The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[CESpeed]

Kids take all the energy right out of you. This time of year, my nephew is more hyper and talks so loud. He should have his hearing checked I tell you.

I didn't see the chickens at all today. I had a cold right before Christmas, and was shocked when it went away the same day. Well now it's back and it is the worst cold I've had in a couple years. Hope it doesn't turn to bronchitis again. Vicks, lotion tissues and honey lozenges. I may end up taking something more for sleep. Cold season is in full swing here! I blame it on the hustle and bustle of holidays.

I did get to cut up the roosters I processed on Saturday. Also tasted it. OH MY. SOOOO much better that I did the killing here, and with the killing cone. So tender and has a whole lot of flavour.

Cut up 5 of them into thighs, drumsticks, wings, breasts, loose meat pieces for stir fry and then the rest for boiling for stew. Left two whole and am giving one to the friend who helped me pluck. It was a very productive weekend.

Try Ricola honey-lemon with echinecea. It's awesome. It soothes throat and busts up sinus congestion. Sometines it's all I take and everything is clearded up in a couple of days.

 

[jendodd79]

I make a tea of hot water, lemon, apple cider vinegar, ginger, cayenne pepper, honey and garlic. I drink it and drink it for 24 hours and it halts everything! Good luck!

 

[Sally8]

I tried raw but they didn't want to keep it in their bowls which isn't so good when they are house dogs and i really didn't want raw meet on the floor in the house. or on the sofa or rug. 

There is nothing quite like being in bed and all of a sudden you feel something wet-like, only to pick it up and see that it s a bone with raw meat still attached! It sure puts me in a mood!

 

[Mumsy]

Walt is Fowlman01 on BYC and is a long-time breeder, experienced show judge, and oldtimer contributor on the 2 threads that Beekissed started. I had stated that crooked toes were thought to be from incubator temp fluctuations or genetic, and he replied that he felt that most were genetic. I have had crooked toes from broody-hatched very expensive Ameraucana and Salmon Faverolles shipped eggs from very reputable breeders.

That is interesting. The only crooked toe chicks I've had came from incubator issues. I do remember having to euthanize some Cornish x chicks at two weeks back in the mid 1980's with legs and feet that sort of went to pot on them. I was told that was common with that breed at that time. I never raised that breed again. I am a strong believer in doing what works best for me. I cull deformed chicks and stop using breeders that passed them. I will correct problems with chicks that got that way from my incubating errors. Keeping careful records is the most useful thing I have to not repeat errors. My incubator and hatch-er are tools. Those good records I kept on this last hatch will serve me better next time I set eggs.

 

[lalaland]

BABIES ARE HERE

Standby for Photos!​

 

[lalaland]

it is about -15 here today. Inside it is usually 0 in the coop no matter how cold it is outside. It will be ok..

Thanks, Delisha, you were right, of course! When I checked on them later in the day, they were eating and a little more active.



All these pics of chicks, silkies, and that darling puppy!

 

[flagirl]

Have been reading this thread when the ot and gnarly threads disappeared. Lost an ee pullet to a hawk this afternoon. how come they only take the ones that are consistant layers and not the ones doing nothing and probably going to be culled

have chickens for over 1 yr and this is my first hawk attack. guess they will be staying in for a few days.

 

[Pullet Surprise]

Have been reading this thread when the ot and gnarly threads disappeared. Lost an ee pullet to a hawk this afternoon. how come they only take the ones that are consistant layers and not the ones doing nothing and probably going to be culled

have chickens for over 1 yr and this is my first hawk attack. guess they will be staying in for a few days.

Oh so sorry.....

 

[Bulldogma]

So Happy I am!!

MB

MB - Congratulations on 2 laying pullets!!!!

Since we're sharing pics of babies...here's our girl, 8 weeks 22lbs.
Maiden

She's met the chickens and is wary so far. She got a little too close to the BR and got pecked pretty good. As soon as winter break is done I'll start taking her with me for chicken chores. Puppies are fun!

What a pretty puppy!

Binkus is the female and Stinkus male. Took this picture the day after I brought them home.
Even though their poofy heads are raggedy, they are still pretty birds in my view. A couple months made a big difference in their sizes. Still small just the way I like them. They love their FF!
I love this picture. I believe they may be from the same hatch. Such a big difference at 5 1/2 months. Binkus is very girly and Stinkus is all boy. They are absolutley bonded to each other.

Mumsy - The pictures are great but the names... I love the names you gave them! LOL!

I have two hatched and the same one that piped last night and one more piped..all my shipped eggs are quiet..makes me nervous

Congrats on a second chick hatched and

for the others!!!

And my favourite little splash Ameraucana bantam who is 8 weeks old today. Dovely. Before she got her beard, she reminded me of a dove. They are so tiny. Probably the size of a 3 week old Barred Rock chick. They'll be just about a pound and a half full grown.

I can see the dove resemblance! What a pretty girl!

With the girls out of school and Maiden being new I'm taking a break from major chicken chores.

I'm going absolutely bonkers with all my kids at home. My brain is completely fried - haven't had any time to work on the blog or anything else I have been wanting to do... and even if I could grab a few minutes, my brain is apparently malfunctioning from the... excitement. LOL. I'm going to bed early tonight. I miss school!!!!!

Have been reading this thread when the ot and gnarly threads disappeared. Lost an ee pullet to a hawk this afternoon. how come they only take the ones that are consistant layers and not the ones doing nothing and probably going to be culled

have chickens for over 1 yr and this is my first hawk attack. guess they will be staying in for a few days.

Oh - I'm so sorry for your loss!!!

Welcome to the thread. We're glad to have you!

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

And for my own brain-frazzled update... The silkies did great today! It was their first time free ranging in their lives. It took them a while to get the concept, but once they discovered there were bugs to chase and new grasses to taste, they had a blast! I kept checking on them. They made it about 25 feet out from their coop. My bantam cochin roo stayed with them for a little while at first (they're the first "mature" ladies he's been around, and he was trying to figure "things" out... unsuccessfully) but then he got bored and went back to the rest of the flock who ranges all over this part of the farm. He came back to check on them a few times, but apparently free ranging and foraging were far more interesting than fuzzy love.

It will be fun to see the Silkies learn more about free ranging in the next few days!

I have to drive into town tomorrow to take my girls to the dentist... oh yay... and I'll be making a pit stop on the way to pick up some fertile RIR, and red and black sex-link eggs - a dozen for $2. I figure while the RIRs aren't going to be the heritage birds I eventually want, I'd rather spend $2 to make sure our new (cheap-o) incubator works! I've had it running for the past few days to try to get it all calibrated - I'm getting some flux in temperatures. It mostly stays at 99-100, but will drop to 98 and has bumped up to 101-102 a time or two (not for very long). If this flux is going to be a BIG problem, I want to hear from all of you with experience. I'll move it into a smaller room where I may be able to control the ambient room temperature a little better... but I'm still a little concerned. What do you all think??

 

[aoxa]

MB - Congratulations on 2 laying pullets!!!!


What a pretty puppy!


Mumsy - The pictures are great but the names... I love the names you gave them! LOL!


Congrats on a second chick hatched and

for the others!!!


I can see the dove resemblance! What a pretty girl!


I'm going absolutely bonkers with all my kids at home. My brain is completely fried - haven't had any time to work on the blog or anything else I have been wanting to do... and even if I could grab a few minutes, my brain is apparently malfunctioning from the... excitement. LOL. I'm going to bed early tonight. I miss school!!!!!


Oh - I'm so sorry for your loss!!!

Welcome to the thread. We're glad to have you!

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

And for my own brain-frazzled update... The silkies did great today! It was their first time free ranging in their lives. It took them a while to get the concept, but once they discovered there were bugs to chase and new grasses to taste, they had a blast! I kept checking on them. They made it about 25 feet out from their coop. My bantam cochin roo stayed with them for a little while at first (they're the first "mature" ladies he's been around, and he was trying to figure "things" out... unsuccessfully) but then he got bored and went back to the rest of the flock who ranges all over this part of the farm. He came back to check on them a few times, but apparently free ranging and foraging were far more interesting than fuzzy love.

It will be fun to see the Silkies learn more about free ranging in the next few days!

I have to drive into town tomorrow to take my girls to the dentist... oh yay... and I'll be making a pit stop on the way to pick up some fertile RIR, and red and black sex-link eggs - a dozen for $2. I figure while the RIRs aren't going to be the heritage birds I eventually want, I'd rather spend $2 to make sure our new (cheap-o) incubator works! I've had it running for the past few days to try to get it all calibrated - I'm getting some flux in temperatures. It mostly stays at 99-100, but will drop to 98 and has bumped up to 101-102 a time or two (not for very long). If this flux is going to be a BIG problem, I want to hear from all of you with experience. I'll move it into a smaller room where I may be able to control the ambient room temperature a little better... but I'm still a little concerned. What do you all think??

A drop to 98 is fine, a spike to 102 is definitely not. That will be really hard on the embryos, and you'll lose a lot if it stays that temp for a modest amount of time. A few minutes, sure it will be fine, but I would try to keep it from getting that high. Room temp fluctuations are not great with those styrofoam incubators. Mine is terrible with it - and we heat by fire, so temps re never consistent.

Congrats on the successful free ranging! Even if they didn't go far, it's nice that they had the freedom. I wish we still had bugs. It's been so cold here - the only bugs I've seen are spiders in our basement.