The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Mrs. K]

I am trying them this spring. I have ordered 25 Delaware chickens for arrival in June, when traditionally I have a broody hen.

They are an american heritage breed, and they are suppose to be a very good dual purpose bird, with good egg laying abilities, and good meat production. I ordered from Sandhill preservation, a site that I had read positively about here.

MrsK

 

[Sally8]

I have 2 left out of 5 Delaware's. I bought them ready to lay. That summer I lost one to being egg bound, found one dead on the coop floor when our temps reached 110 f and can't remember the 3rd. I don't think the issues were the chicken's but the chicken's owner. Just getting set up after 20 years, I had forgot a few important details on raising them.
They lay very large brown eggs almost every day.
They are very docile
They seem to forage well and get along with the others
They don't seem to mind the cold and the one I lost to the heat, I didn't have enough ventilation
None of the 5 minded that my grandson named them all Sally
I'm sure I'm forgetting details but all in all if I could find more, not from a hatchery, I would buy them

 

[delisha]

Anybody have any experience and comments on either Delawares or Partridge Rocks? Never had them and was wondering if either one would be a good or bad addition to my flock? Thanks!

I love both breeds..
I have had them both years ago..I have chicks pop up once in while looking like a Delaware. My daughter raised Partridge one year for 4H. Sandhill would be a good place to get them.

These are not cage chickens..
they need to forage to be happy

 

[Leahs Mom]

On a more chicken-ish note, my very first broody should pop on Wednesday

we are super excited to see what the chicks look like as we have about 10 breeds of hens and three different breeds of roosters in there and just let her pick which eggs she wanted to hatch. Should be interesting!

Yay!

 

[Eggcessive]

They have been talking on the Heritage Breeds thread the last couple of days about how hard it is to find quality Delawares. Supposedly Kathyinmo (her BYC name) has real good ones. I have a hatchery partridge rock and she is a great chicken. I like her better than my barred rocks. I think that Armor Fire Lady raises partridge rocks.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Awhile back I posted about my BR that had a Bumblefoot. I wanted to update and let y'all know what I ended up doing.

Original Symptoms:
She had been looking "under the weather" for a couple days. Staying inside when the others went out and hunkering down in the litter. But when I'd go in she'd jump up and go about her business then eventually go back and hunker down. Didn't look EXTREMELY sick but definitely not herself.

Couple days later on examination found bumble foot.

These are the original photos when I found she had it. Right foot was way worse than the left. It was swollen and looked like it had bruising under the skin but not the scab.

Right Foot (before washing):
This right leg looked like it had a little red mark part way up the leg.


Left Foot (before washing):


I wanted to do the least invasive cure possible. Read and read and read. Watched videos. Then asked questions of experienced people...then asked them again

(they were getting tired of me I think)!

-I began by soaking in the hottest water that the bird could stand with epsom salts in it. Kept her in the soak 30 min. each time. I actually did this for 2 weeks straight.

If you bring the biscuits I have a bucket of chicken!



-After the soaking I'd put either NuStock or Icthammel drawing salve on the feet, cover w/a small piece of gauze, and wrap with vet wrap. Vet wrap comes 3" wide so I cut it into 1" strips to wrap.



NuStoc on foot


All wrapped w/vet wrap.



The soaks and salves drew up some infection on the right foot which I lanced and continued to soak daily.

In the meantime, I read about an antibiotic soak called Tricide Neo used for pond fish at this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/303829/vet-suggestion-for-non-invasive-bumblefoot-cure

I ordered some from this guy...really nice guy if you ever want to order some...I told him I'd recommend him! https://www.pondrx.com/products/16166.html

The Tricide Neo is helpful if you catch the infection early but you have to soak 2X/day for 2-4 weeks. MOST OF US DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF TIME!

By the time the Tricide Neo arrived I only used it for 3 days before deciding to do surgery on the right foot. The left foot was recovering nicely and the scab had pretty much fallen off by itself by then.

NOW - ON TO THE SURGERY.
After much reading, I found this WONDERFUL post by Kerrie at City Girl Farming Blog. It had been posted the same week I was needing to learn so it was brand new.

I purchased the biopsy punches from vetmed and performed this surgery. MUCH EASIER THAN TRYING TO CUT ANYTHING!

I did try at one point to cut a little into the infection but decided to quit. I'd definitely recommend using those punches for the initial cut. Much better than trying to hack away with an exacto or other such knife or scalpel.

Here's where I got the biopsy punches (I ordered several different sizes: 4mm, 6mm and 8mm, to put in my med kit. This source was less expensive than the source Kerry got hers from.
http://www.shopmedvet.com/product/biopsy-punch-6mm-sterile-each

When I did the surgery, I did not find the putrid, active infection that Kerry is showing in these videos. On my girl, it was obvious that the foot was on the mend but still seemed to need to be opened to remove the blocking core. Then I packed w/antibiotic ointment and re-wrapped for several days.

Here are the videos:

Part 1



Part 2

 

[armorfirelady]

Anybody have any experience and comments on either Delawares or Partridge Rocks? Never had them and was wondering if either one would be a good or bad addition to my flock? Thanks!

I have partridge rocks I purchased from someone near me. They are my first chickens & I love the breed. Talkative and curious. Lay med sized brown eggs. They will be a year old next month and I average 3 eggs a day from 4 hens. They started laying in December and laid well for just starting out well. They forage well also.
I dont pick mine up a a lot so they tend to scatter when I try unless I have meal worms. But once they are help properly they are docile while I do hen inspections.

I love my girls

 

[armorfirelady]

Thanks for the info LM......good to have for just *in case*


I succesfully finsihed my hoop coop.......just need to get the chicken wire around the outside edges & the electronetting up and the girls will be kicked out of the veggie garden for the spring/summer

If anyone is interested just click on the *my coop* under my username and it takes you to the link.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Nicely done, AFL!

 

[Sally8]

Leah's Mom - Do you think that it would have healed on it's own without opening it up? (Yours) 2nd question - was it better to scoop out the infection by breaking it up? Remember a while back we all watched a video very similar but by applying pressure the core popped out intact. Do you think it matters? Do they always heal? or do they ever get a bad infection and die? I do like the punch as opposed digging it out. Too much chance of infection.
Sorry about all the questions. This is one of those things that I'm hoping if I know details, I won't ever have to do it.