The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

Lots of amazing information today! I never had even thought about birds and lead poisoning... just so sorry about the loss...
Yay for Margaret! Is she walking a lot better without them?

She is walking a lot better I will be taking some photos tomorrow. But until then... here are some pictures of my friend Joan's farm. She has mostly ducks for her birds, but also has horses, pigs, a llama, a loan ram, goats, and soon a donkey!



One of her pot bellied pigs - smiling


I just adore this picture of one of her horses. It was very large. The only female she had - and she was bossy with the boys.


These two boys were play fighting. hehe


Tina her llama and her wether. I forget his name... It's confusing to me that both a castrated lamb and a castrated buck is called a wether.. :/



Her oldest boy that is going blind. I thought he was very pretty.


One of her does. She has a wether as well, but he was always right beside me - far too close for a picture with my extended lens. He was so cute.. I may just get a wether to keep with my does as well. Just because.. You should have at least 3 right? What if one passed away? Yeah.. that's my reasoning.. Plus 3 is too much milk for us. Might as well give a boy a home!

 

[Eggcessive]

Mumsy and Trav, so sorry for the loss of your silkies. They are such an endearing breed. I have 2 little hatchery girls in my large flock of large fowl. They take turns being broody all year round. We just enjoy their uniqueness. Mumsy, I wish you lived closer--I would love to get some HRIR or silkie eggs from you next year, but I haven't had very good luck with shipped eggs all across the country. I will try to find eggs closer to home in the future within driving distance.

 

[midnightroo]

Sorry to hear about the losses possibly from lead. Something to consider if it hadn't been is that the chicks might of had to have something that they couldn't pass. In humans at least once you remove the child or the lead from the environment the levels will go down. That doesn't mean that the exposure was so high that the levels could have dropped but the damage mentally or physically were already done. It has been 10+ yrs since I worked with lead abatement and never saw the impacts first hand physically like that or on a chicken, so information could have been gained that I am not aware of. I think contacting the previous owner is a great idea and will hopefully help her with issues she might be having as well.

Congrats on the babies, Broodies and Margaret losing her toes. Sorry I can't comment specifically, dd is patiently waiting for breakfast. Have a good dy every one!

Christine

 

[Mumsy]

Mumsy and Trav, so sorry for the loss of your silkies. They are such an endearing breed. I have 2 little hatchery girls in my large flock of large fowl. They take turns being broody all year round. We just enjoy their uniqueness. Mumsy, I wish you lived closer--I would love to get some HRIR or silkie eggs from you next year, but I haven't had very good luck with shipped eggs all across the country. I will try to find eggs closer to home in the future within driving distance.

Thank you. I do appriciate the sentiment shared by my friends here. I didn't have Binkus very long but she was one of those little birds I happened to bond with. Even when she was sick, she would 'chat' with me when ever I entered the barn or approached her pen. She really was a friendly little Silkie. Not likely I will ever forget her.

I would enjoy it if you were my neighbor and I most definetly would share eggs from my flock.

My experience with shipped eggs is slim. These Fogle eggs are my second batch. I'm trying something new this time around to see how successful it could be.

I set the eggs in the still air LG as soon as they arrived. Upright in cartons after using my crayon to mark X and O. They were cold but not overly so. They didn't get condensation at room temperature. I never tilted the eggs when I unwrapped or set them in the cartons. Then I kept the lid closed on the LG for fifteen hours. My LG was already set at the correct temp and sanitized after taking the Johnny eggs out of it. I'm going to candle at seven days, just like I always do and see if aircells are attached where they are supposed to be. I'll mark the questionable ones with an orange crayon. Any wonky air celled eggs will remain upright in the cartons. I'll hand turn the others as I normally would.
Right now, every six hours I tilt the eggs slightly X to O. I've read a lot on people doing it this way and getting good hatches. The Catdance eggs are due to hatch in the Genesis 1588 on March 16. I'll move my Fogle eggs into it after cleaning it. There's going to be chicks popping out all over in a couple more weeks!

Good news to hear about Justine's Margaret walking better. And it was fun seeing pictures of goats and ponys when I came on this morning. Chick pictures are always cute. Can hardly wait to post pictures of any I get soon. Judy the Broody is sitting on five Johnny eggs due to hatch in a couple days. She's only been sitting a week. She's in for a big surprise if they hatch Sunday. I moved those Johnny eggs from the Genesis to the LG and then under her. I will laugh so hard if they hatch! Will try to get pictures of them. It's a new day! Let the sharing and learning begin again!

 

[Bulldogma]

Now for some happy news out of my barn! One of my Catdance Silkie girls laid her first egg today. Found it when I went out to close up the barn tonight. Don't know if it was Bonney or my little crippled Dumpling! Looks like they will be getting a visit from the roo tomorrow.

HOORAAAAYYYYY! That is wonderful news, and what great timing!!




You know - if that breeder has a lead problem on her property, that could very well be why folks have had issues with her hatching eggs! Really, someone should probably put a bug in her ear that Lead could be a possibility on her property. I would want to know if it were my birds!! She may know there is an issue, but not have any idea what could be causing it.

 

[Mumsy]

HOORAAAAYYYYY! That is wonderful news, and what great timing!!




You know - if that breeder has a lead problem on her property, that could very well be why folks have had issues with her hatching eggs! Really, someone should probably put a bug in her ear that Lead could be a possibility on her property. I would want to know if it were my birds!! She may know there is an issue, but not have any idea what could be causing it.

YES! I was so surprised and brought the first smile to my sad sack face when I saw it! I need to look at a couple bottoms today and find out who did the deed.

I agree. I'm going to send a letter today and use a gentle tone. Explaining the symptoms and outcome of my necropsy with her pullet and then suggesting my findings to her. I will ask her more than anything if she thinks lead poisoning could be a reason. She is a very nice lady and I will approach her with this just like I would want to be approached. No accusations and drama but as a breeder to breeder discussion. I would want to know.

 

[aoxa]

Lala,

Did you get your kittens yet?

 

[Bulldogma]

YES! I was so surprised and brought the first smile to my sad sack face when I saw it! I need to look at a couple bottoms today and find out who did the deed.

I agree. I'm going to send a letter today and use a gentle tone. Explaining the symptoms and outcome of my necropsy with her pullet and then suggesting my findings to her. I will ask her more than anything if she thinks lead poisoning could be a reason. She is a very nice lady and I will approach her with this just like I would want to be approached. No accusations and drama but as a breeder to breeder discussion. I would want to know.

While anybody would be dismayed to learn they might have a lead issue, I believe she will be very thankful for the information! You are such a kind person - I know the news of the possibility will be OK coming from you.

I can't wait to see the Catdance chicks you hatch! I just know you will enjoy them so much! (We all will, as I know you will post plenty of photos when your babies hatch!) And looking forward to hearing about the Johnny eggs under the broody!

Aoxa - great pictures as usual!! You should definitely get the wether - LOL! You know - you can train them just like dogs. They are very smart critters! Of course they're not much help against coyotes, neighborhood dogs and the like, but they are so much fun.

 

[Bulldogma]

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OK - somebody give me the low-down on the uses of lactobacillus inoculant. That video and this information would make a good thing for that place!

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

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I think I am going to do the same with an email. I know for a fact she knows she has losses as she pointed out in the brooder box when I got my replacement chicks, she said she would likely loose 1/3 of them. So I think she may not know that it could be lead causing these issues. She is a very sweet old lady with more knowledge about chickens than I could ever dream about having. I really hope she considers the findings and pursues some action. I would hate to see her name tainted on something like this.

But with this info, I will not be breeding these birds that have survived thus far. I don't want to risk the passing on of it, so they will just live out their lives as pets in the layer flock.