The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

Quote: generally not..If I have a broody..or chicks I do..everyone eats them..but usually the flock is gone all day eating..I let them out in the morning..and at night I shut the door. I do feed the ducks. They are usually nesting all summer long..at least someone is. They have access to grains..i just do not spacifically feed my free range flock.

 

[Bulldogma]

Update on my SFH babies under the broody... All doing great and saw the littlest one zipping around with the others. Mamma is in heaven getting to raise babies! The place we got the Silkie momma would let the hens incubate the eggs, but they took the chicks away as soon as they hatched. This is the first time she's actually getting to raise the babies she hatched and she's loving every second. It's so neat to see!

I was told by Jamie (APA judge and curator of the zoo with a degree in animal science) That their protein level should be 18-20% at all times. He pretty much said my 15% grower was not cutting it and I really needed to up it if I wanted to hatch healthy chicks and get the best out of my birds.

Yes he says layer is about the worst thing you could feed your birds. Not so much because of the calcium (which roosters CAN handle when it's breeding season - it helps their fertility) but because it is formulated to feed your birds the minimum nutritional values to get eggs. IE: Don't feed this to your breeding flock and avoid feeding it to your laying flock as well.

I had just started game bird breeder for the birds in the barn. Made for breeding season. 20% protein (animal protein) and the babies were still on starter (18%).

They don't have an all flock around here. I will stick with unmedicated starter until next breeding season.

He studied nutrition and is very smart when it comes to these things. I'll take his word for it His birds are the picture of health. His main breeds of focus are: Toulouse Geese, Silkies, Modern & Old English Game Bantams.

Wow I got distracted and didn't post this.

This is great info! Wonder if we could get him to write an article for that thing?

And I love your baby barn! Great pictures and video!! Thank you for letting us all share the "big moment" for the basement babies and Margaret!

 

[Sally8]

Our TS carries flock raiser 20% protein but says to feed only until laying. Maybe I'll have to make the 40 mile trip

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Our TS carries flock raiser 20% protein but says to feed only until laying. Maybe I'll have to make the 40 mile trip

That is because THEY want you to switch to layer then, which is not needed if you offer oyster shell free choice. I have been feeding grower or flock raiser to my flock for nearly a year now.

 

[Sally8]

That is because THEY want you to switch to layer then, which is not needed if you offer oyster shell free choice. I have been feeding grower or flock raiser to my flock for nearly a year now.

chickens and turkeys? Do you ever add anything?

 

[Sally8]

Tonight I gathered eggs and for a rare time all 4 BCM's laid eggs. I had had gloves on smearing NuStock on scaly mite legged hen. I had NuStock all over hen, coat jeans and eggs. I would have saved 2 of them for incubation because they were fairly dark. I have a new roo this year that


is supposed to throw dark eggs. What a mess we were! lol btw = tonight some of her scales came right off when I was massaging her legs. She actually likes it. Her legs feel warm and the salve is cool. She's looking rough. Did I mention that she doesn't like going out anymore. Is that normalish? She seems light to me also.

 

[Mumsy]

I use 20% flock raiser as my base food and add the wild bird seed mix to it. Everyone is growing like weeds(chicks) and the big kids are getting feathers back nice and quick. I am going to be adding chicken livers to the mix as well to get more animal proteins in them

I put wild bird seed, alfalfa cubes, ground pumpkin, crushed fresh garlic, dried oregano,powdered cayenne, and whole oats into my FF buckets but when I added it to the chick mash the chicks picked the whole sunflower seeds and oats out and spit them on the ground.
I visited the local pet store today looking for a few things for my show penning cages and the sale table had a 75% off sale on 2 lb. bags of canary seed. All the small seeds. Eleven grains total. Crude protein 15%. Came out to $1.50 a bag! I bought two bags and can now add just a handful of this to the chicks FF. It will go a long ways. The chicks love those small seeds and all the other bits. The layers love the oats and BOSS. I stopped adding the scratch corn with wheat to my mash. They all leave the Alfalfa chunky stems in the bottom of the dish. I hose out my pans on the grass. They are usually licked clean except for those stem bits. As soon as the Spring grass starts coming in good, I'll omit the alfalfa. The Johnny chicks are growing very fast and are super active. Looks like I got five cockerls out of six. Freezer camp.

On a happy side note. I candled a couple Catdance eggs tonight. A white pen 2 and a porcelain pen 2. Both veining and embryo! Tomorrow they are six days. I'm going to candle them in stages. Twenty four fragile little Silkie eggs is a lot for me to do at once. Each time I turn them tomorrow, I'll candle six. By tomorrow night I'll have a list of colors and what is developing, and what is not. I moved the eight Johnny test eggs to the LG. I'll candle them Sunday. They are due to hatch the tenth of March. The Catdance eggs are due March 15. Looks like I'll be missing the Monroe show. Precious chicks in the hatching stage that weekend.

 

[aoxa]

Update on my SFH babies under the broody... All doing great and saw the littlest one zipping around with the others. Mamma is in heaven getting to raise babies! The place we got the Silkie momma would let the hens incubate the eggs, but they took the chicks away as soon as they hatched. This is the first time she's actually getting to raise the babies she hatched and she's loving every second. It's so neat to see!


This is great info! Wonder if we could get him to write an article for that thing?

And I love your baby barn! Great pictures and video!! Thank you for letting us all share the "big moment" for the basement babies and Margaret!

He's not much of a write. Very point in emails. When he talks he talks fast. Maybe I can speak with him in person about it again and write an article on his advice.

He's been raising show birds since he was a kid. He's in his late 30's, or early 40's now. He's been a judge since 1998
http://nsac.ca/alumni/profiles/2007/May/Jamie.asp
Know your judge

 

[PeepsCA]

Peeps - I had never heard of Dakin's solution until this morning. Kathy (the chicken chick) sent me a pm about it. This is the recipe she sent:

1 tablespoon of Clorox bleach, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 gallon of distilled water, made fresh daily.

Is that how you make yours? Would you use it as a soak on an open wound (on a foot) or would you spray it on?

Dakin's Solution has been around for a long time. Back in the war days, soldiers mixed it up in the field and used it for treating/cleansing battle wounds...

I have not used it as a soak, I always use Epsom salts for that. But for open wounds/infected wounds I usually saturate some gauze, a non-stick wound pad or a cotton pad with the Dakin's Solution, apply that to the wound then wrap it with vet wrap, if possible (not always possible on a horse tho), otherwise for treating something like surface scratches or fungal issues I just spray it on 3-4 times a day. The only thing I have not used it for is treating an eye infection that one of my Mares had... I used the vetericyn for that (says for eye infections on the bottle!), and the infection came back within a few days after I stopped using it

Even after the Dakin's Solution is past it's *fresh* stage it still works good for wound cleansing/irrigating, so I haven't ever wasted any. Milked every penny out of it that I could.

The recipe Kathy gave you might be what is recommended for chickens, but I use this recipe that I found on a SHTF forum of all places, lol (I'm not a prepper but I was looking up canning info last year when I got my new pressure canner and ran across it). It's stronger... and it's broken down to just make a squirt bottle full at a time, instead of a whole gallon. It gives the measurements to break it down into different strengths, but so far I've just used it full strength.

This recipe uses the same measurements as the first recipe, plus it has some info about how to store it and how to extend the shelf life.

I've also read that using distilled water increases shelf life too, but have not tried it... I usually use it all up pretty fast, it's so cheap I tend to use a lot of it... I am very stingy with the Vetericyn that costs $34.99-$39.99 a dang 16 oz bottle that can be gone in a few days.

 

[armorfirelady]

Peeps - I had never heard of Dakin's solution until this morning. Kathy (the chicken chick) sent me a pm about it. This is the recipe she sent: 1 tablespoon of Clorox bleach, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 gallon of distilled water, made fresh daily. Is that how you make yours? Would you use it as a soak on an open wound (on a foot) or would you spray it on?

[COLOR=4B0082]Dakin's Solution has been around for a long time. Back in the war days, soldiers mixed it up in the field and used it for treating/cleansing battle wounds...[/COLOR] [COLOR=4B0082]I have not used it as a soak, I always use Epsom salts for that. But for open wounds/infected wounds I usually saturate some gauze, a non-stick wound pad or a cotton pad w[/COLOR]ith the Dakin's Solution , apply that to the wound then wrap it with vet wrap, if possible (not always possible on a horse tho), otherwise for treating something like surface scratches or fungal issues I just spray it on 3-4 times a day. The only thing I have not used it for is treating an eye infection that one of my Mares had... I used the vetericyn for that (says for eye infections on the bottle!), and the infection came back within a few days after I stopped using it

Even after the Dakin's Solution is past it's *fresh* stage it still works good for wound cleansing/irrigating, so I haven't ever wasted any. Milked every penny out of it that I could. [COLOR=4B0082]The recipe Kathy gave you might be what is recommended for chickens, but I use [/COLOR][COLOR=4B0082]this recipe[/COLOR][COLOR=4B0082] that I found on a SHTF forum of all places, lol (I'm not a prepper but I was looking up canning info last year when I got my new pressure canner and ran across it). [/COLOR]It's stronger... and it's broken down to just make a squirt bottle full at a time, instead of a whole gallon. It gives the measurements to break it down into different strengths, but so far I've just used it full strength. [COLOR=4B0082]This recipe[/COLOR][COLOR=4B0082] uses the same measurements as the first recipe, plus it has some info about how to store it and how to extend the shelf life.[/COLOR] [COLOR=4B0082]I've also read that using distilled water increases shelf life too, but have not tried it... I usually use it all up pretty fast, it's so cheap I tend to use a lot of it... I am very stingy with the Vetericyn that costs $34.99-$39.99 a dang 16 oz bottle that can be gone in a few days.[/COLOR]

Would u be willing to share the recipe or a link where I could find it? I would like to add it to my chicken binder in case it is need. Thanks

Feeds I use http://www.nutrenaworld.com/products/poultry/country-feeds-poultry/country-feeds-all-flock/index.jsp http://bluestemorganics.com/duck_sub.html http://www.homesteadfeeds.com/Poultry/poultrydeveloper.html I use very little feeds. I purchase Organic grains and add fresh meat, fruit , and vegetables I start whole wheat, BOSS, and other last year seeds to tail stage. I plant spinach, kale, Oregano, white clovers, and other grasses, pumpkins, squash, cucumbers and this year blue berries in the fields I usually do not feed grains during production of fresh produce. I always have fresh water available. I do feed any birds not free ranging. (show stock in condition pens)

No grains at all during summer?

generally not..If I have a broody..or chicks I do..everyone eats them..but usually the flock is gone all day eating..I let them out in the morning..and at night I shut the door. I do feed the ducks. They are usually nesting all summer long..at least someone is. They have access to grains..i just do not spacifically feed my free range flock.

Thanks for all your input everyone on what you feed ur hens. Tomorrow when I am on a computer I will be copying & pasting the info. I think next time I go to the feed store I will see what they have. I'd like to get them off the layer when they finish up what I have left. Does anyone use the calf manna? My plan for spring/summer is to feed them in the evenings so they forage more. And when spring finally arrives I am looking forward to planting all those seeds I have Aoxa if you could get more info from your friend that would be great.