The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Mumsy]

I think I wrote the wrong hatch day on my calander. First Johnny baby pipped, zipped, and EXPLODED out of the shell. Alert and eyes wide open. This baby sat there and stared at me for the longest time. Really cool. Then husband turned on the vacuum (yep, he vacuums for me) The chick did a back flip at the noise! Look at the big peepers on this cheeper! Named it Flip.

 

[chickiemomy]

Mumsy -- what good news! - excitement abounds! - & thx for answering a question I hadn't asked - why you all incubate during winter - the shows! I'm planning to go to the monroe poultry show on 3/16, I think it was - will look for you!

Delisha - so sad - but thanks for sharing & posting the pics - it is very educational - better to know

posted by Sally --for those of you that are doing gardens, are there any plants that the chickens will weed around and let grow to produce food? I think someone mentioned that their chickens did not touch the tomato plants. I found some veggie seeds that most likely will not grow because they are old. But it would be cool to see them grow especially if i did not have to weed around them. I was thinking of tossing them in the chicken run one night in May after the chickens were all asleep so they could not eat them before I had them covered in dirt.

my & my brother's experience is that chicks do not do plant identification well.. The chicks picked all the yellow flowers off the lower branches of my tomato plants. They weren't into tomatoes then, so didn't pick at them last year, but I'm sure they will this coming year as they now eat tomato scraps. (they did spoil my brother's tomatoes) They won't touch the tomatoe vines, they are mildly toxic - & the chicks seem to know it - so you might get away with a little weeding very, very early on. (But dusting in the garden may uproot the smaller plants?) my brother had the chicks in his broccoli & they did keep the worms (caterpillars) picked off - did a little damage to the plant, but he felt that was better than the damage from the worms. But he had to watch them & move them out when they'd done their job & there were no more worms. He also found they really liked the big leaves of the squash plants to hide under. Problem is they also like squash & squash blossoms. Other plants they seem to really like - are the greens, of course, they also eat the pips off my walking onions (but those are so prolific, I don't mind), they weed around the raspberries, until they flower - again those flowers seem too tempting. Peas & beans are a treat - the leaves & vines as well as the fruiting parts we eat - but once the pease are done - I'd let the chicks clean up the bed. They didn't seem interested in the tomatillos, once they'd set - again flowers are too good. Hope that helps a little -- just don't trust them with anything without some supervision! Some of those old seeds may have been treated in fungicide - not sure I would trust that the chicks wouldn't scratch them up & eat them. I think the package would be labeled tho - if they are - you could check & just toss those.

now if someone out there was a chicken whisperer & could come up with a good training manual - & breeding chicks for weeders - we'd make a mint!

 

[Sally8]

I have some interesting information to share. Quite often, I have a light bulb come on and think "I'm not putting that on BYC, they'll think it's stupid, then someone makes a comment and I think, I knew that!" Anyway, I've had a broody BCM that started laying eggs for the first time, 2 weeks later she went broody and has sat on eggs ever since. At first I tried everything to get her to stop. Now, 2 months later, she had 1 chick hatch. I'm not sure exactly when but the outside temps hovered 0 F. Just when I thought I would move both chick and hen inside, she was off the nest and the chick laid over to the side, very cold and lifeless with a weak peep. It happened on the day my Mom had surgery so I brought it inside and put a light bulb over it. I couldn't stay to monitor anything. He's fine. She's never gone back on the nest. Broodiness is over for now.
My 2 thoughts. Did she think the chick was dead? I wasn't sure when it was born. It could have gone days without food and water. (Inside that morning I took a q-tip and tried to get him to drink some water. I saturated some food and quickly tried to get him to eat. That night he was up and running.
My second thought was that if I had left him a few more minutes, would she have climbed back on the nest? It was very cold that morning. It wouldn't have taken long for him to get cold.
Regardless, I'm so happy she's off. 2 more to go. EXCEPT, the stinkin" turkey is setting on eggs. I'm sure I'll be snapping soon!

Delisha, I'm so sorry about your Silkies. I don't know if it's been too early/cold/dry/humid or whatever but I had joined a hatch a long on another thread and many had troubles there also. Including me. I'm setting 12 Silkie shipped eggs tomorrow. I'm not really mentioning it to jinx it. Won't talk about it either. Glad you're getting a new incubator. I'm still plugging along with my LG. I Reread the tips and tricks someplace on here. Sue

 

[armorfirelady]

Congrats Mumsy & to Johnny on his first offspring

He deserves a Johnny cake for his hard work

 

[Sally8]

Anyhow, glad things are working out. I typically hatch between 19 and 23 days. I've never kept the eggs past 23 days. I figure if you are a lazy chick.... too lazy to get out of the egg... I don't need to support you. My chicks have always worked.

hahaha Made me laugh right out loud. Do you have grown children? lol

 

[Mumsy]

Mumsy -- what good news! - excitement abounds! - & thx for answering a question I hadn't asked - why you all incubate during winter - the shows! I'm planning to go to the monroe poultry show on 3/16, I think it was - will look for you!

I will be there. Nothing entered in the show but I love taking pictures and meeting the breeders. Most hatcheries start their big incubation process in January and February. Chicks hatched then will be seven months old for the county fairs and starting to lay and 10 months old for the late Fall shows. Young cockerels will be looking fine then. After they've been put in breeding pens, condition goes to pieces.

 

[ocap]

I think I wrote the wrong hatch day on my calander. First Johnny baby pipped, zipped, and EXPLODED out of the shell. Alert and eyes wide open. This baby sat there and stared at me for the longest time. Really cool. Then husband turned on the vacuum (yep, he vacuums for me) The chick did a back flip at the noise! Look at the big peepers on this cheeper! Named it Flip.

this is the coolest way to talk a spouse into another incubator, write down the wrong hatch day

 

[lalaland]

Leahs mom, I kind of agree that the bumblefoot doesn't seem likely as the source of the drops - the splash of the drops....anyone have a little tiny spot on their comb? combs can bleed a lot, and if someone was trying to get into an occupied nest, could have happened.

Chickens are tough enough to take coming into the house, getting cleaned up, and getting returned outside. Just make certain she is totally dry before heading out.

Quote: Sally, not really! If they don't eat them, the scratching seems to damage them. Once the plants are very well established, supervised ranging in the veggie garden seems to work ok, especially if you don't mind the loss of some of your veggies. they will pick at the flowers and ripe/unripe veggies and leaves, even if it is just to taste and then leave alone. Mine have never bothered some of the flowers - phlox, chrsanthemums, marigolds, roses, peonies, rhubarb, beebalm, sunflower, lilies, asters, etc - but they have to be pretty tall. spring and early summer, no way.


Mumsy: Hurrah!

 

[Ashdoes]

I know everyone keeps saying all the incubator talk makes them want to hatch, so i thought I'd post a link for you all. http://www.metzerfarms.com/LiveHatchingVideo.cfm. My daughters are obsessed with this cam...we start watching Friday night, and by Sunday they take over my iPad.

I think I am as bad as a kid.....I keep checking back to see if one has piped yet.....i got dibs on the one in the middle with the darker white are as the first to hatch lol

Lol, I do the same thing, trying to guess which will be first.

 

[Sally8]

This is my newest reason for wanting guinea hens. I've been trying for years. this is the one thing he hasn't budged on. He just held a baby chick so I could take it's picture. I thought he'd scald the skin off his hands washing after. (Yes, he's a nail biter.) Sue