The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

Quote: http://www.farmandfleet.com/product...-electric-water-heater-base.html#.UOiZ1HfNkYI

 

[Mumsy]

I have a question about sphagnum peat moss. Have any of you used it in your dust bath areas? Everything here has been covered in snow for 2 weeks. I only had a shovel full of wood ashes from the outdoor boiler (it's really effeicient!). I mixed it with about 1/3 of a brick of the peat moss I had in the garden shed. The girls loved it, so I'm sure it's fine, just checking bc I've ever used it before.
Happy new year everyone! Also-I see another off-gridder here now. Welcome!

I use sphagnum peat moss in my deep litter. I just came in from the barn after watching two hens dust bathing in the the middle of the isle.
I use it because I'm a gardener. I use this DL on my raised beds, Blueberries, and Raspberry beds. I have found no down side to its use except it can be dusty. I have allergy and bronchitis issues so sometimes I wear a dust mask when I'm forking it over. But not always.
My dusting area is outside behind the barn and is covered. It is 1/4 fine dirt and 3/4 wood ash. The flock prefers the DL with the sphagnum peat moss. Go figure?!

edited to add: Since adding sphagnum peat moss to my DL the moisture in said DL has dried up significantly. This is a huge benefit living in the PNW. Everything is always damp from the moisture in the air.

 

[TeriO]

Thanks so much for your response. How long does this behavior usually last? Thanks again.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I saw this youtube from a gal in Australia in an organic chickens group that I'm a part of and thought y'all would enjoy. Its for one of the heat pads you use for arthritis, etc. Very creative, cute, and an enjoyable video!



If you go to youtube and click on the "more information" at the bottom, she tells how she heats and/or freezes it for use.

 

[Bulldogma]

Thought I'd pass this tidbit along. On the former OT thread pretty much every time a bare back hen was brought up, OT's said cull the hen. Well I had 1 coop with 2 of 4 hens in there...both of the bareback hens were White Leghorns. I also had a off again...on again egg eating problem in this coop. So anyway .......

.......... Thanksgiving week I put their rooster in freezer camp, and put a larger rooster in his place. Egg eating stopped immediately and has not restarted. The hens are fully feathered now and have been for at least a month. Beautiful healthy feathers. The previous 6 months they hardly had any feathers. A simple rooster swap fixed the problem and my fantastic laying hens still are alive laying and not in the freezer.

. Simple point being just because you raised chickens for 20 to 40 years does not mean you are always right

. I suspected the rooster was the problem and in this case I was correct. Food for thought..............

Food for thought... and bad rooster for food! Works for me! As soon as you're done with your blog post on Broody Hens, perhaps I can talk you into doing a post on this! (The rooster issue - not the OT issue)

I had a hen with a bare patch for about 6 months. I repeatedly checked for lice and mites and find nothing. I never found anyone pecking at her. I tried blue kote (what a mess) and pick no more lotion from rooster booster. Nothing worked. Then I tried nustock. I applied it 3 times and the patch didn't seem to go away immediately. I thought I'd just leave it be to see if I could eventually see some other symptoms/cause. She was laying fine and had no other issues that i could see. But amount 2 weeks later, I saw some little pin feathers. She had started to grow the feathers back and then went into molt. The bare patch hasn't come back. I don't know if the nustock did it, but I don't know how fast you see pins after application. I only have 2 roosters. It could be that the other 12 pullets came into lay and she wasn't mounted as much by the roosters, but I am not so sure about that. The other favorites of the boys (more actively mated than her) never had that issue. It's one of those little mysteries, guess.
I have a question about sphagnum peat moss. Have any of you used it in your dust bath areas? Everything here has been covered in snow for 2 weeks. I only had a shovel full of wood ashes from the outdoor boiler (it's really effeicient!). I mixed it with about 1/3 of a brick of the peat moss I had in the garden shed. The girls loved it, so I'm sure it's fine, just checking bc I've ever used it before.
Happy new year everyone! Also-I see another off-gridder here now. Welcome!

From the sound of it I would guess the hen had a fungal issue going on. Because roosters (like all chickens) scratch and peck the ground, they can pick up fungus' which they might then introduce to the hen's back when mating. The fungus is able to take hold when the rooster inadvertently scratches the hen's skin. Just a guess...

 

[delisha]

I'm sorry but this is kind of off topic. I am fairly new to BYC but needed to ask a question. I have 4 7 month old BO. They all started laying in October and I have been getting 3 to 4 eggs a day without fail. They are all healthy no problems. ACV in water and layer crumbles available at all times and DLM, I have one pullet that is apparently broody, no eggs under her but the others lay in the nest box next to her. I remove her at least 2 to 3 times a day to get food, water and excercise but she still insists on getting back on the nest with no eggs. I am just want to make sure her health will not suffer if I am not getting her out to eat each day. There are no eggs to sit on that are fertilized. Is this normal? Thanks I just want to do right by her. Thanks.

 

[stonykill]

Food for thought... and bad rooster for food! Works for me! As soon as you're done with your blog post on Broody Hens, perhaps I can talk you into doing a post on this! (The rooster issue - not the OT issue)

lol.... I made a funny and didn't realize it

.

Sounds like a plan!

 

[delisha]

Quote: Thanks so much for your response. How long does this behavior usually last? Thanks again.

I am going to guess, this is what you are referring to. I apologize if I am wrong. I am wrong often and I am so used to it it does not bother me at all. Ask my kids.

This is tuff to answer. All chickens are different. I had a broody sitting on a nest recently and I took her off and put her in a cage for two hours. They are not all that easy. I was surprised that I did not have to do it again today. I have no idea if I will have to do it again soon or not. She *sounds* broody. That low growl and chitter of a disturbed broody. We will see.

Some breeds of birds never stop. You simply need to get a breed of bird that lays eggs and does not set. It is more difficult to find a broody than an egg layer who never sets.

Orpingtons, Silkies, Cochins.. usually start to lay and after a month they go broody. Than they go broody ever few months after.

I am sure there are tons of other breeds that do the same.

 

[off-grid hen]

BDM- I guess I will always wonder. I remember checking the skin, and the only time it looked even slightly pink or irritated was when she was out in the sun all day. I watched as the patch grew no matter what I did. Again, she was the only hen with that issue. The feathers on the edge of the patched looked broken off, so I always assumed it was happening during the roost scuffles at night. If it happens again I will maybe take a sample and get a biopsy.

Btw- the blog is looking good.

And thanks to everyone for the feedback on the peat moss.

 

[Bulldogma]

Btw- the blog is looking good.

Thank you! I got a chance to make a few more fun tweaks today. Updated search stuff on the Index page and a new "About Us" page. I may "chicken out" and take the photos of myself off that tab. LOL.

Delisha and Leahs Mom - if you have any photos of yourself, I'd love to put them on the About Us page too... so I don't look so dorky standing there all by my lonesome!