The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

Okay, so the baby barn has been delivered for the basement babies, and I love it! Here are some quick pictures before we put shavings and the birds in there.




Outside front.



The back.



Inside




Koda inspecting the building




They put the pop door at ground level. Ah well. They thought to secure it from the inside - which is very cool of them.


Pop door from the back.






Front doors from inside





They still haven't come to clean up the debris

 

[delisha]

Someone asked for snow pictures..sorry I forgot who..here are a few

 

[delisha]

Aoxa...

Nice baby barn!! That is a ton of room!!! They will love it...

 

[aoxa]

Aoxa...

Nice baby barn!! That is a ton of room!!! They will love it...

I bet they will! They will finally be able to run around. I can't wait. I sure hope the temperatures are okay for them. I'm much more protective now..

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

See the lines that are perpendicular to the pop door and the second parallel line away from the pop door, use those as a guide and secure 2x4 or 2x6 on those to create a barrier to keep you DL inside.

 

[armorfirelady]

I know we had spoken about this before off & on but I thought I would ask again. Lots of newer people on the thread now who may be interested as well.

What kind of feed do you use for your chickens & why? (I don't mean FF but what kind of chicken feed...like grower, layer, etc)

I have been researching different kinds of feeds.......I cant afford organic but I do want something that has less chemicals in it. The feeds all start out with corn & soybeans as their first ingredients and they all say they are vegetarian diets and have NO ANIMAL PROTEINS. I know how important animal proteins are to the chickens who are NOT vegetarians so I do supplement my feed for my hens.

As I only have for 4 hens and only allowed a max of 6 total buying 50# bags of oats, corn, wheat, etc is not a good investment for me. Heck I bought a 50# bag of pellets (I think) last fall in maybe October and I still have enough pellets to last until at least June probably longer since I FF.

I know some use grower or game bird feed and just have oyster shell always available for the calcium for the hens.

Also what do you think the best protein level is for different ages of chickens?

I'm all trying to find articles as to what can cause vent prolapse. I'm curious to see if there are any articles about pullets receiving layer pullets from birth may contribute to it. I know the lady who I purchased the hens from said that she has had them on layer pellets since they were off chick starter so I continued them on layer pellets. I'm curious if the calcium at such a young age when they were growing caused some problems. Yes they are just hatchery birds but I would think that it would apply to better chickens as well

Thanks!!

 

[Sally8]

I just opened the 11 eggs I took out of the incubator. All 7 of the leghorn eggs were literally scrambled. These were shipped eggs from the south. The 4 silkie eggs were just like a egg yolk. They came from east of me. Neither doz traveled more than a 1/2 day away, if I drove it. I had left the doz of these out on the porch incase they started to smell before I could get to them and they were a little frozen. I was hoping to tell if any were fertile out of the 11. So 7 were scrambled and 4 didn't start. I guess I'll say I'm not a fan of shipped eggs. None of these were important nor expensive. I just wanted to try. One came with a peck mark on it and one had a crack before I even started. Since I live in a farming area people are not into the fun chickens. Other than our county fairs, people travel to show. I called our Tractor Supply last night to inquire about chicks and RIR came in early this week and were gone. She didn't know when any were coming or the breed. She said to call a couple times a day, every day. She must not think I have a life. She said to order them from TS but I would have to order 25. I ONLY WANT 2. Our Agway gets Barred Rocks, RIR and White Leghorns. I SO BADLY WANT BRIGHTLY COLORED BUFF ORPINGTONS! Around here, people say HUH? What kind?

aoxa - That barn looks wonderful. So much room.

 

[Mumsy]

Mumsy - could you comment on using the hay correctly?

@Aoxa: That new baby barn is wonderful. I'll bet it has that 'new barn' smell for a long time. Love it. It would be neat to see how people keep the DL under control in their barns and pens. I'll take new pictures in my barn today to show how I do it.

@Leahs Mom: The trick I use with hay in my deep litter is to not use too much at each addition. Fluffing and shaking out one flake at a time and then sift sift sift it into with the shavings, leaves, and peat moss. I suffer from chronic bronchitis so must wear a dust mask.
Out in my runs, I shake it out pretty deep. The rain settles it flat. The chickens stir it up looking for seeds, bugs, and worms that hide under neath. It breaks down and I add more. Eventually I'll rake it up and put it in the compost pile. The way I use it, there is no packing. I only have two bales left from the six I bought in August. Need to purchase more this summer. Oh...I also use fluffed grass hay to cover my pathway from the barn to the chick house to the garden. It turns to deep mud. The hay makes a nice clean path for me to walk on. I'll rake it up and put it in the compost pile in a couple more months. My husband wants to just seed over the top of it with Orchard grass seed. We may compromise.

About the peat moss. It is organic, right? And it is an added expense, comes in many grades, is readily available and it works really well for me in my barn so what's the big deal? This was my thinking when I shared. Well.....This person that attacked me read me the riot act for using a non renewable resource. You'd have thought I was a monster because I use Peat moss.
I don't really want to go over all of it again and again. Like I said before. Different strokes for different folks. I don't use poison to treat my flock but I don't jump people that do. We all do things the best we can under all our different circumstances.
I walked away from the argument because life is too short to get caught up in such petty stuff. I will say this. People that want to scream the loudest about not using peat moss because it's a non renewable resource? They fill their tank with a non renewable resource every time they get in their car. Nuff said.

@Pigeonguy: I rarely look at facebook. This is the only thread I read on a regular basis. I follow some Heritage breed threads and the really interesting one going on now https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...e-university-large-fowl-sop/460#post_10564261

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I love your new coop, aoxa!! When will the chickadees move in?

~ Aspen

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks, Mumsy. That helps me visualize how to use the hay.

Do you know anything about the Vetericyn? Ever used it? (And thanks, Turtle, for your review.)