The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[nicole63021]

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.

My birds LOVE kale (and tomatoes, and strawberries, and cicadas, lol). Good to know it's not just mine!

 

[LittlePriceFarm]

we dont really do a thing with ours the less the better to me food water DE your set lay my eggs and be happy

 

[delisha]

Quote: Look at the head and neck. It does not have a Wyandotte body at all. Than look at that chest. A Wyandotte's chest should be full all the way down. It should remind you of a ball.

 

[armorfirelady]

Some of you have co broodys.........I have co layers

Apparently the 2 empty nest boxes near them were not good enough & neither Lucy or Edie were going to give up the nest box.

Who knew 2 hens could fit in there lol

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I would like to have that information please.

Oh, dear ... I'm not an expert which is why I'm trying to learn by reading, and what I've read isn't encouraging about reducing rations by pasturing or ranging poultry so can't give anyone any verified "information." A lot of what I read is on the Internet.

Or Joel Salatin's Pastured Poultry Profits, or Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens. I haven't yet decided what I really agree with because I don't have enough experience to have the confidence to decide. So enough about my disqualifications.

One often quoted source is Joel Salatin who has said he can reduce the feed needs of his broilers by 30% with his pasture system. Another source says broilers can forage "as much as 20% of their diet" if the pasture is of sufficient quality ... http://www.sustainablepoultry.ncat.org/downloads/chnutritionhpinew.pdf

I'm pretty sure I just read in another Salatin book that a farmer can meet all of a laying hen's need for protein with the insects that inhabit a coop with deep litter -- but chickens are omnivores so need other stuff, too. I don't have his book in front of me but thinks he quotes a different feed reduction percentage for his laying hens that he pastures behind his cows -- they bugs out of the cow patties as well as pasture greens.

Storey's guide says "under normal conditions whatever nutrition they derive from the pasture is unlikely to replace a significant percentage of their ration."

Plamondon (a grower local to me) says: "Chickens can find their own feed, but each chicken needs a lot of room if this is going to work. Chickens can't find feed that isn't there, and the more chickens you have, the less feed there is to go around. You have to match the number chickens to the feed supply, or nature will do it for you through poor health and starvation." http://www.plamondon.com/faq_feed.html The word "starvation" there makes me a bit paranoid. And I don't have other livestock for the chickens to clean up after. I don't even have kitchen scraps to toss them. Or a garden for them to break into. I just have dry land pasture and some drops from a little kitchen orchard in one of their pastures.

The people at my extension service strongly recommend feeding chickens prepared poultry rations and limiting "supplemental" feed to no more than 15% of their diet. They include garden treats as supplemental feed. I was cautioned against encouraging the birds to eat earth worms ... for example.

I've read that turkeys are better at foraging and can get something like 40% of their diet from forage on pasture.

We don't have great pasture here ... we have two dormant seasons (summer and winter) for one thing, and too many chickens for the size of our current pastures. ... the majority of our chickens are pastured But we do have a handful of birds that free range outside the pasture (one little rooster and a few hens who have flown the coop to be with him), and they don't eat much of the feed we offer them.

 

[Leahs Mom]

You might want to take a look at Harvey Ussery's book and website. His book is the best "modern" book that I've seen on a more natural approach to chicken keeping. There is a whole section on his website about feeding the flock which is also in the book. Definitely worth reading.

This link is to the section on feeding but there are a lot more articles on other items.

Here is the book.


This article may be of particular interest.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Broody should be hatching any time now during this weekend. I feel like I'm "watching a pot that isn't boiling".

 

[Sally8]

I have 2-100ft pieces of electric netting that my 8 hens happily roam in. Lots of different kinds of clover, grass & weeds for them to eat in addition to lots of bugs. Their crops are pretty full just from them foraging and I only feed once at night. And they tend to have a little FF left in the bottom. They big girls tend to head back out into the yard for some bug chasing.

Is Edie laying a blue egg? I have 2 EE's that lay blue eggs so it's not a big deal. I sold Edie's other sister so I only have one. George went to a very nice home with 6 of his own girls. He lives in Westfield, PA now
I'm not really interested in working on a project but I sure appreciate all you who do. I just want to look out and see happy, colorful chickens. lol

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: Yes she is. They are a light blue but still pretty.


Glad to see George has his own girls. I still miss him tho

 

[armorfirelady]

Broody should be hatching any time now during this weekend. I feel like I'm "watching a pot that isn't boiling".

I am guessing you will be watching a lot of chicken tv this weekend