The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Del, I can actually feel the weight being put on by the treated Silkies. General's keel is starting to blend into his breast muscle. Marsala is still thin but putting on weight every day. I think they have turned a major corner. Thanks for the help

 

[Bulldogma]

Del, I can actually feel the weight being put on by the treated Silkies. General's keel is starting to blend into his breast muscle. Marsala is still thin but putting on weight every day. I think they have turned a major corner. Thanks for the help

Trav - that is awesome news! Also rather enlightening, don't you think? Good for you for trying the chelatin (sp?) therapy!

 

[bluebirdnanny]

I am so jealous of this guy's singing talents. He rounds up his chickens by singing.. in seconds. It is amazing!

I don't think I sing well either. But from the Kennel I did make a sour roo squeal that sent them running to the coop from ME. lol

LOLOLOL! Bluebirdnanny - glad you enjoyed your 3-hour tour!
Del - you crack me up! And of course you realize you are partly to blame for your fantastic contributions to it.

Oh - and by the way... what's this cleaning house you speak of?

Thank you for allowing me to use your photos!
So glad to hear your flock is settling in to their new digs! They are looking good!

LOL

I hear ya BBN! It used to be gardening that kept me outside...and not cleaning house...now it'll be that AND the chickens! It's not even summer and I'm out in the coop or pen watching/feeding/puttering around. Sometimes DH comes to find me!

Yes, gardening and woodland wandering and puttsing about the spring hole watching it bubble up at the bottom kept me outside before.... NOW I will never come in!!!!! Except for bathroom and checking in here. OH OH spring must be coming..... I hear Killdee out there!

I have never had good luck with duck eggs in my incubator. They are tricky to begin with. They should be fine even with a broken turner.
I use my blender to grind the feed. I do not blend that much at a time. I blend each ingredient individually and mix it together. It takes me about 5 minutes. With 60 chicks I can make a batch that last the week. I know as they grow it will take more time, however as they grow, I will not blend all the grains.

Been wondering about making my own too. It is soo far to the place I found my organic laying feed. Looking forward to the recipes.

 

[bbsnooks]

Babies enjoying some Saturday fun in the sun out in their run. Now the scary thing were the 9 (yes we counted them) 9 big hawks circling over head like a cheesy western movie where the vultures circled a thirsty cowboy. (coop still under construction-no hen door and some garden work to finish)

This is very nice setup,, I would be happy to play in that yard.. ; )
Hopefully that circling mass of raptors -- was just out for a saturday "dance".. it is spring.. and ... i dont think they hunt in packs.. keep an eye out tho..

I'm wondering.. how would you add 50 lbs of vegetable oil and 10 pounds of calcium? What products would you use to add the calcium?

a little snip-it from HARVEY
My assumption, however, is that the feeds I make are of only secondary importance. Far more important than any sought-for “balance” in the formulation itself is maximizing their access to live foods. I do this primarily by putting the birds on pasture during the green season. I am also experimenting with ways—production of fly maggots as a potent source of protein in the summer, and of earthworms as supplemental feed in the winter—to increase the amount of live animal foods they eat.

Aoxa - I'm also going to re-post this from earlier. This is why you have a hard time finding meat meal in feeds. My feed has the highest amount of fish meal it can without causing a "taste" in the eggs. I asked my formulator for meat meal and he just couldn't get it.

Interesting article on "vegetarian chickens"....

Here's a quote from the article:

I'm thinking the BSF = Black Soldier Fly larvae would be a better recyclers - Every thing gets recycled ( just about) but if i could employ these.. and help the chickens.. reduce the bite and buzz of the other fly's.. get some super concentrate fertilizer for the garden.. as a by product.. May be a win win win..
any one have them.. they say they used to be called the privy fly..

I think they would grow.. in same temp as the FF but breed and populate even in very hot summers.. perfect for me.
I dont know if it will reduce the feed bill any .. but.. the you tube chicks sure like them. and I'm thinking.. Fresh Home grown feed is better than in the bag..

 

[countrygirl74]

55 is chilly? We have not had 55 yet.my baby's are out and loving it. I have even had my week olds out for a while in the sun.

It's chilly to me!

I get cold really easy and I have Raynauds Disease which is why I live in Arizona. I probably would have put the chicks out with the temps, it was just the wind. We had gusts up to 60mph and I didn't really have any windbreak for them. I really thought they would blow away - LOL. Even my big ducks hid out all day with that crazy wind.


Technical question... how do you guys quote from different pages and still reply all in one post? When I try to quote from one page and then try to go a page back to quote again for a reply, everything disappears.

 

[aoxa]

It's chilly to me!

I get cold really easy and I have Raynauds Disease which is why I live in Arizona. I probably would have put the chicks out with the temps, it was just the wind. We had gusts up to 60mph and I didn't really have any windbreak for them. I really thought they would blow away - LOL. Even my big ducks hid out all day with that crazy wind.


Technical question... how do you guys quote from different pages and still reply all in one post? When I try to quote from one page and then try to go a page back to quote again for a reply, everything disappears.

There is a multi quote on each post. click as many as you want and than click "post a reply" at the bottom or the top of the page on the left. You will get all the quotes you want

 

[countrygirl74]

There is a multi quote on each post. click as many as you want and than click "post a reply" at the bottom or the top of the page on the left. You will get all the quotes you want

Duh! I feel like a dork now - never even knew what the multi button was for...

 

[Sally8]

The one in the first and to the right of the second are boys.

Super blue layers would be considered EEs

You know, I knew that! Every time the eggs were referred to she said they were White Leghorns. For some reason, once my mind wrapped around that I forgot that the roo was either Ameraucana or EE or now in this case EE. I'm gad you stated the obvious. Thanks.

I'm a little sleep deprived today. I'm sick of having so many different pens right now so I moved the turkeys back with the chickens temporarily and moved the 8 week chicks in the grow out pen to the old turkey pen and the 5 week old chicks to the old 8 week old pen so I could put the old 5 week old cage and attach it to the 2 week old cage to get ready for the Barred Rocks to hatch. At 1am I went to bed but set the alarm for 5 am so I could open the chicken/turkey door so they weren't all closed in. I had another poult hatch yesterday.

 

[loanwizard]

Thanks for explaining!

I have two pot bellied pigs to root up our wooded area and get me used to the idea of pigs. They are free - so if they don't suit us we can rehome them. I think of them as training pigs

Another friend has the tamworth and berkshires. I will possibly get a piglet from them after I overcome this nervousness. I did pet their young boer who is about 14 weeks old. He is the tamworth and very friendly and sizable so I am not so afraid lol.

So can you raise just a single pig for meat? We don't have the room for more than one pig - or the freezer. We only want to raise one for meat for ourselves. Is one doable? Or should I do two? Is there an age that is too young for eating?

You CAN raise a single pig for meat, or for a pet for that matter. People do it with pot belly's all the time. That said, they are a pack animal and do like each other's company. 6 months, 800 lbs of feed gets them to 225, perfect for a family of 4. 100lb or so are the ones they use for hog roasts.... I think... maybe 150....

 

[delisha]

Del, I can actually feel the weight being put on by the treated Silkies. General's keel is starting to blend into his breast muscle. Marsala is still thin but putting on weight every day. I think they have turned a major corner. Thanks for the help

That is wonderful news..please keep us updated. I want pictures in a month of the difference.

Quote: Multi quote botton

Quote: I got exhausted just reading what you did. I would toss the 8 and 5 week olds together.