The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[off-grid hen]

Here is the photo of the weirdest comb I've ever seen. Like I said, it dipped into the water every time he drank.

 

[JackE]

Hey Off-Grid-Hen, How's that WoodsOnWheels working out for you?
Jack

 

[off-grid hen]

Aoxa, what do you want to know? We have two solar arrays and a battery bank. We use an outdoor wood boiler with hot water baseboard heat. We have propane for cooking and water heater. I don't have a washer or dryer, the well is too shallow. I run all CFL and LED bulbs in the house. Each room of this old camp has a switch for all the outlets so that there are no phantom loads (clock in the tv, etc) drawing power at night or not in use. For the long dark of winter when the heat runs almost constantly, we have a generator for the non sunny days. The propane generator broke so now we're using the gasoline generator. I really like it, we don't lose power like most people, but something like an incandescent bulb running 24-7 would be the most inefficient thing in my house. Every watt we use in the winter translates directly into fuel money for the generator. Can't wait til we get some longer days!

 

[off-grid hen]

Jack! The woods on wheels is working out well! . The humidity levels are low, and the temp inside the coop is a good 10-15 degrees warmer than the outside temps. Thanks SO much for your thread. Good timing, sir! I noticed you added a run, sorry about the predator losses. Nice to see you around.

 

[aoxa]

Aoxa, what do you want to know? We have two solar arrays and a battery bank. We use an outdoor wood boiler with hot water baseboard heat. We have propane for cooking and water heater. I don't have a washer or dryer, the well is too shallow. I run all CFL and LED bulbs in the house. Each room of is old camp has a switch for all the outlets so that there are no phantom loads (clock in the tv, etc) drawing power at night or not in use. For the long dark of winter when the heat runs almost constantly, we have a generator for the non sunny days. The propane generator broke so now we're using the gasoline generator. I really like it, we don't lose power like most people, but something like an incandescent bulb running 24-7 would be the most inefficient thing in my house. Every watt we use in the winter translates directly into fuel money for the generator. Can't wait til we get some longer days!

That's very interesting!!

did it cost a lot up front to start up?

 

[off-grid hen]

I don't know offhand how much. We started with a teeny little system with a couple of golf cart batteries and kept upgrading. It is by no means cheaper than getting power from the grid. Especially when you factor in replacing batteries every 5-6 years or so. There is still a monthly allocation we put towards new batteries, lol.

 

[JackE]

Jack! The woods on wheels is working out well!

. The humidity levels are low, and the temp inside the coop is a good 10-15 degrees warmer than the outside temps. Thanks SO much for your thread. Good timing, sir! I noticed you added a run, sorry about the predator losses. Nice to see you around.

Sounds good, my Wheel -less Woods is still working out for me. Yeah, had to invest in a fence, with the fox around here, I could not let them out like before. They get out and run free every now and again. But somebody's gotta be out there with them.
Jack

 

[Mumsy]

Way back in the thread there was talk about feeding broody chicks separate. I couldn't find it again.

Any hoo...I don't have a broody yet but have had plenty in the past. I like to keep the baby chicks on starter feed and their water dish cleaner and easily accessed for just them. This is my set up that has worked twenty years ago and how I will do it again. My dishes are vintage glass. vintage meaning as old as I am or older. Hah!
I made show pens for conditioning and training bantams way back when. Since I plan on doing that again I needed to work on my old cages a bit. The chicks can leave momma broody and roam in and out of the cage easily and the larger birds in the flock can't.


The weather here is a balmy 38 degrees and raining gently.
The now two year old Johnny in the orchard watching over his girls.


The boy in all his glory minus his missing spur.

 

[SandBsmom]

Aww...your wife is a lucky lady! I wouldn' t put it past these smart suckers...I notice my roo watches all my behaviour.. That and also teaching your wife about simple body movement is key. The minute submit, and back away, they see it as weakness, and installs them as dominant. Not just chickens either. The key to getting respect from horses is getting them to move thier feet, fowards, backwards ,left and right. The second a horse knows they can move you... you'll be pushed and knocked around from that point on.

Great story Pidgeon!

MB






Hi MB:

I was interested in your comment about the horses. I didn't realize it was the same theory with chickens as far as getting respect. Is this really true with the roosters? I have had one or two roosters that would charge me or my husband or my boys. I wasn't sure what to do to keep them from acting so rude. I am very familiar with "moving their feet" in horse training and respect (Parelli & Anderson) so, if this works, I may be able to deal with the rooster issue!! I just didn't know what to do to stop the roosters from doing the charging/flogging.

Angela

Hi Angela,
I'm a horse trainer too and the rooster thing is similar to horses but I feel the roosters need to be a little more dominated that the horses. I make mine move and then chase him down, scoop him up and carry him around like a baby complete with smooching and petting and baby talk. He acts very indignant for a few minutes then settles right in and usually goes to sleep! The adjustment usually lasts a few weeks or until he wakes up with his panties in a bunch.
I try to hold him as often as I can. Now if he even looks at me sideways I ask him in a sickenly sweet baby voice if he wants to snuggle. He usually runs away once he hears that!

 

[chickencowranch]

If you "Quote" this post, and add your name and pick to it,,we can keep track of the voting. This is of course, if you want to weigh in on such an important,, earth shattering vote!

So far we have

Bulldogma- Welcome Wagon
Melabella- Welcome Wagon
Mumsy-Welcome Wagon
Jockeyeba-Welcome Wagon

sorry if I missed anyone...

chickencowranch-Welcome Wagon I probably didn't do this right. What are we voting for?