The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[nxb161]

Hi All, I've been trying to make my way through this thread, but after a while only made it to post 25. Please forgive me, but I'd like to ask a few questions, which you probably already touched on. I did enjoy reading about garlic and AVC and plan on using them. I will be getting my first layers ever in April, just 3 of them. Not sure which breed as of yet, but they will be young chickens from an organic farm, not baby chicks. We'd like to stay on the natural / organic route as well. I went down to the feed supply store today just to see what is available. Here is a list of what i found:

Producer's Price - scratch grains
Prunia Layena sunfresh recipe
Dumor Poultry Layers
Manna Pro Oyster Shell
Manna Pro Crushed Granite
Purine Layena Plus - Omega 3

So here are my questions:

Scratch - how does that differ from feed?
Oyster Shell - Am I correct in thinking that it is for calcium to help with the egg shell production? Does this get mixed in with feed, frequency?
Granite - that is to help them grind grain? frequency?
Feed - Pellets vs. Crumbles?
Do most of you have organic feed available locally? I did not see anything that said organic
Is Soy bad?
How does corn fit into all this?

Sorry for all the questions. I have been making my way through the threads, and doing specific searches, but still was unsure about a few things.

Thank you in advance, back to making my way through this thread

 

[Mumsy]

Husband finished up a couple things on my 'want' list this morning.

A holder for my three FF dishes.







And a turkey nest. I don't expect to have a laying turkey for another year but when I asked hubby if he would build me one 'just in case', this is what he came up with!



I do love a man who knows how to use his power tools!

 

[stonykill]

Hi All, I've been trying to make my way through this thread, but after a while only made it to post 25. Please forgive me, but I'd like to ask a few questions, which you probably already touched on. I did enjoy reading about garlic and AVC and plan on using them. I will be getting my first layers ever in April, just 3 of them. Not sure which breed as of yet, but they will be young chickens from an organic farm, not baby chicks. We'd like to stay on the natural / organic route as well. I went down to the feed supply store today just to see what is available. Here is a list of what i found:

Producer's Price - scratch grains
Prunia Layena sunfresh recipe
Dumor Poultry Layers
Manna Pro Oyster Shell
Manna Pro Crushed Granite
Purine Layena Plus - Omega 3

So here are my questions:

Scratch - how does that differ from feed?
Oyster Shell - Am I correct in thinking that it is for calcium to help with the egg shell production? Does this get mixed in with feed, frequency?
Granite - that is to help them grind grain? frequency?
Feed - Pellets vs. Crumbles?
Do most of you have organic feed available locally? I did not see anything that said organic
Is Soy bad?
How does corn fit into all this?

Sorry for all the questions. I have been making my way through the threads, and doing specific searches, but still was unsure about a few things.

Thank you in advance, back to making my way through this thread

welcome!
I think most of us do things a little differently with similar results. I'll comment on what I have personally used only from your list.
1) Of the feeds you list I have only used dumor and only on occasion. To me it was as good as any other feed I've used. I bought it because it is what they had reasonably priced where I was.
2) I don't use oyster shell, I simply feed back egg shells. I figure chickens survived 10,000 years before humans sy=tarted feeding them oyster shells, so they don't need them.
3) I don't purchase any gravel, I free range
4) pellets, crumble,both or either. Whatever is on sale. Anything but mash for me. I see some people post that crumbles get wasted. Not with my flock. Every ounce I give them gets eaten. My feeling is if they are wasting food, you are over feeding
5)Organic feed is available at over twice the price of regular feed. Therefore I'll never buy it. I feel it is nothing more than a rip off. But I don't hold the use of organic feed against anyone. Simply saying I'm not doing this to lose money hand over fist. Buying organic food one will never even come close to breaking even imho
6) scratch is a mix of corn and other grains. If scratch is on sale I buy it, if cracked corn is cheaper I buy that instead.
Any other questions just ask!

 

[farmerfogg]

  I would crawl in ( I have a run like that... I know what it is like) and grab him off the roost. Have gloves and eye protection on. Bring him to where you can inspect the cut. Yes it should and probably has already clotted itself. I have had dumb young roosters fight though the fence and have similar injury's. If he were my bird and the would is clotted and looks clean I would either just put some Nustock or bluecoat on it and put him back for the night. If it hasn't clotted yet you will need to obviously stop the bleeding. Then once again put him back

Thanks stonykill for your advise. I was unable to get to my rooster lastnight. But he was up bright and early this morning and was acting his normal self. There is no bleeding today. I'm keeping a close eye on him. Thanks again.

 

[Bulldogma]

Husband finished up a couple things on my 'want' list this morning.

A holder for my three FF dishes.

Love this!!!

And a turkey nest. I don't expect to have a laying turkey for another year but when I asked hubby if he would build me one 'just in case', this is what he came up with!

I do love a man who knows how to use his power tools!

Oh my gosh! That turkey nest is fantastic!!!! Kudos to your DH!!

 

[nxb161]

welcome!
I think most of us do things a little differently with similar results. I'll comment on what I have personally used only from your list.
1) Of the feeds you list I have only used dumor and only on occasion. To me it was as good as any other feed I've used. I bought it because it is what they had reasonably priced where I was.
2) I don't use oyster shell, I simply feed back egg shells. I figure chickens survived 10,000 years before humans sy=tarted feeding them oyster shells, so they don't need them.
3) I don't purchase any gravel, I free range
4) pellets, crumble,both or either. Whatever is on sale. Anything but mash for me. I see some people post that crumbles get wasted. Not with my flock. Every ounce I give them gets eaten. My feeling is if they are wasting food, you are over feeding
5)Organic feed is available at over twice the price of regular feed. Therefore I'll never buy it. I feel it is nothing more than a rip off. But I don't hold the use of organic feed against anyone. Simply saying I'm not doing this to lose money hand over fist. Buying organic food one will never even come close to breaking even imho
6) scratch is a mix of corn and other grains. If scratch is on sale I buy it, if cracked corn is cheaper I buy that instead.
Any other questions just ask!

Thank you for the quick reply. I'd love to free range, but it just isn't going to happen. I'm going ot have as large of a run attached to the coop as I can. I'm leaning more toward the natural instead of organic just because like you said, it is so much more! So for food, is there anything you avoid? They list protein values on the bag, should I look for a minimum? Do you avoid soy? How often do you give shells back? Since I won't be free ranging, do I buy something like the crushed granite, and throw it into their run? Sorry I still don't understand the difference between scratch and regular feed? I did want to note that especially during the summer months I'll have plenty of fresh veggies from the garden to put in there, and lots of bugs in the area, plus I always dig up worms and meal worms while digging in the flower beds.

 

[Mumsy]

Oh my gosh! That turkey nest is fantastic!!!! Kudos to your DH!!

Thank you Bulldogma. Most of the time he doesn't want my 'wish' list to involve the spending of $. We don't have a lot of those to devote to chicken stuff. When he takes junk and cast off things laying about and makes something useful and sturdy too, that's the best. My entire barn was built twenty years ago from windows he found stacked along side the road and boards from a demolition that were cast aside. Our place wouldn't win a lot of awards for 'pretty' but we do have what we need and it lasts for years and years.

 

[Bulldogma]

PeepsCA and a question/photos from texasmomma are featured today on the thing.

 

[stonykill]

Thank you for the quick reply. I'd love to free range, but it just isn't going to happen. I'm going ot have as large of a run attached to the coop as I can. I'm leaning more toward the natural instead of organic just because like you said, it is so much more! So for food, is there anything you avoid? They list protein values on the bag, should I look for a minimum? Do you avoid soy? How often do you give shells back? Since I won't be free ranging, do I buy something like the crushed granite, and throw it into their run? Sorry I still don't understand the difference between scratch and regular feed? I did want to note that especially during the summer months I'll have plenty of fresh veggies from the garden to put in there, and lots of bugs in the area, plus I always dig up worms and meal worms while digging in the flower beds.

the minimum you want for laying hens is 16%. I often feed game bird crumbles which depending on the brand is around 20% protein. Scratch is a suppliment feed, not their main feed. It contains some protein but not enough for good egg laying if they aren't going to free range. If they can get to natural dirt in the run I would not add to expense by buying gravel/rocks.

I have never purposely purchased any feed that advertises soy. Shells go back regularly and the hens only eat it as they need it. I would say every few weeks I offer them their shells back. The girls will love all of the worms,etc you feed them back.
I think I answered it all

.

Keep reading. In between all of the off topic gibber jabber there is plenty of good info on this thread.

 

[Mumsy]

Hi All, I've been trying to make my way through this thread, but after a while only made it to post 25. Please forgive me, but I'd like to ask a few questions, which you probably already touched on. I did enjoy reading about garlic and AVC and plan on using them. I will be getting my first layers ever in April, just 3 of them. Not sure which breed as of yet, but they will be young chickens from an organic farm, not baby chicks. We'd like to stay on the natural / organic route as well. I went down to the feed supply store today just to see what is available. Here is a list of what i found:

Producer's Price - scratch grains
Prunia Layena sunfresh recipe
Dumor Poultry Layers
Manna Pro Oyster Shell
Manna Pro Crushed Granite
Purine Layena Plus - Omega 3

So here are my questions:

Scratch - how does that differ from feed?
Oyster Shell - Am I correct in thinking that it is for calcium to help with the egg shell production? Does this get mixed in with feed, frequency?
Granite - that is to help them grind grain? frequency?
Feed - Pellets vs. Crumbles?
Do most of you have organic feed available locally? I did not see anything that said organic
Is Soy bad?
How does corn fit into all this?

Sorry for all the questions. I have been making my way through the threads, and doing specific searches, but still was unsure about a few things.

Thank you in advance, back to making my way through this thread

I haven't used any of the feeds on your first list. I use plain all purpose crumble as 50% of my FF. Then whole oats, alfalfa cubes, Scratch or cracked corn, fistful of wild bird seed, fist ful of ground pumpkin seed and warm water.
I have four pullets and two just started laying every day. I set their first dozen eggs in my incubator and have 100% fertility and viability.
They free range all day. Caged/penned birds get grit. I live where it is very cheap. Most of my birds don't need it.
Organic is important to a lot of people. Worth the cost if you want to get premium $ for eggs for the public. Soy beans are the most insecticide/pesticide sprayed crop in the USA. A lot of people where I live will pay top dollar for chickens or eggs fed Soy and corn free feed. A lot of people do not want any product that GMO grain has been given. I'm considering going this route when my flock is larger and I want to start selling products from them. It all depends what you have planned. Soy and corn free organic #50 bag of chicken feed costs just a couple bucks more than not in my area. Supply and demand. It's a regional thing.