The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

lol..

Justine..make a plucker if you are raising duck to eat. I have to take them in..I have arthritic hands and shoulders. I think you could do it in half the time. They do it in the videos in a few minutes.

Brandiislee...

You can PM me about the meat birds any time.

I can send you a trio of juvies..or chicks. Your choice. I can take pictures of my 4-5 week olds I have now. It will give you an idea. I can process them now if I wanted. I will be selling them this weekend though.

 

[brandislee]

It's not the health of the birds after hatch. They are perfectly healthy after the fact. I don't know why they have trouble making it to lockdown. I haven't lost a single one after hatch though.

With very high quality exhibition birds, you get into low fertility because of the tight line breeding. It's that way with some of the most loved Heritage Barred Plymouth Rocks, and the Mohawk Rhode Island Reds, but they are gorgeous birds and are very sought after. Both of those aren't fancy breeds like the Silkies or crested varieties.

I totally agree, whether it is $2 or $20 per chick, you should DEFINITELY get what you paid for. Or at least have exchanges readily available if a mistake is made.

And that is something that has always been totally beyond me, regardless of the species. My brother in law raises show pigs and has fertility issues with his sows... that he tries to AI with super expensive boar semen. I don't get it. An animal, in order to be "ideal," should both fit the physical ideal of the breed/species AND reproduce readily and easily. I get that reproductivity doesn't show in the arena, so it can be ignored by some, but I just don't get how people can be so short sighted that they're more concerned with physical conformity than with reproductive health...

 

[Keepitathome]

http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/
There is a ton of information on this blog that is compiled from Bee's thread too. All of your questions can be answered there and remembered in a well organized, easy to find, tab search.
BDM has done a remarkable job in getting that information in there with help from quite a few people. The woman has energy to spare.
I toss all my leftovers in the compost pile and the animals have access to that pile.All my weeds and rotted garden veggies are in there too.I toss my old bedding from the coop on top. They love the mound of fun and it keeps them busy for hours daily. I have a small worm bin under the wood chip pile also they have access too.
Chickens are meat eaters. You attract the meat and they take care of the rest. During this time of year they really do not need grains if free ranging. They get all the nutrician they need in plant matter and bugs. I grain feed all my moms and chicks until they too are free ranging., add meat to the diet. I do grain feed during the hard freeze.
I plant oregano, spinach, kale, and clover right in the grass for the chickens. When I mow the grass I use the bag and save all the clippings. Those are dried and added to leaves and dirt in the coop for bedding. I add herbs in the nest boxes to deter bugs and rodents when they are ready. I do also save all my peelings from citrus and toss them in the coop too.

Welcome to the group and it sounds like you are doing it right..research first. Thank you and the chicks thank you too.



Just a note for those who order meaties. I have started stock for anyone who wants to breed and raise them..them selves. It is my own version of a meat bird. It grows just a little slower but not by much slower. It can also be used for eggs, but the eggs are medium sized and not jumbo. The birds are cornich and rock crosses.

Thank you so much!

I hadn't thought about letting them have access to the compost. I had it in my head it needed to be enclosed to "cook" and keep coons and possum out, but if I have a dog out there the varmits shouldn't be a problem and the chickens can stir the pile for me. Sounds like less work for me which is always a good thing! LOL

What herbs do you use in the nest boxes? I'm thinking lavender and cloves, I use mint in the garage but would that be too harsh for the chickens? How sensitive is their sense of smell? I don't use tea tree oil on the cats because the smell is too strong it causes respiratory problems for them.

 

[Bulldogma]

What herbs do you use in the nest boxes? I'm thinking lavender and cloves, I use mint in the garage but would that be too harsh for the chickens? How sensitive is their sense of smell? I don't use tea tree oil on the cats because the smell is too strong it causes respiratory problems for them.

There's an article about this on the thing. From the Index page it's under "Coops & Runs."

 

[brandislee]

Thank you so much!

I hadn't thought about letting them have access to the compost. I had it in my head it needed to be enclosed to "cook" and keep coons and possum out, but if I have a dog out there the varmits shouldn't be a problem and the chickens can stir the pile for me. Sounds like less work for me which is always a good thing! LOL

What herbs do you use in the nest boxes? I'm thinking lavender and cloves, I use mint in the garage but would that be too harsh for the chickens? How sensitive is their sense of smell? I don't use tea tree oil on the cats because the smell is too strong it causes respiratory problems for them.

My compost pile is just pallets on the sides and open top. No problem keeping animals out of it... other than the dogs themselves, who feel the need to steal as much of the chickens' feed as possible. The chickens do an excellent job of stirring it up and keeping bugs down (not flies, though, at least not in my case...). Ussery also talks about this in his book... he has chickens he keeps in a pen in his garden and all they get to eat is scraps and garden wastes (he doesn't give them additional food solely because he has excess nitrogen in his soil, though, and adding more food would up that... by only giving them the garden waste he isn't increasing the net nitrogen).

In the nest boxes lavender is common, also yarrow... yellow dock is good at repelling insects, rosemary, oregano, thyme, sage... I don't think mint (the plant) would be too strong, but I wouldn't use the essential oil. It depends- you kind of use what you have, or trouble shoot as things come up, or listen to your gut. You get a feel for it after a while. Herbs I keep planted around my yard for the chickens are most of the common ones- rosemary, mint, lemon balm, sage, thyme, oregano, lavender, comfrey, yarrow... and obviously they have access to tons of dandelions and clovers and violets and other wild herbs. I keep a separate herb garden (fenced) for our use so I don't have to worry if the chickens completely demolish theirs, although I will harvest from theirs later in the summer if there is enough.

Keep the questions coming! You sound like me a few years ago, and I love to help because I appreciate all the help I got along the way. Plus it sounds like you're working on starting what I want to do- I want to get either 40 or 80 acres eventually and do intensive rotational grazing and agriforestry, rotating cows, chickens, pigs, and turkeys between rows of fruit and/or nut trees (what the trees are will depend on where we land and what is most suited to the land, as well as what there is a market for). And I'll have a horse, because I'll need it to check my livestock (yep, I'm one of those people!). Unfortunately the means to realize this dream are eluding me... My dad has this piece of land that he considers worthless because he can't rip it up and plant corn on it (which is exactly why I want it), but we currently live 10 hours from my parents and I can't afford to buy it from him. I'm hoping when he retires we'll be in a place to go back there and like rent to own or lease or something from him. But a part of me thinks it would be better to figure out how to do it here in MN. The land is much richer, meaning you can support more livestock on less land.

 

[NanaLynn]

Thanks everyone for your advice about my noisy chickens. It's funny because the ones that are laying are the quiet ones who just wander in lay an egg and after awhile they wander out. During this time, it's the cheering squad of the non layers that are making all the noise. So funny and noisy. I am glad to hear that they calm down eventually.

On another note, our faithful chow, Maxie has killed 2 possums so far, one rat and she took care of this raccoon the other night. She has also chased off a lot of other predators. Such a good dog!



Here she is...


StonyKill - I appreciate your posts and pics, I have learned a lot from you!

 

[aoxa]

lol..

Justine..make a plucker if you are raising duck to eat. I have to take them in..I have arthritic hands and shoulders. I think you could do it in half the time. They do it in the videos in a few minutes.

Brandiislee...

You can PM me about the meat birds any time.

I can send you a trio of juvies..or chicks. Your choice. I can take pictures of my 4-5 week olds I have now. It will give you an idea. I can process them now if I wanted. I will be selling them this weekend though.

I'm not crafty enough to make a plucker.

I'm going to get some muscovies, so we will see how positive I am later about plucking them by hand I guess lol. I just have one duck right now. If it is male, it is not staying.

And that is something that has always been totally beyond me, regardless of the species. My brother in law raises show pigs and has fertility issues with his sows... that he tries to AI with super expensive boar semen. I don't get it. An animal, in order to be "ideal," should both fit the physical ideal of the breed/species AND reproduce readily and easily. I get that reproductivity doesn't show in the arena, so it can be ignored by some, but I just don't get how people can be so short sighted that they're more concerned with physical conformity than with reproductive health...

I'm with you on that. I would not sacrifice health for looks alone at all.

I'm lucky with my line of barred rocks the fertility is what it is. Having good luck with my eggs in there so far. High %.

 

[aoxa]

Thanks everyone for your advice about my noisy chickens. It's funny because the ones that are laying are the quiet ones who just wander in lay an egg and after awhile they wander out. During this time, it's the cheering squad of the non layers that are making all the noise. So funny and noisy. I am glad to hear that they calm down eventually.

On another note, our faithful chow, Maxie has killed 2 possums so far, one rat and she took care of this raccoon the other night. She has also chased off a lot of other predators. Such a good dog!



Here she is...


StonyKill - I appreciate your posts and pics, I have learned a lot from you!

GO Maxie!!!

 

[aoxa]

Since I did 14-16 week old sexing tips on the EEs, here are some earlier indicator illustrations I just put together:





Hope this helps at least a little for those of you with young Easter Eggers.

Sorry this doesn't help those of you with solid white EEs. Go with the combs and thickness of legs. You won't be sure until week 5-8 at least with solid coloured EEs. Sometimes later, sometimes earlier depending on the individual bird.

 

[stonykill]

Stony,

When do ducks stop peeping and girls get their quacks?

Pekin X is huge.

Do you butcher your ducks? If so, how much different is it than butchering a chicken?

anytime between 4 and 10 weeks old. My big broody baby gives me a faint quack once in a while. The Khaki Campbells are 8 ish weeks old and both quack and squeek.

I have and it isn't really that much different. Plucking is rougher but made easier if you add a little Dawn to the hot water. Helps cut threw the natural oils.