The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[RedRidge]

And for those who were talking about broody Mama's in high nest boxes check out this video.......

Cute...
I had one go broody almost threel feet off the floor about a month ago and toyed with moving her every day and never did.
Finally... about day 19 I decided to carefully zip-tie a board across the bottom of the milk crate she was in to make the lip higher - my thought was babies would be less likely to fall out. Her it is with one board... I then added a second...



Hatching day came... babies were snug down in the box... but I wasn't sure all the eggs had hatched yet so I left them another day.
The following day I came out and found this...



So... apparently no worse for wear they all jumped, hopped (or heaven forbid dropped) to the ground and all are fine.
An no, those chicks were not from her eggs... she is a d'Uccle I use as a live incubator... those are Buff Orps

 

[lalaland]

I thought I picked up a quote from you about getting Icelandic and Swedish chickens? I just got home from work and I am tired. Those DO look similar! If that is you, where are you getting them? My dream next batch of chickens will be Swedish Flower hens. They are beautiful, and, by all accounts also have nice personalities. Leah's Mom has some super pretty birds, maybe she will be ready to sell me some

yes, it was me. I am getting 4 each of icelandics, swedish flower hens, cream legbars and something called a super blue layer which is really a cross that will work for one generation between leghorns and auracuanas. Straight run, so I am praying to the gender gods to be kind.

BDM and Leah's mom do have gorgeous birds and sparked my interest in the sfh

Cute...
I had one go broody almost threel feet off the floor about a month ago and toyed with moving her every day and never did.
Finally... about day 19 I decided to carefully zip-tie a board across the bottom of the milk crate she was in to make the lip higher - my thought was babies would be less likely to fall out. Her it is with one board... I then added a second...



Hatching day came... babies were snug down in the box... but I wasn't sure all the eggs had hatched yet so I left them another day.
The following day I came out and found this...



So... apparently no worse for wear they all jumped, hopped (or heaven forbid dropped) to the ground and all are fine.
An no, those chicks were not from her eggs... she is a d'Uccle I use as a live incubator... those are Buff Orps

wood ducklings can be way up high in a nest and fall to the ground - so I am guessing for chicks, it is the same thing. They don't weigh a darn thing so it is mostly fluff going down

 

[aoxa]

yes, it was me. I am getting 4 each of icelandics, swedish flower hens, cream legbars and something called a super blue layer which is really a cross that will work for one generation between leghorns and auracuanas. Straight run, so I am praying to the gender gods to be kind.

BDM and Leah's mom do have gorgeous birds and sparked my interest in the sfh

wood ducklings can be way up high in a nest and fall to the ground - so I am guessing for chicks, it is the same thing. They don't weigh a darn thing so it is mostly fluff going down

I had a child drop a day old chick and it broke it's neck, so this is where my hesitation of letting them hatch high up stems from.

 

[nova022]

In the house? Really? My husband would have a fit.
He thinks it's bad enough I have the incubator in the house... but when they come out of the bator they go directly to the barn - doesn't matter what time of year.

I brooded my first two batches of babies in the house and the dust was unbelievable. We are now set up so that any future batches can be brooded outside, but ; ( my husband say we have enough chickens ; (

 

[brandislee]

Ever feel like "clean" isn't clean enough?

... and that is exactly why I've given up altogether!

I'm with you there.. I tend to be fine around bumble bees. They are slow and clumsy. I can't help but run when bees/wasps/hornets come around. Less so with honey bees than the latter.

I had not been stung until last summer. I didn't even see it coming. Surprisingly, since being stung - I am much less fearful of them. I do know how useful they are to the planet.. I get it.. But phobias aren't rational right?

Who's ready for June Bug season?!

I got stung last summer too- the wasps are pretty bad around the front porch. One dive bombed my head and I had this cowl neck sweater on, so I flipped up my sweater in self defense over my head. Turns out I was too fast and trapped the wasp INSIDE the sweater! It stung me on the neck. And since being stung I've also been a lot less scared of them- it didn't hurt too badly, and even after I trapped it it took a while for the thing to sting me. Whatever kind of wasps we have (I've heard they're called paper wasps, but IDK) they apparently aren't horribly aggressive. So I just ignore them mostly. I just wish I knew where they were nesting or coming from, I would get rid of them because my kids are petrified of them, but I can't seem to find a nest anywhere.

And don't even joke... June bugs are MY phobia. I was a really blonde little kid, and if I was outside at night they would totally dive bomb my head. And I hate any large, crunchy bug. I hate them but I hate squishing them even more.

I had a child drop a day old chick and it broke it's neck, so this is where my hesitation of letting them hatch high up stems from.

That's awful! I would assume that a chick intentionally jumping down, with the help of a broody (who knows, maybe they land on the mom or something...) would be significantly better off than one who is dropped. But I can see why you would be hesitant. My hen refused to sit on a nest in the broody pen, though, but the moment I let her out she went right back to the nest boxes. So I shut her in (she has food and water, and I'll let her out every morning). My concern isn't really chicks falling out, but other hens getting in. Not because of them leaving extra eggs (even with being shut in I numbered the eggs I gave her), but because the last time I tried this she got annoyed with the other hens and switched nests five days into the hatch. Yes, I know the correct reaction to this is "then she's not a good broody," but she's been seriously broody for three weeks already and didn't break when I moved her. And I want chicks, other than my broilers I haven't had any yet this spring. So there.

Speaking of broodies, one of my other hens is thinking about it, but she never stays on the nest for more than a day. But when she IS on the nest she makes the FUNNIEST sounds- when I take eggs from her it sounds like she's saying "OWWWWW OW OW OW OWWWWWW" and when another hen tries to jump into the nest or even gets close she makes an indescribably funny noise... I really need to get a video.

Oh, and I really want to hatch a silkie egg... I want to see what I get when I cross my white Silkie with a white EE. But she hasn't laid in over a week. She seems totally fine and isn't broody, should I be worried? She's two years old... I'm going to go check her over while I wait for a response just to be sure. But I don't really know what to look for, so any tips would be awesome.

 

[Ashdoes]

I don't really mind the June bugs, until they touch me....their legs creep me out. It's our first spring with the chickens grown and outside, so we're excited to see them chasing and eating lots of bugs.

I've got a nest of 9 eggs made in the barn....hoping one of my Cochins or Silkie go broody. They're being lazy so far and not taking the bait. We're culling the Cochin Roo on Saturday, so we won't have fertile eggs for much longer, I'm pretty sure our Silkie boy never mates the girls, since they kind of hate him.

 

[aoxa]

... and that is exactly why I've given up altogether!
I got stung last summer too- the wasps are pretty bad around the front porch. One dive bombed my head and I had this cowl neck sweater on, so I flipped up my sweater in self defense over my head. Turns out I was too fast and trapped the wasp INSIDE the sweater! It stung me on the neck. And since being stung I've also been a lot less scared of them- it didn't hurt too badly, and even after I trapped it it took a while for the thing to sting me. Whatever kind of wasps we have (I've heard they're called paper wasps, but IDK) they apparently aren't horribly aggressive. So I just ignore them mostly. I just wish I knew where they were nesting or coming from, I would get rid of them because my kids are petrified of them, but I can't seem to find a nest anywhere.

And don't even joke... June bugs are MY phobia. I was a really blonde little kid, and if I was outside at night they would totally dive bomb my head. And I hate any large, crunchy bug. I hate them but I hate squishing them even more.
That's awful! I would assume that a chick intentionally jumping down, with the help of a broody (who knows, maybe they land on the mom or something...) would be significantly better off than one who is dropped. But I can see why you would be hesitant. My hen refused to sit on a nest in the broody pen, though, but the moment I let her out she went right back to the nest boxes. So I shut her in (she has food and water, and I'll let her out every morning). My concern isn't really chicks falling out, but other hens getting in. Not because of them leaving extra eggs (even with being shut in I numbered the eggs I gave her), but because the last time I tried this she got annoyed with the other hens and switched nests five days into the hatch. Yes, I know the correct reaction to this is "then she's not a good broody," but she's been seriously broody for three weeks already and didn't break when I moved her. And I want chicks, other than my broilers I haven't had any yet this spring. So there.

Speaking of broodies, one of my other hens is thinking about it, but she never stays on the nest for more than a day. But when she IS on the nest she makes the FUNNIEST sounds- when I take eggs from her it sounds like she's saying "OWWWWW OW OW OW OWWWWWW" and when another hen tries to jump into the nest or even gets close she makes an indescribably funny noise... I really need to get a video.

Oh, and I really want to hatch a silkie egg... I want to see what I get when I cross my white Silkie with a white EE. But she hasn't laid in over a week. She seems totally fine and isn't broody, should I be worried? She's two years old... I'm going to go check her over while I wait for a response just to be sure. But I don't really know what to look for, so any tips would be awesome.

I had a June Bug stuck in my thick curly hair the last day of school in grade 4. My teacher killed it IN MY HAIR with a ruler. No it didn't hurt, but YES it traumatized me. Crunchy bug in hair = nightmares for the rest of June.

Oh the wasps here don't seem too aggressive either. I've done my share of running which is said to irritate them further..

I had to kill a dying one stuck in the office and had a panic attack.. I mean really though? Not like a dying wasp is going to inflict any damage.. But my irrational self couldn't grasp that.

If I had a swarm of honey bees I'd call in someone who could relocate, but a wasp or hornet nest? We seem to find them before they are too established and my FIL takes care of it.

Oh and the chickens love June Bug Larvae.

 

[aoxa]

Three of the 10 new silkie chicks.

My favourite on the left.

 

[Bulldogma]

I lost my roo, Gunnar.

Monday he was fine and today he passed away on the ride to the veterinarian.

Yesterday he became a bit lethargic and disoriented. No respiratory symptoms - clear eyes/nose... but last night the top of his comb started turning a purple/black color... and today he died.

I'm pretty torn up over this, not to mention worried about the rest of my flock... and I won't have answers for a couple days. (These will be the longest couple days in history!)

I took this picture of him on Sunday... picture of health.

 

[Melabella]

Leigh,,

SO sorry love,, I hate stuff like this, and even though we are animal people, and know certain things come with ownership, still sucks, and hurts. Will be interested to hear what went wrong. I lost a girl a few weeks ago, just found her in the nest box, I was gone all day and when I got back, I thought she was laying an egg, till I pet her, and could feel how stiff she was. Her neck was still pliable, she hadn't been dead long. After checking out what I could, I saw her vent had prolapsed...it's the only thing I could find other wise. Everyone else has been fine, and she was the girl who laid a jumbo egg every day, hardly ever missed a day, I just think it was too much.

Keep us posted...
MB