The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

Kausandra beautiful EE. Glad to see your have unusual combs as well.

As for moulting the only reason I know they are is because they look disheveled with their feathers (the big girls) & I find some on the ground. Stella the BR should be naked from the amount of her feathers I find in the coop. She is probably the chicken who has lost the most with a juvie molt but to look at her she looks fine. Edie also is molting some. But then the big girls pull out mouthfulls when she gets near them :/

 

[Kassaundra]

Thanks.



Seems to be a very individual thing, some you can barely tell, others look like they have the mange!

 

[armorfirelady]

Thanks.



Seems to be a very individual thing, some you can barely tell, others look like they have the mange!

I always thought they had to look like those ones that have bare patches when they molt. The big girls look disheveled and then one day I realize they don't have tail feathers.......oops must be a molt.

Disheveled feathers

She has a ton of feathers floating around in the coop yet she doesn't look like she is molting

 

[aoxa]

Thanks.



Seems to be a very individual thing, some you can barely tell, others look like they have the mange!

Yep!

They molt sometimes at the worst times (dead of winter) and other times they molt at the best of times (while broody and not laying anyway!)

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Red Ridge, Mumsy and all that process the heritage RIR -

At what age do you find they're ready with enough meat but not so tough that you can't eat them as regular "fried chicken" or the like?

my oldest group of 5 (3 males) are 20 weeks. I won't be processing them as i want to keep them for breeders. But the roos are large enough to make a nice meal for 2 or 3 people. Still on the small side but not reall small like the pan fry deal we just processed.

I don't plan to process any of my HRIR this year but it might come to that for one of my roos. I'm having difficulty finding him a home. We will need to process at least 2 other roosters before winter so it is possible that I will get to taste the HRIR meat. So far my Dh has been the one eating our home grown chickens. He takes them to work after i cook them in a crockpot overnight. He loves the taste. I'm still stuck on the processing smells.

 

[MumsyII]

Every day I think something came in and took birds because of the amount of feathers in the yard from the HRIR. They went through a five month moult and there are piles of feathers in the coop and under their favorite shrubs. I have a few birds coming up on their first year and they haven't started moulting yet that I can tell. The Silkie pen always looks like a feather pillow fight was going on. The year old breeders are starting to moult now. But it's hard to tell by looking at them. So much white fluff, when I walk through the run, clouds of it billow up.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

hmmm how does one give a "weighted ovation"? Do you have to be a paid member?

It was an "Educator" that gave it to me

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Every day I think something came in and took birds because of the amount of feathers in the yard from the HRIR. They went through a five month moult and there are piles of feathers in the coop and under their favorite shrubs. I have a few birds coming up on their first year and they haven't started moulting yet that I can tell. The Silkie pen always looks like a feather pillow fight was going on. The year old breeders are starting to moult now. But it's hard to tell by looking at them. So much white fluff, when I walk through the run, clouds of it billow up.

I'm started seeing HRIR feathers yesterday. I was wondering if it was roos not getting along or moult. Thanks for the heads up. Mine are about a week younger than yours and the same line. Have your roos started crowing yet, a couple of mine are squeaking at night? The one I have in with the girls is not even trying yet, just the roos in the boy pen.

 

[aoxa]

I had to share some of these ADORABLE pictures Susan took of the neighbour kids (got permission before sharing from their mother). I edited the photos. Anyway.. These kids are in love with our chickens. Especially the youngest Kaitlyn.


Looking for her absolute favourite white silkie chick. She has named her Bambi. Where are you Bambi??


There she is!


Chaos

 

[Kassaundra]

These two ladies (power of positive thinking) weren't suppose to hatch until Tues, yet here they are this morning, they hatched last night, in a hurry to see the world. There is one more in the bator, she just hatched though and was still wet. 16 more eggs to go.