The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Mumsy]

This reminds me of a conversation with my grandmother who was born in 1929. She was talking about how produce tastes so different now. My sister said, "oh everything must have been so fresh and organic". Grandma replied, "No, we sprayed everything with DDT!"

This made me cringe and laugh at the same time. It's true. If anyone here or their parents were alive between 1948 and 1972, DDT was in your milk, your cheerios, and nearly every fruit and vegetable you put in your mouth. We didn't wash everything as good when we brought it home as now. We believed everything we were told. That it was safe.

What's really alarming about my childhood? I picked strawberries during the summer. All farm kids did where I grew up to earn a little money of our own. The farmer would tell us kids, (I was ten years old at the time) "If you eat too many strawberries while your picking them, what we spray them with will make you have to use the out house more often." This is no joke. A lot of little kids and adults ate those berries off the bush while we picked. Not to mention we were in the field handling and crawling in those berrie fields all day every day of the week for the month of June. I picked strawberries every summer until I graduated high school. Before 1972. Needless to say, NONE of my four kids were allowed in a commercial farmers fields after that. When I had my own kids is when I started growing my own fruits and vegetables and raising my own chickens and rabbits for meat.

 

[Bulldogma]

BDM are tankers legs so big because of leg mites or is it just the breed that makes those legs so thick?

Her legs are naturally ginormous - they have to be to cart around that massive body. They probably look just a tad larger as a result of the lifted scales, but aside from her feet, there is no real swelling through the legs. Hopefully we can kick the scale mite issue with these new birds quickly. Just another reason for quarantine.

Now here's a question... albeit not a "natural" one... For those that have used Frontline for lice / mites - - I wonder if it would work to eliminate scaly leg mites? It seems it might as it would kill anything that feeds on blood. For those dealing with long running scaly leg mite issues, I wonder if it would make a feasible last resort method?? Frontline the whole flock, Neem oil all the roosts, treat all the bedding and pray/hope/

.

 

[stonykill]

I understand your thinking. It is hard to *change* and it is uncomfortable to think about doing something different. You have the added stress of the *what if*. I think differently now. I know what I was doing was working. my flock was healthy. They did not drop dead, or have runny noses. They layed eggs on a regular bases. I tried culling before they got too old or too fat. My only fail was/is predator protection. I use tennis balls soaked in Ammonia. It is simply not enough. because I was still loosing a few birds a year to coyotes, and I came on here to BYC to find answers and new ideas.

I added FF to thier diet. They are better and I save money. Win! I added additional things to there diet. Things I have learned here. Change is good if the results are good. If I change something and it does not work for my flock, I will just change back. my birds are healthy. Something like giving them Oregano, or Kerosene is not going to change them for the bad, it will give me knowledge about my flock. It will let me know if it something I might need or not.I have confidence in my healthy flock. I have confidence in myself.

my thoughts on this have nothing to do with "change". I simply am not one to look for problems that don't exist. Now if I suspect a worm overload in the future I may try kero. I also know the OP was just curious.

4 of my 7 hens that are between 4 and 6 years old have resumed laying this week. 2 of them are actually pushing 7. One that is pushing 7 went broody last year and she is currently sitting on the nest. Not sure if today is her day to resume laying or if she is going through the motions in preperation

 

[loanwizard]

82.81 for where I am...phew

I'll be 72 this October and the saying that only the good die young...I'm doing my best to be badddd!

So What do you think? Should I hatch out a bunch of chicks? with all the hatching that'll be going on in here I'm always tempted but because of age I just don't know......plus not really anyone around that will take them if need be. Hmmmmm. But chickens sure keep me motivated and excersized.

That smiley looks like he's getting a workout lol, but I'm sure that Mellabella could throw in a better one! Now to trot out to the barn and take care of the girls. I do feel better now..Thanks!

So.... you are 71 years old and thought you might die next year.... til you read the statistics that I posted from the internet....

My advise.... Live like there is no tomorrow! Hatch out a bunch of them. I am betting that somewhere on the internet I can find a link that says having animals to care for extends life expectancy. Of course you could slip on the ice going out to feed them and nobody would find you for weeks. Live with a little more optimism. The optimist sees the donut, the pessimist sees the hole. I am a pessimistic optimist, I see the hole donut!

I am 46. I just completed training to become an auctioneer. One of my favorite sayings is, I can sleep when I am dead. See the world for its opportunities, what you can experience While you're here.

What if you hatch birds and die? They will live, die, be re homed, be eaten by humans or predator.... Who cares? Enjoy them while you are alive and healthy!

Much love and prayers for you to live to your potential! You ain't dead yet, ACT like it!

 

[Pullet Surprise]

Quote: I'm just trying to plan ahead in case worms should become a problem and not the tolerable "norm" . Not that it will ever happen, but just in case I would like to explore possibilities.

 

[loanwizard]

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/live-longer-with-a-pet.htm
http://www.doctoroz.com/blog/mao-shing-ni-lac-dom-phd/live-longer-pets
http://www.petside.com/article/how-pets-help-you-live-longer

Internet says so, so it must be true.

Hatch away!

If I can't find it I will publish it to my own site and therefore make it true!

 

[Mumsy]

I'm just trying to plan ahead in case worms should become a problem and not the tolerable "norm" . Not that it will ever happen, but just in case I would like to explore possibilities.

Well said Pullett Surprise. "Exploring the possibilities" is the reason I get up each morning.

 

[mlowen]

Re: DDT -- when I was a kid, the town sprayed DDT for Mosquitos every few days. My brother and I would run down the road behind the sprayer (we called it "the fogging machine") while my mother hollered at us to get out--laughing and breathing in all the way! Very blessed/lucky to have had no ill effects. That I know of....

 

[Sally8]

I never looked for problems with any of my animals until I joined BYC and found out all the problems that could be. lol I was crazy for several months until my mother said "WE NEVER DID ANYTHING TO OUR CHICKENS BESIDES COLLECTING EGGS EVERYDAY, SHUTTING THE BIG WINDOW IN THE WINTER MONTHS, FEEDING AND WATERING, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" She had a point. I do dust periodically because we did have mites. An over abundance? I don't know. It was during my crazy phase. My children even had pin worms, twice. Our Dr said it was from going bare foot and playing in the dirt. Maybe children don't play outside as much or maybe dirt now is cleaner. I still go bare foot. By spring my feet are clean and white just in time to take my shoes off to go bare foot again. My dogs are the only ones with shots. Rabies. The indoor cats do not. They are never sick. They die from old age. I never judge how others treat or not their animals. Once in a while I learn something new to try. Knowledge is never a bad thing. Didn't mean to cause a riff. Was just curious if Kerosene would be considered natural or just an OT remedy. I wish my granddad were still here to ask. I would also use just about anything if I needed to, to protect/treat my animals. (The women in my family generally live to nearly 90. I don't know whether the Dr was right or not. When it's my time to go, I'll go. I don't dwell on it. Cancer isn't picky.) (I work in a funeral home, these things do not bother me.) Ok, I'm off my soapbox, I was only curious.

I'm friends with my own Dr. I'll see him this week and I'll ask him how long I can expect to live and he can take my money. Problem is we had the conversation about where we came from and he believes from apes. I probably won't believe anything he says. Who can trust an ape?

 

[stonykill]

So.... you are 71 years old and thought you might die next year.... til you read the statistics that I posted from the internet....

My advise.... Live like there is no tomorrow! Hatch out a bunch of them. I am betting that somewhere on the internet I can find a link that says having animals to care for extends life expectancy. Of course you could slip on the ice going out to feed them and nobody would find you for weeks. Live with a little more optimism. The optimist sees the donut, the pessimist sees the hole. I am a pessimistic optimist, I see the hole donut!

I am 46. I just completed training to become an auctioneer. One of my favorite sayings is, I can sleep when I am dead. See the world for its opportunities, what you can experience While you're here.

What if you hatch birds and die? They will live, die, be re homed, be eaten by humans or predator.... Who cares? Enjoy them while you are alive and healthy!

Much love and prayers for you to live to your potential! You ain't dead yet, ACT like it!

I never looked for problems with any of my animals until I joined BYC and found out all the problems that could be. lol I was crazy for several months until my mother said "WE NEVER DID ANYTHING TO OUR CHICKENS BESIDES COLLECTING EGGS EVERYDAY, SHUTTING THE BIG WINDOW IN THE WINTER MONTHS, FEEDING AND WATERING, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" She had a point. I do dust periodically because we did have mites. An over abundance? I don't know. It was during my crazy phase. My children even had pin worms, twice. Our Dr said it was from going bare foot and playing in the dirt. Maybe children don't play outside as much or maybe dirt now is cleaner. I still go bare foot. By spring my feet are clean and white just in time to take my shoes off to go bare foot again. My dogs are the only ones with shots. Rabies. The indoor cats do not. They are never sick. They die from old age. I never judge how others treat or not their animals. Once in a while I learn something new to try. Knowledge is never a bad thing. Didn't mean to cause a riff. Was just curious if Kerosene would be considered natural or just an OT remedy. I wish my granddad were still here to ask. I would also use just about anything if I needed to, to protect/treat my animals. (The women in my family generally live to nearly 90. I don't know whether the Dr was right or not. When it's my time to go, I'll go. I don't dwell on it. Cancer isn't picky.) (I work in a funeral home, these things do not bother me.) Ok, I'm off my soapbox, I was only curious.

I'm friends with my own Dr. I'll see him this week and I'll ask him how long I can expect to live and he can take my money. Problem is we had the conversation about where we came from and he believes from apes. I probably won't believe anything he says. Who can trust an ape?

great posts Loinclothwearer and Sally!