The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[camilleathome]

Camille, I knew I liked your dog for a reason. I had one growing up, but my dh and dd think they are too small.

You could always get a standard Poodles come in all sizes! My miniatures are a nice size. To me a toy would be too small

 

[camilleathome]

Hi everyone

Thanks BDM for this great thread. I'm learning so much. Trying to very quickly catch up, but I'm only on page 85 so far.

Just wanted to jump in here and ask a quick question please...

I have an abundance of dung beetles in the chicken coop. Is this a serious problem? And if so, what can I do about them naturally?

I'm making wood ashes as I type this. Is there anything else I can do??

Thanks (apologies is this topic has already been covered in this thread. I'm reading as fast as I can).

Welcome! I dont know about the dung beatles but I love how this thread brings different people from around the world together .

 

[delisha]

By rapidly burying dung pads, dung beetles reduce fly breeding sites and therefore fly numbers. We now also know that dung burial can reduce the number of gastrointestinal parasite larvae on pastures. The beetles also help to clean up pasture and replace nutrients in the soil. The tunnels made by beetles result in greater water retention and less run-off and improve root penetration and soil aeration. Impressive results have been reported since dung beetle populations have become established. Horn Fly, a close relative to Buffalo Fly is no longer a problem in Hawaii after the successful introduction of dung beetles. Results in Northern NSW are encouraging but no reduction in Buffalo Fly numbers have yet been observed. In Busseltown, Western Australia, an 80% reduction in Bush Fly numbers has been reported. Pads attacked by beetles also produced between 48-93010 fewer parasite worm larvae than intact pads.

After mating the male and female beetles work together to dig tunnels and prepare balls of dung to feed the emerging larval stages. Some beetles place the brood balls in tunnels directly under the pad. Others roll the dung ball some distance away. Still others lay their eggs in the dung pad itself. Different beetles spend from several hours to several weeks in a pad. Beetles can lay up to 80 eggs during their life time at rates of up to 5-10 per week. The eggs are laid in many different pads. Larvae hatch 1-2 days after the egg is laid. The larvae remain in the brood ball and begin to eat the dung. They pupate 1-4 weeks later and emerge as immature adults after a further 3 weeks to several months. The young adults then leave in search of new pads. Adult dung beetles live for between 1 to 24 months with most living for up to 6 months. The beetles produce 1-2 generations per year. They over-winter as either adults or pupae in the soil.


Hope this helps..
Welcome to the group

 

[Pozees]

By rapidly burying dung pads, dung beetles reduce fly breeding sites and therefore fly numbers. We now also know that dung burial can reduce the number of gastrointestinal parasite larvae on pastures. The beetles also help to clean up pasture and replace nutrients in the soil. The tunnels made by beetles result in greater water retention and less run-off and improve root penetration and soil aeration. Impressive results have been reported since dung beetle populations have become established. Horn Fly, a close relative to Buffalo Fly is no longer a problem in Hawaii after the successful introduction of dung beetles. Results in Northern NSW are encouraging but no reduction in Buffalo Fly numbers have yet been observed. In Busseltown, Western Australia, an 80% reduction in Bush Fly numbers has been reported. Pads attacked by beetles also produced between 48-93010 fewer parasite worm larvae than intact pads.

After mating the male and female beetles work together to dig tunnels and prepare balls of dung to feed the emerging larval stages. Some beetles place the brood balls in tunnels directly under the pad. Others roll the dung ball some distance away. Still others lay their eggs in the dung pad itself. Different beetles spend from several hours to several weeks in a pad. Beetles can lay up to 80 eggs during their life time at rates of up to 5-10 per week. The eggs are laid in many different pads. Larvae hatch 1-2 days after the egg is laid. The larvae remain in the brood ball and begin to eat the dung. They pupate 1-4 weeks later and emerge as immature adults after a further 3 weeks to several months. The young adults then leave in search of new pads. Adult dung beetles live for between 1 to 24 months with most living for up to 6 months. The beetles produce 1-2 generations per year. They over-winter as either adults or pupae in the soil.


Hope this helps..
Welcome to the group

So you would not try to remove them from the coop then? Sounds like they are even more beneficial than I originally thought!

 

[4Hgirl]

Has anyone here ever had Egyptian Fayoumis?  I am wondering about differences in growth rate on this particular breed.  I got 27 of them and split them with a friend, subsequently she gave some to a relative and I gave some to a young man whose father keeps chickens who was interested in them.  There are only 2 differences I know of between our flocks.  1 - I am at a lower elevation - I'm at about 5400, and the rest are probably at least 1000 feet higher.  2 - I started giving FF when they were about 5-6 weeks of age, which they instantly took to and continue to eat VERY well.  They have free access to dry crumble, which they also eat, but love that FF.  They are active birds, and the breed is known for tolerance of heat, great foraging, and early maturity, with cockerels crowing as early as 4 weeks (mine waited until 8 weeks) and pullets laying as early as 4 months of age.  It is a small breed with stature similar to Leghorns.

I kept a total of 10, haven't lost any, they have been out in the unheated, uninsulated coop since 5 weeks of age and we have had nights as cold as 11 degrees F since then.  My birds are growing nicely and probably weigh ~3 lbs or so.  The others - 3 different keepers - have had losses apparently due to cold and the birds are smaller, one is perhaps 1/2 the size of mine based on the description I got when I brought 4 of mine to one of the keepers who had a dog attack that took out a good bit of her flock.  I suggested that one may just be a runt, and she said that the others weren't a whole lot bigger.

When I split them up there was no selection - nothing to select for - I just picked up 13 chicks and brought them to her, then when I gave away 4 more, again was only making sure I got 2 males and 2 females.  They were 5 weeks old at that time and had just moved to the coop, so it was right after that I started them on FF.

I have three theories:  1 - the bioavailability of proteins in FF at that age made a difference in size and survivability; 2 - the fact the FF is moist gives these desert birds better growth and survivability; 3 - the elevation difference negatively affected growth rate and survivability.

Open to other theories.

I don't know this breed but it sounds like it could just be the difference in care and feed. Especially if any of the dog attack victims survived they could be stunted for a long time. We had one that happened to and she actually at a year and a half reached full size.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Would I be right in thinking that the dung beetles wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing? Would the chickens eat them?

 

[countrygirl74]

The Hebrew states that of every clean beast Noah is to "take shiv'ah shiv'ah, the male and his female..."
Literally translated, shiv'ah is "seven" which makes Gen 7:2 read "take seven seven, the male and his female" often interpreted to mean "seven pairs".
However, in Hebrew seven has another meaning: it is the number of perfection and is used synonymously with the word "oath" since in swearing something, it is said seven times. As you are a Bible teacher (and this is a chicken forum, not a Bible nerd forum) I will not give the numerous examples of seven within the Old Testament.
If this interpretation is used, "take shiv'ah shivah, the male and his female..." can be read as "take a perfect seven" or "a full seven" or something along these lines.
Thus, 3 pairs (the six clean animals to be put to work) and number shiv'ah for the sacrifice.

And to keep things all good and chicken-y... Gen 7:3 Of the fowls also take shiv'ah shiv'ah ...and you just know that after floating around in the boat with that mean stupid rooster, Noah was good and ready to barbeque him.

Now I am the Nerd.

 

[Leahs Mom]

STRANGE QUESTION OF THE DAY
(There should be an award for that, I think)

I have a little plastic bucket that I love. It only holds 1 gallon, but it is very strong and has a good handle. I can haul all kinds of things in it...just the right size.

But - somehow my little bucket got a slit in the bottom - about 1/2" long. Almost looks like someone poked it with a knife. The edges are tight together, no gap.

So here's the question:
WHAT CAN I USE TO PATCH THAT SLIT THAT IS NON-TOXIC?

I was thinking of some kind of "gum/putty" type patch on it on the outside of the bucket. But I want to be sure I can still put water or ff in there (just to carry them from place to place so the ff won't be in it for longer than 10 min. at longest).

Your thoughts, please!

 

[delisha]

Would I be right in thinking that the dung beetles wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing? Would the chickens eat them?

They are good for the environment and chickens do eat them. yummy

STRANGE QUESTION OF THE DAY
(There should be an award for that, I think)

I have a little plastic bucket that I love. It only holds 1 gallon, but it is very strong and has a good handle. I can haul all kinds of things in it...just the right size.

But - somehow my little bucket got a slit in the bottom - about 1/2" long. Almost looks like someone poked it with a knife. The edges are tight together, no gap.

So here's the question:
WHAT CAN I USE TO PATCH THAT SLIT THAT IS NON-TOXIC?

I was thinking of some kind of "gum/putty" type patch on it on the outside of the bucket. But I want to be sure I can still put water or ff in there (just to carry them from place to place so the ff won't be in it for longer than 10 min. at longest).

Your thoughts, please!

Duct tape

 

[annewandering]

STRANGE QUESTION OF THE DAY
(There should be an award for that, I think)

I have a little plastic bucket that I love. It only holds 1 gallon, but it is very strong and has a good handle. I can haul all kinds of things in it...just the right size.

But - somehow my little bucket got a slit in the bottom - about 1/2" long. Almost looks like someone poked it with a knife. The edges are tight together, no gap.

So here's the question:
WHAT CAN I USE TO PATCH THAT SLIT THAT IS NON-TOXIC?

I was thinking of some kind of "gum/putty" type patch on it on the outside of the bucket. But I want to be sure I can still put water or ff in there (just to carry them from place to place so the ff won't be in it for longer than 10 min. at longest).

Your thoughts, please!

Does it leak now? Speaking of gum. Gum might do just fine.