The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[countrygirl74]

I just want to say as a newbie that I LOVE this thread! I only really follow two main threads and this is one of them. Due to time constraints, I do sometimes have to skim over things that currently don't pertain to me (like incubating - because that is not something I'm doing right now), but I have learned so much!

Thanks to all who have answered my millions of questions and helped me out with things. I've learned so much, between this site and trial and error, that I've actually been able to help others right behind me.
My biggest learning experiences were ff, deep litter, ACV (although I was already giving it to myself and my dogs). Those are just a few... I could go on and on. I was recently very much encouraged and helped out by learning how to best cull and I plan on doing my first roo next weekend. This information and learning has been HUGE for me - you have no idea. I probably never would have even considered it until I heard from many of you. I will let you all know how I do. It will either be this

or this

or maybe even this

.

Now, as some of you might have read in a post earlier today, I have ended up with a ridiculous ratio of roosters. I will try to post pics tomorrow for those that requested so we can figure out if I have anymore that I just haven't caught crowing yet. I will have to make some serious decisions on who to keep and who not to, as well as where to get hens this time!!

In the meantime, I have a couple questions concerning roosters...
1. What do you do if you have a surplus of silkie roosters? Can I keep 1 regular rooster and 2 silkie roosters with, say, 7-9 hens? Or is a rooster a rooster, little mini silkie or not? It just seems weird to me to cull a silkie...
2. If I have to choose between an australorp roo, speckled sussex roo, or ee roo, is there one that would be better to keep and cull the other two? At this age, they are still nice - no aggression or anything.
3. At what age should I cull the extra roosters? Right now they are all only about 17 weeks, so I guess barely over 4 months. They just started crowing a couple days ago.

 

[Sally8]

This isn't the best pic, but I think they are so pretty.






While, I know nothing about Silkies, these roo's that I've aquired look like they have Cochin in them. Can anyone comment? They are so friendly.

 

[Bulldogma]

Darn! So many extra Silkie roosters and everyone lives so far away from me! I'd take a Silkie rooster right now if I could get my hands on one from a trusted source. Oh well... LOL!

 

[jockeyeba]

You can please some of the people all of the time.
You can please all of the people some of the time...
But you can't please all of the people all of the time.

I started this thread in an attempt to continue the sharing of Natural methods of chicken keeping and Old Timer wisdom. We have Delisha who is a wealth of information and who shares it without reserve. We have Mumsy who has showing and breeding experience as well as a lot of information to share on  botany and living a more natural lifestyle. We have Leahs Mom who is striving to go organic with her chickens and her family. We have Aoxa who hasn't been keeping chickens as long as some, but who has put a lot of research into what she is doing - - and shares what she learns with the rest of us. We have Stony who has a huge amount of information on everything from broodies to culling to predator prevention...  And the list of contributors goes on...

We have a lot of good information that gets shared on this thread. Questions get answered about DL, FF, culling, hatching... you name it. And in between all that great information, we have friendships forming. Lots of them. We have our own inside jokes, and certain code words that most of the readers of this thread know.

Yes - we are an informational and educational thread...
...and yes - - we are social and friendly, too.

We DO need to focus on keeping that good, Natural Chicken Keeping information streaming into the thread so we can all benefit from the learning. It would be a shame to lose that slant to this thread as that is what the thread was designed around.

The NCK thread is like a delicious pot of chili with followers adding their own ingredients to make it ever better. Yet part of the reason it is so good is because the friendships and silly things have added flavor and texture to the dish.

I would hate to lose any one of our wonderful contributors and friends... but we can not please all of the people all of the time. For the thread to continue, it must base itself on what pleases most of the people most of the time. It won't last any other way.

So please - lets keep the wonderful knowledge sharing going, and lets not be afraid to have a laugh along the way.

HUGS to all! You guys are the best!
Leigh (Bulldogma)

 

[jockeyeba]

Myself, I post what i want when i want, if I get booted... it just wasn't meant to be....

Much love to all!

Shawn

Thanks Shawn. I've been stewing all morning. You put it  into perfect perspective for me.   I'd hate to have to agonize over every thing I want to post. And yes, I'm a chatty person in real life too. Everybody has their pet subjects. Personally, I skim over all the killing and processing ones. Done it too many times my self to want to talk about it or read about it. I like chit chat, jibber jabber, and all the other stuff too. But then again....I like people.
And face it. This thread has been a hoot for the most part! So much information! And so much humor! It's great!

Oh Before this post is labeled Off T....One of my Americauna/ Orppington  pullets laid her first egg and it was green! I gave her some left over scrambled eggs for a reward!  First sprinkled a dose of powdered garlic and cayenne on it for good worming measure.

 

[jendodd79]

I can feel yo

I just want to say as a newbie that I LOVE this thread! I only really follow two main threads and this is one of them. Due to time constraints, I do sometimes have to skim over things that currently don't pertain to me (like incubating - because that is not something I'm doing right now), but I have learned so much!

Thanks to all who have answered my millions of questions and helped me out with things. I've learned so much, between this site and trial and error, that I've actually been able to help others right behind me.
My biggest learning experiences were ff, deep litter, ACV (although I was already giving it to myself and my dogs). Those are just a few... I could go on and on. I was recently very much encouraged and helped out by learning how to best cull and I plan on doing my first roo next weekend. This information and learning has been HUGE for me - you have no idea. I probably never would have even considered it until I heard from many of you. I will let you all know how I do. It will either be this or this or maybe even this .

Now, as some of you might have read in a post earlier today, I have ended up with a ridiculous ratio of roosters. I will try to post pics tomorrow for those that requested so we can figure out if I have anymore that I just haven't caught crowing yet. I will have to make some serious decisions on who to keep and who not to, as well as where to get hens this time!!

In the meantime, I have a couple questions concerning roosters...
1. What do you do if you have a surplus of silkie roosters? Can I keep 1 regular rooster and 2 silkie roosters with, say, 7-9 hens? Or is a rooster a rooster, little mini silkie or not? It just seems weird to me to cull a silkie...
2. If I have to choose between an australorp roo, speckled sussex roo, or ee roo, is there one that would be better to keep and cull the other two? At this age, they are still nice - no aggression or anything.
3. At what age should I cull the extra roosters? Right now they are all only about 17 weeks, so I guess barely over 4 months. They just started crowing a couple days ago.

 

I can feel your pain because we got 21roos out of 28 chicks this fall!!! We had to cull all of the ones that we could not rehome by 13 weeks because they started crowing when it snowed.

 

[loanwizard]

I think this thread is good because we have some where to ask our questions, when we want a natural approach. I don't think there is any way every post can be an information packet, thats a blog not a thread.
I hope this thread continues as is.
I've also been wondering what do do with all the litter. Once you've filled flower beds and all the other things, the poo never stops. I've got a compost tumbler, a compost pile and the litter under the coop. Eventually I need to find something to do with it all. I guess it's good we have just one tree, I've got plenty of compost for all the trees I want to plant.

How many birds do you have?

If you feel you have too much, bag it and share it, either through sales or gifts. That stuff is gold in a bag!

 

[Leahs Mom]

I thought of a few more things that were new to me that I learned on this thread:

-How to tell if an egg is fertile.
-Using flags flying high up (rather than items fluttering down low) as a hawk scare. (Thanks PigeonGuy)
-Good recommendations for a gun purchase for predators. (Thanks Stoney, PigeonGuy, and Others)
-Red tint in a rooster’s legs may be due to hormones.
-How to perform a bumblefoot surgery.

I wanted to answer Del's question on what I've learned here that I've tried/used. I'm not sure I'll be able to think of ALL the things, but here's a list of what comes to mind for me:

-Ash in dust bath for mite/lice prevention.

-Everything about brooding w/a broody. And not being afraid to let the chicks be out in the cold - mom will take care of them.

-Feeding fresh herbs like cilantro as part of their greens during the winter. (Was doing items like Swiss chard, kale, beet tops, etc., just didn't think of herbs!)

-Learned I could look for (and find!) a vintage glass waterer base so I don't have to use a plastic base for my chicks! (I'm as much of a "purist" as possible with the plastic...hate using it...even though I'm using it for my cup waterers right now.)

-Learned lots of tips on how to process for meat. Probably wouldn't have tried it myself if it hadn't been for this thread. Was ready for our trial run and lesson we had with our friends here locally.

-Learned about when it's prudent to cull. Haven't had to do it but I'm glad I learned and am prepared before the fact. I've already considered all those questions ahead of time so that when the time comes I'll be able to have a better idea of when I need to do so, and more courage to carry it out.

-Learned how to examine the internals if I have to cull to try to determine why they may be unhealthy.

-Learned lots of good ways to treat scaly leg mites should I have a bout of them.



I'm sure I'll think of other things .....

Thanks to everyone who participates here.

 

[loanwizard]

Guess I never knew that grass clippings could cause sour crop. When I had chickens in a run they would follow the mower and I aimed the discharge at them so they could get some.... BTW, I hate runs......

Now, when they are paying attention, some still follow the mower, and when I finish an area they are there! Could be clippings although I suspect it is displaced bugs that they like to introduce to the Crop Hotel!

 

[pigeonguy]

I thought of a few more things that were new to me that I learned on this thread:

-How to tell if an egg is fertile.
-Using flags flying high up (rather than items fluttering down low) as a hawk scare. (Thanks PigeonGuy)
-Good recommendations for a gun purchase for predators. (Thanks Stoney, PigeonGuy, and Others)
-Red tint in a rooster’s legs may be due to hormones.
-How to perform a bumblefoot surgery.

Thanks Leahs Mom I needed that. As the weather warms I will be disappearing more often though. I can't do all my spring and summer chores and be here. The ot (off topic) is sometime disturbing though.I can't say I haven't participated though so I'll lay no blame. So when you don't see me on here much that's not it. It is just life continues and spring is very busy for me.
I am also building an incubator that runs on 12 volts and that is time consuming also.
parts are hard to find at reasonable rates and if I can't get them cheap why bother.
Gotta go to work B-By