The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[fowlmouthgirls]

Hey guys, I've kind of been stalking this thread, lol. I have a question, there's a person on the site that keeps pushing "calf manna" on everyone and valbazin and claims if you don't use these things your birds are sickly and carriers of all kinds of crap. I'm just trying to see if this is true, I feed organic feed to my girls, who I will admit started out on medicated, but have switched over to Pullet starter, but I don't really want to give them a bunch of chemicals, any advice?

 

[delisha]

calfmanna is a great conditioner for showing. I put my birds on it if they need weight or feather growth. I love it for silkie chicks. I do not use wormers. I test. I do not live in an area that has a high count, my birds free range and seem to have an immunity to over load.

You have to do what works for you and your environment. Test your birds poop and go from there. A float test as some vets office is cheap. If you have a few extra dollars..a student animal microscope(used) can be purchased for under 100. You can even get an antique one for reasonable.Float testing is easy. You can also check for cocci. I am presently on thee hunt for one. I found one on Craigs List for 40 I am going to go pick up Thursday if they still have it.

 

[fowlmouthgirls]

I know I've talked to you delisha on other threads so I know your advice is usually straight forward and sensible. I was just looking at the calf manna ingredients and the first thing on there is soybean meal, so I thought I would ask. Thank you!

 

[delisha]

Sorry about your crop issue. I am guilty of missing the post..sorry. I am glad she is on the mend.

Sour crop:

cage the bird and remove all food
add 1 tsp of baking soda to a qt of water. Do not add ACV.
Massage the crop and try to empty it by tipping the bird face down and massaging the crop up to empty. Let the bird breath in between trying to empty.
In 12 hours check the crop. Massage if it is still full. Try to empty it again.
You can add kefir/yogurt directly to her crop with a syringe after 12 hours to help stuff move along.
massage the next morning. Add more kefir to the crop if it is not going down.Try to flush the crop with water and massage.
Feed eggs and yogurt after 24 hours to see how the bird does.
Check weight. If the bird has meat on her bones you will be ok to continue treatment. If the bird has lost weight treatment has to be more aggressive and might require surgery. That is for a vet.

 

[delisha]

I know I've talked to you delisha on other threads so I know your advice is usually straight forward and sensible.

I was just looking at the calf manna ingredients and the first thing on there is soybean meal, so I thought I would ask. Thank you!

I hate that is it in there..I only use it for conditioning show birds. They are on it for a few months prior to showing. It sure makes the feathers beautiful. I free range and my poor birds take a beating outside. If I kept them in cages or on cat litter I probably would not need it.I do use it.

Speaking of conditioning..
I have been cage training my silkie. He bite me yesterday when I turned him in the cage for removal. I was quite shocked.I really did not react at all. Not like me. My DH started to laugh and I was more mad at him for laughing than the silkie for biting.

 

[fowlmouthgirls]

Lol, I would be mad too, I always get irritated with my DH when he watches me chase the chickens around the yard trying to catch them. He just stand there and laughs his butt off like I'm a clown in the circus! I wanna slap him!

 

[aoxa]

I hate that is it in there..I only use it for conditioning show birds. They are on it for a few months prior to showing. It sure makes the feathers beautiful. I free range and my poor birds take a beating outside. If I kept them in cages or on cat litter I probably would not need it.I do use it.

Speaking of conditioning..
I have been cage training my silkie. He bite me yesterday when I turned him in the cage for removal. I was quite shocked.I really did not react at all. Not like me. My DH started to laugh and I was more mad at him for laughing than the silkie for biting.

Poor you. How're the silkies looking anyway Vicki? Haven't seen any photos of them recently

I'm having a heck of a time hatching them with this strain. I may get 50% at most.

They seem to die right before lockdown. They look perfectly healthy. A lot have vaulted skulls.

I have sworn off candling except for day 7 and day 18 (and until internal pip is reached). Seems the more I candle, the more I lose.

 

[aoxa]

Finally photographed the entire interior to show you guys!

Starting here.. Hallway from the Exit to the Entrance door. Both are dutch style doors. We have them open 24/7 for air flow. Pens on left and right in the exit hallway.

I put the rest of the images in a spoiler, as there are 19 pictures in total.


Hallway from the front entrance to the exit. We painted this entire area.. A whole lot of work and paint went into that.. 15 Gallons!

It was too white so we hung chicken decorations!


The Juvenile grow out pen. Currently home to 20 Houdans, 10 Easter Eggers, 5 Ameraucanas, 18 Silkies, Sweet Brown the duck and Pickles & Patty. Only at night though. They free range all day. It's the only room that is goat proof so far.. this is where everyone eats.


The Juvenile grow out pen again. Dust bath pan on the right. They get their water outside. Sweet Brown makes a terrible mess. You can see how I've made the door super narrow. The goats can not get through this, but the chicks and the smart adults can squeeze through.


The Meat King & Layer Chick pen. Once they are two weeks old I will open the pop door to the great big world. They are 11 days old right now, so this weekend it is!


The Meat King & Layer Chick pen again. Room to run around.


The pens from the hallway view. Susan installed shaving barriers all along them, but they like to roost and poop on the wrong side Good thing we have a shop vac!


The hallway that leads to the heated brooder room, and the goat room.


The brooders. Ignore the fly tape. The flies and mosquitoes are bad right now, so we have set out traps.

There is a light in the bottom pen because it's dark in there.


Here is the bottom brooder with the two partitions removed. The top brooder is currently empty, but also looks very similar (except it's taller of course).


Storage room looking out to the brooder room.


Storage Room. Can you spot anything special on the shelves?


More of the storage room. Kittens get fed in here.


The empty goat barn. The goats are living with the chickens right now. We have to dig a trench for the water in this room. We didn't want to do that after the bedding.. so it's being used for random things. Right now I have a very small hatch (4 chicks) in one of the playpens. I usually open this room up and the chickens lay in some boxes behind the light blue playpen. It's the coolest room in the barn in terms of temperature


Hallway that leads to chicken part of the barn. Henry has been spending his days inside the barn with the kittens instead of his kennel while we are at work. Trying to desensitize him to the chicks, and giving him something fun to do (play with his kittens). He loves it!


The roosts.

Going to have to brace this soon. You can see it sagging in the middle. Also, its not staggered very well, but right now no one sleeps on the lower roost, so no biggie.


The chicken barn (well, the geese and duck live in there too, so it's really the poultry barn). Dust bath pool in corner. Geese have their own pool outside.


Breeding pens in the Chicken Barn. Currently occupied by Margaret, and three different pens of silkies. Blue in one, White in the other two. The pen to the far right has two broody silkie hens with their chicks.


Last picture - the chicken barn again. The goats' feeding area. The chickens have taken to laying their eggs in the hay rack

See our sign: "Bless Our Farm"

 

[midnightroo]

calfmanna is a great conditioner for showing. I put my birds on it if they need weight or feather growth. I love it for silkie chicks. I do not use wormers. I test. I do not live in an area that has a high count, my birds free range and seem to have an immunity to over load. You have to do what works for you and your environment. Test your birds poop and go from there. A float test as some vets office is cheap. If you have a few extra dollars..a student animal microscope(used) can be purchased for under 100. You can even get an antique one for reasonable.Float testing is easy. You can also check for cocci. I am presently on thee hunt for one. I found one on Craigs List for 40 I am going to go pick up Thursday if they still have it.

Do you think it would help put weight back on my hen that is thin? They have free access to flock block currently and starter/ grower at all times. I think I picked the last of the beetles this morning.

Delisha, the post I was referring to was if feeding larger foods would help with a slow digestion. It appears to have helped her so either large foods help or their was an unseen issue that resolved itself.

Sorry about your silkie biting you. When I take treats out to the chickens, if the littles can't get at the treats they walk around me and peck at me. It feels like they are giving me shots.

 

[lalaland]

Finally photographed the entire interior to show you guys!

Starting here.. Hallway from the Exit to the Entrance door. Both are dutch style doors. We have them open 24/7 for air flow. Pens on left and right in the exit hallway.

love the pics, looks like so much room! Just curious, do you worry about a varmint getting into the barn via the open dutch doors? Thinking coons, weasels...I know you have Henry so I guess he would be a big big deterrent - with the chicken wire there is no protection though.

It is a beautiful layout, and I like the tree branch roosts.