The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Shan30]

Shan.... won't leaving the organs in the woods just attract the other bears and additional predators??? Just a thought. Hope it was FAR AWAY.

Just in the same spot that we put any dead birds or bad eggs. It's across the meadow and pretty far but close enough that I can take pictures of the hawks and eagles cleaning up.

Also close enough to sight in a bear

I have no doubt that the brother or sister will be back either way eventually unfortunately.

I'm trying to decide it the girls are going to be safer locked in the coop until we get it or if locking them up will just make them "sitting chickens".

 

[Mrs.SB]

I was just thinking that, the ironic justice that would be the surviving chickens eating the bear!

I was thinking the same thing!! Justice served lol

Shan, Wow.. That is scary... Blackbear hunting is in season here too. Just saw a picture on FB with a car going down the road with a black bear strapped to the roof. Hunters should have pick ups.. Sorry for the loss of your girls. Sucks!! I also just read an article on how animal protein is also so important to human diets. A baby who was breast fed by a strict vegan recently died because he was vitamin deficient in B12 and Vitamin A.

My first though is the mother wasn't eating a well balanced diet. Vegans do sometimes need to take a b12 supplement but if they eat a well rounded diet can get everything else. I'm a vegetarian, just don't care for meat but I do eat dairy products and eggs so I don't worry.

 

[kian]

Two black lower left, and a light at friends tail. But don't I see the curve of another white head just behind 'helpers' comb??
Might be interested in future of some chicks to expand the flock of three I have. And might consider a roo.

There are seven chicks total. I'm actually not sure if that is the head of one of the blues that you're seeing. It very well could be!

 

[kian]

Love pictures like this! I may just have to steal it. LOL!

You are welcome to it

 

[TipihlowLadies]

chickens only are in their coops to sleep and lay eggs. Otherwise they should be outside. No need for water in the coop.

My chick's like to hide from the winds when it comes sweeping down the plains 80 miles an hour we have to have water. In your own words can't planket statement this subject . depends on where you live and weather conditions and what kind of birds.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Aoxa, and others:
Most are 17 week, 12 are 13 weeks. Roosts were higher than nest box but lowered them thinking they were having a difficult time getting to them. they are near equal height now. They don't totally avoid that part of coop...they will all bed down in the shavings under the roosts.

The rooster chicks I got for meat are doing the same thing, making a giant pile in a corner. A few will get up on the roosts but most won't. They are about 7/8 weeks now. I have even caught a few sleeping standing up on the ground with their head tucked under a wing instead of free ranging with the others.

Other than a gun or dog, is there a good way to make the hawks leave my area alone? So far I have found that my screaming in fun while playing outside toddlers works as a deterrent but only for about an hour. Yesterday I counted 6 at the same time in the sky circling my yard. I'm not against the dog, but my DH is not really for it. I know my children would love one.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Not sure if it's helping or not, but pigeonguy talked about a friend who put flags up high to deter hawks. I had one go into the chain link run the first day I opened it when the snow melted this year - freaked me out because I had kiddos that were about 14 weeks old at the time.

So...we put up some flags. I do see the hawks around, but haven't seen them coming in like that first day. So far so good.

 

[Mumsy]

Warning! Graphic necropsy images of turkey chick

Just when I thought I was going to slide through Spring into Summer without much incident to discuss, found a dead turkey poult this afternoon.

A real mystery and has me scratching my head.


The six Blue Slate poults just turned three weeks old. I celebrated by turning them out in their own run in the lovely Rye grass I planted for them. I had them in a cage with a wire bottom for the first two weeks. They were looking and acting wonderful. Growing, exploring, and flapping their wings. The last two nights they were roosting eighteen inches off the ground! They've been on Turkey/Gamebird starter mash that I ferment with garlic powder, pepper seeds, and Oregano. They love it.





I fed them this morning as usual and even though it was misty out and threatening to rain, I let them out in the grass for an hour to forage and play. When it got down to 47 degrees and started to rain, I put them in and turned on their light bulb above the roost. All was well. All were acting normal and eating and drinking. Because they are three weeks old now, I have been keenly observing behavior for any abnormality.

Imagine my surprise and sadness to check on them an hour later and find the largest and healthiest acting chick dead in the shavings! It looked like it was sleeping with it's neck out stretched and eyes closed. The wings were out and it's legs underneath it. Another chick was cuddled up to it like they usually do to stay warm. The body of the dead poult was still warm.
I did a thourough examine of the extremities. No wounds. I suspected broken neck. They have been trying to fly. No breaks or contusions that I could see.

So I did a complete necropsy.



Not a mark on it. Back


Front. There was dried fecal matter on it's vent. It was normal in shape, color, and consistency.



The cavity looked normal. No abnormal smell. No blockage in the trachea or esophagus. Muscle tissue well formed, good tone and color.


Opening the beak further, allowed me to carefully check the back of the throat. It was normal.
I carefully felt the entire length of the trachea and esophagus looking for blockage or foreign objects. I opened the crop and found a teaspoon of fermented feed. No abnormal smell or marks.


All organs looked normal. The contents of the gizzard smelled like garlic as it should. Fermented feed, grass, and grit. Normal.

I examined the ceca and lower intestine. Normal. No sign of disease or worms to my eyes.



I rinsed and peeled the gizzard lining off to reveal the inner mucosa. The Provintriculis lining also looks normal.

This chick was in good health an hour before death. It's body was in good flesh. It had no external parasites. It seems to me it just lay down and died. Maybe it's heart just stopped for reasons that escape me?

I am no expert on anything but I did my best to give this guy his best chance of a healthy life. His death is a real mystery.

This necropsy is shared here for educational purposes. If anyone here on this thread sees something in the images or has some insight, please share with me.

I'm kinda bummed. I thought this little guy was going to be a super great Blue Slate Tom. (My hunch was correct. He had tiny testes forming.)

 

[kian]

I'm sorry Aoxa

 

[stonykill]

i will be on this post every night now

great seeing you Bruce. At the moment I'm too busy to do anything but skim this thread. It just moves SO FAST. 41 posts since I looked this morning.

Glad to have you here Bruce