The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Bulldogma]

all different broody's out this afternoon with their lil ones. Between those 3 there are 20 chicks. Another Blue Sumatra is having her hatch today. All she let me see was a Splash sumatra chick . THIS is natural chicken keeping

Wonderful pics, Stony... and yes - that's as natural as it gets!

 

[Leahs Mom]

BDM...the post is very timely as I was going to ask:

How many times can a rooster mate in a day?





(Also put that question on the blog)

 

[RedRidge]

Quote: Thanks.

Now...it DOES seem that you could make this secure with a little tweaking.

So...question for the evening:

What would each of you do to make this secure enough to keep your chickens in overnight if there was no LGD?


(I'm leaving for the evening so I won't get to read until tomorrow.)
Hmmm... I'd use hardware cloth instead of chicken wire... on the top also.
At that point the biggest concern would be something digging under... especially those of us who do not leave on level ground.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Stony - what kind of buildings do you have? I keep wondering how you house everyone!

I'm also curious.

 

[loanwizard]

Oooooo - now I've gone and done it. I'm gonna get put up in front of a firing squad for my latest (and rather impromptu) article. I posted chicken porn! Shhh....

(Oh yeah... you know you totally want to see what I put out there!)

I would love to borrow/steal that for my blog which is woefully lacking in attention lately! Excellent style!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: Thanks.

Now...it DOES seem that you could make this secure with a little tweaking.

So...question for the evening:

What would each of you do to make this secure enough to keep your chickens in overnight if there was no LGD?


(I'm leaving for the evening so I won't get to read until tomorrow.)
Hmmm... I'd use hardware cloth instead of chicken wire... on the top also.
At that point the biggest concern would be something digging under... especially those of us who do not leave on level ground.

we have a similar tractor. Ours is chicken wire on all sides and the top but the back is similar to here. But ours is not super light. The top has sections that open on hinges. I can see why a net would be a lighter weight option given the dog.

 

[loanwizard]

BDM...the post is very timely as I was going to ask:

How many times can a rooster mate in a day?





(Also put that question on the blog)

Ok, secure a tractor against predators or this..... Se which I picked first? BIG surprise.

I have 100-110 birds and maybe 15 roosters..... Who knows. I need to get rid of 4 big Brahma boys. I have bald girls.

They can service at least 10 girls in a day at least. When I watch them right before roosting in the evening it is a veritable orgy. One will grab a girl by the nape of the neck and pile on, then a brother will come knock him off and go for a ride, then another will try to tag her before she gets to the barn. Seems the ho hens stay out a little later than the rest. Believe me the roosters are the last ones outside rounding up their harem. Pimps I say. Brahma Pimps in Tuxedos.

 

[loanwizard]

Thanks.

Now...it DOES seem that you could make this secure with a little tweaking.

So...question for the evening:

What would each of you do to make this secure enough to keep your chickens in overnight if there was no LGD?


(I'm leaving for the evening so I won't get to read until tomorrow.)

The most secure tractor you can have in my humble opinion is to free range where they have a chance to disperse in the case of predation. IF a predator can get into that confined space, the killing only stops when the predator says it is time to stop.

 

[stonykill]

Stony - what kind of buildings do you have? I keep wondering how you house everyone!

I currently have 9 coops.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Stony: What sizes?