The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lalaland]

Can't believe they are all settled down at once! and looking so good. glad to see the pic

buttercup...

another gorgeous photo love that you put the shells in the pic

We have babies!!! chicks.. Went out to check the coop for eggs, stopped by the broody...I saw 2 little tiny heads pop out from behind her wing.

My first hatch...I have no clue about any of this...lololol

congrats!

Ok a question. I know feed until there is leftovers but how MUCH should I put down for 3 chickens (3year olds).
looked and the tray was licked clean. Two of them have bulges on one side of chest only. Does that mean the crop is only half full?

crop is only on one side, so two of them ate like little piggies and have full crop. I would increase the feed tomorrow a bit, and see. sorry, its been so long since I've only had three that it is hard to picture how much. you will figure it out - don't stress.

 

[Eggcessive]

My whole objective in having BCM is for the dark eggs but I've read a lot where the Cuckoo Marans actually have the darkest.

Actually the BCM's have the darkest egg of all breeds. I had a hatchery cuckoo marans and she just layed a tan egg. I have 2 hatchery BCM's and one lays a very dark egg, the other, just kind of dark. But I have 15 BCM eggs(from show quality hens) in my incubator from a local who only incubates his darkest eggs. They should hatch Monday or Tuesday.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: What hatchery did you get your bcms from?

 

[armorfirelady]

Well....I had an interesting experience w/ff when I first started it.

The first couple weeks consumption went down.  Then the next month THEY ATE TWICE AS MUCH!  

Now, I was beginning to panic a little thinking these kids were going to eat me out of house and home.  Everyone else was saying their birds ate LESS and mine literally DOUBLED.

But...the next month, it tapered off again and they actually began eating about 2/3 of what they normally were eating.

I have a couple of theories but not sure either is correct. 
-The month they doubled was October and it was beginning to get colder and outside pickin's were a little slimmer so I wondered if they were compensating for the cold coming on.
-The other thought I had was that perhaps they were getting some nutrient that they were short on and needed to replenish it.

Like I said, not sure if either was correct, but it did slow way down after that month and has remained steady since.

What is everyone elses experience?


ETA:  Wrote at the same time as del.

Mine have kind of been all over the place - sometimes they will go a couple days and I won't have to add food and others they are little piggies and they run out. I've been doing ff for months now and they still just go through these weird stages. I'm sure a lot depends on how much scraps they get, how much supervised free-ranging they get to do, etc. One thing is for sure though- all in all, they have definitely cut down on the feed and my feed bill. I don't have to order near as much as I did before I started ff.

Mine are the same way. Initially they ate a lot then slowed their eating amount but now its hit and miss on the amount. Some days they don't touch it so it seems and others I can fill the dish 2 or 3 times. ( I like to make sure they have food in the bowl when they go to roost ensuring full crops). Even if their out to range for a few hours it doesn't guarantee their is food left in the bowl.
In the morning when I put out fresh food I dump what's left in the bowl on the ground. They even eat that lol

I did notice when I added the grower they ate it like piggies, so I need to get some more since I am guessing they might be missing something in their feed now that was in the grower? I have no idea but their combs & wattles sure did get redder & a couple are looking disheveled so I am guessing they are starting to molt since ey have never had a full molt since I got them in August

 

[Sally8]

Honestly, I have heard so many different things about how dark the eggs from Cuckoo Marans, BCM, Wellsummers and Barnevelders are. I was told the Cuckoo had darker eggs but I bought the BCM eggs because the hens were black. I'm hoping to hatch out my first with Wrinkles, the roo who came up from Florida. (Don't know exactly what that means, only what I was told when I bought him.) His tail isn't up to SOP but since I'm only looking for the darkest eggs. This breeder also told me I could breed his daughters back to him once if he does produce darker eggs, then I need to find another one. BCM are not easily found around here.
I so badly want a beautiful Buff Orpington. I saw a pic of one and inquired about it. She had imported it for $300.00. I politely told her how beautiful and to have a great day. I can still dream.

 

[armorfirelady]

What with watching over 38 chicks, thirteen juvies, and ten adults chickens...Planting the potager and cottage garden...Caring for house and husband...I have hardly any time to come on here any longer. Not complaining. Loving every minute of my life. Three days ago I started running the twelve Catdance Silkie chicks and the eleven HRIR shipped chicks together in the chick house.They are about three weeks old. Running out of brooder space made this move a necessity of urgency. Imagine my surprise and delight to find these two groups of completely opposite in type chicks thriving together! No fighting. No bullying. No pecking on each other. I turn off the heat in the chick house all day. They hang out in the chick run together in the sun or shade. They scratch up pieces of flotsum and jetsom that I need to retrieve. But other than that, they get along beautifully! About the eating of FF. These chicks started out just eating itty bits and now I can hardly keep up with their appetite! I fill their feeders three times a day! That's three to four cups of FF for twenty three chicks. I think it is because of growth spurts. I have not lost one chick. They are all so healthy and look great to my eye.

Ohhhhh Mumsy....... All I can think is I love them all !!!! Beautiful chicks.......if u lived closer I would visit just so I could sit and watch them cute little babies. . I don't know how you get any work done I would spend all day watching them

 

[moomoodiddy]

thanks for all the help on the ff my chicks started to slow down on their comsupmtion today i guess i would be a pig too if i had been eating the samr thing my whole life

 

[Sally8]

Oh, by the way, I killed 2 more poults today. I can't seem to kill a roo for a nice chicken dinner but let a cute one try to come out of his shell and I turn into Dr Kavorkian. "Here, let sue help you" and then "RON! I KILLED ANOTHER ONE! UGH!" One had tried to hatch almost 2 days, his bottom was all poo and his actual skin was dark, like maybe peritonitis. The 2nd one made me nervous after the first and he just wasn't ready. My book of mistakes for learning will need extra pages this year. My motto is to not help them. Maybe I should write that own.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: I don't have grit from the store but there are lots of tiny pebbles and sand available for him. I gave him and the rest some greens today and he did seem to stay away from the oyster shell. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Eggcessive]

What hatchery did you get your bcms from?

I got my hatchery BCMs from MEYER Hatchery in Ohio. I had a very handsome cockerel last year and no hens, and this year just two hens. But hopefully next week my eggs will hatch.