The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

I wouldn't give up on them! Sometimes when mine have refused something ...avoiding it like the plague and giving it the "evil chicken eye"... A couple weeks later they eat it like it's going out of style.

Now...I know you probably have offered it over and over but...some folks give up the first time and never try again and those chickens are...well.... chicken when it comes to new stuff!

I offer it all the time..they are with different breeds that love it. I hope eventually they will..With this weather I worry about nutrients. They are not outside that often and very little to find out there. The older birds do not have trouble finding things..just those young things..and especially these HRIR for some reason.

 

[Ashdoes]

Really good book about worm composting is "Worms Eat My Garbage." I've been vermicomposting with red wrigglers for more than a year. I'll need them much less once I have chickens, because I can feed more of my "leftovers" to chickens than worms. I harvest castings a couple times a year. It's time-consuming (I want to keep as many babies & egg sacks as I can) but the plants sure love it! Also seriously cuts down on the amount of garbage I have to put out for pick up.

How do you harvest the casings?

 

[delisha]

Delisha~From my reading, ducklings need more Niacin then chicks do, so if I can't find waterfowl feed, and have to give chick starter what do I add for Niacin? I've read my duck book twice now, but can't find the answer. Thanks for any tips.

The organ meats of many animals deliver a high amount of niacin. (Chicken livers, duck livers, beef, lamb) One egg gives you all the niacin a duck needs.. organ meats can be a popular choice and the one i prefer. I do feed back eggs sometimes when I have an abundance. Raw liver.

 

[mlowen]

How do you harvest the casings?

There are a couple of methods (Worms Eat My... has several.) I made a sifter out of 2x4's & 1/4 inch hardware cloth. I make piles of the stuff & worms on a tarp (in bright light--shady outdoors, so far) and the worms travel away from the light. Using gloves, because I am a sissy, I pick up the tops of the piles and put it on the sifter. I try to 'save' any worms that happen to be in the top of the piles as I go. I just clean out my bin and put in clean newspaper and put worms back in there, as I go. Just round & round with tops of piles & re-pile every now & then. I got about 4 gallons of castings from one 18-gallon bin, last time. I have probably 2-3 pounds of worms total in there. They live in my bathroom closet--fairly near the kitchen & out of the way.

 

[jendodd79]

Would fermented feed cause my Easter Egger's feathers to fall out? Or could they be moulting at 22 weeks?

I noticed 2 days ago that their beards looked sparce, and then today it looks like their necks are bare! The only thing that seems to be missing is their fluffy beards?

Do you think that the other pullets could be picking their fermented feed beards out when they are in the coop at night?

So weird!

 

[jendodd79]

Here is the revised barn exterior appearance. With the large chicken barn part, there wasn't enough equal support to do the last way. Pretty isn't it? It may have to be reverted (like the big part on the left and the slope on the right) but it should be similar (but larger) to this picture.



Dutch door ideas.

So beautiful, I love the steeple on top!!

 

[delisha]

Would fermented feed cause my Easter Egger's feathers to fall out? Or could they be moulting at 22 weeks?

I noticed 2 days ago that their beards looked sparce, and then today it looks like their necks are bare! The only thing that seems to be missing is their fluffy beards?

Do you think that the other pullets could be picking their fermented feed beards out when they are in the coop at night?

So weird!

They are eating the FF off the beard..FF does nothing but good for feathers.

 

[jendodd79]

They are eating the FF off the beard..FF does nothing but good for feathers.

Is there something I can do to prevent it? They get enough to eat, poor little naked neck EEs!

 

[Leahs Mom]

We've decided on earthworms, instead of red worms, but they both eat kitchen scraps so there's no big change in the plans for them. Hubby wants to fish with them, and I want them for gardening and red worms aren't really for either of those.

I currently have redworms but...

-Where do you get your earthworms?
-Where do you get info on earthworm keeping? (I've only seen info on redworms)

 

[countrygirl74]

The organ meats of many animals deliver a high amount of niacin. (Chicken livers, duck livers, beef, lamb) One egg gives you all the niacin a duck needs.. organ meats can be a popular choice and the one i prefer. I do feed back eggs sometimes when I have an abundance. Raw liver.

That's good to know! I'm always amazed at all the new things I learn on here. I didn't realize what other ways I could get the ducks niacin if needed. I currently just do the niacin capsules - dissolve the powder in their water every morning. But, it's good to know other methods... How old would they need to be to eat the organ meats? I know they could eat the egg pretty young.