The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[camilleathome]

You keep a warm house!

I usually take my chicks off of heat at 3 weeks in the basement, four at the latest. It's pretty chilly down there, but it's all I have to work with right now.

By the way Camille, your first little call duck has just hatched. 3 days early.

I WANT TO SEEEEEE!! XD

And yes we do keep a warm house usually and I keep them in the living room

 

[brandislee]

I found this while browsing thru Pinterest........
It combines the talk we had about rain barrels & cup waterers

http://

I was going to do something like this ages ago, but never got around to it. I really need to rethink it, I HATE hauling water. I was going to do nipple waterers, but I really like the cup water idea. Something that I got hung up on was winter- it would be a lot of work for something I could only use 6 months out of the year. In a perfect world, though, I would like to have cup waterers strategically placed around my yard so that both my dogs (I think I could train my dogs to drink from them, couldn't I?) and my free ranging chickens would have easily accessible water all the time. As it is, I place cheapie 1 gallon waterers around the yard in the summer.

 

[kian]

Hey Stony!! Good to see you back on here!!

I just finished reading your broody article Good stuff!

 

[delisha]

Quote: When it was a chick you told me it was a partridge..

ROOSTER SURVEY

-Do your roosters "dance" for the girls and wait for the girls to accept their advances? OR Do they just grab and attack against their will?

-If they dance, at what age did they begin that behavior?



HU has said that he tries not to keep roosters that don't dance and court the ladies. (He touches a little on that here, but not as in-depth as the book) He states that the dancers don't injure the hens like the non-dancers do.

Now I don't have experience with this but what he's saying makes good sense to me and my intention is to select for dancers and remove those that don't when I have the choice. Please tell me YOUR experience with this.

All of my males have danced and became more romantic as they aged if they were not as a youngster. This time of year they are more aggressive. They will calm down as summer approaches. My Orpington is so sweet to some of the girls and really ruff to others. He actually tore a hole in the back of an unreceptive pullets neck yesterday. He does not like no or a pullet who runs from him. I put a stitch in her neck and she is recovering nicely. My poor DH makes a horrible nurse and I was afraid he would pass out.

Quote: x3

Same here with the ecoglows. They just don't get warm enough to use out in the hen house unless it's pretty warm out

I've been searching for a long time for a "no light" heat solution for brooding in unheated housing. Have looked at lots of ideas but so far haven't found a good one.

Except for a broody hen!

I use the red lamps and ecoglo..Eventually I am going to use the reptile heat tape and make my own ecoglo in an insulated area in the green coop.

All about 8 months old.
Layers
17 Black Copper Marans
2 easter eggers

Cockerels
3 Black Copper Marans

Future culls (not included above) These are not allowed around my main flock.
2 BCMs cockerals
2 EE cockerels

Getting next month
between 6 to 10 Heritage breed Rhode Island reds all pullets.

My I ask why they are not allowed by your main flock?

 

[brandislee]

ROOSTER SURVEY

-Do your roosters "dance" for the girls and wait for the girls to accept their advances? OR Do they just grab and attack against their will?

-If they dance, at what age did they begin that behavior?



HU has said that he tries not to keep roosters that don't dance and court the ladies. (He touches a little on that here, but not as in-depth as the book) He states that the dancers don't injure the hens like the non-dancers do.

Now I don't have experience with this but what he's saying makes good sense to me and my intention is to select for dancers and remove those that don't when I have the choice. Please tell me YOUR experience with this.

I agree, I won't keep a rooster who doesn't wing dance and who manhandles his ladies instead of inviting them. The rooster I had last year, mutt that he was (he was supposed to be a Wyandotte, but his coloring was way off) was perfect in that respect, great wing dance, very respectful for lack of a lesson personifying word. The BO rooster I had didn't, and as beautiful and HUGE as he was, I never intended to keep him (he also went through a phase were he mercilessly attacked me, but weirdly grew out of it). The Buckeye rooster I have now does both, although his wing dance isn't nearly as pronounced or elaborate. But I can't tell you when he started doing it- I would say if they're not doing it by 1 year old, they probably aren't going to, but that's my partially educated guess. I can't remember if he did it last fall (when he was only 5-7 months old), in the winter they don't breed nearly as much, so I don't tend to witness it much. But he's definitely doing it this spring.

Besides it just being gentler on the hen, I think (again, opinion) that wing dancing and "inviting" hens instead of the whole pursue and accost method is more chicken-like behavior. I want to raise chickens who maintain as many of their natural chicken behaviors as possible- just like I want a good rooster who warns his hens when a hawk flies over and hens that respond appropriately, or hens who want to sit on eggs and raise chicks, or chickens who are adept at grazing and looking for bugs and worms and don't rely so heavily on feed.

The wyandottes in my area come from one source and they are not a thrifty line. As for the buff orp, I just found they ate way too much and laid too little to keep around. If I was passionate about the breed itself, and felt like it would be the focus of my breeding there is nothing wrong with them.. just not for me.

I felt the same way about both BO and BR. Not impressed with at least the ones I got- the BO were from a breeder (as was the Lemon Cukoo Orp who just died) and the BR were hatchery. Not my favorite chickens out of all I've kept. So I ate them. Except the Lemon- she was on her way to being on the list to go to the processor then went broody, so I kept her.

On that note, I was just lamenting about not having any broodies yet this spring- now (here's hoping I don't jinx it) my broody who hatched for me last spring is sitting on a nest. It's hard to tell because she doesn't growl at me (she didn't ever last year, either) but she's all flattened down on a nest and she's been there all day. If she's still there tomorrow I'll take her out and see what she does. Here's hoping she's not egg bound or something else instead... that would suck, she's an overall amazing hen.

 

[aoxa]

When it was a chick you told me it was a partridge..
All of my males have danced and became more romantic as they aged if they were not as a youngster. This time of year they are more aggressive. They will calm down as summer approaches. My Orpington is so sweet to some of the girls and really ruff to others. He actually tore a hole in the back of an unreceptive pullets neck yesterday. He does not like no or a pullet who runs from him. I put a stitch in her neck and she is recovering nicely. My poor DH makes a horrible nurse and I was afraid he would pass out.
x3
I use the red lamps and ecoglo..Eventually I am going to use the reptile heat tape and make my own ecoglo in an insulated area in the green coop.
My I ask why they are not allowed by your main flock?

It probably looked partridge as a chick. Looks a bit like Mumsy's light grey silkies.

 

[aoxa]

I agree, I won't keep a rooster who doesn't wing dance and who manhandles his ladies instead of inviting them. The rooster I had last year, mutt that he was (he was supposed to be a Wyandotte, but his coloring was way off) was perfect in that respect, great wing dance, very respectful for lack of a lesson personifying word. The BO rooster I had didn't, and as beautiful and HUGE as he was, I never intended to keep him (he also went through a phase were he mercilessly attacked me, but weirdly grew out of it). The Buckeye rooster I have now does both, although his wing dance isn't nearly as pronounced or elaborate. But I can't tell you when he started doing it- I would say if they're not doing it by 1 year old, they probably aren't going to, but that's my partially educated guess. I can't remember if he did it last fall (when he was only 5-7 months old), in the winter they don't breed nearly as much, so I don't tend to witness it much. But he's definitely doing it this spring.

Besides it just being gentler on the hen, I think (again, opinion) that wing dancing and "inviting" hens instead of the whole pursue and accost method is more chicken-like behavior. I want to raise chickens who maintain as many of their natural chicken behaviors as possible- just like I want a good rooster who warns his hens when a hawk flies over and hens that respond appropriately, or hens who want to sit on eggs and raise chicks, or chickens who are adept at grazing and looking for bugs and worms and don't rely so heavily on feed.



I felt the same way about both BO and BR. Not impressed with at least the ones I got- the BO were from a breeder (as was the Lemon Cukoo Orp who just died) and the BR were hatchery. Not my favorite chickens out of all I've kept. So I ate them. Except the Lemon- she was on her way to being on the list to go to the processor then went broody, so I kept her.

On that note, I was just lamenting about not having any broodies yet this spring- now (here's hoping I don't jinx it) my broody who hatched for me last spring is sitting on a nest. It's hard to tell because she doesn't growl at me (she didn't ever last year, either) but she's all flattened down on a nest and she's been there all day. If she's still there tomorrow I'll take her out and see what she does. Here's hoping she's not egg bound or something else instead... that would suck, she's an overall amazing hen.

What didn't you like about the barred rock? I haven't had one ever that wasn't the picture of chicken health, and the queens of the layers. They held their own against hybrids.. their eggs were a tad smaller, but they laid just as frequently.

 

[aoxa]

I WANT TO SEEEEEE!! XD

And yes we do keep a warm house usually and I keep them in the living room

It looks just like this one:

 

[NanaLynn]

Oh how pretty! For someone who keeps chickens (who has even lost chickens to hawks), I am disproportionatly obsessed with raptors. They're so pretty and majestic and dignified looking, not to mention the fact that they serve an important purpose by keeping the rodent population down. Not that I don't run around the yard with a broomstick like a crazy person any time I see a hawk when my chickens are out.... because I totally did that today.

I don't know the answer for sure. Owls typically prey on smaller animals, so I definitely wouldn't let any young chicks out. And it depends on the size of the owl- I don't have a good frame of reference, but these guys don't look very big. Keep in mind not all owls hunt at night, some hunt sporadically during the day (and I can't remember what types of owls do, I want to say barn owls). Obviously these owls are awake during the day, have you ever seen them fly when it was light? If not, and you just occasionally see them come out during the day, I would just be super cautious at dawn and dust- don't let your girls out until the sun is well and up, and try to get them shut up before dusk (I know I know, easier said than done- I'm lucky, the tree line to the West tricks my girls into going to bed before dusk, though). Hope all goes well and these birds can coexist with yours!

I really enjoy watching the owls, hawks and falcons. Such pretty birds. Too bad they are killers too. One thing about the owls, they seem to help the crows keep the hawks away. Gotta love those crows! So far we have not had any hawks too close. My chicks have always been scared of any shadow and they have many hiding placing when they are outside the coop. I'll even be outside with them and they run and hide and I can't figure out why until I look up and see a falcon or hawk far away. Those instincts they were given are awesome!

We can usually see the owls late in the afternoon and sometimes well before the sun goes down. I think they are on the move more now because the city is doing a lot of road and creek widening near us and they are chopping down a lot of old very tall trees in the process. We have a coyote as well that runs around at night, we think it is a female that maybe was disturb from the construction. Our dog is great at sounding the alarm though. I don't plan on letting them out too early or leaving them out too late. Hopefully I won't forget one day, or leave them out when I leave home. I always put them back in the run and coop when I go anywhere. A little bit of scratch or meal worms brings them right in. If my memory works and I remember to put them up, they should be safe.

 

[camilleathome]

It looks just like this one: