The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks for all the input on the welsummers!

I have four wellies, (all from that rescued flock from the guy's bedroom), and have had them for about 10 months. They are almost 2 years old.
Pros: good consistent layers of very dark brown eggs. even temperment. docile. cautious.
cons: so docile they don't object to feather picking. won't stand up for themselves at the feed stations. last to come out of the coop in the morning. last to try new foods. not great at foraging. I wouldn't call them skittish because they are slow, and stand back from just about everything .

I don't think I choose to get more, although I am loving the dark dark eggs.

Lala - do you think their temperament might have to do with their former life? Just wondering as I'm looking for birds that forage well.

 

[ChickChickChicky]

I have 2 Welsummers, also 2 Black Copper Marans (amongst other breeds). The Welsummers are about 2 weeks younger than the Marans, all hatched early last spring. I LOVE the eggs on all 4 of them, the Marans lay a large very dark egg (7 on the scale) with a very hard shell, and the Welsummers also lay a dark somewhat smaller egg with lots of speckles. The Welsummers are smart, shy and standoffish, and up until recently were bullied unmercifully by the (bigger) Marans. In fact the Wellies wouldn't even go into the coop at night, prefering to roost outdoors (I think a few nights of near zero weather is what changed their minds). The Welsummers are also VERY vocal, downright noisy. The Marans are pretty noisy too, but they are, to put it nicely, stupid. When they drink water from a bowl they jam their ENTIRE head underwater, and are scared to death of anything new. The Marans came from a local breeder who breeds toward egg color, and the Wellies came from a man who hatched some from his own hatchery birds. If I get anymore laying hens they'll likely be Black Copper Marans, as they lay more steady than the Wellies.

 

[hotrodflash]

Skin peeling... Picture? Could they be getting too hot under the heat lamp? I don't remember any peeling..

Maybe dry skin is a better term.

 

[hotrodflash]

Skin peeling... Picture? Could they be getting too hot under the heat lamp? I don't remember any peeling..

About the heat lamp, I had them under a 250 watt bulb for the first 4 days that I had them, but they are under a 75 watt now. It was 78 degrees today and lows around 50 at night. So they hotter bulb is no longer needed unless we get another freeze. I am in Texas so the weather swings are frequent.

 

[CoopChick719]

I won't even figure out how much a doz of my eggs cost, and i try not to tell dh when I go buy feed.

I figure it is still cheaper than a Psychiatrist

My hubby calls my chickens "therapy chickens"! When his buddies ask him how much the coop & chicks are costing, he just says, "I figure it's cheaper than a divorce and that's all I care about!"

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks chickchickchicky! Good info.

I'm not sure I'm going to get Wellies but I had earlier thought I'd like a dark egg layer. In the short term my next breed is going to be the Cream Legbars. But I'm torn between replacing my hatchery reds with heritage reds or going with the wellies. If I get bigger, or more, housing I may go ahead and try some. Can't lose for trying if I have the space! But when the space is limited I'll have to keep the numbers lower.

 

[lalaland]

Leahs mom,
well, the wellies came with 4 hens that the guy said were BAs. they are sooo small compared to my other austrolorp hens that I wonder if they aren't black sex links or something - but anyway, the 4 little black hens that were raised with the wellies are much better foragers. Not as good as speckled sussex, or some of the mutt hens I have, but definitely good foragers. They also stand their own in terms of turns at the feed trays, coming out of the coop, exploring new foods, etc.

RIght now, I have buff orps, a rir, an ee, an austrolop, two barnyard mixes, 3 of the little black hens and the 4 wellies. Since the little black hens grew up with the wellies in the same bedroom, I attribute the docile nature of the wellies to the breed. But I have never had any other wellies besides these...

They aren't bad birds - but take extra work in terms of additional feeders, and watching out for them. Have to coax them out of the coop some days, and I am used to being able to just open the darned hatch. There are other breeds I am interested in, so I probably wouldn't choose wellies when I get more hens.

Except.....love the egg color.

 

[delisha]

MADE AN ERROR AND POSTED THIS AS A SEPERATE THREAD BUT WANTED TO POST IT HERE!!

Hi Everyone,

I have been lurking on this thread for some time now, soaking in all the invaluable info and tring to catch up, but just can't. I also started reading the old timers thread. Hands down - one of the best threads I have ever read on any internet site! Loving it! Again - just cant catch up. So informative but also just so humourous at times.

I am hoping to start keeping some chickens of my own for eggs and then on to meat. I have 2 cats for pets so not looking to keep them at pets. I have an issue that I would like to clarify before I go any further and ask anymore questions.

I plan to keep the chickens in my back garden which is very small - it is about 300 sq ft. Is this too small for 3 chickens? I plan to have a coop and run but they would have the free run of the garden.

Wow I got to the end of the thread - can't believe it! Will probably be another 3 months before I get caught up again so just wanted to share how excited I am - there are 7 BCM eggs under 2 silkie butts tonight ready to start hatching - tomorrow is day 21, yay! Also have 9 more under a Buff that should be due next Monday/ Tuesday and the week after that the 16 in the incubator should be ready! I know it is wrong to count your chicks before they hatch but here's hoping that at least a few of them hatch out....

I will post some pictures when I get them....

My roo's comb looks very dry. Any suggestions as to what it might be or how to treat? Here's a picture of Marshall.

NuStocks might work

Quote:

Every thing that's a veggie or fruit we eat today is a GMO. If a rural farmer breeds to corns together because one is bug resistant and the other produces sweeter corn, the product is a GMO.
We've done it to dogs to produce dog breeds. We do it to chickens all the time to produce new breeds of them.

A GMO is not bad. Most people think of scientists in a lab breaking atoms to produce GMO's but they are not bad, they are just better producers.
The corn you get from the grocery store is a GMO, as well as all those different tomato breeds, like Big Boy.

Quote: Stop stressing...most preds foot prints are in line with each other....you are on the right track with deer family...possibly elk

I have three Roos and 9 girls...only one girl has a bald spot, why won't they leave the poor thing alone? I will be getting rid of two of the boys, so I know that's the main answer, I'm just wondering why the other girls are fine.
I wonder how hard it is to find people that want a giant rooster? These Cochin boys are huge!

They will make a nice meal..sarku comes to mind with all of that meat.

Quote: aww poor baby looks sunburned

 

[lalaland]

Thanks chickchickchicky! Good info.

I'm not sure I'm going to get Wellies but I had earlier thought I'd like a dark egg layer. In the short term my next breed is going to be the Cream Legbars. But I'm torn between replacing my hatchery reds with heritage reds or going with the wellies. If I get bigger, or more, housing I may go ahead and try some. Can't lose for trying if I have the space! But when the space is limited I'll have to keep the numbers lower.

in the short term? do you have cream legbars?
I would love to have some, just don't want to spend the $ of what I have seen available.

 

[hotrodflash]

aww poor baby looks sunburned

Don't think it is "sunburn". They have plenty of space in the brooder and they stay on the edge of the light circle, which is why I changed to the 75 watt. They are very active and they had this when I got them from Tractor Supply Company.