The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[OohLaLa]

Here are a few pictures of my flock of six:


Ash - RIR 22 weeks and 4 eggs the past 5 days


Pepper- BR 22 weeks- she was a runt BR but is squatting now and finally getting some comb and wattle growth


Big Mama- BO- 22 weeks- the one in a trance with one eye closed and not eating after the dog attack. She is eating well now and gained her coordination back and is back to normal mostly, she is nervous around people though, never was before and her eye that remained closed works fine now.


Olivia- EE- 22 weeks- My most standoffish chicken that could never be touched but now squats for me and lets me rub her back, so I guess colored eggs sometime soon.


She is just so pretty, Olivia again.


Oreo - BR - 22 weeks- She was a huge chicken before the dog attack has really slimmed down but is acting mostly normal now. You can see the blue kote on her back, she still has a healing dog bite and bare places under her wings. I removed the vet wrap and tried to put a hen saddle on her, but she would not settle down with it on so I took it off and so far she is letting her back heal now. You can see her combs and wattles still don't look as healthy as they should. She's a fighter and is eating a lot now, so I think she is going to recover okay.


Daisy- WR- 11 weeks, she's the one remaining of my 6 11 week olds and is doing good hanging in there with the big girls and is almost there size now.


Ash and Olivia in the garden


The End

Thanks for sharing they look like a wonderful flock family

 

[Mumsy]

The little orphan Silkie is seven weeks old now and just a round ball of puff. I think female but I've been wrong with Whites before.

I don't have a green house in my fenced garden, but back in early Spring when I set up the hoop tent for tomatos, I was thinking it would be a good place to keep the Reds over winter. Needs heavier tarp and a roost.

If I could keep half my flock out here for even a few months this winter, it would really help my feed bill. This garden is 1/3 of my property that chickens can have access to for half the year.

 

[countrygirl74]

Mumsy - always so jealous of your garden pics...

 

[countrygirl74]

Got 2 more new babies today!!! All 3 looking happy and healthy!


Chick on far right is the one who hatched Sunday - one on far left just hatched, and one still in egg...


This is the one that came out of that last egg - really pretty!


Next is a sequence - mama Cloud was a little concerned about the babies being too far from her getting their photos taken, so she called them back and one of them got scolded...

The proud daddy...



And just for fun... my cochin boy Monsoon - getting big! He still hasn't crowed that I know of.

 

[Mumsy]

Got 2 more new babies today!!! All 3 looking happy and healthy!

Now it's my turn to be jealous! I love this picture. Can't wait for one of my Silkies to be a good mama like this.

 

[aoxa]

Now it's my turn to be jealous! I love this picture. Can't wait for one of my Silkies to be a good mama like this.

Speaking of broody silkies... I have 5 of them right now setting. Doc just started yesterday. One is a week away, one is 2 weeks away, and two have chicks! Crazy broodies!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

T
I don't have a green house in my fenced garden, but back in early Spring when I set up the hoop tent for tomatos, I was thinking it would be a good place to keep the Reds over winter. Needs heavier tarp and a roost.

If I could keep half my flock out here for even a few months this winter, it would really help my feed bill. This garden is 1/3 of my property that chickens can have access to for half the year.

Mumsy - if you use the hoop for the winter coop, how do you make it predator-proof on the ends? Do you have end panels of some sort?

Asking because I'm trying to think of a good way to make something like that work without lots of construction.

 

[delisha]

Quote: In our winters the frost would hit the garden even with covering. I do not plan on using it for over night housing, just all day foraging. It should keep well into late January at least if I can keep it closed up from the bitter cold.

Quote:

 

[armorfirelady]

Mumsy - always so jealous of your garden pics...

x2 !!! My dream would to have gardens like that to putter in every day with my chickens nearby.

The proud daddy...

Beautiful pic. I like the grey one

And just for fun... my cochin boy Monsoon - getting big! He still hasn't crowed that I know of.

Love the looks of this Roo

 

[Mumsy]

Mumsy - if you use the hoop for the winter coop, how do you make it predator-proof on the ends? Do you have end panels of some sort?

Asking because I'm trying to think of a good way to make something like that work without lots of construction.

The only predators I worry about come out of the sky and an occasional raccoon. I have electric wire to put up around the hoop house. It worked with the raccoon last winter. The Potager garden is fenced with 1 inch poultry fencing from the ground to six feet. My barnyard is fenced with seven foot solid cedar boards. The rest of my property is fenced and hedged. I haven't seen a loose dog in our neighborhood in five years. Feral and pet cats come and go. (Eagles get them too) I will set out more whirly gigs and streamers and see what happens. I didn't put solid ends on my first hoop coop. The Silkies were in there for a while and nothing got them. The turkeys are in there now. It's going to take my husband some convincing to put ends on them. I hope it isn't a massacre in the night that forces the issue.

There are no skunks, possum, poisonous snakes, or bears on Whidbey Island. A weasel was spotted forty miles from my place last year. They are rare. So are fox. No one I know has seen one in fifteen years. That's the last time I saw one. I know with predators, it's only a matter of time. I'm vigilant but my turn may be on the calendar some day. I hope not.