The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[boyswillbeboys]

Im

Where in Canada are you at? Getting from hatcheries here is not cheap at all. Not like it is in the US. 

I'm looking forward to nicer weather as well. Rain rain go away... Been raining like crazy since Saturday (with a break on Monday). 

Same here, I live an hr north of Edmonton, I'll be picking up from Sunrise Hatchery in Westlock (central location for Rochester hatcheries), and you are right it's definitely not cheap, I paid $75 for 30 day old chicks, 10
Are broilers, 10 layers, and 10 dual purpose (the broilers were DH's choice, I would be happy without)

 

[Bulldogma]

Hi everyone! I am new to raising chickens and want to raise them as organic as possible so I was wondering what tips anyone could share to start right off the bat with. It feels overwhelming trying to figure out what we can afford to do and what works best to keep them healthy and happy.

Welcome! If you would like a quick reference of many things covered on this thread and some old threads before it, check out the blog in my signature (has almost the same name as this thread). The blog has an index page for quick reference of subjects.

Add me to the list of newbies joining your ranks. I stumbled across the gnarly bunch thread, the ff for meaties thread, and the OT thread a couple weeks ago and have been voraciously reading them. What an eye opener! Now, I've just found this one. Oh goodness, it's a good thing I love to read - though I doubt I will ever catch up on all of it! I'll be a frequent lurker..

Love your conversations. Very entertaining and super informative!

Welcome!

Update for my rooster: He was looking much better yesterday with one of his legs almost back to normal. But this morning, when I went out to the coop he was till in his sleeping position. He must have passed during the night. I'm thinking it was most likely a weak heart and it was his time to go. The layer food might have speed up the process a little but he had eaten it for months and this problem was quite recent.

So sorry!


And another Welcome! It's great to see so many new folks here!

 

[Quailsong]

We
We are planning a large fenced run, unless I can supervise them, because I have no clue what chemicals he uses, and I don't want to lose anyone not destined for the table, and when they are, I want healthy birds, not ones full of chemicals.
In our current weather, nothing will dry

it's been raining for days, hopefully it stops before the babies arrive. Or there will be no dry bedding for them, though I have some unprinted newspaper I could shred for them.

I live in Ontario & here the grass will dry in half a day or less if left on the cut grass & if it's not raining (but boy has it been raining here). Much less time needed if I were to spread it on dry concrete during a hot day like today (20C/68F+). I live near Great Lake Ontario so the humidity is higher. I'd spread it no more than a couple inches thick.

When I used to have chickens, grass was my main bedding/DL mix. For me it was very useful as not only was it free/fresh, but contained various herbs ('weeds') that the chickens could munch on as they needed. Not to mention all the bugs they could dine on that you wouldn't find in a dry bag of commercial Pine shavings. Thanks to most bugs ability to spot distressed plants, they are attracted to the look cut grass & will head straight for it - giving the chickens a great treat.

Sally, I'm sad to hear about your roo's passing. I am happy though that he passed in his sleep rather than be awake & struggling in his last moments.

 

[cywiar merch]

I live in Ontario & here the grass will dry in half a day or less if left on the cut grass & if it's not raining (but boy has it been raining here). .

I used to live in Toronto. If I were still living there, I wouldn't be able to have chickens?

 

[Quailsong]

I used to live in Toronto. If I were still living there, I wouldn't be able to have chickens?

I think there's a bylaw in Tt that prevents BYC right now. It's still being disputed last I checked, but that was a while ago.

Here's a news post of their bylaw from back in January.

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: Thank you, it's good to hear, and it's definitely good to keep hope.

Quote: Approximately the same with corn and cotton. Where I live everyone sprays Roundup, on the streets, in the yards, in their gardens and in the paddocks the animals are still eating in, around their houses, some of them even in their houses; just the way things are and have been for decades. If I go to town I see many people with cancers on their skin, never mind those we can't see under it; many of those who use roundup do not wear any protection at all, they don't use long pants, masks, nothing; it is an endemic part of Aussie life and has been ever since Roundup came out, almost. People are incredibly blase about Roundup, it is literally like soap or any household detergent in their opinion... No, wait, laundry detergent gets far more respect and precautions taken with it.

Quote: That is depressing. But it would make a great anonymous video to upload to the internet for people to see where their 'so healthy soy' comes from.

Quote: Sorry to hear that BlueMouse, hope you get better.

Quote: I just posted an enormous lump of information on another thread about toxic plants, and I am tired of typing for so long, lol, but if there is one piece of good information I believe would benefit you the most, it is that you should obtain a copy of Juliette de Bairacli Levy's "The Complete Herbal Handbook For Farm And Stable." It's not actually complete but it will well and truly set you on your way, and the remedies in it often apply to humans too. She wrote many great books, all are worthy to be collected. I was skeptical as I tried out her remedies and have been blown away by their efficiency and speed. Highly recommend it to you. Best wishes.

 

[ChickChickChicky]

Thank you, it's good to hear, and it's definitely good to keep hope.

Approximately the same with corn and cotton. Where I live everyone sprays Roundup, on the streets, in the yards, in their gardens and in the paddocks the animals are still eating in, around their houses, some of them even in their houses; just the way things are and have been for decades. If I go to town I see many people with cancers on their skin, never mind those we can't see under it; many of those who use roundup do not wear any protection at all, they don't use long pants, masks, nothing; it is an endemic part of Aussie life and has been ever since Roundup came out, almost. People are incredibly blase about Roundup, it is literally like soap or any household detergent in their opinion... No, wait, laundry detergent gets far more respect and precautions taken with it.

Why would someone spray Roundup inside their house????

 

[aoxa]

Im
Same here, I live an hr north of Edmonton, I'll be picking up from Sunrise Hatchery in Westlock (central location for Rochester hatcheries), and you are right it's definitely not cheap, I paid $75 for 30 day old chicks, 10
Are broilers, 10 layers, and 10 dual purpose (the broilers were DH's choice, I would be happy without)

That's not bad for cost. What I meant was shipping, and looks like you are picking them up at a hatchery so you don't have to worry about that!

I just paid $175 for 35 chicks here and had to drive 2 hours to get them. Not from a hatchery though..

I have 70 coming for less than that price at the end of the month that are layers and meat kings. They cost $2.45 each for a layer and something like $1.30 for each meat king.

 

[boyswillbeboys]

Yeah shipping is rediculous, thankfully I live close enough to pick up.

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: Rodents, fleas, mold, I've heard a few reasons. I'd laugh except it's so horrific.

EDIT: just thought of a quote I've heard a few times from various people over the years; some are joking when they say it but some say it in all seriousness. Generally the scenario is of my family trying to convince a landlord to not spray the property while we are on it, particularly the house yards as there are chemically sensitive people in my family. Anyway, the conversation quickly establishes us as crazies because people are so firm in their beliefs Roundup is harmless that they start giving us the suss eye, you know how they slightly turn away and become reticent, then they'll say something like 'I spray it on my kids/dogs/myself for mozzies, it's fine.' Or 'I've drunk it before, it's fine, nothing like these new chemicals they want us to use.' Or another gem is 'My dad used Roundup, his dad used Roundup, I use Roundup to keep the caterpillars off my garden, been eating that for all my life, I'm fine.' --- The sad part is none of these people are fine, and it shows physically, but they put it down to other causes. Some of these people are joking, some are not. I've seen these people be shockingly careless with it.