The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lalaland]

i'm finding this discussion of kerosene, soap and worms fascinating.

and mumsy, it sounds like almost spring where you are! we are going to warm up to 5 degrees tomorrow, so I am excited. I usually can plant tomatoes by June 10,....but peas by april 20.

 

[delisha]

I will be setting up my indoor garden next week or so. I have a tiny little greenhouse I start indoors. I start tomatoes and peppers. I have a little stand by the side of the road where people put the money in a locked box and take plants. It is self service. I can actually make a few bucks on my little stand. I run out of plants all the time.

 

[jendodd79]

It's SO warm today! The chickens are pretty darn excited. We planted a few fruit trees about 4 years ago. The cherry tree finally started producing this year but I have a random peach/plum cross. Could it be possible that we're supposed to have a second one?

Can anyone show me a picture of what their deep litter looks like right now?

 

[jendodd79]

I am a terrible tomato starter! I think that I'm going to start some greens though now -

 

[Mumsy]

i'm finding this discussion of kerosene, soap and worms fascinating.

and mumsy, it sounds like almost spring where you are! we are going to warm up to 5 degrees tomorrow, so I am excited. I usually can plant tomatoes by June 10,....but peas by april 20.

It is interesting. One thing I've learned over a life time of raising animals of all kinds. By the time you see evidence of internal worm infestation in an animal, a great deal of damage has already occured. My flock of five birds are gleaming pictures of health. Good appetites, good feathering, laying, and my thirteen pullet eggs in the bator are all fertile and showing stages of development. So why would I put a teaspoon of kerosene in the water of healthy birds?
Because I wanted to know. DO they have worms? Will a very small dose of kerosene answer that question? I can emphatically say, "Yes. It worked and one of my birds did."
As noted in my first post about my experiment: I do not advocate doing this for anyone else. It was strictly my own curious mind at work.

February 1, is my first day of Spring. Bare root trees become available now. Bareroot strawberries and other fruit things become available in the next week or so. I start my tomatoes, peppers, and other things in the house this weekend and harden them off in my greenhouse in another month or so. Even though it is still officially winter here, it is the beginning of the new growing year for me.

 

[aoxa]

All this worm talk is interesting

At least the worm was dead!

I took some pictures after I redressed bantam chicken's feet. She's going to need a name. I feel weird calling her bantam chicken.

 

[aoxa]

Okay.. so it looks worse than it is..

This foot here is one I didn't bother with as much. I lanced it, but didn't mess with it much more.. The other one I opened up and tried to get some of the dead tissue away. I may end up doing the same with this one, as it's hurting her more than the one that looks worse.

But it's so much better than it started out being. There is gauze still stuck to her feet here. This is before I rinsed with salt water.



Same foot. Remember that picture I showed you before? Wasn't mine, but her feet were WORSE than that picture.



Here's the foot I took away some of the tissue. I can already see some new skin coming in. This is before I rinsed foot.


That vet wrap is AWESOME! So glad I got some. Here she is with her casts on. She was up and walking around eating her food in the dog kennel we have for her. She is a trooper.



Here's my little bantam girl.

 

[Pullet Surprise]

The thing that fascinates me the most about all the "old School" chicken keeping is that what was done was for the most part based on science, but that the old school folks probably didn't know how/why it worked but that it did. Obviously the kerosene works, not that I will use it in the near future, but there may come a time when it might be called for and it's good to know. All the preventative things we do, well we can't see inside the chicken until it is dead, for the most part, and I'm not a poop watcher either. I also like to know what I have on hand, in the house this very minute, that may also work. It's all good, and the beauty is that not one size fits all and there's plenty of room for what ever works for your individual situation.


Aoxa: looks like you have done a great job on Jane Doe Chicken's feet. Frozen feet are not something I would have even thought about. And yes, the dead tissue would be the problem, but she looks like there is good healthy tissue coming in there. You were 'lucky' to catch it as fast as you did.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
Copyright Material quoted for educational purposes only.
Salad Bar Beef by Joel Salatin
Pages 164-166
Copyright 1995 by Joel Salatin

 

[Leahs Mom]

Shaklee for agricultural uses:
http://lindholm.myshaklee.com/us/en/about_farmranch_basic_h.html