The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[pigeonguy]

I have to say something about this hawk thing. If you shoot one or shoot at one you could loose every thing you own. It is against the law and they are allowed to take everything that was involved in the killing of that raptor gun, land everything.
This happened to someone across the Field from me. He shot a hawk red tail state police picked it up off of the road or beside it or someone turned it in don't remember. Anyway they ran forensic test on the bullet traced it to the guns owner took his gun and car (said it was used to transport himself to the place hawk was shot) gave him a big fine put him on probation. The only thing that saved him from loosing his farm was that he paid a lawyer big, big dollars to prove he did not shoot it on his property.
The point I am trying to make here is if you do something against the law don't talk about it and dispose of all evidence. Don't go around saying things like I shot at him, He won't be back . Stuff like that. Just simply say had a hawk attack today hope that does not happen again.
I have read many post on here regarding this and every time it makes my blood boil and I think what are you daft shut up.
The roller pigeon association was investigated hard one time for people posting the wrong kind of statements about hawks. Almost got closed down. Again big dollar lawyers.
I'm going to let it go at that. Sorry for ranting. But take it from an OCB (old country boy) some things are best not said.
PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE THIS POST. if you feel the need to comment on it good or bad send it in a PM.

 

[pigeonguy]

To help stop hawks. Fly some flags nice big American or Canadian or what ever country your from flags. Flags make noise hawks don't like noise. put up tall flag poles though close to the ground will do you no good. Wind socks or kites that have bird shapes are good raptors are Territorial. They might try to chase it off in other words keeps them occupied fly it above your flag Make some wind chimes and hang then very high in the tall trees. Make some twirly whirlies (propellers on o stick) that have a piece of plastic that is hit like a baseball card on a bicycle spokes. Put them high very high if you have silos that is best. Why do the need to be high. Because a hawk sees its prey from very high and by the time it makes its decent wings folded back head tucked diving at speeds of over a hundred miles an hour it is to late for it to hear anything with the wind whipping by its ears.
Good and noisy wind chimes can be made from old tin pots and pans. Not aluminum or stainless steal but tin it makes lots of noise where others don't.
Some other things are putting out fake chicken decoys. These must look real. Wait till you see the look on there face when it does not run away and they think wow is that one slow meal. Then it hits the fake chicken and sinks its talons in and grabs with the beak for the kill and goes sh*t what the heck is this. He will fly off and probably not come back because of it.
That's all I can think of for now other than ground cover. You's have a nice night.
I know some are thinking this guy has only had chickens for a year. Well I had pigeons for 42 years. Same dang problems have not found the difference yet. I have also took care of other peoples chicken flocks since I was a kid and only had about 3 years of my life that I didn't. They would not let me have birds in the barracks.

 

[delisha]

Del-
Some time ago you posted about broadcasting seed on the snow in pasture so that it would come up in the spring. I believe oregano was the seed you mentioned.

Can you give us a run-down of what we could broadcast now that would come up in the pasture (without tilling or putting specifically in the garden, I mean)?

clover..that works really good in this weather too. Falls in to the cracks as the ground freezes and thaws.

 

[delisha]

Quote: Sorry about your cat

I've had several over the years

geeze soory guys..lala..and Sally and Stony and Aoxa..ruff day..

 

[zinia8]

To help stop hawks. Fly some flags nice big American or Canadian or what ever country your from flags. Flags make noise hawks don't like noise. put up tall flag poles though close to the ground will do you no good. Wind socks or kites that have bird shapes are good raptors are Territorial. They might try to chase it off  in other words keeps them occupied fly it above your flag Make some wind chimes and hang then very high in the tall trees. Make some twirly whirlies (propellers on o stick) that have a piece of plastic that is hit like a baseball card on a bicycle spokes. Put them high very high if you have silos that is best. Why do the need to be high. Because a hawk sees its prey from very high and by the time it makes its decent wings folded back head tucked diving at speeds of over a hundred miles an hour it is to late for it to hear anything with the wind whipping by its ears.
 Good and noisy wind chimes can be made from old tin pots and pans. Not aluminum or stainless steal but tin it makes lots of noise where others don't.
Some other things are putting out fake chicken decoys. These must look real. Wait till you see the look on there face when it does not run away and they think wow is that one slow meal. Then it hits the fake chicken and sinks its talons in and grabs with the beak for the kill and goes sh*t what the heck is this. He will fly off and probably not come back because of it.
That's all I can think of for now other than ground cover. You's have a nice night.
I know some are thinking this guy has only had chickens for a year. Well I had pigeons for 42 years. Same dang problems have not found the difference yet. I have also took care of other peoples chicken flocks since I was a kid and only had about 3 years of my life that I didn't. They would not let me have birds in the barracks.

Great ideas. Might have to try some. My woods is home to a breeding pair of hawks. They were here before my chickens. Chooks keep an eye on the sky at all times. Not much gets past those eyes. Neighbors radio contolled helicopter( I wished for my own minature S.A.M.) ultralight aircraft which throws them into alarm call,ducking and hiding. And then there is the Metlife and Goodyear blimp attacks. Which causes so much panic I thought they would just die in the yard.

 

[stonykill]

pigeonguy. I know I was not advocating hurting any hawks. I have found if they are run/chased off enough they move onto easier food. Thanks for the flag tip!

 

[Sally8]

In my veg garden I have scare crows on tall poles with hats on that have long streamers. That's worked fairly well against crows. 3 years ago I had to replant a large area that seeds had gotten eaten. Our garden is behind the garage, unseen from our windows. The crow sentry sits atop a telephone pole and can see our exit from front and back doors. I worked in a fabric store for over 10 years so I have lots of doo dads to stream with.

 

[armorfirelady]

A big thanks to Pullet Surprise & Delisha & Mumsy......

I ordered my heritage seeds this morning......I cant wait to get planting I never knew that there were seeds for turnips that you only ate the tops that the veggie roots was not good for eating. See you do learn something new everyday

Delisha- I couldnt picture clover in my mind.....I looked at the picture that goes with the seeds and was like duh......I have a lot of that already growing in my grass!! (blonde moment) But I did pick up a package of red clover seeds to throw in their winter run areas so it can reseed itself after I get the new coop built.

I am thinking I will plant some of the herbs in some of the extra pots I have as well......that way once it get big enough it can be a portable treat pot I can put in their area and remove it so It can regrow.

 

[off-grid hen]

Aoxa-sorry about the roo. I miss Macaroni a LOT. The coop is not the same without him even though we have the other rooster. This may sound strange, but some animals just seem to have a little something extra, and you can see it in their eyes. I could see it in my ridgeback mix that we had. Now my shepherd mix Jack, he was the best dog I ever knew, but when you looked at Fred there was something extra there that is hard to pinpoint. It was the same with Mac. The other roo, he is just a bird. A good bird. But it's not the same. I know I sound loony so I'll stop now. Sorry about Carlton, there is nothing you could have done.

Someone said something about so many people losing birds to the cold. Mac either had a bad infection due to frostbite that could not have been helped other than moving him indoors for the entire winter. That comb was his downfall. I applied Vaseline, but wet is frozen where I live, and that's that. It was either an infection or like Delisha said, he had some other ailment. If it was a different ailment, the infection from the frostbite lowered his immune system and he succumbed to the other thing. It has been just as cold and all my other birds are zipping around in the coop with no other symptoms of goopy eyes or coughing or anything else. I'm still watching. I think good nutrition is important in the cold as well, for healthy immune systems.

Leah's mom- (I wonder if you'll see this?) I was going to post that link, but we have changed a lot inside the coop and I was going to ask mod permission to clean up the original thread. I don't like the blurry photos, I would take some photos out, and we did some things differently than we had originally planned.

Regarding hawks- we have really aggressive red tails here. One dive bombed ME this summer. I chucked a pine cone at the branch it was sitting on, and it hit the branch just to the left of its foot, and it didn't move. It came back for a few days and then left but it will be back.

Mountain lions/cougars or bigger cats than bobcats- people keep saying we have them in the adirondacks, but the DEC says we don't. I haven't seen a mink or weasel, but we do have pine martens and fishers. My husband tried to rescue a squirrel from pine marten once, and it went after him! Glad he was wearing steel toe boots, lol. They are aggressive little buggers! A bald eagle nests close to my yard, we see her perched in the tall pines from time to time. We have gray foxes, red foxes, coyotes, raccoons, falcons, and countless owls. I think an owl is what got my other roo last year. Even with all the wild critters, I haven't had a predator loss since last may. *knocks on wood*

Regarding herbs- I know that thyme has antiseptic properties. Thymol is used in the seventh generation wipes and other natural disinfectant cleaning products. My mother-in-law said she used to make a tea with thyme leaves. She would have her daughter sip it, but also would apply the cooled tea topically to her cold sores and they just shriveled up and healed very quickly. I see my chickens have a few bites of my thyme plant once in a while, they must know when they need it. I don't know if I would add antiseptic herbs to my chicken's food every day as a preventative, but only when they need a boost like in the cold weather or at the beginning of the breeding season. I have such a variety of wild plants that my birds like to sample, I am sure that Mother Nature gives them what they need. But when the ground is covered in ice, they can't get it on their own. That's when I feed them extra greens and add top dressings to the food.

I am going to try grated ginger in the spring. I have a few birds that seem to be a bit on the thin side.

 

[lalaland]

do you refrigerate your eggs or just keep them on the counter? If the later it was probably frozen then if left on the counter may have caused the mess. Just a thought. I have eaten many many many frozen eggs and never saw that.

I don't refrigerate them as I don't wash them so I figure the bloom is still good. Now in the summer when it is warm, and when there are lots of eggs, then they go in the frig . the ones I seel always are refrigerated, course I am not selling anything now since I am down to an egg or two every now and then.