The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

It's funny, because after reading about people's turkeys stomping their chickens and being big bullies, I've been worried about continuing to let mine free range some with the rest of the flock. Watched for a while today. Nope. Mine are still big scaredy cats. They live in fear of my rooster, and Mrs. Bennet my boss hen told them what for when they got too close to her. She scared the poor turkey so badly that it tried to fly up onto the roof of the coop.... and fell off

Maybe my turkeys are just "special?" They're going to be specially tasty come november, that's for sure! I want to keep one because they're so funny and adorable, but my hubby won't let me because they eat so much. Spoilsport. Maybe if we ever get the bigger barn built and real pasture I can keep a pair.

we're getting ready to finish fencing at least part of our yad to try and keep the fox out. Do you guys think that 3/4 acre is going to be enough free range for 8 birds that they won't need supplemental feed, or do you think that I'll have to feed them some once we get the fence up?

I only have 1 1/2 acres total, and my grass is very long in parts. I have over 200 birds. They do spend more time in the woods than anything. They can range further than that 1 1/2 acres, and only 1 acre is cleared.

But I do feed twice a day right now. At least until I have only adults (not likely to ever happen with me) I was feeding my adults only scratch grains before bed until my feeder space ran out and I decided to feed directly on the ground. Now they get some of the feed, but not what most people feed their birds. Only enough to fill the crop twice a day and that's it.

 

[lalaland]

all these turkey stories make me want to try them out. maybe next year! I have so many wild turkeys not sure how it would go.

I have been looking at icelandics, since aoxa told me I have icelandic roosters. well, they come in so many colors and combs and patterns! It makes me wonder if mrs murphy, whom I thought might be a bantam, is really an icelandic. and supposedly I got a choc maran, but the pullet looks like an icelandic too.
geesh. this is driving me crazy.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

we're getting ready to finish fencing at least part of our yad to try and keep the fox out. Do you guys think that 3/4 acre is going to be enough free range for 8 birds that they won't need supplemental feed, or do you think that I'll have to feed them some once we get the fence up? 

I can't imaging chickens getting all their nutrition from forage ... is that really possible?

 

[BlueMouse]

delisha doesn't feed at least part of her flock at ALL in the summer. My five get about a cup of food when I lock them up at night most days. I was really nervous about it, but they seem healthy, happy, and in good plumage. My broody raised her chick almost entirely on forage. I gave them their own saucer of feed at night when the chick was small. That chick's crop was stuffed full at all times. It grew faster and feathered quicker than the chicks I raised in the brooder. After that I worried a lot less about if they were getting enough to eat! Right now they're roaming about an acre and a half of our 4 acres. Maybe half wooded and half lawn. They rarely go up into the woods far enough to be otu of sight of the house. The reason we want to put the fence up is dual, first to provide a buffer between the kids and the creek, so I can work in the garden or whatnot while they're playing, rather than pretty much stand over them. And because we have a fox problem. The fox seems to take them out of a specific section of the woods during the afternoon, and the fence will (hopefully) keep them out of that section of woods. As an added benefit it will keep the turkeys from roaming down the road and walking on the very crabby neighbor lady's yard. They did that once and you would have thought the world was ending.

 

[delisha]

Quote: Yes..

A chicken gets a ton of nutrients based in meat proteins and good pro biotic right in nature.

I also plant kale, white and red clovers, and they have chick weed and dandelions.

 

[aoxa]

all these turkey stories make me want to try them out. maybe next year! I have so many wild turkeys not sure how it would go.

I have been looking at icelandics, since aoxa told me I have icelandic roosters. well, they come in so many colors and combs and patterns! It makes me wonder if mrs murphy, whom I thought might be a bantam, is really an icelandic. and supposedly I got a choc maran, but the pullet looks like an icelandic too.
geesh. this is driving me crazy.

That was my first thought with Mrs. Murphy. I think I mentioned it, but I don't know much about the breed. When I typed in "Icelandic rooster" that image I shared came up. It was a dead ringer for your boy!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Yes..

A chicken gets a ton of nutrients based in meat proteins and good pro biotic right in nature.

I also plant kale, white and red clovers, and they have chick weed and dandelions.

I'm always very curious about this topic. I've read about the clovers, so I seeded the chicken pastures with lots of subterranean clovers in the mix (I was advised to get those as they are the clovers that grow closer to the ground -- some clovers get very tall). And we have some fruit trees that provide seasonal treats. Unfortunately it doesn't take the chickens long to clear a pasture. We can't irrigate here, and I'm sure that's a big factor.

I've read chickens can only forage a small percentage of their diet. People report having better luck providing the required protein with bugs in deep litter or by moving the flock behind livestock than providing the rest of the diet with forage.

I always want to know more about providing good forage for the flock. And clearly I need to start a Chicken Garden.

 

[lalaland]

That was my first thought with Mrs. Murphy. I think I mentioned it, but I don't know much about the breed. When I typed in "Icelandic rooster" that image I shared came up. It was a dead ringer for your boy!

well, thats what I am going to call Mrs. Murphy - an icelandic.

so, out of the 19 chicks ordered, I have 4 I can't identify, and 4 chicks that were ordered that I can't match up. So:

4 icelandics ordered: got 3 icelandics (2 roos, 1 pullet, 1 unaccounted for - possibly the one that died)
4 swedish flower hens ordered , 1 didn't hatch, got 3 sulmtalers (3 pullets)
4 cream legbars ordered: got 1 pullet, 1 died, and two unaccounted for- one of which is definitely the main rooster who looked like a cream legbar pullet as a chick and is still unidentified, and maybe the little small red rooster that acts like a pullet)
4 superblue layer 3 superblue layers (1 pullet, 2 roos, 1 unaccounted for- possibly the skinny funny crested white/cream/caramel rooster)
1 lave orp (roo)
1 choc maran (pullet)
2 aracaunas ( 2 pullets)

huh. that feels better to kind of have them all sorted out. even if I'm wrong !

 

[Sally8]

well, thats what I am going to call Mrs. Murphy - an icelandic. 

so, out of the 19 chicks ordered, I have 4 I can't identify, and 4 chicks that were ordered that I can't match up. So:

4 icelandics ordered: got 3 icelandics (2 roos, 1 pullet, 1 unaccounted for - possibly the one that died)
4 swedish flower hens ordered , 1 didn't hatch, got 3 sulmtalers (3 pullets)
4 cream legbars ordered: got 1 pullet, 1 died, and two unaccounted for- one of which is definitely the main rooster who looked like a  cream legbar pullet as a chick and is still unidentified, and maybe the little small red rooster that acts like a pullet)
4 superblue layer 3 superblue layers (1 pullet, 2 roos, 1 unaccounted for- possibly the skinny funny crested white/cream/caramel rooster)
1 lave orp (roo)
1 choc maran (pullet)
2 aracaunas ( 2 pullets)

huh. that feels better to kind of have them all sorted out.  even if I'm wrong !

I knew I remembered that someone else on here raised superblue layers but couldn't remember. Are they old enough to lay yet and if so, are the eggs blue? I hatched 6, 2 were roo's, I sold 3 and kept 1. AND, she lays a white medium egg. lol

 

[SallyinIndiana]

The BLRW foley line has been worked on for 12 years. It is now breeding true in his lines..Everyone else probably has F2's or 3's. Most people do not breed and cull. They get a male and a female and bred it and call it a pure bred when it most likely came from a hatchery or feed store. They are representatives of the breed and not true.

Foley BLRW

delisha doesn't feed at least part of her flock at ALL in the summer. My five get about a cup of food when I lock them up at night most days. I was really nervous about it, but they seem healthy, happy, and in good plumage. My broody raised her chick almost entirely on forage. I gave them their own saucer of feed at night when the chick was small. That chick's crop was stuffed full at all times. It grew faster and feathered quicker than the chicks I raised in the brooder. After that I worried a lot less about if they were getting enough to eat! Right now they're roaming about an acre and a half of our 4 acres. Maybe half wooded and half lawn. They rarely go up into the woods far enough to be otu of sight of the house. The reason we want to put the fence up is dual, first to provide a buffer between the kids and the creek, so I can work in the garden or whatnot while they're playing, rather than pretty much stand over them. And because we have a fox problem. The fox seems to take them out of a specific section of the woods during the afternoon, and the fence will (hopefully) keep them out of that section of woods. As an added benefit it will keep the turkeys from roaming down the road and walking on the very crabby neighbor lady's yard. They did that once and you would have thought the world was ending.

We have some of the plants delisha mentioned in our back yard, lots of crickets and other bugs. The bugs think our yard is a safe place as the fields are sprayed for bugs. For at least the past 2 weeks we have feed nothing to our completely free ranged birds. They are still nice and plump and the rooster is getting bigger. Now the birds I have in pens we feed those but if they are on grass they get nothing in the morning after they are 12 weeks old.