The yolk can work like a level and be moved about inside the egg because usually the chalaza is broken.

Okay. Now you mentioned that you were letting the eggs "attach air cells".

How did you do that?
How do you know it has happened?

 

[JeffOeuf]

That's what I was hoping to be told. When I first addressed fencing in part of the property, I was told by someone I'd rather not mention (coughBeecough), to fence in the entire area. Pretty much saying they would not have enough room if I didn't. I have never had grazing livestock like sheep before, so I don't know how fast they will eat down the grass. I don't ever want more than 2 ewes. Once they are bred I will sell off their lambs and send the boys to be slaughtered for meat. I won't keep them around long at all. I want milk from my two girls, and fibre.

Now.. having said that... the area I indicated on the map, is that too small for what I'm considering? Moving the fence often is not an option, as our ground is terrible for inserting fence posts. I can move it twice a year, but that's about all I can take for maintenance.

I don't have any scale to go by on how large an area that is, particularly not knowing how deep in the woods your property line is for your whole 1.5 acres. I bet there are sheep sites that will tell you how much space it takes to support each head, but that would be based on a whole year. The amount --- say 200 sq. ft. would not necessarily have to be available to the sheep all the time, they could be moved paddock to paddock a few times per year. This allows one area to recover while grazing is restricted to another.

Watch the video on Premier's site. Moving that fence isn't like moving a real fence. Even if your ground is rocky, the posts are just over half an inch diameter, that's not like setting a real post.

Here's your decision. The electric netting can be used to create temporary paddocks and will cost a lot less. Winter will require a different approach. Fencing the entire property with a strong physical (non-eletric) fence solves the problem of all of the animals being contained, not just the sheep and turkeys, but will be more expensive. I just googled up some estimates, and woven wire runs right around $1.50 per foot (installed). Fencing in an acre to an acre and a quarter (excluding the front yard) is going to run between $1,500 and $2,000.

 

[delisha]

Quote: Setting the eggs in an egg carton, with the blunt end up, will allow the air pockets to settle in the correct spot. It usually work, not always. You have a better chance of having chicks hatch with out complication if your air cells are in the corrrect position. Chicks break the shells with beaks under a wing, they do not go searching for air. It is supost to be right above the beak. They peck a small hole in the air chamber and start to use lungs. This is when you can hear them start to peep. They are callingg to mom. Than usually within 12 hours they make a pip. This is a small crack in the egg and it allow the chicks lungs to become accustomed to outside air. The oxygen they use helps the blood vessels to shrink and absorb yolk. This part can take days. Each chick is different. This is the part people are sticking hands in incubators and killing chicks. They think the chick needs help because it is doing nothing by peeping. it is doing the most important thing. it is doing the last leg of the eggs journey and becoming a chick. It needs time to absorb the yolk. After a rest..they begin to break the egg. The movement gives the lungs strength. Take that away and you can have a chicken with weak lungs. Some bust out into the world with the shells flying, others are so exhausted they do a soft plop. They lay weak from the journey and begin the life as a chick.

 

[Eggcessive]

my Sumatra's can fly straight up 15 to 20 feet if they feel the need. My EE's 10 feet easily. I've had OEGB's in the past that could fly over fences almost as well as my Sumatra's. Now the big girls, the RIR's, Black Australop and the mutts need what you say...a perch to clear the fence.

I have a few chickens (d'uccles , EE's) who can fly straight up to the top of the coop like a Harrier jet, but they don't ever go over my netting.

 

[Eggcessive]

A breeder I met in Kentucky last year kept most of her expensive birds in 4 foot plastic chicken wire fencing, and used step-in plastic posts to hold it up. Her gates were made of the same fencing. I was quite impressed by her flimsy fencing, since her birds stayed put and wouldn't fly over. It was a very inexpensive version of the electric poultry netting I was using, and even young chicks wouldn't fit through hers. I probably will use this in the future since I'm into saving$$.

 

[Leahs Mom]

A breeder I met in Kentucky last year kept most of her expensive birds in 4 foot plastic chicken wire fencing, and used step-in plastic posts to hold it up. Her gates were made of the same fencing. I was quite impressed by her flimsy fencing, since her birds stayed put and wouldn't fly over. It was a very inexpensive version of the electric poultry netting I was using, and even young chicks wouldn't fit through hers. I probably will use this in the future since I'm into saving$$.

Of course, this is assuming you aren't concerned about predator protection but just want to keep the birds inside the fence. Any predator could easily come into that kind of enclosure.

 

[aoxa]

my Sumatra's can fly straight up 15 to 20 feet if they feel the need. My EE's 10 feet easily. I've had OEGB's in the past that could fly over fences almost as well as my Sumatra's. Now the big girls, the RIR's, Black Australop and the mutts need what you say...a perch to clear the fence.

Almost all of my breeds are heavy and wouldn't fly over like your agile sumatras. I can fence in silkies with 2 foot fences lol.

I've seen a houdan fly a good 10 feet up trying to get away from the sheep and she flew a good distance (50-75 feet).

The one chicken I had that was agile like that was rehomed. She jumps fences and perches in trees at night like the turkeys hehe.. Not my problem anymore.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: Delisha
-How long to you let them set in the cartons?
-After letting them set, do you candle them to see if it has become stable?
-If they don't become stable in a short period of time, when do you decide that they won't become stable?

 

[aoxa]

Of course, this is assuming you aren't concerned about predator protection but just want to keep the birds inside the fence. Any predator could easily come into that kind of enclosure.

That's exactly what I use now. It's flimsy, but it works to contain.

It's 35$ for a 50 foot roll.

 

[Melabella]

my RIR's that went broody aren't hatchery birds. They are old farm stock from a farm that ran for 60 years in the area, breeding it's own birds. My hatchery RIR's haven't at least so far given broodiness a 2nd thought.

So, neophyte that I am... I have a question. How do you know when a girl has gone broody,,, she simply sits on her eggs, and won't get up? For those of us who collect eggs every day, does a broody just start sitting one day on an egg she has laid? If she does, you can just give her more, and she will accept them? If one gets off a nest after a bit, can one put them into an incubator, or are those just a lost cause?


ALong these lines of thought,, I am fairly sure 7 of my 9 pullets are laying,, I've been collecting eggs for 2 weeks now, is it safe to remove the dummy eggs you think?

thanks guys,
MB