The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[stonykill]

Stony - You DO sell hatching eggs from your Sumatras...do you ship them or just sell locally? If you ship, how has the hatch rate been for you?

Asking 'cuz I thought someone might be interested in getting some from you!

there is a listing right here on BYC for them. As well as on my Farm site. The few that have reported results also have told me they had incubator mishaps during the hatch.

 

[Pozees]

Leah mom anf delish

Do you think this can be turned around? I've ordered Nustock but until it gets here could I try monostate cream? Should I wipe them daily and then put/monostate/nustock on them every day? What has caused this in the first place so I can prevent it?

This is our set up.maybe you can tell me where we have went wrong.

They have a coop that we use hay (hay not straw) for the bedding. They have a 16x32 run. I let them out early morning to free range on acres of land....I call them in around 1 or 2 I scatter layer pellets, boss, some scratch and sometimes oyster shells or grit. About once a week i clean out the fridge and giveh them veg. Scraps. I clean the coop about every 3-6 months,....there water bucket is a rubber horse feed bucket and I rinse it out when it gets nasty but i dont keep it sparkling clean.

Some of the other chickens get little poop balls stuck to their feathers do they need rhe Nustock too?

Also my barred rocks keep runny poop. Nothing i've tried works to firm it. What can I do?

Sorry for all these questions...I've just been battling this for awhile and nothing I've done helps, the vets no help either...

Other will have a lot more to add, but right off I would suggest adding Unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar to the water (1 Tbl/gallon) and getting them some probiotics in the form of plain yoghurt. I leave Oyster shell and grit down all the time. I found some very inexpensive dog bowls at Family Dollar - rectangular divided in two, about 3-4" deep, I keep one side filled with grit and the other with Oyster shell, store it under the coop to keep it dry, and I refill the Oyster shell once or twice a month as they use it. The open bucket of water could possibly be a problem, may be worth the investment to get a 5 gallon waterer that can be filled at the top - they are not inexpensive, but should be good for years. I don't know that it's a problem, just that it could be.

Seems I read in the past hay may not be the perfect bedding but I can't remember why. I have always used pine shavings. Light, easy to find, nowadays no more expensive than hay (here anyway, hay is sky high). Where I am it is so dry I don't usually have mite/lice issues, but many others offer dusting beds of wood ash to great benefit. It certainly can't hurt. If I had easy access to wood ash I would do it just because it is generally beneficial and not harmful in any way I've ever heard of.

Someone just in the last couple of days suggested oatmeal to tighten up runny poops, again I don't know of any way trying it could hurt. I have rolled oats as part of my FF mixture, but in the winter if I cook oatmeal for myself the girls get the leftovers and GOBBLE them.

You are in the right place. There is a wealth of knowledge on this thread. The combined wisdom of our contributors could fill encyclopedias. BDM's Thing is a terrific reference tool. I don't have the link handy but it appears in the last few pages in her posts when she has added articles.

 

[delisha]

Leah mom anf delish

Do you think this can be turned around? I've ordered Nustock but until it gets here could I try monostate cream? Should I wipe them daily and then put/monostate/nustock on them every day? What has caused this in the first place so I can prevent it?

This is our set up.maybe you can tell me where we have went wrong.

They have a coop that we use hay (hay not straw) for the bedding. They have a 16x32 run. I let them out early morning to free range on acres of land....I call them in around 1 or 2 I scatter layer pellets, boss, some scratch and sometimes oyster shells or grit. About once a week i clean out the fridge and giveh them veg. Scraps. I clean the coop about every 3-6 months,....there water bucket is a rubber horse feed bucket and I rinse it out when it gets nasty but i dont keep it sparkling clean.

Some of the other chickens get little poop balls stuck to their feathers do they need rhe Nustock too?

Also my barred rocks keep runny poop. Nothing i've tried works to firm it. What can I do?

Sorry for all these questions...I've just been battling this for awhile and nothing I've done helps, the vets no help either...

Causes
ingesting moldy or spoiled food-especially corn, contaminated water, unsanitary conditions, sour crop, imbalance of the normal occurring bacteria in the digestive system also known as the normal flora, can occur after the use of oral antibiotics, mating with an infected hen or rooster

How to treat
You need to treat the whole flock if you have a rooster.


Acidify their digestive tract and crop by adding 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar with the "mother" to each gallon of their drinking water. Be sure to use plastic waterers as the vinegar will cause the metal ones to rust. Change waters daily!!!! to keep flock healthy. (yes!! chickens choose the dirty puddles to drink out of)
Add probiotics to their diet by enriching their food or feeding them plain unsweetened yogurt with live and active cultures once per week. This helps to restore the balance of the normal flora.
Clean the waterers regularly with distilled vinegar. ( I use baking soda weekly and bleach monthly)
Practice good hygiene. Keep the coop and run clean and dry.
Never feed the chickens kitchen scraps you would not eat yourself.
Keep chicken feed dry and stored in weather tight metal garbage cans.
Discard any questionable or moldy feed.

1. bathe all of your chickens in ACV soapy water
2. apply NuStock or athlete foot cream or some kind of anti fungicide for yeast infection. Monostate will work.
3. 3x a week with all birds that have a messy bottom.

 

[Kassaundra]

On the chickens and meat thing, my girls are almost better mousers then my cats. They go crazy over mice they find, snakes, frogs, lizards anything they can catch and is small enough to swallow or is small enough to swallow after some keep away and tug of war. The also get feeder insects they will knock you down for.








Here are the results of finding an unfortunate snake.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

On the chickens and meat thing, my girls are almost better mousers then my cats. They go crazy over mice they find, snakes, frogs, lizards anything they can catch and is small enough to swallow or is small enough to swallow after some keep away and tug of war. The also get feeder insects they will knock you down for.








Here are the results of finding an unfortunate snake.

I was so happy the other day when I saw my rooster tossing a mouse in the air over and over again. And when I got chickens I did not even know they would kill a mouse. It is a great plus.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I think we talked about this a looonnnnggg time ago but I'd like to bring it up again...

I have a good pair of muck boots that I wear when I go out to work around in the coop or when it rains/snows, etc. They are full high calf boots, and I do use them year-round BUT -

I want to purchase a pair of shoes/short boots that I can use in the summer. Here's the criteria:

-Slip on/off EASILY (no ties, velcro, etc.) Want to be able to just get them on really quickly when I want to go out.
-Waterproof - or at least pretty water-resistant so I can wear them in rain/mud.

So...show me what you have/recommend. I want to buy something NOW.

 

[holderh]

Thanks everyone,

Sounds like I was doing somethings right already but maybe not long enough or maybe it was not having a waterer that is the problem...thats the only thing I know it could be. I will buy 2 new wateres...i will put UPAV into one and probiotics that you can mix into water into the other. I will start fermenting feed agian, I will give yogurt weekly and I will bath them all in ACV and apply monistait cream on them until I get in the nustock.

I should bathe them and apply the monostait/nustock 3 times a week until they are healed?

I use hay for bedding because my husband makes hay so we dont buy it....should I use pine shavings instead? Can I go to a lumber mill and just get the raw shavings they have or does it have to be pine?

Thanks agian for your responses. I have talked several times throughout the year with a large animal vet about this issue and he always said it was probaby the worms causing the issue and that once I wormed them it would get better and if it didnt send in another fecal sample to have sent off for bacteria....I assume he was talking about a bacterial yeast infection. When i asked him about vent gleet he didnt know what it was and I told him I thought it was basically a yeast infections so he said we could send off the fecal sample to test for bacteria. Does it look like I need to do that and medicate them for this issue or will the nustock, yogurt, upacv do the trick on its on?

 

[NanaLynn]

Originally Posted by BlueMouse
The owl pictures are amazing. This is what we have hanging around, to my great chagrin.
Obviously my murder of crows is NOT doing their job. So far he hasn't taken any chickens... keeping my fingers crossed.

Oooh, a little too close. That's a colorful bird but so mean looking!
We saw a hawk flying around this morning, some small birds were chasing it, still did not get too close. Although, one of the owls is getting closer now. The chicks were free ranging since sunup yesterday. We go out before we put them up at night to sit and watch them a little. I went out at around 7 pm and while I was sitting there they all started running for some reason and hiding. Turns out, one of the owls, a huge one was a few yards back in the woods right behind me staring. They are pretty creepy when they do that, we had a staring contest for a while and then I went towards it and it flew away, but that was too close. I guess he is trying to figure out the best way to grab one of them.
So lesson learned,,,I am going to start putting them up an hour earlier from now on and keep checking on them throughout the day, even more so...I am so scared now if I let my guard down just once. Part of me just wants to keep them locked up, this is frustrating, I really want them to free range. I will continue to free range them, but ahhhhh!!! Darn predators!

Concerning this, I have a question:

Question1:
I have a quick question for you. I remember one of the OT's mentioned on one of the other threads that she would put up some type of string between the trees high up so it would deter flying predators. Does anyone remember who said that and what she used?

Also, I have another question on another chicken subject:
Question 2: When do I start giving my chicks calcium, egg shells and/or oyster shell. I've heard 16 weeks? Is that right. I do not plan to feed layer food since I will be adding new chicks soon and want them to share food eventually once I integrate them. I may switch to layer once the younger chicks are old enough for the extra calcium.

Thank you everyone! -Lynn

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I think we talked about this a looonnnnggg time ago but I'd like to bring it up again...

I have a good pair of muck boots that I wear when I go out to work around in the coop or when it rains/snows, etc. They are full high calf boots, and I do use them year-round BUT -

I want to purchase a pair of shoes/short boots that I can use in the summer. Here's the criteria:

-Slip on/off EASILY (no ties, velcro, etc.) Want to be able to just get them on really quickly when I want to go out.
-Waterproof - or at least pretty water-resistant so I can wear them in rain/mud.

So...show me what you have/recommend. I want to buy something NOW.

I have these but they are not very tall so if you are in deep mud, they would not work. Mine are blue but I did not see any blue on their web site. It is nice to be able to slip them on in place of my inside shoes. As often as I go outside to the chickens then right back inside lacing up boots and unlacing them would be a time consuming thing.
http://www.aquastopusa.com/#/Womens/Tara Black

I want to add that they are not really warm so walking in snow while wearing them is not the best idea. Still they are warmer than flip flops, so if you are a flip flop person they might seem overly warm.

 

[kian]

WalMart sells rainboot shoes for $10-$15 dollars.