The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

Oh...and Del...on the spur removal -
-After you remove the outer casing, how long does it take for it to harden up / heal?
-I assume the casing grows back and needs to be removed again. How often is this usually done?

Some need to be done yearly..some never..and some every couple of years.

It does not take long to harden at all. Some even saw the whole thing off right down to the leg and use styptic pencil or liquid band-aid for the bleeding. I have never used a saw or a nipper. I am too chicken.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
Yikes! That sounds painful.

I'm thinking it might be nice to have a little defense weaponry left to help ward off predators....

 

[delisha]

Quote:
Yikes! That sounds painful.

I'm thinking it might be nice to have a little defense weaponry left to help ward off predators....
I agree..I have never had a rooster injure a hen..so I have no idea what I would do. I have only removed spurs when they got to long for me and handling. They grow so long they can rip off. I just remove them before that happens. Most people with hand strength can just take them off with fingers. You just push down and twist.My fingers are not that strong anymore. I need pliers.

 

[MsMickeyMom]

I saw somewhere that it showed you how to make your own apple cider vinegar. It didn't look too hard but took quite awhile. I'm just about to get chicks for the first time ever and I'm very interested in natural treatment and preventive ways.

 

[Mumsy]

OK
I think I took a few better pictures..I hope this will help with color

Black and blue? Blue and Black

Paint? Partridge

Buff and black? Yes

They look so beautiful!

 

[Sally8]

Leah's Mom - The Marans girls from start to now. I bought 4 eggs off ebay, all 4 hatched and all 4 were hens. Can you believe it? After they molted the first time, the eggs are actually darker.







Wrinkles came from the same lady that I bought the eggs from. Turned out that even though I bought off ebay she lived 40 min from me. So, I called to ask where to find a roo and she said she had one. I know Wrinkles has the funny feather and one of the girls has way too much color (the one missing looks like the other 2 dark ones, she'd jumped the fence and had gone sight seeing when I was out with the camera but I'm only out for the egg color.

 

[Mumsy]

The Silkie pullet is no longer panting. Respiration seems much better. Drinking very little. Not eating. Gives a cough/choke on occassion. Not anything like yesterday though. No exudate in nostrils or mouth. I can see no obstruction in the back of the throat. Temperature in the vent is 104.5
Has defecated three times and they look normal. No identifiable anything in it. Urates look normal. Color normal. Crop is empty. She is still standing and head up. Is aware of her surroundings.

So now I am thinking this: Not sour crop. Not impacted gizzard. Possible something such as a peice of shavings caught between her esophagus and trachea.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Wow, Sally, incredible that they were all pullets! Thank you for the photos. I notice there is a lot of blue in the black feathers.

Mumsy - thank you for continuing to post on what's going on. It it is a piece of shavings in there, is there anything you could do or do you have to just wait to see if it passes?

 

[Sally8]

I saw somewhere that it showed you how to make your own apple cider vinegar. It didn't look too hard but took quite awhile. I'm just about to get chicks for the first time ever and I'm very interested in natural treatment and preventive ways.

I take a gal jar and for every quart of water I add 1/2 c sugar. I didn't want to cut up apples (I'd rather eat them or make pies) so I used the peels and core including seeds, everything and worked on filling the jar until it was full of peels, cores water, sugar (I MASHED THE SOLIDS TO TRY TO EXTRACT AS MUCH JUICE AS I COULD, don't break open the seeds though) (I did cheat and to hurry things along, I bought a container of ACV with Mother and added 1/2 bottle. I covered it using a coffee filter and rubber band. I left it on the counter stirring every few days - week. After 2-3 weeks I took the solids out, replaced the coffee lit and put in my closet. It has formed a huge mother of it's own and time to start another one. Just divide that blob, don't worry about the apples, etc again. KEEP IN MIND THAT STORE BOUGHT APPLES HAVE BEEN SPRAYED WITH ALL KINDS OF TOXINS. I WOULDN'T USE THEM. TRY TO FIND A FARMERS MARKET OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

 

[delisha]

Hopefully the oil continues to help her move it along. You can also use a catheter tube and enter her crop to push it along if it is an obstruction.