The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

Broody vs incubator Shawn style..... OK.... somebody..... with a name that rhymes with "B" said that egg eaters do not exist.

Splain sumthin to this Ol' Boy..... Gal went Broody, I put her in a cage on 12 eggs. Fed and watered her regularly as she tried to kill me each time I neared the cage.

Yesterday I felt her up... er.... felt up unner her to see if she had hatched any..... What did I find? 3 eggs! WTHeck..... happened to 9 eggs?

Anyone EVER hear of anything like this?

Mark 1 up for controlled incubation......

If you did not find any shells it sounds like you have an egg thief. I would be looking for a rat/coon/varmint reaching in and stealing those eggs. Or they were rotten and the mom made the environment save by removing the varmint attractors.(stinky eggs smell) I have one hen who eats rotten eggs, all the rest toss them out of the nest.

I have 3 Speckled Sussex chicks, 13-14 weeks old, 4 12 week old Buff Orpingtons and 15 12 week old BBB turkeys. My Sussex chicks have all been plucked bald above their tails. I thought it was the chickens picking on each other, but I saw a turkey pluck a feather yesterday. Not one of the BO's have missing feathers. A friend suggested maybe the Sussex's color is attracting the turkeys. Anyone have experience or opinions on this? The BO's are supposed to be all roos, but I'm not sure about one. I'm still confused on the Sussex. I thought one was a pullet, but now I think they all might be. I'm not sure if this makes any difference on the feather plucking. I'm starting to let them free range a bit when I can be there to keep an eye on them. They have a large, mostly open air coop and a small run. I've started giving them heads of cabbage and lettuce, as well as other things to help with boredom. I hope to get a larger run ready, but I have to go back to PA for my dad's memorial service and I don't want the guy who's watching the birds to have to worry about an open topped run. I try to spray Blue Kote on the Chicks, but they aren't too cooperative. They are trying to grow new feathers now. Unfortunately, they aren't on my property, so I really can't separate them. Most of the turkeys will be going in the freezer in a few months, but I hate that the chicks are getting picked on. Any ideas on other things to keep them from picking on each other? BTW, this started because the coop wasn't ready and they had to stay in the grow out pen too long. The turkeys pick on each other a bit too, although that seems to be getting better.

you already know you are too crowded. Those turkeys are too many for your chickens to deal with in that small space. Set up a separation until you can get them more room.

 

[CoopChick719]

Mumsy--Showed your Osprey/Hawk deterrents to my sister who has 2 Osprey nests near her house. She can't wait to put up her carnival banners!!

Not sure how to get garlic down these wild things. Maybe I can mix a bunch in some plain yogurt and wipe it into their beaks? If I put it in their dry feed, they may just skip eating it. Powder might work.

I have used garlic powder in the feed or fresh garlic in plain yogurt. I top the dry feed with the yogurt (kinda looks like an ice cream sundae). No need to wipe their beaks in it. They may give it a few weird looks but after 1 tries it they all try it then it's a feeding frenzy in my coop.

So cute!! She's a pretty bird! So is the baby!!

I am so excited!!!! I got my very first egg today from Snow, my white leghorn!!!!

It's not very big, but I know that they will get bigger as the days go by. She disturbed the nest box, but then decided to lay it in a dark corner in the coop. I estimate around 9 am this morning! I'll have to clear out the corner of the coop, so it is not so dark now, so maybe tomorrow she'll use the nest box.

LynnEBC, Soooo jealous!

I have 14 week olds & 20 week olds--no eggs yet!! Just my one little 3 or 4 year old bantam cochin, Laverne, giving me 1 egg every other day right now. DH heard her singing the egg song yesterday. He said What is wrong with that chicken? I said Nothing just laid an egg. He went into the coop to look in the nesting boxes, comes out with the egg and says Wow she did & it's warm! He just cracks me up!!

 

[lalaland]

*long sigh*

Swedish Flower Hen eggs are hard to hatch in an incubator. They do best under a broody. So a few weeks ago I lose my SFH rooster to accidental poisoning, and today one of my SFH hens goes broody for the first time... and I don't have any fertile eggs to give her.

Gotta laugh at the irony.

Definitely ironic.

So, my stupid resident fox got another chicken. Haven't managed to catch/shoot him yet, and evidently walking the dog around the edge of the yard isn't scaring him any. <sigh> Putting up the game cam to see if we can find a regular time/route he travels, and I have a friend that's going to bring me a large live capture trap. Don't dare put up spring traps because the little old lady next door has a dog that runs loose, and where we've seen the fox is close to her property. Just want to catch him before I lose anymore of my hens... The meaties and the guineas are safe as can be in their tractors. He seems to be coming right up to the edge of the yard and taking them in broad daylight.

sounds like a mom with kits to me. She'll keep coming on back - best not to free range your hens right now. give it a good month before they are out unsupervised, although I've had friends lose hens to foxes right before their eyes - gardening outside with the hens, up comes the fox, and grabs a hen.

I've a fox going thru my yard daily now, and I'm keeping them in the run and the electric fence on as well.

 

[lalaland]

I scored big time at a little garage sale = found 3 old farming livestock books for 25 cents each. I'm reading the poultry sections - one is written just around the time of "modern" foods being introduced and the author is advocating against them. He suggested milk or buttermilk for an animal protein. Based on what I read, I switched of the two waterers to milk in the chicks pens.

They love it. I"ld go for buttermilk if I could find any of the real stuff. I'm old enough to remember what buttermilk tastes like, which is not what you get in the cartons at the store!

Was unexpectedly stuck in the cities yesterday, and got home about 10:30. was very nervous about the chicks, now 4 weeks old, because I left them at 4 am and that was a long long stretch on a very hot day. Went to the coop as soon as I got in the driveway, and was dismayed to find no food and only about a tablespoon of water left in the one waterer, and no milk in the other. Poor babies! Got water and feed for them while still in my work clothes, course one little chick flew up on me and promptly pooped!

When I left at 4 am, I had to turn off the lamp ( it was down to 50) and I forgot they had not yet experienced total darkness. Very upset chicks.

And guess what! The chicks I am hoping are sfh are getting crests!

 

[NanaLynn]

LynnEBC, Soooo jealous!

I have 14 week olds & 20 week olds--no eggs yet!! Just my one little 3 or 4 year old bantam cochin, Laverne, giving me 1 egg every other day right now. DH heard her singing the egg song yesterday. He said What is wrong with that chicken? I said Nothing just laid an egg. He went into the coop to look in the nesting boxes, comes out with the egg and says Wow she did & it's warm! He just cracks me up!!

I'm sure yours will be laying eggs real soon. We have not heard an egg song yet, I do hear a lot of clucking though when they lay an egg. Is that what they do?

No eggs yet today. We've had the 2 leghorn eggs, guess she is taking a break today and 1 EE egg, if she does like yesterday, she should lay her 2nd around 10 am today.

My husband sounds like yours, he is amazed by the process. Of course, I am new to this too and think it is so neat. It is so different then just going to the grocery store and getting eggs. Of course all of you on this thread know that!

Here's a side by side of our 1st egg with a store bought EB egg. It's pretty small, but look how orange?



Nature at it's best! I love this!

 

[jime]

Originally Posted by BlueMouse


So, my stupid resident fox got another chicken. Haven't managed to catch/shoot him yet, and evidently walking the dog around the edge of the yard isn't scaring him any. <sigh> Putting up the game cam to see if we can find a regular time/route he travels, and I have a friend that's going to bring me a large live capture trap. Don't dare put up spring traps because the little old lady next door has a dog that runs loose, and where we've seen the fox is close to her property. Just want to catch him before I lose anymore of my hens... The meaties and the guineas are safe as can be in their tractors. He seems to be coming right up to the edge of the yard and taking them in broad daylight.


I had the mom fox last year and make a nasty on my chickens I lost about 30, he figure out when to came (when dogs and family were having dinner)I solved the problem with electro net.
This year I have my animals with out net and she visit again so I start to train my German shepherd dog (who was not so good with chickens, will herd them fine but once one will go out of the group he will kill it) any ways I got a shock collar for him and 1 week of training and 2 chickens less and he is on guard now he stays closer to the house than to the barn but he will chase the fox away, he already got in a fight with one and so far in 3 months have not get an attack anymore.
I read and article the other day on options.
-Tennis balls you soak them in pure ammonia and hung them in the corners f the area you want to protect I guess will be kind of like another fox or something ha mark a territory, I have the supplies now but have not try it jet.
-One adult male person has to pee (the first pee of the morning)in the perimeter of the area that you want to protect and will do the same as the ammonia/balls thing, this one I am not trying since my husband says he is not crazy jet.

 

[stonykill]

Originally Posted by BlueMouse


So, my stupid resident fox got another chicken. Haven't managed to catch/shoot him yet, and evidently walking the dog around the edge of the yard isn't scaring him any. <sigh> Putting up the game cam to see if we can find a regular time/route he travels, and I have a friend that's going to bring me a large live capture trap. Don't dare put up spring traps because the little old lady next door has a dog that runs loose, and where we've seen the fox is close to her property. Just want to catch him before I lose anymore of my hens... The meaties and the guineas are safe as can be in their tractors. He seems to be coming right up to the edge of the yard and taking them in broad daylight.


I had the mom fox last year and make a nasty on my chickens I lost about 30, he figure out when to came (when dogs and family were having dinner)I solved the problem with electro net.
This year I have my animals with out net and she visit again so I start to train my German shepherd dog (who was not so good with chickens, will herd them fine but once one will go out of the group he will kill it) any ways I got a shock collar for him and 1 week of training and 2 chickens less and he is on guard now he stays closer to the house than to the barn but he will chase the fox away, he already got in a fight with one and so far in 3 months have not get an attack anymore.
I read and article the other day on options.
-Tennis balls you soak them in pure ammonia and hung them in the corners f the area you want to protect I guess will be kind of like another fox or something ha mark a territory, I have the supplies now but have not try it jet.
-One adult male person has to pee (the first pee of the morning)in the perimeter of the area that you want to protect and will do the same as the ammonia/balls thing, this one I am not trying since my husband says he is not crazy jet.

I have tried everthing to deter foxes. The peeing thing plain flat out does not work on the foxes I have. Male human urine does not bother them in the least. The best thing I have found to do is kill the fox. For me that is all that stops the attacks. Last year 2 foxes got 15 of my birds. It only ended when the foxes were dead.

 

[BlueMouse]

Definitely ironic.
sounds like a mom with kits to me. She'll keep coming on back - best not to free range your hens right now. give it a good month before they are out unsupervised, although I've had friends lose hens to foxes right before their eyes - gardening outside with the hens, up comes the fox, and grabs a hen.

I've a fox going thru my yard daily now, and I'm keeping them in the run and the electric fence on as well.

I can't really keep mine in, I have no run, just the henhouse, and that's not a large area, more than 4 square feet per bird.... but..... I may have to resort to that if he gets another one before we get him. I knew that with 100% free range I would lose some to predators, but two takes a big chunk out of my little flock.

Originally Posted by BlueMouse

I had the mom fox last year and make a nasty on my chickens I lost about 30, he figure out when to came (when dogs and family were having dinner)I solved the problem with electro net.
This year I have my animals with out net and she visit again so I start to train my German shepherd dog (who was not so good with chickens, will herd them fine but once one will go out of the group he will kill it) any ways I got a shock collar for him and 1 week of training and 2 chickens less and he is on guard now he stays closer to the house than to the barn but he will chase the fox away, he already got in a fight with one and so far in 3 months have not get an attack anymore.
I read and article the other day on options.
-Tennis balls you soak them in pure ammonia and hung them in the corners f the area you want to protect I guess will be kind of like another fox or something ha mark a territory, I have the supplies now but have not try it jet.
-One adult male person has to pee (the first pee of the morning)in the perimeter of the area that you want to protect and will do the same as the ammonia/balls thing, this one I am not trying since my husband says he is not crazy jet.

I would love electro net. Or the perimiter fencing around the flat portion of our property that we keep talking about to keep the kids out of the creek. Right now it's just not finacially an option for us. I've walked the dog around the perimiter to see if that would help deter until we could catch it, but evidently not. My blue heeler is NOT an outside dog. lol. He howls any time he's separated from me. (he's a rescue, he had a rough start in life.)

I have tried everthing to deter foxes. The peeing thing plain flat out does not work on the foxes I have. Male human urine does not bother them in the least. The best thing I have found to do is kill the fox. For me that is all that stops the attacks. Last year 2 foxes got 15 of my birds. It only ended when the foxes were dead.

Killing the fox is our plan. First we have to find/catch it. Husband has hiked the ridge looking for the den, no luck. we think it's denning on the little old lady next door's (next door being a loose term.) property. She probably wouldn't be too keen on our traipsing all over her land trying to shoot a fox. I've seen him twice. Biggest fox I've ever seen. Easy four feet from nose tip to tail tip. Of course I haven't seen him since he started eating our chickens (go figure.) Trying the game cam and the trap. One of the times that it can feel frustrating to have small children. Before I was a mother I would have been parked out in the yard all day with the rifle and/or combing the woods with the dog. Now it's not even safe to keep a loaded gun by the door.

 

[BlueMouse]

Oh, I got distracted by the fox and forgot. We found this on one of our 4 week old broad breasted bronze turkeys.

I posted to the turkey forum, but thought I'd try here too. It's two air bubbles, about the size of a nickel. They seem to cause him no discomfort, even when I gently poke them. He's acting exactly like the other turkey poults, eating, drinking, cheeping pathetically any time I leave the room.... For now I'm just observing him since he seems otherwise totally fine. I looked at all the others, and found two with tiny little air bubbles in their "armpits" but so small I would have never seen them unless I was looking for them. Has anyone ever seen anything like this? I'm hesitant to lance it for fear of introducing infection. If it gets any worse my thought was to lance it with a sterilized needle, and then seal with blue kote. For now I'm lacing their food with extra garlic and oregano because that certainly won't hurt them for a week or so.

 

[brandislee]

I have 3 Speckled Sussex chicks, 13-14 weeks old, 4 12 week old Buff Orpingtons and 15 12 week old BBB turkeys. My Sussex chicks have all been plucked bald above their tails. I thought it was the chickens picking on each other, but I saw a turkey pluck a feather yesterday. Not one of the BO's have missing feathers. A friend suggested maybe the Sussex's color is attracting the turkeys. Anyone have experience or opinions on this? The BO's are supposed to be all roos, but I'm not sure about one. I'm still confused on the Sussex. I thought one was a pullet, but now I think they all might be. I'm not sure if this makes any difference on the feather plucking. I'm starting to let them free range a bit when I can be there to keep an eye on them. They have a large, mostly open air coop and a small run. I've started giving them heads of cabbage and lettuce, as well as other things to help with boredom. I hope to get a larger run ready, but I have to go back to PA for my dad's memorial service and I don't want the guy who's watching the birds to have to worry about an open topped run. I try to spray Blue Kote on the Chicks, but they aren't too cooperative. They are trying to grow new feathers now. Unfortunately, they aren't on my property, so I really can't separate them. Most of the turkeys will be going in the freezer in a few months, but I hate that the chicks are getting picked on. Any ideas on other things to keep them from picking on each other? BTW, this started because the coop wasn't ready and they had to stay in the grow out pen too long. The turkeys pick on each other a bit too, although that seems to be getting better.

I agree. I have turkeys in with some of my chickens and I can't imagine them pecking a chicken bald unless something is amiss, like not enough space. Do what you have to to get the separarated and get them more space as soon as you can.

Definitely ironic.
sounds like a mom with kits to me. She'll keep coming on back - best not to free range your hens right now. give it a good month before they are out unsupervised, although I've had friends lose hens to foxes right before their eyes - gardening outside with the hens, up comes the fox, and grabs a hen.

I've a fox going thru my yard daily now, and I'm keeping them in the run and the electric fence on as well.

I thought foxes only hunted at dawn and dusk... is that flat out untrue, or is it only moms with kits who hunt during the day? I had a friend who thought she lost a few hens to a fox because they caught it on their security camera (her husband works for a security company, so they have a pretty tricked out system), but it turns out most of their daytime losses were from a coyote, because she caught him in the act.

I scored big time at a little garage sale = found 3 old farming livestock books for 25 cents each. I'm reading the poultry sections - one is written just around the time of "modern" foods being introduced and the author is advocating against them. He suggested milk or buttermilk for an animal protein. Based on what I read, I switched of the two waterers to milk in the chicks pens.

They love it. I"ld go for buttermilk if I could find any of the real stuff. I'm old enough to remember what buttermilk tastes like, which is not what you get in the cartons at the store!

Was unexpectedly stuck in the cities yesterday, and got home about 10:30. was very nervous about the chicks, now 4 weeks old, because I left them at 4 am and that was a long long stretch on a very hot day. Went to the coop as soon as I got in the driveway, and was dismayed to find no food and only about a tablespoon of water left in the one waterer, and no milk in the other. Poor babies! Got water and feed for them while still in my work clothes, course one little chick flew up on me and promptly pooped!

When I left at 4 am, I had to turn off the lamp ( it was down to 50) and I forgot they had not yet experienced total darkness. Very upset chicks.

And guess what! The chicks I am hoping are sfh are getting crests!

You can make buttermilk easily. But I guess it depends on what you mean by buttermilk- I have never understood why the milky liquid left after making butter and a cultured milk product have the same name and are used interchangably, but whatever. I make multiple quarts of the cultured stuff every week. I get raw cow and goat milk from a friend and have a culture (that yes, started from a carton of buttermilk) that I just keep going. I use it mostly for baking and for the animals. The chickens just get whatever is left from a batch after a week (it starts to get a smell after that). I've been giving it to my cats recently because they were on antibiotics as a source of probiotics (I wouldn't give cats dairy unless it's raw AND cultured, otherwise most cats will react poorly to it). Perhaps I should give it to the chickens more regularly- I knew it was good for them, but I can't fathom having enough for them to have regularly unless I have my own cow (which is a possibility...). I have never ever seen the other kind of buttermilk anywhere. You would probably either have to make butter yourself or know someone who does.