The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[pigeonguy]

I think I told the story about me crying when I came home to chickens in the yard. My daughter was about 3 or 4. It was in the summer of 1980.

1. I went to fairs and shows and asked tons of questions. I think that was one of the best things I did. I asked about breeds, and requirements, egg laying, heating, coops. My grandparents only feed the same grains they feed the horses and left overs. I got the scoop about chicken grains from the *show* folks.

2. Room for them to forage.
I am a firm believer if the chickens are eating the grass down bare you simply have too many chickens for the area.
If you have limited space you need to plant different types of clovers, spinach, Kale's in your grasses. To many have chickens in barren soils. If you are even limited to 12 foot by 6 foot you should cover half of it and grow something. Keep the birds off of it for a month. Dump your deep litter out of the coop into the area they will be in. Grow out the other area. Then reverse it the next month. Cover your newer grass with the deep litter from the coop so the chickens can't rip it all up. Get the other side growing and cover it with hay, leaves or straw. Keep alternating it until you have well established ground cover. Invest in a temporary fence. Let the chickens out in different areas of the yard.

3. Do not get more chickens than you need or your space can provide. Make a plan for the chickens and stick to the plan. The chickens should pay for themselves. If your chicken cost you money or stress it is a cull. Chickens should bring you joy and food.

4. Do not make emotional decisions about chickens. If a chicken is *off*. you simply know it, if you spend time with your chickens. Chickens do not complain when they are in pain, they just act *off*. Examine the chicken, do not wait. Tomorrow will probably be to late. If it is late and dark, bring it in the house with good lighting. Have a *set up* available at all times. (Dog kennel, box) Do the exam. Know what you are looking for. This does no good if you have never picked up your chickens. If you have no idea what a crop is or where it is located. If you have never palpated your hens just before lay and just after to know what they feel like. Know your birds. For all of you out there who have never felt a chicken with an egg ready for lay. Pick up one of your hens before they lay and feel the egg. Feel how firm the belly is. Later in the day after they lay, pick up the same hen and feel it again. feel how soft the belly is. Open the beak and look inside. Know what a healthy mouth smells like and looks like. Feel the crop, some of the hens crops are small and tight, some are large and a bit softer. Know what hens have what type of crops. Young birds usually have large hard crops. If they don't, something is off. I can't impress enough the importance of knowing what chicken layed what egg. A hen off lay is sometimes the first sign something is off. If you crack open a bloody egg, how are you to know who you need to watch or examine? For goodness sake do not let your birds simply die because you don't know. Be a good Stewart and kill your sick birds.

5. Be open minded enough to implement new ideas. Keep good records for both health and money. Records will let you know if new ideas are working.

How many chickens do you have. (I should know but can't remember) I have 30 and I can't tell I'm mostly at work when eggs are laid.

 

[zinia8]

[COLOR=006400]On the topic of Natural Chicken keeping:[/COLOR]

Would you all be willing to name the top 5 (or more) things that you do (or want to do) that have been the most valuable to you in raising chickens naturally?  Have you changed things to go more natural?  What makes you want to go the more natural route?  What tips do you have for others along those lines?  If you're willing, let us know how long you've had chickens - from mere months to decades. 

 

1 started by adding leaves and litter to the run to try improve soil conditions in the run. I can't really free range even though I have over five acres the chickens don't stay in their own ground. They like to visit the neighbors yard.Bugs must be better tasting there.
2 started feed FF in October they loved it in the beginning but now they turn their little beaks up at it.
3 Trying to get up the courage to be able to cull. I have one that is "off" She was my double molter. once in the spring and again this fall so she has probably has only laid twice since July. Gonna wait until spring and see what happens
4Let the chickens be chickens. they are a lot hardier than what some people think.
5 I do not know everything. It is still a learning experience for me. I've only been doing this for 1.5 years.
Next chickens I purchase I think I will do more studying on what breeds that I want.
I really hope that going in a more natural way I will be able to keep these production layers going for more than the projected two years.

 

[pigeonguy]

If you have preditors you would need an LGD if you want to keep it open. I would assume this would get a door with out a LGD.

Have two of them (Bloodhound and lab and know from experience that they don;t get everything. They do get a lot. I see them laying dead. I also shoot 30 or 40 coons from the porch every year. They are only a problem at night. I lock the chickens up tight every night. Me and the dogs have been out together at night and all of a sudden heard scraping at the hardware cloth windows and the dogs are after them but if that was plastic with holes that big behind it lets just say it would be to late. Even the best LGD sleeps sometime.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

If I can add my 5 things;

FF
free range if possible.
no heat in the coop
know and observe the flock
no over cleaning the coop...let chickens be chickens

This my 2nd year and second flock.

 

[armorfirelady]

A newbie of 4 months. The 5 things I have learned/followed are:
1. Let chickens be chickens. No heat or artificial light
2. KISS- Chickens should be fun not endless work
3. DL- less work, good bugs & composting & helps their health
4. FF- good probiotics, no smelly coops, saves $$$
5. Chicken tv- observe your flock daily & handle them regularly.....cull for sickness

 

[aoxa]

How many chickens do you have. (I should know but can't remember) I have 30 and I can't tell I'm mostly at work when eggs are laid.

I'm with you on this Pigeonguy. No way in a million years can I tell which chicken laid what. It's easier if you have a small flock, and you're home to see them lay - but I work from sun up to sun down. Weekends are the only time I can see who's laying. Caught a new layer this weekend. My RSLs are starting to lay! One started Christmas Day!

When I first started I could tell. I can still pick out some of my older hens' eggs. The ones who are unique layers. IE: I only have a few white layers. Only one that was laying this year - so her eggs were very easy to spot.

 

[stonykill]

Looks good. I have a question though. Don't the people doing this have predators like coons and opossums? If I did this I would end up with no birds at night because of it.
Not trying to sound negative just curious how you all that do this plan to control the predators.

agreed. Weasels and mink would kill all the birds in one night. Small coons and possum as well. Even with a front on it. Personally I would never use such a thing. If it works for some, great, but to me it looks like a chicken killing pen.

 

[aoxa]

On the topic of Natural Chicken keeping:

Would you all be willing to name the top 5 (or more) things that you do (or want to do) that have been the most valuable to you in raising chickens naturally? Have you changed things to go more natural? What makes you want to go the more natural route? What tips do you have for others along those lines? If you're willing, let us know how long you've had chickens - from mere months to decades.

I've had chickens for 2 years, and plan to have them for generations to come. This is one hobby I will never outgrow. Ask my parents. I have been animal crazed since I learned how to crawl.

1. Space. Definitely need the space for the birds. Confining them to the guidelines of 3-4 square feet per bird in coop and 5-6 per bird in run year-round is definitely not enough. Now saying that, I do separate breeds during breeding season. Though breeding season is under-way when the ground is still covered with snow (February - May - though May it's usually snow-free).

2. Resources. Don't own more chickens than you can provide for both financially for food and supplies, and time to care for the number of birds you have.

3. Learning to accept loss. You can not own chickens without getting used to the fact that you will face death. Whether you like that fact or not. I'm not saying be callous. It's a fact of farming. Keeping chickens whether it is 5 or 50 is farming. Death is inevitable. It's tough. It's something that I had to learn to deal with, and I can not mourn each loss like I did in the beginning.

4. Proper Farm Clothing. Need I say more? You wear your good clothes/shoes down to the coop/barn - and you're bound to get chicken poo on it. Even the most careful of people is doomed. Rubber boots, warm jackets, splash pants, hats, scarfs, warm socks, etc. Those are all tools that you need in the winter, and your job will be so much more painful without those tools. I'd love to get a full suite to go over my clothes to protect them, but they are so expensive.

5. Sit with your chickens. Watch how they behave under normal circumstances. This is how you know if a chicken is off. It's also very entertaining. Look at how Jagger dances for his ladies! HAH! Did you see Harriet slip on the ice? Yeah. It's TV. It's the whole point of keeping chickens. To watch them be chickens!

Okay.. I don't know if I got the point of this exercise. Hopefully I did.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Delisha - he truly sounds like a keeper!!

X2!

 

[aoxa]

agreed. Weasels and mink would kill all the birds in one night. Small coons and possum as well. Even with a front on it. Personally I would never use such a thing. If it works for some, great, but to me it looks like a chicken killing pen.

I wouldn't use the hoop coop without proper reinforcement and I have a LGD. The LGDs aren't fool proof.

I wish more people would have told me how hard they are to handle until they are at least 2 years old. Oh they will train themselves.. Yeah right! My LGD does protect, but until she is 2, I don't trust her enough to let her be free with them. Also, she is A LOT of work. They are hard headed and stubborn! Males are easier. Did not know that until we discussed this with other real LGD owners and our trainer.

Though that shelter would work great in a big field for a daytime shelter from elements, or a feeding station