The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Melabella]

I'm a sucker for soft yellow and white trim. This time of year I crave cheerful sunny colors. It's a small barn. Soft color will not be so jarring.

Me too!

 

[delisha]

I live in WI..we are in a deep freeze..next week and the week after it is going to be in the 40's. I am delighted for the change in weather..I have chicks coming!...I will be in the same boat as you are. My duck runs will be a muddy mess and my DL will be thawing fast.

How to fix it..

I will take at least 1/2 of my DL and put it into my runs. That will take care of the mud in the runs. I might need more. My ducks will be using those runs to nest in. I have one duck who will be nesting in my chicken coop the silly duck.

I will add a bale of pine chips to my DL and stir all the way to the bottom when it thaws completely. Right now I am adding a little chips. and sprinkling it on top to prepare for that thaw.. My DL is to deep for me to stir it all the way to the bottom. I have over a foot of it. next year it will not be as bad. I will use less straw and more chips.

 

[Bulldogma]

Question for everyone:
It appears my Silkie broody mamma with the 3 chicks has mites!

Opinions - is it safe to dust her down with wood ash? I am really worried about causing respiratory issues for the babies if I do that. I'm thinking if I go that rout, I'd have to separate them, dust mamma, wait a little while and then bathe her and dry her. I'm not hot about the idea of keeping them apart for that long. On the flip side, if mamma has mites, it is likely the chicks have them now too... and that's not good!

Thoughts??

So, Leigh...do you think black is "him" or "her"?
Bummer on the rooster and the silkie ! Why DO these ladies put up with that?

I'm not really sure - it looks like that one has a bit more comb and wattle development... but it's hard to compare against crested birds.

 

[aaggjg]

Wow!!! I'm sure happy you posted pic's! They are stunning!
How many eggs did you start with and were the four pullets your final count of Catdance chicks?

I bought a dozen & had a great hatch for shipped eggs! I had been coveting Karen's birds since before I owned chickens! I had 7 hatch I think.... I was so enamored of the chicks I ordered another dozen ... I only had 4 of those hatch. I got a pretty 50/50 split of boys & girls. When I sold off my 2 blue boys someone said wow what do you feed them!! They were huge and lovely. I also had a beautiful black partridge with cream hackle feathers.... The only color I didn't successfully hatch was white!!! Which of course was the color I wanted to replace my original silkie "Tiny" rooster.... I was having such bad luck with shipped whites that I bought some at a poultry show i went too. I heard the lady talking about how she'd been working on her line for 30 years!! Well they have ridiculously floppy oversized poufs .... But they are no where near the quality of Karen's.

My blue pullet was stunning but she's just coming out of a molt do she looks a bit ragged or I would have posted a pix of her!!!

 

[aaggjg]

Question for everyone:
It appears my Silkie broody mamma with the 3 chicks has mites!

Opinions - is it safe to dust her down with wood ash? I am really worried about causing respiratory issues for the babies if I do that. I'm thinking if I go that rout, I'd have to separate them, dust mamma, wait a little while and then bathe her and dry her. I'm not hot about the idea of keeping them apart for that long. On the flip side, if mamma has mites, it is likely the chicks have them now too... and that's not good!

Thoughts??

Dust her. Dust her now!! My broody had mites and I had no idea. One of her chicks ended up dying!! She will shake out and the chicks will be fine. Don't bathe her .... I read somewhere that putting a sulfur block in your coop deters mites! This is probably why nustock works so well on them. I didn't have a block so I sprinkled some sulfur powder in my coop as well as on put it in the hen dusting mix. Just a few days ago as they seem to have returned.. UGH!!! So far so good!!! I also applied an essential oil spray of things like lavender, pine, cloves, tea tree, orange etc etc under her wing and at the base of her neck... I'll find the recipe and post later.

 

[off-grid hen]

I was planning on scooping some of the DL into the run to let the shavings soak up the mud. I have a big pile of leaves that is thawing out bit by bit. Will mix some into DL when I am able.

I think some of the issue is the coop is on a trailer and freezes from underneath mo natter how thick the DL is. Thanks for suggestions. I didn't want to redo it all if I didn't have to.

 

[delisha]

I would get out a nice pan of ash and dirt and let her take the chicks in..my hens had the chicks dust bathing at a week old.

 

[delisha]

Beautiful silkies..aagg..thank you for posting..I look forward to hatching successfully next time.

 

[aaggjg]

PS when my broody would dust bathe with her chicks she would smother them!!! Bury them in dirt!! I was shocked that there were no casualities!!! A little ash residue will be fine & probably help them with their mites.

 

[aaggjg]

Beautiful silkies..aagg..thank you for posting..I look forward to hatching successfully next time.

Delisha don't be discouraged. I've had such mixed results with shipped eggs from the same breeders... So hopefully round 2 willbe more successful!!