The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

I need someone to give me a tutorial on free video editing software. You'd think I would be using Premier as a graphics person, but I never learned the video part!

I always liked using Movie Maker or iMovie for Mac. Either works well, but I find Movie Maker has more options. I am just getting used to iMovie.

First you have to take a video properly and I am terrible at videoing. And I hate the sound of my own voice, so I will not be talking in one

Camille, your chicks are super cute and I had a lot of fun hatching them. 19/21 viable embryos is pretty good in my book.

Susan is calling Hallus to see what is up with the striped chicks. Not sure what's going on there! I've seen his birds personally, and he does separate, but maybe he had just separated for breeding season? Anyway, I'll let you know.

He only keeps: Barred Rocks (with no roosters), RIR, Chantcler, Australorp (no roosters) and Delaware.

 

[bluebirdnanny]

Girls got 4 hours out today and some probiotic of live culture natural yogurt. 3 heaping teaspoons in a bowl.... but couldn't remember I put the camera in the shed so it would be close.... would have been cute pictures of white beaked red chickens!!!! And they finished it then cleaned each others faces off!!!! Was so cute even baldy cleaning one side of bossy beak who then turned the other side to her and she cleaned the other side for her!! Charlotte cleaned their backs of splashed yogurt then the two of them cleaned Charlottes beak... one on each side. Purring like cats the whole time.

But had to make them go in... time for getting my dinner then ready for Church.

 

[camilleathome]

I always liked using Movie Maker or iMovie for Mac. Either works well, but I find Movie Maker has more options. I am just getting used to iMovie.

First you have to take a video properly and I am terrible at videoing. And I hate the sound of my own voice, so I will not be talking in one

Camille, your chicks are super cute and I had a lot of fun hatching them. 19/21 viable embryos is pretty good in my book.

Susan is calling Hallus to see what is up with the striped chicks. Not sure what's going on there! I've seen his birds personally, and he does separate, but maybe he had just separated for breeding season? Anyway, I'll let you know.

He only keeps: Barred Rocks (with no roosters), RIR, Chantcler, Australorp (no roosters) and Delaware.

Im very curious fore sure! Let me know

 

[aoxa]

Im very curious fore sure! Let me know

I let you know on Facebook, but I'll let you know here as well. He said that they are RIR and that they will feather out just the same. He said he moved a Chantcler hen to the RIR pen because the Chantecler hens were picking on her, so that's how they happened.

ETA:

Found this quote:

I've only hatched about 2,000 RI Red Bantams but I too see some variation in chick colour. I haven't noticed a connection between amout of black & gender but I do find that the darker chicks with pronounced black stripes on their back generally have better wing & tail colour.

 

[Ashdoes]

I've got eight fake eggs in one of the chickens nesting areas....we'll see if I can't convince one of my Cochins to go broody. Would be ice, I REALLY want some cream legbar eggs for hatching, but would prefer not to buy an incubator just yet.

 

[rowerjen]

Around here we have the same predators as most (coons, possums, cotes, fox, hawks) and in the daytime I have never heard of chicken wire not working to stop them. Have had some taken free rang but not in a run made with chicken wire. Most people here have chickens.
If you are blocking holes in the coop I understand heavy wire because like I said it should be fort knox. The only reason I could see a reason for a run to be built out of anything stronger is if the chickens are not put in the coop at night and then I think a person is just asking for trouble.
Do you understand my confusion?

I have a fort knox run that I built before I got comfortable with letting my chickens free range. If I were to do my setup all over again, I' d probably still do the same thing to give them a protected spot on those rare occassions when I can't let them wander, and if I leave the pop door open, they're still safe.

Before you all post comments or pictures of your weather please post ,
"WARNING! THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE AND PHOTOS MAYBE FOUND GRAPHIC AND OFFENSIVE"

Those of you posting flowers and green grass might want to do the same. I just want to see some color!

 

[armorfirelady]

Sue I find it amusing we are only 3 hours apart and u got snow today sun was shining all day today. My friend is in Watkins Glen for the day and he said it was snowing there to lol

Love all the baby pics.

BDM- prayers for ur family...hope ur daughter feels better soon & u as well.

Spent most of the day cleaning out flower beds & decided to let the girls back in the garden area since with all the rain we had I knew it was worm infested. They happily scratched through the compost getting their fill of worms & bugs. My mom called them my chicken rototillers I was just happy they laid 4 eggs.....tho of course they were in 3 different boxes. I think they read our discussion on here and wanted to prove they can lay in different boxes lol

I made new feeders for them with dry wall pans.......they are a lot larger than the bowls I used all winter and I only fill them half way if that. Well I either need to put less FF in them or they are getting more food in their giant run because their FF is lasting 3+ days without me needing to fill it up again. Tonight I dumped what was left in the grass after they were roosting. Of course they got down and went outside to eat it. Maybe it tastes better on grass lol. I think they were just taking a siesta since they are back in the fenced area again. Thank goodness since its still day light out & I couldn't figure out why they were roosting so early. I think all the new space tires them out.

Here's a sill question: how do u tell if a crop is full? I've tried to palpate their neck to feel for it & can't tell. And I really don't see anything bulging. I'm not worried they are hungry because they spend all day picking up worms, bugs, grass, clover, etc in their fenced area & they do eat their FF.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I've got eight fake eggs in one of the chickens nesting areas....we'll see if I can't convince one of my Cochins to go broody. Would be ice, I REALLY want some cream legbar eggs for hatching, but would prefer not to buy an incubator just yet.

That's what I want to hatch too! So far the eggs in the nest have been kind-of funny. 2 of the girls like to gather them underneith when they get in and they sit in there a good while when laying. But it is obvious to me that neither of them is really broody or even close! The 2 doing his do flatten out to cover them all up. No "broody daze". They're as bright and chipper as can be...just like gathering those eggs up!

 

[aoxa]

Sue I find it amusing we are only 3 hours apart and u got snow today

sun was shining all day today. My friend is in Watkins Glen for the day and he said it was snowing there to lol

Love all the baby pics.

BDM- prayers for ur family...hope ur daughter feels better soon & u as well.

Spent most of the day cleaning out flower beds & decided to let the girls back in the garden area since with all the rain we had I knew it was worm infested. They happily scratched through the compost getting their fill of worms & bugs. My mom called them my chicken rototillers

I was just happy they laid 4 eggs.....tho of course they were in 3 different boxes. I think they read our discussion on here and wanted to prove they can lay in different boxes lol

I made new feeders for them with dry wall pans.......they are a lot larger than the bowls I used all winter and I only fill them half way if that. Well I either need to put less FF in them or they are getting more food in their giant run because their FF is lasting 3+ days without me needing to fill it up again. Tonight I dumped what was left in the grass after they were roosting. Of course they got down and went outside to eat it. Maybe it tastes better on grass lol. I think they were just taking a siesta since they are back in the fenced area again. Thank goodness since its still day light out & I couldn't figure out why they were roosting so early. I think all the new space tires them out.

Here's a sill question: how do u tell if a crop is full? I've tried to palpate their neck to feel for it & can't tell. And I really don't see anything bulging. I'm not worried they are hungry because they spend all day picking up worms, bugs, grass, clover, etc in their fenced area & they do eat their FF.

Their crop isn't at their neck, it's just above their breast. Feel around there.

LW is going to say something about that, I can just feel it

 

[chikenscratch]

I wanted to share this adorable silkie..he is really turning out pretty ..

I bet ur DH is happy.

Taken March 22, 2013: Taken March 25, 2013:

Beautiful. Whst are the purple flowers?