The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Mumsy]

Here it is. First time ever. A peek into the private world of Mumsy's garden. This took me half the day to figure out.

I used a couple dozen tall bamboo canes, a whole lot of sparkle ribbon from a decorations tub from the attic, scissors, and patience. Cost me nothing but is giving me smiles and freedom from worry about Eagles and Hawks. Did not see but one today. High in the sky and it ignored my little patch of earth with all that movement and glitter. This may just work.
My little place is off a busy road. Lots of wind chimes and plantings makes it a sanctuary for me and my flock. You may get a glimpse of Judy the Broody and a few Catdance Silkies.

 

[beccasev]

Teenagers or toddlers.. I'd take toddlers ANY DAY of the week. 

Teenagers are whiney, emotional and sassy. I was a really bad teenager, as was my brother. My poor parents  

Lol aoxa! I have two toddlers- 4 years old and 3 years old. I would say they are both emotional, sassy, and whiny. I guess it won't get any better.

 

[Bulldogma]

Beautiful work!

Thanks - I played with the image more today - I actually like this one better:



Full View Here.

 

[Bulldogma]

Here it is. First time ever. A peek into the private world of Mumsy's garden. This took me half the day to figure out.

Mumsy - I love it!

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: Very strange, I've never seen a chicken die in this position. Perhaps a seizure of some kind? Specially the fact that it was stiff but not cold... That to me would put 'seizure' high on the list of possibilities. The muscles were hard used to become stiff before cooling; it's worth looking into how rigor mortis works and what differences are found when the creature died in peace or during a fit, etc.

Quote: Nice work Bulldogma! Acrylic? At first glance I thought it was a photo.

Quote: Personally I believe you get the best of any animal's genetics if you breed in middle age. I have done this for years with different species; in my experience old parent plus young parent, or two old or two young parents, never produce the sheer quality offspring that two middle aged parents produce. I have tested this theory in every direction and the best genes just seem to become readily available in middle aged parents for some reason; the offspring will look markedly different to the offspring those same two parents had at a younger or older age. These will be those chicks that show great breeder potential from a very young age rather than the normal way it goes, of just picking the best of the whole lot once they're adults. The middle aged parents is what I rely on to provide me with my next lot of breeding stock.

Too young/too old throws the worst genetics in that animal into its offspring. For some reason middle age seems to settle the best genetics into the production line, so to speak. I definitely recommend you at least try middle aged breeders. Chickens of most breeds don't really hit their peak prime until their second year or afterward; more eggs doesn't equal peak prime to me, only peak production, which has its uses but is not best for breeding quality stock from. When I say 'middle aged' in chooks I mean around and after two or three years old, but before five or six. Obviously this differs a huge amount between breeds and different husbandry methods so everyone would have to find what works for them if they choose to try it. Definitely worth a try though I doubt it'd work with commercial production breeds since they're burned out by that age.

Quote: Thin shelled eggs is one of those things, it can be caused by so many different factors. If you're on a tight budget so must have eggs or must cull, then you could try separating one hen for the morning, doesn't matter which of the sex links it is; just nab her off the perch at night and put her in another cage to lay in the morning, then let her out once you're sure it isn't her. Or keep in and treat/cull if it is her. Some hens can hold an egg for a day though if you're preventing them laying where they want. On the other hand, personally I would look at random thin shelled eggs occurring as being symptomatic of something underlying being wrong, and I treat such advents as being an opportunity to learn how to fix it; culling is best for some but what if the rest of them start laying those eggs too? That's why I try to learn what treats it instead of culling so I'll never be the wiser. Commercialism only takes us so far. I'm not into chook keeping for commercial reasons so my method of tending to the issue is different from those who are.

Quote: Of course they know there's babies, they can hear them too. Maybe it's the food attracting them. Maybe they're curious. Or maybe --- I hope not though --- they are thinking the tiny peeping means food. If they're from commercial hatcheries, I would suspect their motives until proven otherwise.

Quote: Public school does much to force children to develop hard outer shells. It's rather like chooks from large commercial hatcheries, where masses of youngsters are cooped up in an unnatural environment for most of their days and reared largely minus the 24/7 parenting some kids still take for granted... lol. Some cope, some don't. It certainly brings survival instinct to the fore, and that's not often one of the prettiest instincts to watch in action. I've been both homeschooled and publicly schooled; my older siblings were homeschooled and my younger siblings publicly schooled... Worlds of difference in what it does to the children. It depends on the child as to whether or not they cope either way, pros and cons.

Quote: Well, in my experience it depends on your roosters, rather than the number of them. Having said that, most roosters are to some degree mean to the hens, but that's easily bred out of them, however I can't speak for caged chooks who never free range, as that can condense and distill incorrect behaviour. I'd cull for hen hounding and didn't (still don't) breed roosters who are unkind to/careless with the hens, so for many generations now I have not seen it; even the supposedly uncontrollable horny teen roosters are well mannered and polite. I think it helps to have mature adults of varying ages in attendance as they grow up. If they never get out of line they don't need putting back into it.

I free range mine, all together, sometimes letting the population reach a 50:50 ratio of hens to roosters, and don't have hen-hounding problems; each rooster and hen finds the one/s they like and sticks with them. Each rooster spends more time polishing up his good husband skills rather than his violent dictator skills. Hens choose whatever male they like. Some hens visit multiple roosters daily. Some hens don't pick a rooster to associate with, but 'play the field' so to speak, so the males who don't have girlfriends are taken care of too. With so many settled, calm older males around and hens who know their rights (LOL) this prompts the teen roos to spend more time learning to become good providers rather than chasing and taking all they can. It's very peaceful. I don't have any serious rooster fights; the teens have rare and very short contests which are resolved without bloodshed. Occasional hen fights too, but no blood drawn, just the usual hothead teenagers checking out if they get up the social ladder.

It helps to keep multiple ages of chooks together; no teenage male or female can just run around wreaking havoc without being put in their place repeatedly in quick succession. Generally all it takes is a look from the resident alpha roos and hens. Sometimes a few steps toward another chook. Very rarely a 'front-up', even rarer a scuffle.

If I see a male pushing his suit on a hen who is letting him know he's very unwelcome, and it looks like he'll keep trying, I mentally tick him off onto the cull list. I can't keep or breed roosters who are willing to harm hens; that's directly counterproductive. I'm not going to solve that problem by giving a nasty rooster even more hens and getting rid of other probably kinder roosters to make room for his attitude, as I need to build up the population to eat the excess every year, and they are so much healthier free range that for the sake of my family's health, as well as the chook's, I won't consider caging as a method of control.

Obviously this won't work for everyone, but I have an idea of how it needs to be for my own and my family's safety, the adults and baby chook's safety, and the health and wellbeing of humans and animals, and I cull for anything threatening that. A good rooster values hens, not views them as disposable sport toys. A bad hen is worth more to me than a bad rooster because she can keep laying eggs to feed us while I fatten her for the cull whereas he's instant trouble who needs culling asap. I don't like that pushiness. lol. Neither do the hens. A good rooster does not make your hen's day distressing. Negative pack mentality in roosters is something worth culling for as well. They can be a friendly pack, or as you've seen, nasty. Blame the animal in particular, not the breed, not the gender. The diet, breeder and the environment must take some of the blame too. Usually this sort of attitude is quite heritable. While I'm enjoying the easy social atmosphere now, it did take more work to get it than just playing musical cages and culls until I had any problems arising taken care of; also it takes maintenance as I bring in new roosters and hens and keep correcting for bad attitudes. Same problems everyone else has but different methods of handling it with different objectives in mind. Whatever works for you, is the idea.

 

[beccasev]

So I do have two questions.
1) I don't really have any wood ash, but I have a ton of charcoal briquette ash. The name brand pressed briquettes. Would it work the same for the girls to dust in or should we avoid it? I'm not sure about any chemicals that may be in it.
2) my girls are on a fermented grain mix with weekly (or more) fish or meat protein supplements. They get kitchen scraps and free range for 6 or more hours a day, depending on my schedule. Since they have recently taken to hanging out on the driveway, I've noticed someone, or multiple someone's, has a thick black poo- no urates. It isn't runny or watery, just really thick and almost slimy looking. (There are lots of normal poops too.) Otherwise they all seem healthy. They range from 12-15 weeks old. The older ones are starting to red up, grow some wattles and seem to be getting close to POL. Any ideas on causes or treatments to help them firm up?

 

[browncow15]

Thanks for the input. I will have to get creative to seperate the boys and girls. Maybe these roos have just earned a ticket to the dinner table quicker than the rest

This is my first batch of chicks and I've been debating on keeping any roos at all. I'd like to hatch my own chicks eventually but I also have two small children my chickies have to share the yard with so I will NOT keep any that might be a danger to them!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: I agree with Leah's Mom, try to separate the boys from the girls.

I have a "ground water" safety question... Anyone know the answer to this...:

FIRST THE BACKGROUND:
We are going to be away for the weekend and, for various reasons, I'm going to keep them in the dog kennel run rather than letting them out to range. (I have a guy that will tend to them but it's just safer not to let them out and hope they'll come in for him - in addition to the fact that the pullets have occasionally been jumping fences and if that happens, it would be hard for a stranger to round them up.)

-The "kennel run" is in full sun in the hottest parts of the day so I need to add a shade cloth again since they'll be stuck in there for 2.5 days.
-We were given an old mesh swimming pool cover that would work great. It has not been on a pool in probably 3 years.
-Last summer, it laid out flat in the grass and had about a month to air and get rained on, then it was folded and stored.
-I will thoroughly spray it down with fresh water this evening before putting it up.
-It will only be over 1/3 of the kennel run. 2/3 will be open.

THE QUESTION:
Does anyone know if this thing will leach harmful chemicals if it rains. (Rain falls on the cloth and sifts through to the ground below where these chickens will be stuck stratching around for stuff.)

The cover is similar to the one in the photo below...polyester I think.

eta: cutting it down to the size we need.

My guess is that it can't be any worse than the billboard tarp we have covering our tractor. We have had no problems from that tarp. But does the water actually go through your cover or just run off? I'm thinking if it goes through and the rain comes your chickens will have nowhere dry to go if you are using this to make a hoop style coop / run. Not horrible just saying they might get wet. Another thought is that many pool covers are made to use the sun to help heat the water. Not sure if your is or not but it would be horrible to make a baking spot instead of a shade spot.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Thanks for the input. I will have to get creative to seperate the boys and girls. Maybe these roos have just earned a ticket to the dinner table quicker than the rest

This is my first batch of chicks and I've been debating on keeping any roos at all. I'd like to hatch my own chicks eventually but I also have two small children my chickies have to share the yard with so I will NOT keep any that might be a danger to them!

Not sure what breeds you have, but I would be sure to watch any rooster from a breed that is not described as extremely calm. Children can get spooked easily even by people they love and trust like parents saying boo. If a rooster thinks he has your child spooked, it could mean a chase around the yard. We don't let our children in the yard the same time as the roosters unless we are watching the rooster and the children very closely. Mainly we keep the roosters and the children separate as much as possible. It only takes a few seconds for a rooster to puff and scare a child then a second for that rooster to jump and kick his spurs in the air.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Sally - this pool cover is the polyester kind that is made out of the material that is like shade cloth. The rain will go through it just like it will w/shade cloth (think of the stuff they use on the poles over green house plants in the summer at Meijers, or wherever.) It's not a "solar cover" that's designed to warm up the pool.

I'm not worried about them having cover for rain. They just need shade on part of the run during the day if they're going to be stuck not being able to get out of that pen to range. Otherwise they'd want to be in the house all day to get out of the sun and it would be too close quarters.

I'll have to take a photo of what it looks like tomorrow.