The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[pigeonguy]

I have the most terrible news I can ever imagine typing here...

My barn..

My birds.

My Clementine.

All gone...

The barn caught fire and nothing is left. I don't even know.. I don't know what to say. My heart is broken.

I wish I could be there to offer my shoulder. I have feeling about this I can not describe. My deepest sympathies to you and yours.

 

[rowerjen]

The barn caught fire and nothing is left. I don't even know.. I don't know what to say. My heart is broken.

I am so sorry Aoxa. I can't even imagine how hard this must be for you.

 

[galefrances]

I am so very sorry for your loss Aoxa. I am speechless.


Gale

 

[aoxa]

You guys are the best.

To hear some of you are naming your birds after my beloved flock made me cry uncontrollably. That is something that I would treasure forever. Please do.

The tips on the barn are great as well. Thank you for the suggestions. We already have pipes running out to the barn site underground, and that looked to still be standing. One of the few things left..

A big washtub sink is a must. I would love to set up a grooming area. I will keep all of you guys informed. Will be posting as soon as we know the cause, though the firefighters did say it happened around where our brooder and power block was. I do not think it was the heat lamp. I'm almost certain it was all the cords we had haphazardly hung around. Not knowing. Not thinking.

All of your guys' kind words helped me through this terrible day. I'm so glad I could at least help some of you consider what you are doing down at your own barn in terms of cords and heat and whatever...

 

[lalaland]

oh aoxa I am so sorry. This is hearbreaking news. I wish I could walk over, give you a hug, offer some comfort, and help in some way. I can only join everyone else in sending love and hope. You are probably in shock, and I hope you can be extra gentle with yourself and your fiance in the coming days and weeks as you recover from this hard hard blow. Please take care.

 

[Dahlisgrams]

OMG I am so sorry, words are just so inadequate Aoxa.. I'm praying for you to find peace with this horrible loss. It's so heartbreaking.. simply beyond comprehension.

 

[midnightroo]

At some point I think we were talking about growing things that the chickens could eat. I grew jerusalem artichokes this past summer. I thought they were be pretty, hide the front of the house that gets a ton of afternoon sun and hopefully my family would enjoy the tubers. The plants grew like crazy , flowered finally about September and I got about 5 - 5 gallon buckets from the one order I received from gurneys. We though, do not like the tubers, so the chickens will be getting them. I put a giant piece in the run and they haven't touched it, so I shredded some in the food processor with hopes to dry. Didn't work, took too much time, I was impatient. So I am going to ff it with some feed and start switching them over. Below a few pictures of my project. This was maybe 1/3 of the five gallon bucket, in my opinion, it made alot! Sorry for the quality, I didn't double check the photos when my daughter was taking them.

I also was wondering if a hawk sitting outside/on top the covered run would scare chickens enough not to lay eggs. I don't know if it happens all the time or if today was just a one time occurrence, but we happen to see the hawk sitting right on the covered run today. Couldn't see the chickens, probably in the coop usually are by that time, but then he flew off a minute or so later. I am getting impatient about not getting any eggs and I am looking for a reason.

 

[delisha]

At some point I think we were talking about growing things that the chickens could eat. I grew jerusalem artichokes this past summer. I thought they were be pretty, hide the front of the house that gets a ton of afternoon sun and hopefully my family would enjoy the tubers. The plants grew like crazy , flowered finally about September and I got about 5 - 5 gallon buckets from the one order I received from gurneys. We though, do not like the tubers, so the chickens will be getting them. I put a giant piece in the run and they haven't touched it, so I shredded some in the food processor with hopes to dry. Didn't work, took too much time, I was impatient. So I am going to ff it with some feed and start switching them over. Below a few pictures of my project. This was maybe 1/3 of the five gallon bucket, in my opinion, it made alot! Sorry for the quality, I didn't double check the photos when my daughter was taking them.

I also was wondering if a hawk sitting outside/on top the covered run would scare chickens enough not to lay eggs. I don't know if it happens all the time or if today was just a one time occurrence, but we happen to see the hawk sitting right on the covered run today. Couldn't see the chickens, probably in the coop usually are by that time, but then he flew off a minute or so later. I am getting impatient about not getting any eggs and I am looking for a reason.

Yes..a hawk sitting around will stop the hens from laying..stress of any kind will stop our hens from laying..

 

[delisha]

At some point I think we were talking about growing things that the chickens could eat. I grew jerusalem artichokes this past summer. I thought they were be pretty, hide the front of the house that gets a ton of afternoon sun and hopefully my family would enjoy the tubers. The plants grew like crazy , flowered finally about September and I got about 5 - 5 gallon buckets from the one order I received from gurneys. We though, do not like the tubers, so the chickens will be getting them. I put a giant piece in the run and they haven't touched it, so I shredded some in the food processor with hopes to dry. Didn't work, took too much time, I was impatient. So I am going to ff it with some feed and start switching them over. Below a few pictures of my project. This was maybe 1/3 of the five gallon bucket, in my opinion, it made alot! Sorry for the quality, I didn't double check the photos when my daughter was taking them.

I also was wondering if a hawk sitting outside/on top the covered run would scare chickens enough not to lay eggs. I don't know if it happens all the time or if today was just a one time occurrence, but we happen to see the hawk sitting right on the covered run today. Couldn't see the chickens, probably in the coop usually are by that time, but then he flew off a minute or so later. I am getting impatient about not getting any eggs and I am looking for a reason.

Did you feed them the green parts? Chicks love sunchoke greens..if the tubors were left to long in the ground or if they were harvested to early they will be bitter and they will not like them. Sunchokes are pretty plants and great to plant close to chicken runs for shade and food.

 

[NJchixs]

Aoxa just so very sorry.

I hope the rebuilding process gives you hope and strength.