The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Pullet Surprise]

Quote: I do not like spending money on *purdies*. I was looking for new plants and cages. That is what I do during rummage o rama. That cute shelf was so cheap at the time I could not pass it up. And I was trying to talk DH into building me this. I thought that shelf would have looked great with it.


Consider this idea stolen!!! Must have!! and DH agrees! Now to connect this with chickens....um...I know...it would make a good place for them to get out of the hot sun this summer,,,,

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: YAY

A new coop coming!!!! (And the posts are a great idea lw.)

******************

On the blue/green egg layers...
I'm also planning to get some cream legbars sometime soon. I have to wait to determine the gender on the SFH babies before I can plan on how many to get. I'm hoping for another broody to raise them. Definitely will get some (barring anything unforeseen) probably no later than June.

Loin -
I'm also torn between the RIR and Buckeyes. I foresee one of those 2 becoming my mainstay in the future. (Not 100% sure because the more I learn I may do something totally different!) From what I've seen, I think I like the appearance of the Heritage RIR a bit better than the Buckeye, but I like a LOT about the buckeyes so....torn for now...

 

[loanwizard]

I am a bit at odds with myself this morning.

Got home last night and found 4 dead birds. Did my count and found 8 missing. Thought it was my puppy pit as he had been left outside.

Found out this morning that a stray, that I have petted and fed, is killing my birds! Lost another 5 this morning. Been meaning to thin the flock, but not this way.

Grabbed the shotgun, but he ran away. Closed in the barn ends with cattle panel but who knows what will happen between now and 4pm when Carla and the kids get home.

I myself let my dogs run and have been highly criticized here about it.

I plan to capture the dog and kennel it until the owners are found, but man I was angry and had the gun ready loaded safety off!

I may get home tonight and may be buying some Buckeyes or RIR's....

 

[armorfirelady]

And a great place to sit to watch some chicken tv.......hmm I think I might just have to steal this idea as well We have a reuse place that sells old door really cheap......and craigs list might have some as well. (I have way to many great ideas I want to do/make already......adding to the list doesnt help lol)

 

[aoxa]

I am a bit at odds with myself this morning.

Got home last night and found 4 dead birds. Did my count and found 8 missing. Thought it was my puppy pit as he had been left outside.

Found out this morning that a stray, that I have petted and fed, is killing my birds! Lost another 5 this morning. Been meaning to thin the flock, but not this way.

Grabbed the shotgun, but he ran away. Closed in the barn ends with cattle panel but who knows what will happen between now and 4pm when Carla and the kids get home.

I myself let my dogs run and have been highly criticized here about it.

I plan to capture the dog and kennel it until the owners are found, but man I was angry and had the gun ready loaded safety off!

I may get home tonight and may be buying some Buckeyes or RIR's....

That's terrible. We don't have a lot of stray dogs at all here. If a dog is loose it almost always belongs to someone.

We've had a neighbours dog come over a few times. It never hurt my birds, but it made me so very angry. A dog on it's owner's property is a pet. A dog on someone else's property is a predator.

 

[pcappy2]

My 4hens have what I think is vent gleet. Do I use nu-stock on that? I wish I would have taken better notes from this thread. It's barely above freezing out, I don't think I can bring them in to bathe them.

 

[Mumsy]

I was asked to come on and chat a bit. There is a great thread here on BYC where you see hundreds of pages of true bred, pure, Rhode Island Reds, sometimes called heritage birds. The true RIR is deep, rich mahogany in color, has dark red/black/brown horn on it's beak. The tails of the males are rich green in color. The body "type" is a brick. Think a rectangle, long ways, body shape. Not the soup bowl of a Rock, nor the V-ship body commonly seen on hatchery stock.

A so called production red is a generic red bird, usually with lots of RIR blood, but is bred for higher egg production than a heritage bird. 95% of all RIR sold by hatcheries are actually production reds. True bred RIR are very rare, but their "fan base" is growing as fast as it can, given that there are just so many birds to go around.

The productive or utility type Red is not sex linked at hatch.

The Red Sex Link is a sex link. Some people also call red sexlinks production reds, but this just serves to further complicate the matter.

Again, I urge everyone who thinks they have RIR to visit this thread. Start at today's post and work backward. LOL. Starting at the beginning is too long running to go way back there.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/407294/the-heritage-rhode-island-red-site/2900

Thank you Fred. I visited that thread and subscribed a few months ago. Got a fantastic education by the time I worked through half the thread. Got on a waiting list for eggs and chicks two months ago. They arrive next month. There are precious few true Heritage RIR up here in the Pacific North West. I hope to help change that situation someday.

 

[Bulldogma]

Thank you Chickendale!!

Coffee... on keyboard... on monitor...

...nose still in pain.

 

[jockeyeba]

Happy Valentine's Day

 

[Bulldogma]

I am a bit at odds with myself this morning.
Got home last night and found 4 dead birds. Did my count and found 8 missing. Thought it was my puppy pit as he had been left outside.
Found out this morning that a stray, that I have petted and fed, is killing my birds! Lost another 5 this morning. Been meaning to thin the flock, but not this way.
Grabbed the shotgun, but he ran away. Closed in the barn ends with cattle panel but who knows what will happen between now and 4pm when Carla and the kids get home.
I myself let my dogs run and have been highly criticized here about it.
I plan to capture the dog and kennel it until the owners are found, but man I was angry and had the gun ready loaded safety off!
I may get home tonight and may be buying some Buckeyes or RIR's....

I'm so sorry to hear about this! I hope you can catch that dog and make sure he doesn't return to your property.
Sorry for your loss!