The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

On the kitties -

My daughter and son in law live in a "country setting" right behind an apartment complex. When the purchased the house, there were cats all around reproducing. Presumably getting dumped from the apartments.

They adopted 2 themselves that came in and became house cats.

Then they found the organization in our area that spays/neuters and returns to the wild like you talked about. They bought certificates to have several of the cats "fixed" and let them back out. They still hang around for goodies.

 

[jockeyeba]

I know ya'll have talked about it plenty but my brain is not good at remembering & I don't write things down like I should either.........can I still brine a chicken that I took out of the freezer & is thawing now & what are some brine recipes again? Hope everyone is having a good Labor Day

 

[nicole63021]

What kind of cowardly low life dumps off defensive little kittens out in the country in the middle of the night? I found her huddling outside the chicken coop. It has been raining all night.

I work at a facility with a no kill shelter, you'd be amazed how many people leave a cat in a carrier in our parking lot. Last summer someone dumped a 14-15 year old diabetic cat like this in our lot sometime over night. Atrocious considering the heat wave we had last year. Glad you found the little baby!

 

[rowerjen]

Sally8 - the poor thing! I live in the sticks and people dump cats out here from time to time. It was worse a few years ago when the economy was really in the tank. My oldest cat came from a local shelter. Someone dumped mom and a litter of kittens in a barn. They were found during one of those cold snaps where it's 25 below every day for weeks and daytime temps in the single digits. Not surprisingly, this cat has never wanted to go outdoors.

Lost the last remaining member of my original flock to day. When I went out to the coop this morning she was in one of the nest boxes. This afternoon I noticed one of my new birds checking out the box but then I saw that the other one was still in there. Opened the box and it was obvious she was dead. My guess is egg binding - her vent was prolapsed and a couple of days ago it seemed like she might have been straining, but she seemed fine otherwise. I feel badly for not having taken a closer look. My neighbor was looking after my birds while I was away for a couple of weeks so I have no idea if she was looking off. Should have done a necropsy but I'm not (yet) set up for that and this was a wake-up call that I need to be.

 

[bbdal]

We have one broody hen that has dirty looking, dark spots on her comb. Could she just be dirty or is this something to worry about?

 

[armorfirelady]

We have one broody hen that has dirty looking, dark spots on her comb. Could she just be dirty or is this something to worry about?

Can you post a picture of it?

 

[bbdal]

Can you post a picture of it? 

Here she is...

This is a pic of a rooster that has a "dirty-ish" comb. I have not paid much attention to the roosters' since we don't really get close and since theirs is not noticeable but hubby informed me he has seen it on a couple of them. They are not nearly as close to the broody's though. Pardon the moving object which makes the pic unclear.

Thanks!

 

[bbdal]

2nd pic didn't post or maybe I didn't upload it...

 

[armorfirelady]

This is a pic of a rooster that has a "dirty-ish" comb. I have not paid much attention to the roosters' since we don't really get close and since theirs is not noticeable but hubby informed me he has seen it on a couple of them. They are not nearly as close to the broody's though. Pardon the moving object which makes the pic unclear.

Thanks!

Any symptoms with the birds? Or are they acting like normal, eating, laying, etc?

 

[delisha]

I know ya'll have talked about it plenty but my brain is not good at remembering

& I don't write things down like I should either.........can I still brine a chicken that I took out of the freezer & is thawing now & what are some brine recipes again? Hope everyone is having a good Labor Day

Yes you can:

1 gallon of apple juice/sludge or plain water...I use the apples on the ground and just cook them..I add to the water to make a gallon. I give the birds the cores, stems and skin after they are cooked.
1/2 cup of brown sugar or alternatives like stevia or honey
1/2 cup kosher salt
soak for 6-12 hours in the fridge and cook to your liking

I have also used frozen lemonaid and lemon slices instead of the apples I do not add additional sugar if I use frozen lemonaid

We have one broody hen that has dirty looking, dark spots on her comb. Could she just be dirty or is this something to worry about?

They look fine to me..