The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

i was wondering about adding grass clippings to ff, anyone try that?

I have an aquaintence that is in his 80's. He tells me his mother (talk about "Old Timers") told him NEVER to feed the chickens grass clippings because they'll cause impacted crop.

Because of his - and other people's warnings I've read - I am very careful w/grass clippings. If you feed I understand they need to be short. When a chicken grazes grass they break off small pieces. When it's clipped like w/a lawn mower, they go down in longer pieces and some people say that it can cause impacted crop, since they're harder to pass out of the crop.

I am planning on saving all grass clippings and drying them next year to use for hay during the winter. I do use my grass clippings in the nests! I put a small amount of wood shavings down, then dried grass on top of that. They love that and it smells nice too.

 

[Mumsy]

Me first! Me first!

First before picture of Johnny's feet. I have had him a month. He is maybe 6/8 months old. Hasn't begun to crow. Won't see a lady chicken for another year and a half. Get a load of those baby spur buds!



Tonight. I pulled him off the roost. He was not thrilled with me and grumbled loudly in my ear the whole time I was trying to hold his feet still while the husband took the picture. You can see the red but it is much more pronounced in the morning when they are wet in the grass. The red blush goes all the way up his shanks.


I really thought he was hurt the first time I saw his feet this coloring.
He has but one spur, but beware!

 

[hotrodflash]

i was wondering about adding grass clippings to ff, anyone try that?

I don't add grass clippings to their FF but I do pick grass from a few spots in the yard that have tall green grass and throw it in their run. I normally let them free range in the afternoon but they are "on restriction" at the moment. I just added two new Light Sussex hens and they are acclimating to the run, coop and the other chickens. All is going very well and they may get to go out tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Have you guys seen this website? Or tried any of this?
http://www.grit.com/fresh-eggs-daily/nesting-box-herbs-chicken-aromatherapy.aspx

Nesting box herbs, aromatherapy for chickens. I thought it was interesting. I might plant some herbs in the spring and try it out.

I have read that and really enjoyed it. Here's another post on using herbs in the nest box...and a chance to win a blend too!

 

[Elliemae 77]

Oh, I didn't mean DE for Cocci, I just thought it might be a good thing to add for dust bathing....at least its some kind of dirt till things warm up a little. DL is not an option since they will be in the house with us till spring. If my hubby gets a whiff of chickens I'm not gonna hear the end of it. They are 5-6 weeks old. I will start to add a little bit of shavings from the coop tomorrow. And I might start adding pepper and garlic too. Do I need to boil and mash up the garlic, or put in a blender or what?

 

[Ashdoes]

Mumsy, that is exactly what my boys feet look like! Red between the toes and up just a little.

 

[Mumsy]

About grass in FF. I don't. I'm putting Oregano, and Alfalfa cubes in once a week to ferment but my Spring is getting close and there is new grass coming up now. I will be phasing the alfalfa out soon. I dig up sod clumps of long grass twice a week for my chicks. They also have grass hay in the DL. I have watched three week old chicks slurp down long strings of grass and hay like they were kids with spaghetti noodles. No problems with crop binding or sour crop or any kind of crop thing with them. The adult chickens are leaving the fermented alfalfa in the dish for last. They graze the orchard short grass.

I add Cod Liver oil to my chicks FF dish each morning along with the powdered garlic and Cayenne. I give them scrambled eggs every three days. When the chicks see me coming into the barn, they climb over each other to get to the dish first. They all have begun climbing onto my hands to eat first before I even get a chance to spoon it into the dish.

Husband just finished a chick run today. Our weather is improving everyday. They will go outside for the first time soon!

 

[delisha]

Quote: It sounds wonderful..you can keep dumping too..it will all break down..when you put your clover in you can cover up the seeds to keep the chickens from digging them up too.

 

[jendodd79]

Made an interesting observation on my roo Johnny's leg coloring. I'm curious if any others have noticed this on their own birds.

When I got my rescue, he had pale yellow legs. They looked better for a while after I had him on All purpose crumble. Then he was mite infested and they got pale again. Then I switched over to FF feed three months back. I add a bit of Scratch cracked corn to the ferment. Not a lot. I don't throw scratch out for my flock any longer either because they are fatties. (getting slimmer). Any hoo. I started putting Cayenne over their FF after I ladle it out each morning. Sometimes when I'm out of Cayenne, I'll sprinkle red pepper flakes with seeds. Everybody gets this on their FF when I have it.

I noticed Johnny getting blood red coloring flecked over the bright yellow of his legs. Really red freckling. When I first saw it I thought he was raw and sore or bloody. Nope. Just brilliant coloring coming into his leg coloring and between his toes. My gut tells me it started with the Cayenne and Red pepper flakes. Just an observation out of the ordinary. I haven't noticed any red in the hens legs. Anyone else see this?

That's really interesting! I take cayenne in my tea frequently to try and avoid getting this terrible flu that's going around, I wonder!! I'd love to see a picture! (whoops! Just saw it!)

I have a question about putting DL in the runs - is it OK if the run isn't covered? It seems like it would get really soggy in there, but I really don't know what I'm talking about (yet!)

 

[delisha]

I toss my fresh grass clipping on the compost pile..the chickens have free access to the pile..I have no idea what they eat in it and I do not want to know....some pretty gross stuff goes in there.