The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[NanaLynn]

Long integration description... probably boring for many... ignore if uninterested...

I normally don't integrate mine until they are about 5-10 weeks old - depending on the size and breed. They are next to each and will run together during the day when outside, but they know where home is and sleep separately. My setup is one that requires rotation to a new "sleeping home" with manually opening doors as they mature until they are finally in the main room of the hen house at about 5 months old with a timed dusk and dawn door.
So... baby brooder (low heat lamp, draft free, 0-2 weeks), intermediate brooder (higher heat lamp, open on 2 sides, free range only with constant supervision, 2-5 weeks), teenage room (no heat lamp, 5-10 weeks, free range with while periodic checking on them), small half of hen house (just like adults but separate roosting), large half of hen house.
This doesn't include various breeding runs and tractors, this is just a general description of integration.
By 12 weeks the roosters are separate from the main group into the bachelor pad, so from 12 weeks til about 5 months it's only pullets in the group which makes a LOT less conflict.
If I do have one who insists on being a problem, she goes in the crock pot.
As with all animals here... you must have shoulders, you must have a job, you must not fight.
(Rams and bulls are no exception... you play nice together or you don't stay! period!)

Some make lifelong friends right through the chicken wire... they will also roost together after they are combined and always be together while free ranging. And often these are unlikely pairs, but who I am to decide who should be buddies.
When the day finally comes to integrate a group of teenagers into the laying hen side, I always move several (never just one, sure sign of disaster), and I make note of who the buddies are. I move them after they have gone to roost at night and always attempt to place buddies next to each other on the new roost..
Weird... but it works... the pullets who have laying hen buddies integrate like they've always been there. The remaining tend to stay in a group and after the first day of watching them I have never had a problem with them all getting along by the time they come back into roost that next night.

Thanks for the detailed reply. That was helpful and full of some great ideas. I guess I will just wait until they are a little older and a lot bigger. I'll still try to have more supervised times here and there, but not rush it. Right now at least they are together but safely together and getting used to each other. I am just impatient.

 

[brandislee]

I have a non-chicken related issue, but I know this is the place to ask this because in pretty much any other place I know what the answer will be...

My dog is off his food, and he's been puking since Friday. He seems mostly fine otherwise, although his energy is low for obvious reasons (not eating much for three days), but he still follows me around the yard, chases anything that moves (other than chickens), and plays with my other dog. He's eaten a little- I've been giving him eggs poached in chicken stock (which he kept down, although he puked up some water several hours later) and plan to give him some ground beef later today. Normally I would take him to the vet today just to be sure, but we are BROKE and the vet requires payment at the time of service. I know having a dog means financial responsibility, blah blah blah, but we're not like permanently broke, we're broke until Friday. Besides (and hate on me for this if you want, but it is what it is) our dogs are not our children. If we were to take him to the vet and he had some obstruction that needed surgery or something, I would either have him put down or I would see if the no kill shelter wanted to do something (see if someone else wants him who is willing to pay for the surgery or whatever). I won't spend hundreds of dollars on a dog. I know, I'm an awful person. But I'm okay with it.

Anyway, like I said, I knew anywhere else I'd ask the answer would be "go to the vet." End of story. But I know there are people here who do things a little different, so I guess I'm asking what would you do in my situation? Should I keep feeding him eggs/stock/meat until he starts to feel better? Could worms be causing this (I did see some funny stuff in his stool, which was a little runny, but I wasn't sure if it was grass or not- he's been eating a lot of grass)? Any other suggestions? My gut is saying keep him home until he starts to actually act more sick, and keep feeding him the good stuff in the mean time.

 

[aoxa]

I have a non-chicken related issue, but I know this is the place to ask this because in pretty much any other place I know what the answer will be...

My dog is off his food, and he's been puking since Friday. He seems mostly fine otherwise, although his energy is low for obvious reasons (not eating much for three days), but he still follows me around the yard, chases anything that moves (other than chickens), and plays with my other dog. He's eaten a little- I've been giving him eggs poached in chicken stock (which he kept down, although he puked up some water several hours later) and plan to give him some ground beef later today. Normally I would take him to the vet today just to be sure, but we are BROKE and the vet requires payment at the time of service. I know having a dog means financial responsibility, blah blah blah, but we're not like permanently broke, we're broke until Friday. Besides (and hate on me for this if you want, but it is what it is) our dogs are not our children. If we were to take him to the vet and he had some obstruction that needed surgery or something, I would either have him put down or I would see if the no kill shelter wanted to do something (see if someone else wants him who is willing to pay for the surgery or whatever). I won't spend hundreds of dollars on a dog. I know, I'm an awful person. But I'm okay with it.

Anyway, like I said, I knew anywhere else I'd ask the answer would be "go to the vet." End of story. But I know there are people here who do things a little different, so I guess I'm asking what would you do in my situation? Should I keep feeding him eggs/stock/meat until he starts to feel better? Could worms be causing this (I did see some funny stuff in his stool, which was a little runny, but I wasn't sure if it was grass or not- he's been eating a lot of grass)? Any other suggestions? My gut is saying keep him home until he starts to actually act more sick, and keep feeding him the good stuff in the mean time.

Did he eat anything he shouldn't of?

Koda once ate leftover Mac&Cheese with Salsa in it and puked and had the runs for a full weekend.

 

[Star Flock]

I am probably going to use some sort of straw/hay(mixed reviews on which is best...

). I'm thinking about trying to find some of that Lucerne hi fiber hay with the dust taken out, etc. Has anyone used that and could you tell me how you like it? But I was liking the idea of not putting water in the coop at night. What about feed, though. Could I just have one feed and waterer out in the run? They'll only be locked in the coop at night and I can be outside by 7 to let them out. Just don't want anyone getting hungry or thirsty...

Thanks!

 

[NanaLynn]

I feed and water outside (I JUST switched my layers to FF like two weeks ago, mostly to cut down on the waste). My coop is only 6x9 and after our first snow storm I realized that was NOT going to be enough room for them for our super long super snowy winters, so I built a 10x10 A frame and butted it up against the pop door (inside the run). It's 2x4's (the base is treated 4x4's I had left over from building the run, so they won't rot as fast) and covered with a canvas tarp. It's been a life saver- they have more than 3x the snow free space in the winter, and I feed them under there so I don't have to worry about the feed getting wet, plus it gives them some shade in the summer. So long story short, I don't have covers over my feeders because, although they're technically outside, they're under cover. And an A frame is easier to build than you might think. I hadn't yet read Harvy Ussery's book so mine doesn't have the diagonal supports, but that's okay because it's never moved and I'm pretty sure I screwed it to the side of the coop. But there are good instructions on building a really lightweight one in his book Small Scale Poultry Flocks. I used those instructions (more or less, I made it simpler) to build my summer coop out of 1x2's with lots of diagonal supports- very cheap and easy to build. The most expensive part is the canvas tarp (I really prefer canvas, much more durable and doesn't flap).

Thank you! Do you have pics of your setup?

 

[aoxa]

I am probably going to use some sort of straw/hay(mixed reviews on which is best...

). I'm thinking about trying to find some of that Lucerne hi fiber hay with the dust taken out, etc. Has anyone used that and could you tell me how you like it? But I was liking the idea of not putting water in the coop at night. What about feed, though. Could I just have one feed and waterer out in the run? They'll only be locked in the coop at night and I can be outside by 7 to let them out. Just don't want anyone getting hungry or thirsty...

Thanks!

I wouldn't use either straw or hay. Had such terrible experience with both. I don't mind a bit of hay mixed in with wood chips, but straw.. yuck.

The chickens will be fine without food or water in the coop

 

[Star Flock]

I wouldn't use either straw or hay. Had such terrible experience with both. I don't mind a bit of hay mixed in with wood chips, but straw.. yuck.

The chickens will be fine without food or water in the coop

Thanks for the reply!!

Darn, I was hoping one of those would be fine... What I'm looking for in bedding is something fairly inexpensive, natural, and preferably very little dust as my dad's lungs aren't the strongest and dust makes him get a super bad cough. Any help or advice would be awesome!!

 

[armorfirelady]

Anyway, like I said, I knew anywhere else I'd ask the answer would be "go to the vet." End of story. But I know there are people here who do things a little different, so I guess I'm asking what would you do in my situation? Should I keep feeding him eggs/stock/meat until he starts to feel better? Could worms be causing this (I did see some funny stuff in his stool, which was a little runny, but I wasn't sure if it was grass or not- he's been eating a lot of grass)? Any other suggestions? My gut is saying keep him home until he starts to actually act more sick, and keep feeding him the good stuff in the mean time.

My blue heeler now has a sensitive stomach. I am unable to give her ram bones anymore or those flavored smoked bones since they give gastro distress.

That of course took $$ to figure out at the vets but luckily not as much as I thought. (I originally thought she had a blockage from a bone I gave her) My vet had me put her on a bland diet as soon as it started. Cooked chicken, ground beef, rice, noodles & cottage cheese. I kept her on this for a week at least and her stool had to be normal for a few days before is started giving her regular food mixed into the bland foods
(honestly my Lily thinks the bland diet is super yummy & her brother Bear doesn't understand while he gets kibble & she gets cooked meat) She was also given meds (human meds I got with a prescription) to give her when she has a flare up. She had one more flare up but the neds really helped.

 

[loanwizard]

Love seeing all those birds outside!

How do you keep your water thawed in the winter?

I have a non-chicken related issue, but I know this is the place to ask this because in pretty much any other place I know what the answer will be...

My dog is off his food, and he's been puking since Friday. He seems mostly fine otherwise, although his energy is low for obvious reasons (not eating much for three days), but he still follows me around the yard, chases anything that moves (other than chickens), and plays with my other dog. He's eaten a little- I've been giving him eggs poached in chicken stock (which he kept down, although he puked up some water several hours later) and plan to give him some ground beef later today. Normally I would take him to the vet today just to be sure, but we are BROKE and the vet requires payment at the time of service. I know having a dog means financial responsibility, blah blah blah, but we're not like permanently broke, we're broke until Friday. Besides (and hate on me for this if you want, but it is what it is) our dogs are not our children. If we were to take him to the vet and he had some obstruction that needed surgery or something, I would either have him put down or I would see if the no kill shelter wanted to do something (see if someone else wants him who is willing to pay for the surgery or whatever). I won't spend hundreds of dollars on a dog. I know, I'm an awful person. But I'm okay with it.

Anyway, like I said, I knew anywhere else I'd ask the answer would be "go to the vet." End of story. But I know there are people here who do things a little different, so I guess I'm asking what would you do in my situation? Should I keep feeding him eggs/stock/meat until he starts to feel better? Could worms be causing this (I did see some funny stuff in his stool, which was a little runny, but I wasn't sure if it was grass or not- he's been eating a lot of grass)? Any other suggestions? My gut is saying keep him home until he starts to actually act more sick, and keep feeding him the good stuff in the mean time.

Chicken noodle soup. Good for the soul, good for people, good for dogs..... I would make sure the dog is not dehydrated and let nature take it's course. I will assume there has been some improvement. Actually, anything soaked in broth is good. I usually have dogs that will stuff themselves with broth soaked dogfood then puke it up later. Actually this might purge the dog of anything poisonous. So, with broth, if necessary, limit the amount consumed.

Water in the coop? What's that lol?!?!?

That,s why I have a pond, and several springs. I was blessed in that I only broke ice 2-3 times this year and that was for the hogs. Once again.... who breaks ice for a sparrow?

Stony- I put the broody in a rabbit cage with feed and a rabbit nipple thingy.... wonder if that will work? I will watch, not gonna kill my bird.... unless she keeps up the "bite the hand that feeds her" attitude. How many eggs can a regular sized bird ( I think, Buff Orp) set? She had 3 and that seems hardly worth the effort.... so I jammed an even dozen under her. She has already been acting like a mother for 2 weeks or more, will she continue for another 3 or did I wait way too long?

About to go set the incubator and just do 300.... 3 weeks and done.....

 

[armorfirelady]

I am probably going to use some sort of straw/hay(mixed reviews on which is best...

). I'm thinking about trying to find some of that Lucerne hi fiber hay with the dust taken out, etc. Has anyone used that and could you tell me how you like it? But I was liking the idea of not putting water in the coop at night. What about feed, though. Could I just have one feed and waterer out in the run? They'll only be locked in the coop at night and I can be outside by 7 to let them out. Just don't want anyone getting hungry or thirsty...

Thanks!

I just cleaned out 8 large garbage cans of straw/hay mix from my coop. We had torrential rains about 6 weeks ago and I put it all down to keep the coop dry.(2-3 bales total) As much as I turned the mix over it never really dried and started to smell. So into the compost pile it went. I will stick with shavings from now on. I've used hay/straw ion the past with no problems but I used way less than I did this time. In small amounts its ok. My girls prefer it in their nesting boxes. But when its all gone I am going to be using dried grass for the nesting boxes.

There is still some small amounts of hay/straw in the coop that is stuck like to cement to the ground that I am still trying to get out lol