The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

For feeding raw meat it is not difficult for me. The adults are gone in the AM, and just juvies, chicks and moms are around. They already know I am the boss at a very young age. I feed small chicks first, then the juvies. It i frozen so it is a bit easier for me to dispense. They grab a piece and run and the rest wait around my feet for a piece. When non are at my feet I know everyone has received one. Some chicks loose some of the meat to the older juvies, but they learn quick to run faster next time or go hide where the larger birds can't get into.

 

[aoxa]

Thanks delisha. I was thinking of doing the autopsy but wouldn't be able to do it until tomorrow. When I saw the bloody roost, I was just going to bury her so didn't refridgerate her.

The poops were bright red. The intestinal lining I've seen has looked more like raw meat. I don't want to medicate if I don't have to but that blood is worrying me. I've been dumping old shavings, grass clippings, wood ash & finished compost into the run hoping to keep it from being raw dirt. I have no place else to put them. My tractor is too small & not safe with the fox & coon that I've seen in the area.

Could you move the chicken tractor to fresh grass or no?

Just trying to help. I understand that some predator situations are tough.. I wish you luck. I've seen blood before and not had cocci, but that was with chicks. I didn't want to medicate without seeing any other symptoms so waited. The poops went away after I switched to dry as per Del's advice. They were gorging on the wet. Del, can you get into that again?

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: I have oyster shell out for the big girls all the time. I have never seen the tots eat it until Edie a couple weeks ago then Lucy had some today. I haven't seen Sophie or Stella eat it but they are the youngest 2 pullets. I have no idea when BCM or BR are suppose to lay. Neither of their combs are red. Lucy's has been red for a couple weeks now so I am guessing she will be ready soon. She is a BCM/EE cross I believe so maybe she will lay earlier than a BCM. I try for meat protein at least twice a week. Eggs when I have extras & yogurt when I remember to buy some. My 8 hens only get about 3-4 cups of FF a day and there is usually enough left for breakfast the next day. They must be finding enough to forage in their run area.

I use 200 ft of electric netting for them and move it to different areas so they are always digging thru the grass looking for food.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thank you aoxa and Leahs mom. Truly.

I don't always have these kinds of funds available for this kind of thing, but I kind of feel like after forty years, my chick house should really get a good going over. It's NEVER been disinfected. It cost me $21 for a gallon of Oxine and $10 shipping and handling. It will last me a decade for sure. I bought one can of Tek trol aerosol in 1993. I still have that can. It's half full. I used it today to disinfect my incubator that just hatched the Silkies. I don't like the smell of it. I don't like aerosol period. But a twenty year old can still in use is kind of impressive.

I won't use it in my barn except for emergencies but I do want it in case I show this Fall. I also want it for various uses in the car and house.

I will read everything I can on the link before using.

Mumsy, Aoxa is the one to thank. I have never used it before so I'm just learning about it too.

I've read everything from "great" to "not so great" when it comes to using it unactivated. There is a lot of controversy it seems on this product. I am going to take some over for a friend to try as a last attempt to help a sick bird.... she doesn't want to give up yet so she wants to try it misting.

Here is another link to a place that sells it. It has some information on using it with and without activation if you look under the tab that is instructions for use.

http://www.revivalanimal.com/Oxine-Fogger-and-Oxine-AH.html


Not having used it for anything before, the jury is still out for me. Not sure whether to recommend it for use unactivated...but with the addition of citric acid crystals and mixed as directed on the bottle, it sounds like it would be good for full sanitation. You would not want to spray it on yourself, clothes, or animals if you used it activated unless it was a very tiny concentration, however.

 

[delisha]

Quote: I have a few breeds that *pig out* as chicks with wet feed. The intestines swell and stretch and can burst little blood vessels. It comes out in the poop. I have only noticed in wet feed and not dry. They just pack that stuff in, and gorge themselves. They do not do that on dry feed. If you see blood in the poop or dark red spots, stop feeding wet for a day and see if it goes away. It should stop in a few hours. Cocci will not stop. This is for new chicks only and seems to run in heavy breeds.


If you look at this crop you can see what I mean. That crop weighs more than the chick

This was last year and the chicks never stopped eating. They would literally eat until the crop started to leak.

 

[MumsyII]

The Silkie chicks are thriving and giving me great joy. They got their first grass and dirt clod. Very suspicious for an hour or so. Now they are having their way with it. Eating the grass seeds and pecking at the dirt. Out of eleven in this hatch, I see a couple that have heavy down on the head, beard, and muff. Three days is kind of early for me to put zips on Silkie chicks but I can't see the food coloring on their feet very good. So I zipped according to hen.


This chick by my Karen Larson re-homed crippled hen Dumpling, is my favorite so far. Really looks typey even at three days old.

This is Dumpling at six months old when I brought her home from Catdance farm.

 

[Mrs Hutcherson]

Got a question, I've got 9 chicks,10 weeks, they have been very good about putting themselves to bed at dusk. I've never had to round them up. The past week
about half have been getting up on my porch railing to roost(coop is next to porch) and I cant figure out why. Any ideas? Haven't done anything different to their coop...

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Got a question, I've got 9 chicks,10 weeks, they have been very good about putting themselves to bed at dusk. I've never had to round them up. The past week
about half have been getting up on my porch railing to roost(coop is next to porch) and I cant figure out why. Any ideas? Haven't done anything different to their coop...

Is the porch railing higher than their roosts? Is it a division of the pecking order? maybe the lower part is trying to find a high spot to roost without the fighting of the top hens.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

What do you do when your broody Silkie decides not to set anymore after 13days cooking eggs?

you come up with this in hopes she will decide to set again in next couple of days. Hopefully 6hrs off nest did not hurt the eggs.

 

[uglychickens]

Sorry for the non chicken related post but I'm furious!
I've been trying to buy a couple goats for over a month now and it seems like as soon as they find out I'm a Yankee ( my phone number gives it away) they try to scam me over with goats that have problems! I mite be a Yankee but that don't mean I'm stupid enough to try to buy something without doing my homework on what I'm looking at!!!! Grrrr!!!!