The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

Enjoying your photos

 

[BlueMouse]

I so love EE's and their poofy faces! Your babies are all really beautiful! Lovely pictures!

And now I want a barred Turken in my flock... You guys are a bad bad bad influence on someone with limited space for chickens that are not bound for freezer camp.

 

[armorfirelady]

Enjoying your photos

I am hoping to get more of the BCMs tomorrow. Those little suckers don't stay still!! Edie seems to be a diva. She just walks around and seems to pose. She seems ok with us. She will walk up to us but not really happy if we try to touch her. She isn't to sure what to make of the big girls..........and u should see them all when the wild birds are chirping .......stand still and cock their heads. They are def to cute for words

And Edie is suppose to lay blue eggs.........can't wait to see if she does.

 

[camilleathome]

Very likely a jumbo Pekin mix. Very large..

In another week I probably won't be able to keep her/him with the silkies any longer. Injuries would be bound to happen.. Though I kept my geese with the silkies and all the other chicks for 3 weeks and than moved the geese to pasture exclusively.

But I don't have another duck with her.. So that's going to be tough!

Bring him over to hang out with our three till you get more ducks XD

 

[OohLaLa]

Wow what a great red barn, I know you are so excited and letting your imagination run amuck with just how your going to fill it all.

 

[armorfirelady]

Ok quick question. These babies are tiny & don't roost. Edie is roosted on the lip of the nesting box. The tiny babies are lying in the shavings by the pop door. It's open on one side and the 2 other sides are covered. I put up a tarp to block the cold winds tonight but babies not near it. Do I just let them huddle together to sleep or try to put them in a wicker basket I have in there filled with shavings. It's kind of small but I could take a laundry basket out to put them in and fill it with shavings and then put them further in the run so they have the protection of the tarp. Thoughts?

It's suppose to get in the 40s tonight and while they were off heat they did have it for a few nights before I got them. But it was low wattage and up high. I don't want to lose any their first night here. These babies are much tinier than my other girls when I got them. I'm not worried about Edie since she is so much bigger

 

[Child of Noah]

Ok quick question. These babies are tiny & don't roost. Edie is roosted on the lip of the nesting box. The tiny babies are lying in the shavings by the pop door. It's open on one side and the 2 other sides are covered. I put up a tarp to block the cold winds tonight but babies not near it. Do I just let them huddle together to sleep or try to put them in a wicker basket I have in there filled with shavings. It's kind of small but I could take a laundry basket out to put them in and fill it with shavings and then put them further in the run so they have the protection of the tarp. Thoughts?

It's suppose to get in the 40s tonight and while they were off heat they did have it for a few nights before I got them. But it was low wattage and up high. I don't want to lose any their first night here. These babies are much tinier than my other girls when I got them. I'm not worried about Edie since she is so much bigger

I put my chickens outside without electricity when they were six weeks old. The temps were in the 20's and 30's at night the first week. I worried about them, of course... and now they are much more hardy than they would have been if I would have baby-ed them. 40 is at least above freezing.
This is my first year having chickens, so I don't pretend to be an expert or have a lot of experience... but it makes sense to me that in nature chickens don't have laundry baskets.

 

[armorfirelady]

Yes

Ok quick question. These babies are tiny

I put my chickens outside without electricity when they were six weeks old.  The temps were in the 20's and 30's at night the first week.  I worried about them, of course... and now they are much more hardy than they would have been if I would have baby-ed them.  40 is at least above freezing. 
This is my first year having chickens, so I don't pretend to be an expert or have a lot of experience... but it makes sense to me that in nature chickens don't have laundry baskets.

I agree they need to be hardy to survive. And they won't get a heat lamp but gosh they are so tiny ....no laundry basket but I found a basket with the front open and filled with shavings and out against a wall. Far from the pop door and cold wind. Tomorrow night if they decide not to go in there at least I know I tried.

They peeped when I went out but settled back down. I've read when babies are cold they peep constantly? I know when I picked them up they were toasty. And as they settled in the little peeps and trilling noise was adorable. Bet the trilling noise is like purring my older girls make just in baby voice

 

[Leahs Mom]

For me it would be a matter of acclimation. If they are used to being outside without heat, they should be fine. If not, give them some heat and get them used to the cold by backing the heat off over a few days. It's not that they can't take the cold, its just a matter of having been in those condition and becoming "used" to it.

They may not have a laundry basket in the wild, but they WOULD have a mom to get under when the weather changes.

 

[armorfirelady]

It was only a few nights here & there she had heat on them. The fact they were toasty helped me feel better. And putting them at other end of run out of the direct breezes helped to. They can easily get out of the basket if they want. I thought of putting a towel over it but thought better of it.
It's suppose to start warming up again tomorrow so that will help also. I don't know how old they are but I think,they have at least a month before they start roosting. I lowered a roost but only Edie got on it. And e fact she roosted on her own means she knows the drill. Hopefully when the babies get bigger she will let them roost with her