The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[SallyinIndiana]

Okay - Time for the "Question of the Moment"

A:
List ONE thing that you have tried because of reading this thread (or one of the other 2: OT & ROAD) that you learned about or were encouraged to try that you're glad you did.

B:
What has been the result since you tried it? Are you glad you did it? Have the results been positive or negative?

A: wet feed. I'm not quite ready to try the FF but the wet feed is working out nicely right now.
B: once the chickens started eating wet feed, they seem to like it. Because of the extra water in the feed I did not worry as much about the water freezing in the waterer when our temps were at their lowest. I'm glad I tried it. I think the results are positive. Going to see how much I like it in the summer. Every thing changes with high temps, bugs, and summer smells.

 

[Leahs Mom]

okay okay

The plastic buckets are just for carrying feed from the house out to the food pans. It won't be sitting in them leaching chemicals into the feed for hours on end

ETA: Does it make y'all feel better that I haven't totally backslidden... or do the "plastic sinners" just like company?

 

[SallyinIndiana]

@lalaland: Thank you. I plant garlic now and will harvest bulbs in July. I plant in June to harvest bulbs in later Fall. Some bulbs I missed harvesting last year are starting to come up now. I plant in raised beds. The soil warms faster and there is perfect drainage.

@Justine: I'm so sorry you are going through this added grief coupled with frustration. My heart is heavy having learned it.

@Sally8: Don't feel bad about losing Silkies at hatch. It happens to everyone. Even top notch breeders. They are a challenging variety of chicken to hatch live ones regularly.

@Leahs Mom: I had to read your post twice to make sure those were YOUR plastic buckets!

I did indeed make a hoop coop. Just plastic and a large flight run right now. Waiting for turkeys.

Very nice coop. I'm working on a somewhat moveable hoop style coop or tractor with my husband. We have been working slowly for a while now. It is finally starting to take shape. i hope to get lots done this weekend and the next. I like your support poles.

 

[Mumsy]

Okay - Time for the "Question of the Moment"

A:
List ONE thing that you have tried because of reading this thread (or one of the other 2: OT & ROAD) that you learned about or were encouraged to try that you're glad you did.

Wood ash coupled with Nu stock for mites and lice. I learned it on the 'ROAD" thread.

B:
What has been the result since you tried it? Are you glad you did it? Have the results been positive or negative?

Dusting with the wood ash and using the Nu stock saved my rescue roo Johnny's life. He was terribly anemic, losing his feathers, covered with scabs from constant itching and scratching. He stopped crowing and was wasting away with unthriftiness. It took just a couple weeks for him to start recovering. Once he was on the road to better health, I got him his first hens.

 

[Bulldogma]

LOL, LM! I use a gallon ice cream bucket to take feed out to my feathered friends. (They've been eating like horses lately!)

And I have a hoop coop... it's got a lot of "character." My hubby and son did the back and didn't bother to check to see if the supports on each side were the same length. They weren't - - - by a long shot! LOL! But it still works and serves its purpose well! You can see it at the following link:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...keeping-thread-ots-welcome/5260#post_10341897

 

[SallyinIndiana]

for those of you that have the hoop coops, do you have any problems with wind or rain damaging the coop? I keep wondering if a wind will be able to blow the thing over once we finish it.

 

[zinia8]

Okay - [COLOR=FF0000]Time for the "Question of the Moment"[/COLOR]

A: 
List ONE thing that you have tried because of reading this thread (or one of the other 2: OT & ROAD) that you learned about or were encouraged to try that you're glad you did.

Fermented feed

B:
What has been the result since you tried it?  Are you glad you did it?  Have the results been positive or negative?

Started out fermenting pellets,scratch and bird seed. Didn't like the results with pellets to much like paste had a heck of a time draining. And birds didn't like it soupy.
Went to COB and bird seed. I add pellets to the
food bowl then plop ff on top.
Just started FF for the peeps we'll see how it goes.

 

[Sally8]

Okay - Time for the "Question of the Moment"

A:
List ONE thing that you have tried because of reading this thread (or one of the other 2: OT & ROAD) that you learned about or were encouraged to try that you're glad you did.
Fermented feed
B:
What has been the result since you tried it? Are you glad you did it? Have the results been positive or negative?
My hens run me down for the FF, the eggs are larger, I use far less than dry. They are much healthier.

 

[jockeyeba]

Okay - [COLOR=FF0000]Time for the "Question of the Moment"[/COLOR]

A: 
List ONE thing that you have tried because of reading this thread (or one of the other 2: OT

X2 FF

 

[arkansaschicks]

Yep. I raised four children that liked to play with the dogs, play with the chickens, make mud pies, and drink from the hose. All before coming into the house to wash up before dinner. They caught the occasional cold and things from kids at school but other than that, they were healthy. So were the dogs and the chickens. Can't remember ever losing a batch of chicks to anything that they caught from my kids. It never crossed my mind that they could.  My sister the nurse was a germ a phobe and was constantly making her kids wash their hands. Those kids were always sick. They lived on a dairy replacement  farm. Go figure.

About weird wrinkly eggs. I got those a few times from the pullets the first week or two they started laying.

Congrats to Mumsy? Gee....Thanks...I guess. Nothing new happening here yet. I got a message with a link to watch the tracking on my Fogle line HRIR. I'm kind of nervous about them coming out of the mid west with that cold storm out that way.  They are coming from Arkansas and I looked up the weather there and it's 54 degrees and raining. About the same as here. If they arrive tomorrow, they go straight into the LG.

Today I planted more garlic, Chinese cabbage, Russian kale, and some flower seeds and bulbs in the butterfly garden. Right after sowing, a gentle rain started in. Waiting on eggs to hatch and seeds to grow. Spring is nearly here.

Are your Fogle line HRIR's coming from the Lucky Pickens farm or from somewhere else in Arkansas? I am trying to do a lot of research on different breeders here in Arkansas. I just don't want to do shipped eggs!