The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Bulldogma]

Questions for ALL FREE RANGERS - No Matter How Much Acreage You Have

1. How long have you free ranged?
2. Describe your free-range area and practices.
3. How is that different in spring, summer, fall, winter?
4. Do you use a guardian dog or any other guard animal?
5. With or without guard animal - what has your experience been with predators? What about hawks?

1. How long have you free ranged? Since the chicks were about 8 weeks old (my first chicks). Going forward, broodys will be allowed to free range with days-old chicks.
2. Describe your free-range area and practices. I have circled (in red) where my chickens generally free range. The Yellow "X" is where their coop is. They generally free range from sun up until sundown.


3. How is that different in spring, summer, fall, winter? No real difference except the lack of leaves in the winter.
4. Do you use a guardian dog or any other guard animal? We have a dog that's wonderful with the chickens, but she is not really a "guard" dog.
5. With or without guard animal - what has your experience been with predators? What about hawks? Knock on wood - we have not had any predator issues, but we did have one instance where we were visited by a hawk when the chicks were only about 6 weeks old. Luckily they were in a covered run at the time.

 

[GoChick]

I found this article very interesting, about farms using oil of oregano instead of antibiotics.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/26/s...antibiotic-substitute.html?src=me&ref=general

I've always heard not to use essential oils in chickens but now I'm curious about other oils as well.

Thoughts?

 

[Mumsy]

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'm a sixty year old OT raising chickens my lifetime. I learned these five natural ways of chicken keeping here at BYC. Old dogs can definetly learn new tricks. I will continue using these natural ways because they work. They have done wonders for my small flock and in particular saved my rescue roo Johnny.


1. FF. Love the stuff. I am feeding once a day. I have cut back the amount of all purpose crumble to 1/4. 1/4 mixture of whole corn and oats 1/4 alfalfa cubes and 1/4 mixture of ground pumpkin seed and BOSS. I dust the FF with Organic garlic powder and Cayenne.

2. Deep Litter. Love the stuff. Haven't cleaned my barn in six months. I never use pesticide or DE in my barn. Ever. I like to fork the litter once a day even though I don't need to. I don't throw scratch or anything else in it because my chickens don't need the added calories in their diet.

3. Wood Ash. Love the stuff. I have a wood burning stove in my house and live where I can burn brush in the garden. I have not seen a mite or louse on my birds since the start of using this in the dust bath and as a topical dust for birds when they may need extra.

4. Nu Stock. Love the stuff. The best thing I ever used to rid Johnny of a particularly nasty infestation. It has a permanent spot in my medical box in the barn.

5. Johnny Cakes. Individual blocks of suet or lard mixed with various nutritional seeds, grain, or fruit. I make them using paper cup cake liners and an old muffin tin. I've started a cottage industry selling/bartering them locally. My flock is thriving and gaining weight so I've limited feeding these as an occasional food for specific needs. Mostly they like the Dewormer Delight. Ground pumpkin seed, garlic powder, garlic oil, sesame seeds, and BOSS. Held together with melted suet. Recently I've started adding ground dried Eglanteria rose hips from my garden.

Bonus knowledge I've always done.

6. Free range. Every day except in really dirty weather. My property is only a half acre these years but it is all gardens and orchard. I let them in different areas at different times in the season. My property is entirely self contained and fenced.

7. Make friends with your close neighbors. Give them eggs on occasion. Keep friendly. They are your best allies if you do this.

8. Cull cull cull and be ruthless. Your just kidding yourself if you think that old hen is going to start laying again if she hasn't in over a year. Or you think you might need those six hatchery roos running amok in your flock. Cull cull cull.

9. You don't need to cook special goodies for your chickens. You don't need to buy them gourmet food items. FF and free ranging should supply a healthy flock all the nutrition they need. If you like to do the extra work and spend the extra $ that is ok too but raising healthy chickens isn't a competition to who can do it the most over the top.

10. Free range organic no corn or soy eggs sell for $7 per dozen in some areas of my region. Lesson I need to learn quickly...how to make this happen with my flock.

 

[Sally8]

Leahs Mom your morning routine could have been written by me other than I watch the ff drain for 10 min while absorbing caffeine.

5:30am pull the ff needed and let drain
fill bucket with water
scoop sprouted whatever and mix with scratch grains
open coop doors and spread sprouts/grains on the ground or in the coop depending on weather
fill several containers with ff (check dry food bowl to see if needs refilling)
empty heated dog bowls of water and refill with clean
Check for eggs
Do the same with the turkeys. It's now 6am

5pm
collect eggs
empty and refill water bowls
throw a little grain
Several times a week I pick up a hen, check her over, dust her, whether she needs it or not
count chickens, close and lock doors
Same with turkeys

EXCEPT in bad weather
start out as above
check tarps to see if shoveling snow off is needed *New as of last night

This is Sally, peeking out. My avatar's name started as my grandson named all my hen's Sally. All 11. When I joined we had 8, now we have 5 Sally's

 

[Miss Lydia]

I started my Boss for sprouting today, excited to see if they like it. Great Blog about sprouting Leahs Mom and BDM.

 

[Leahs Mom]

This is some good stuff from everyone on the chores, free ranging, and your natural chicken keeping lists.

Keep it coming!

 

[Miss Lydia]

My day starts at 6.30 am I scoop the ff into a bucket and while waiting for daylight feed the 4 inside dogs we have, then I go out and start letting everyone out, put the ff into 3 different heated dog bowls, plug them in then stand at the gate and watch as everyone comes out, my routine for the morning, around lunch time i go out and check bowls most of the time they are empty so I add about half of the ff i fed in the morning. Then I go in and clean coops and houses. i have 3 one chicken one ducks and one geese. since i use DL in all three mostly I just turn over the DL in the chicken c. but i use a shovel and scoop the poop out of the ducks and goose house, made so much easier since using ff for everyone. then i stir their bedding. I add fresh shaving about every week for ducks and geese, chickens have close to 12" of DL so only turn theirs. Evening chores start at 4:00 pm I start getting my oldest ducks in first then start cleaning out heated buckets and adding fresh water with ACV by the time the geese have gone in only thing left to do is wash off the poop that is on the walkways. Takes about 11/2 hrs to do all evening chores by the time i have walk ways cleaned off i go in and count heads in the c coop close door close duck door . drain hose through. I usually collect eggs in the afternoon. Forgot that around 3ish I throw out whole corn and meal worms as their afternoon snack, corn mostly for ducks and geese although some of my chickens eat it too.
My chickens/ducks/geese have free ranged since I started close to 9 yrs ago with the ducks first. we have a lot of preds and even though we don't have LGD I still think our 4 dogs keep alot of preds away during the day, everyone is locked up at night.We have lost just 3 chickens during day light hours and they range all through our woods we're mostly wooded.

 

[pigeonguy]

I really liked the article and now plan to toss in some oregano seeds in the lawn. I understand from reading it that it is the oils they claim work, however, I feel the oregano in its natural state will also add benefits. I enjoyed leah's mom's article and learned some important information on the whys of certain things. She has a wonderful way with words.

In the winter I usually have 5-7 laying hens and a couple of pullets. This winter I kept 6 pullets, with my older laying flock of 5 hens, and I will be keeping all of my heritage RIR pullets that hatch out in few days, they will be laying in June. It is difficult to keep a laying flock over the winter and I cull my flock down to the minimum before winter hits. I do not do the heavy cull in spring. I breed in spring. I have had 50 laying hens and knew who layed what egg when I sold eggs. Yes it is difficult to know who layed what egg when you have so many. Each egg looks different and I used to mark them in a book. I no longer have to do that anymore since my numbers are so low. At that time the cost of feed was a few dollars a 50 lb. bag and getting a dollar a dozen was a huge profit. Now it cost a dollar for an egg carton and a dollar for the feed. I need to increase my laying hens now because the demand is pretty high for free range and I can get $2.75 a dozen. Next year I will be up to 11 hens and at least 10 pullets. I average 6 eggs a day during the winter. During late spring it is about 15 average. I like to sell a dozen a day. This next year I want to bump that up to 2 dozen a day, and see how so many can house over the winter. I am getting older and I am not sure I am up to the added work in the winter.

Please expound on how you new. I would love to know who laid what in my flock.

 

[pigeonguy]

Unfortunately it does cost a dollar to purchase egg cartons. I am presently looking into finding another route on the net. I have not found any that are much cheaper with the shipping costs.

Face book free cycle and ask for egg cartons. You also get new customers when they contact you to let you know they have cartons they ask what do you want them for.
. The guy down from me sells eggs on the basis of I supply the first cartons from then on bring them back and I will trade you. If you don't it is 50 cents extra per dozen and he does get them free.

 

[Sally8]

Please expound on how you new. I would love to know who laid what in my flock.

I would also like to know how you know who lays what egg. My silver spangled Hamburgs lay the 2 smaller white eggs. The frizzle, the smallest pink one, the EE's either ay green, blue or brown, the Delaware and RIR lay larger brown but 16 hens, unless I separate, how would I know? Sue