The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Shan30]

Sorry to change the subject but does anyone haw any good natural remedies for chickens with what appears to be a cold?

A few are suddenly sneezing and one has her left eye closed. The eye appears normal when I open it.

Everyone is eating and drinking normally. Although one had some super stinky poop yesterday.

Should I hook up one of the heat lamps and see if they seek out the heat? Warm food? Tea?

 

[Mumsy]

Getting the incubator set up and ready to go in a couple days. Phoebe and Edith are laying every day and the eggs are perfect every time. Amazing to me since they are Orp crosses with I have no idea what.
I'm learning a few new tricks on BYC that I'm keen to try this time around in preparation for the expensive shipped eggs due in March.
Have read about using toy water weasels for use with a probe thermometer. I made my own since why spend more $ if you don't have to.


Took a vacumm seal bag filled with water and doubled it up then sealed it again with hot glue. It doesn't leak and the probe slips right into it.


I will be practice progeny testing Phoebe and Edith's eggs. Still saving $ so used a bit of hardware cloth and zip ties. Used electrical tape on the top edge sharp places. Shelve liner in place. Distilled water bought. Sponge in the ready for lock down. Need to collect six more eggs by Sunday.



Phoebe's first egg is quite a bit smaller than her seventh. That store bought white one is a Large.



And now the drum roll please!!! Johnny is two years old. He had never been with a hen until two months ago. PHOEBE'S EGG IS FERTILE!

Ok...I'll stop shouting now. HAH!
This is going to be a fun hatch. No stress. No worries. All the females will be given to my two daughters and the males go to freezer camp eventually.

 

[jockeyeba]

Getting the incubator set up and ready to go in a couple days. Phoebe and Edith are laying every day and the eggs are perfect every time. Amazing to me since they are Orp crosses with I have no idea what. I'm learning a few new tricks on BYC that I'm keen to try this time around in preparation for the expensive shipped eggs due in March. Have read about using toy water weasels for use with a probe thermometer. I made my own since why spend more $ if you don't have to. Took a vacumm seal bag filled with water and doubled it up then sealed it again with hot glue. It doesn't leak and the probe slips right into it. I will be practice progeny testing Phoebe and Edith's eggs. Still saving $ so used a bit of hardware cloth and zip ties. Used electrical tape on the top edge sharp places. Shelve liner in place. Distilled water bought. Sponge in the ready for lock down. Need to collect six more eggs by Sunday. Phoebe's first egg is quite a bit smaller than her seventh. That store bought white one is a Large. And now the drum roll please!!! Johnny is two years old. He had never been with a hen until two months ago. PHOEBE'S EGG IS FERTILE! :yiipchick Ok...I'll stop shouting now. HAH! This is going to be a fun hatch. No stress. No worries. All the females will be given to my two daughters and the males go to freezer camp eventually.

I've checked my WR & Dotte eggs but I don't think their fertile even though both the 8 1/2 mo. old Dotte boys are trying

 

[stonykill]

Hey Stony!....I have a question for you about ducks. Now I'll start by saying what I really want is Sebastopol geese, but they're pretty hard to find at the moment. So I'm looking into ducks and wondering which you would recommend. I have two Bostons that do really well with the chickens, as long as the chickens show them to stay away. I would need a breed of duck that's maybe a bit taller like the Cochins and bossy like my barred rock. Noise doesn't matter, and egg production isn't exactly important either. What would you suggest?

my duck experience at the moment is limited to 2 breeds. Pekins and Runners. Both get along with chickens fine. Sumatra hens and roosters are in and out of the duck pen all day long. My Runners for the most part aren't bossy. The Pekin girls can be. I've watched them chase away a rooster giving a hen a hard time. My Pekin girls don't put up with anyone's nonsense. And my Pekins lay a decent amount of eggs. They are pretty vocal. But I like that

. The Runners are taller than chickens but don't weigh a lot. But like I said they get along with my chickens just fine.

I know others have other breeds. Miss Lydia and Aoxa have ducks as well as others. Lets see what they say.

Geese are on our "to get' list.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Getting the incubator set up and ready to go in a couple days. Phoebe and Edith are laying every day and the eggs are perfect every time. Amazing to me since they are Orp crosses with I have no idea what.
I'm learning a few new tricks on BYC that I'm keen to try this time around in preparation for the expensive shipped eggs due in March.
Have read about using toy water weasels for use with a probe thermometer. I made my own since why spend more $ if you don't have to.


Took a vacumm seal bag filled with water and doubled it up then sealed it again with hot glue. It doesn't leak and the probe slips right into it.


I will be practice progeny testing Phoebe and Edith's eggs. Still saving $ so used a bit of hardware cloth and zip ties. Used electrical tape on the top edge sharp places. Shelve liner in place. Distilled water bought. Sponge in the ready for lock down. Need to collect six more eggs by Sunday.



Phoebe's first egg is quite a bit smaller than her seventh. That store bought white one is a Large.



And now the drum roll please!!! Johnny is two years old. He had never been with a hen until two months ago. PHOEBE'S EGG IS FERTILE!

Ok...I'll stop shouting now. HAH!
This is going to be a fun hatch. No stress. No worries. All the females will be given to my two daughters and the males go to freezer camp eventually.

 

[pcappy2]

Broody question.....I've gone back and read about placing a different chicks eggs under a broody and sometimes they will accept it. ???? If you put day old baby chicks under her would she accept them or just eggs??

 

[delisha]

Quote: Most of mine make a nest elswhere, unless they come across a nest with eggs in it. They are known for stealing nests. I try to make sure I keep the nest empty of eggs. When it gets later and warmer I let them start collecting in odd places and I replace those with golf balls.

 

[Bulldogma]

Sorry to change the subject but does anyone haw any good natural remedies for chickens with what appears to be a cold?

A few are suddenly sneezing and one has her left eye closed. The eye appears normal when I open it.

Everyone is eating and drinking normally. Although one had some super stinky poop yesterday.

Should I hook up one of the heat lamps and see if they seek out the heat? Warm food? Tea?

Check out this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/729825/all-natural-herbal-remedies-and-recipes-for-chickens

Is your coop well ventilated? Winter time is bad for respiratory illness, and it can be made much much worse if your coop is not well ventilated. Also, you should separate any sick birds to try to prevent the rest of the flock from becoming ill also.

Good luck - and welcome to the thread!

 

[Bulldogma]

Sneak preview! There is a new thing in that place.

 

[loanwizard]

http://www.ehow.com/facts_7467106_can-fences-harm-small-children_.html

Sorry to take so long to get back to y'all. Busy day at the car lot.

On electric fence by what I know, which is admittedly not everything, but I use it on my own 4 acres, have hundreds of birds at times, hogs, dogs, cats, children from a newborn due in June, a 3 year old, and 6 from 12-18.

1st, pulsing electric fencing should not harm other than a very unpleasant jolt that will make a child cry but not need a trip to the hospital. I am not saying if a child has an arhythmia that it cannot cause problems or even death, or that is some weird case that they got tangled in it...... get the picture?

I have personally peed on the electric fence and it hasn't reached out and touched me so to speak. Go to snopes and check out the legends.

There is no way in hades I would use netting to electrify an entire acre or more. In fact, I wouldn't string together more than 2 of Premier's fences together, because I am the one that has to move them.

In fencing, these are the basic options that I know of.

1. Locust posts and woven wire. Permanent, but can be dug under.
2. Barbed wire
3. Chainlink
4 Electric
5 Electric netting.

About electric fencing, both netting and regular- Animals need training. Electric is NOT a physical barrier but a psychological one. Even after training, if an animal is frightened, they WILL go through it.

About a 1 acre tract. What I would do, not that I am telling anyone what to do, but with my finances allocated to the farm, this is what I would do and what I am doing with my 4 acres.

I would fence the perimeter with regular electric fencing. I have a 20 mile charger (electric) that is adequate for the job. I run a 2 wire system but I have hogs, sheep may be different. Mine will be created with rotational grazing in mind with several quarter acre lots made adjacent to one another with electric fence gates. I would use the electric netting as moveable fencing for the poultry and or the sheep. I would also have a training area which is a small area of woven wire permanently installed with electric inside it with colored tape tied to it at 3 foot intervals.

When training the animals, they go into the small enclosure. If and when they see the electric fence they will nose or back into it. When it shocks them, they have 2 options- back up, or go through. The woven wire, or in my case, a stall, prevents them going through and they learn to give the electric wire a wide berth. It doesn't take long. I wish I had pictures of the jailbreak I had when I didn't train my hogs lol!

IMHO, electric is the cheapest to go,

Shawn