The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[camilleathome]

Hey guys. I made a floorplan of the coop area. For some reason it looks off even though I went will all the proper sizing. I dont have all the posts in the middle(There are six as it froze and wouldnt let me go further. Would love tips about where to situate things in the coop. The top wall is connected to outside so might make some growout pens and breeding pens on that side.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I am very fortunate that I have central air. It is on more than I would like, but, Joe can't stand any type of heat when he is home. He would put air on the chickens if I let him.

I have a small 6" fan hanging in the coop on high right now just to keep air moving and not get to warm. Coop stays about 10 degrees cooler than just outside the door. I have it pointed so it blows over the roosts. They seem to have a better time cooling off at night now. It is 96 back home in Oregon. I am in Washington all week for work covering a driver's routes. MUMSY, I was in Oak Harbor yesterday making a few deliveries. Thought about ya when u was up there. Here in Tacoma it is only 86 degrees. A little more tolerable than at home for sure. But I hate anything above 75

 

[Mumsy]

An interesting thing happened today. After feeding this morning, I removed all the dish pans. Out of sight even. Usually I just leave them. They are always picked clean but the flock does not forage far from those pans. I feed at set times but it seemed everybody was always waiting for food to appear. You know how when you can't find your keys and you look in the same drawer three or four times expecting them to magically appear? That's how my flock are with their feed dishes. I'm feeling pretty dumb. Should have thought of it sooner.

What I found out today is the whole flock were much more active than normal. Nosing around in corners they usually ignore. It was in the 80's today and though most were panting, they were ranging all over the place.


Twelve week old HRIR pullet

Twelve week old HRIR cockerel

Sixteen week old HRIR cockerel

Same pullet.

I'm getting an error message when I try to post more. Must be a glitch in the system.

 

[aoxa]

Okay. That's helpful... and was that in the WINTER when they weren't foraging or in the summer while they ARE foraging?

Nope, that was during winter. Only chicks get real feed in summer. I only feed the adult flock one scoop (roughly 3 pounds per scoop) of fermented scratch a day.

They really don't need it, but it makes me feel good.

 

[delisha]

Good point. It's all related to the amount of land and number of birds.

Can someone comment on... about how much in measurement (cups or weight...either one) would you expect to put out in the winter when no other food sources are available per bird?

This will help me calculate how much to cut back when I take into account the other items available to them at this time of the year.


ETA: I'm thinking in terms of WET FEED (such as ff or soaked).

(And this has probably been stated before but I have always left feed out "free feed" and haven't paid attention very well

)

Quote: I start to feed an average of 1/2 cup per bird a day in probably December. I have all large fowl. I increase it to 2x a day as the snow sets in. I still shovel off grass for them, feed them stuff from the garden like cabbage's, pumpkins, and other late fall producers. They love brussel sprouts. I am going to cover part of the garden and make like a green house for them this winter. They might get valuable nutrients in a green house.

Hey guys. I made a floorplan of the coop area. For some reason it looks off even though I went will all the proper sizing. I dont have all the posts in the middle(There are six as it froze and wouldnt let me go further. Would love tips about where to situate things in the coop. The top wall is connected to outside so might make some growout pens and breeding pens on that side.

That is a great idea. You might consider making the whole wall pens with pop doors. The right side or North side..storage for feed and cleaning supplies on the other end.

 

[delisha]

Beautiful pullet Mumsy

 

[armorfirelady]

Mumsy I love the pictures. They have such a rich deep mahogany color. They are beautiful!!
Mine check back the troughs throughout the day as well. Today I gave a few spoonfuls in the morning and before dinner one more. A couple spoonfuls is probably at most 2 cups total. Not a lot for 8 birds I admit it but I really want them to forage. And tonight there is probably 1/2 cup left if I scraped it up. They foraged well this morning then tried to stay cool till about 7. They are out foraging again. Plus they got corn on the cob leftovers from dinner. You would of thought it was candy

Delisha what a great idea for winter!! I had planned to put their shade hut in the veggie garden for them for the winter but I could easily put plastic on the sides to keep all the snow out and move it to different areas all winter. Thanks for the great idea (now if only I remember in the fall...)

Camille love the horse pics. They are beautiful

 

[aoxa]

Beautiful pullet Mumsy

I like that idea of the green house for them

Would frost hit in a green house in the winter?

 

[lalaland]

Actually there is a bl0g with the same name as the first part of this thread... link is in my signature. We have done a number of articles on how to mix your own feed as well as how to find or create groups/co-ops for the purpose of mixing and sharing higher quality and organic feeds. They can be found off the Index page under Nutrition.

LOL, I have searched for that a couple of times, I only looked under feed. guess I should have kept reading the index til I got to nutrition!

 

[camilleathome]

That is a great idea. You might consider making the whole wall pens with pop doors. The right side or North side..storage for feed and cleaning supplies on the other end.

This part is only half of our barn minus an area were keeping open for the run in part of the barn for the horses.We actually have a tool area on the other side of the wall and a heated insulated tack room for feed

I am wondering where to put the perches. I can also put some perches between some of the wall posts but not the permanent ones I think



this is the coop area


The tool area in the hallway



Hallway. Were putting a door to the coop where you see the two ropes hanging on the left(Its just a doorway right now)