The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: I like the idea of adding dividers, but if you want to keep it one big nest and still add some privacy, here are some suggestions:
1. you can add a board that covers the top 1/4 of the front opening the chickens don't mind ducking to get in
2. you can use a hinged door that covers up half of the boxes and opes up
3. you can use two hinged doors at each end that open like barn doors but with a gap in the middle to cover all but the center foot or so of the box.This would allow your chicken to enter and decide if it wanted to lay in the left, right or center box. The center box would be no more private than your current setup and you would be able to tell which way your chickens prefer their box.

 

[Sally8]

Yes, my Black Copper Marans are very broody, very loud, and not too bright. But they do reliably (when not broody) lay large deep-chocolate colored eggs, which is the ONLY reason I keep them.

Who here has Marans??? I have 2 a blue copper & a splash. They are the chattiest birds!!!
Well I came down this morning to find my Splash broody AGAIN!!! She was just broody at the end of July! Then my blue went broody and has just started laying again. Are Marans broody breeds??? Obviously I have one who is trying to rival my silkies who look at an egg and go broody.

Just curious if others have noticed Marans being loud & broody !!!

I have several Black Copper Marans that are laying. I don't notice them being so loud but they are quite nosy and yes they are broody a lot. I love mine. One of them produces eggs with blood spots in them. I need to find out which one.

Loanwizard feeds 16% hog feed to chicks, chicken, goose, feeders and breeders.....

Yes, I am still out there. Doing a lot of reflecting lately. Trying new things, feeling sorry for myself, whining that things are turning to crap rather than gold.... I'll figure it out.

Incubated 150 eggs, hatched 18. Didn't matter, put them out at 4 weeks in a grow out box. after a week, released them with some skids for protection. 3rd night free, they all disappeared to a predator. Incubated 140 more eggs, hatched 81. Built on ground kennel/fenced area for beagles replete with electric inside a welded wire fence. Works well, lost star beagle to cancer or something, released other two who are moping around mourning her loss. Buried her on the hillside overlooking the wooded areas she hunted daily.

Don't know if I will be able to afford to feed the breeder hogs, so have to make changes in marketing or end that program. Closed car lot, working on wrapping up loose ends. Going to end up owing 1/2 million on that but may be able to keep rental properties.... They don't want them I say rather wryly....

Bought a concession trailer so been runnin round selling funnel cakes and lemonade.... tough business.

Had an auction last night.... lost money....

But..... I will figure it out, and things will come around.

Thanks for listening to me ramble, it's cathartic.

Shawn

Glad to hear from you again. Things WILL work out and be ok. Since my iPad won't send icons... Hugs to you. sue

 

[zinia8]

Here they are exploring the first day I took the doors off the cabinet/nest box. I have replaced the front board with one that is a bit higher than this one, but nothing else. She started laying the weekend after I opened it up.

I like the idea of adding dividers, but if you want to keep it one big nest and still add some privacy, here are some suggestions: 1. you can add a board that covers the top 1/4 of the front opening the chickens don't mind ducking to get in 2. you can use a hinged door that covers up half of the boxes and opes up 3. you can use two hinged doors at each end that open like barn doors but with a gap in the middle to cover all but the center foot or so of the box.This would allow your chicken to enter and decide if it wanted to lay in the left, right or center box. The center box would be no more private than your current setup and you would be able to tell which way your chickens prefer their box.

I have a large nest box almost like yours. I took pant legs off of jeans split the half way up the seams and stapled over the openings. Had those stackable plastic bins in there also. Took them out to clean them up in the spring and just never put them back. Girls don't seem to mind.

 

[Jewelwing]

Don't give up on the free ranging yet. I have 2 dogs & one who has a high prey drive. My solution was 200 ft of electric netting. My hens can happily free range, it is moved easily by myself so they can range in other areas & after 2 days fo shocking themselves on the fence the dogs keep a WIDE berth from the fence. Heck they wont even get within 1OOO ft of the fence now. And they don't even pay any attention to the hens anymore.

The 200ft gives them ample food ranging....2 kinds of clover, grass, weeds & bugs.

As for winter yes I do feed more food but I ferment so it goes further. Plus I try & keep parts of their winter area covered so it doesnt become snow covered & rotate it. (You can't use the electric netting with heavy snow)

I'm not ready to give up yet! I think maybe my dog will get used to them while they're in their run for a while, and then when I let her out with them they won't be so novel and interesting. Hopefully.

Do you have heat at the coop to keep the fermented food from freezing in winter? I don't have electricity to the coop, but I was wondering if I just throw the ff on the ground, maybe they'd be able to still peck at it frozen and get enough to eat. I'd like to keep feeding ff through the winter if I can.

http://www.yellowpages.com/countryside-il/feed-store
There are quite a few ways to get gmo free in Illinois. I live in WI and wish the drive was not as far. The prices are better there..of course they are better up north here in WI.

I have Marans..I have a black one who grows broody often, but easy to break. I put her in water and she is all good and goes back to laying after a few days of dunks. My black Orp is a whole other ball game. I have yet to break her. She goes broody after laying 30 eggs or after her chicks are a month old. She is horrible.

uote:
I look for weeds in the fields..I like weeds. Than I am relatively certain if they have weeds they are not using high concentrations of chemicals.

I don't just want GMO free food - I want it to be pesticide & herbicide free too. Thanks for the website. I'll have to try searching harder around me - Chicago is almost 4 hrs away, so not really a reasonable place for me to get chicken food. I haven't seen a single field anywhere around me that has weeds, though. And lots of signs advertising what chemical they're using, like it's a good thing!

I wanted to add one more link with lots of ideas for feed. May help get out "thinking out of the box".


http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Feeding+from+Home+Resources.html


This same website has a whole section on feed ideas.

Wow, that is a really good article. I'm thinking of buying his book now! It's kind of expensive, so I'll have to sit on it for a little bit and see if I still want it in a few days.

Back to what containers to use for ff, I wonder if I can use some old soup pots? Don't know what they're made of. But I did use them a lot in my younger days before I thought too much about things like this (except to avoid Teflon!). When I got a new set of pots & pans, I kept the old ones to give to kids when they have their own places, but maybe I'll use a couple on the chickens instead!

 

[flagirl]

I finally broke my broody EE hen (broody for almost 2 months and I have no rooster). I tried everything i read that people suggested, blocked nest boxes at nite, dunked her belly in cold water(several times a day) and threw her out of the coop. finally borrowed a large dog cage from a friend, raised it off the floor on a milk crate and put her in it with only food and water, not even a roost. (also no bottom on it except the wire to let the air flow around and let her belly stay cool) went out after an hr and she was not in cage-she is now named houdini. apparently she climbed up side and out of top. Put large piece of cardboard on top, but apparently did not tape down the 2" section along back--1 hr later she was out again. she apparently figured out she could push up on cardboard and escape. Then duct taped it down tight and left her there for 3 1/2 days. problem solved-hopefully she will start laying again and not go broody again for a long while.

 

[aoxa]

I know I'm a newbie, but I honestly think you could mix your own feed with what is available, especially since you free range.
I know loanwizard only feeds cob [corn, oats, barley]. Red ridge feeds corn, pats, barley, and sometimes wheat. She does use nutribalancer and fish meal, but she has penned birds too.
I don't use fish meal or nutribalancer. I feed wheat, corn, milo, oats, flax, and boss. It's difficult to get the protein up without soy or fish meal, but you already said they don't rely on you for foods anyway. You may need a commercial feed for winter when the foraging isn't great, but I bet you could balance that out with a super cheap summer recipe of just grains when the foraging is good.
I guess what I'm saying is try it. It's not hard. They are getting most of what they need from the land.

You know...I've been thinking about the Nutribalancer... It was Harvey Ussery that said he was rethinking even using it...or at least reducing it to see what the effects would be:



It is definitely a MINERAL ISSUE as the Nutribalancer or other additives are the mineral component of a grain-based feed.

I KNOW FOR A SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN FACT that lacto-fermenting makes minerals more bio-available from grains. Calcium is one of those in particular. That's one reason that I have quit putting any calcium supplement at all in my feed (except what comes in the Nutribalancer which I am still using for the time being). (I do offer a calcium source on the side but not much of it is eaten...)

When commercial feeds are made, they're based on how the animals are doing with the nutrients present. Of course this is using grains that have not been fermented and are sometimes pre-cooked and extruded into another form. The pre-cooked ones lose the enzymes as well that help us digest and use what's left.



Even good whole grains that haven't been fermented have the anti-nutrient factor so there is definitely a need to supplement those kinds of feed.

BUT....the good news is...
Most of us have chickens that aren't locked in tiny spaces, eating only commercial rations. And some of us ferment what we do feed... And most of us let our chickens range and get the extras...and most of us have garden veggies available....And....

You get it!

So...I say... YES. I do think you could But even if you don't, the other feeding practices you follow are already awesome !

LM,

Thanks for all the info. I am not so much worried during the summer, it's the winter. That is when they eat a lot.

Could I really feed whole grains to chicks without causing their growth to stunt?

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: No heat in my coop. I use heated dog bowls to keep their food and water unfrozen. Most people give them what they can eat in 15 min. & thats it. I tend to give a little more but perhaps this winter if I feed less they will venture out more.

I fed FF all winter with no problems since it was in the heated dog bowls. I plugged it into a plug that was temp controlled so they were only on if temps below 32 degrees & then used a super heavy duty extension cord that's rated for outside.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Wow, that is a really good article. I'm thinking of buying his book now! It's kind of expensive, so I'll have to sit on it for a little bit and see if I still want it in a few days.

Back to what containers to use for ff, I wonder if I can use some old soup pots? Don't know what they're made of. But I did use them a lot in my younger days before I thought too much about things like this (except to avoid Teflon!). When I got a new set of pots & pans, I kept the old ones to give to kids when they have their own places, but maybe I'll use a couple on the chickens instead!

It is my favorite book that I recommend all the time.

What are the soup pots made from? You can't use aluminum, but if they are stainless steel you can use them.

LM,

Thanks for all the info. I am not so much worried during the summer, it's the winter. That is when they eat a lot.

Could I really feed whole grains to chicks without causing their growth to stunt?

I have babies right now. My opinion on whole grains is that they need to be cracked or ground. If you have a blender that will do it.

I use a heavy duty blender (mine is a commercial vitamix but a regular blender will work too). I only make up about 10 lbs worth of grind at a time because I like it fresh and I don't have as many chickens as you do.

I like to have enough of that to last at least a week. It really takes way less time than I imagined it would. And when the grains are cracked or ground, they ferment much quicker. It takes a good amount of time to ferment them when the seed coat in intact but pretty quick when the internal starchy part is exposed.

If I weren't fermenting, I'd try to at least soak them overnight if I could.

 

[armorfirelady]

Leahs Mom I think it was you who was looking for solar lights?

Someone on the NY thread found these:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-LED-Motion-Solar-Wall-Post-Light/28101250

I think it would work great to illuminate the veggie/run/walk area to the coop. It would def make it easier for my Mom when she is feeding the hens for me especially with the shorter days

And I found these:
http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Solar-G...8987085&sr=8-20&keywords=chicken+solar+lights
Not very practical but they sure would be furn to have sitting around the coop

 

[aoxa]

It is my favorite book that I recommend all the time.

What are the soup pots made from? You can't use aluminum, but if they are stainless steel you can use them.



I have babies right now. My opinion on whole grains is that they need to be cracked or ground. If you have a blender that will do it.

I use a heavy duty blender (mine is a commercial vitamix but a regular blender will work too). I only make up about 10 lbs worth of grind at a time because I like it fresh and I don't have as many chickens as you do.

I like to have enough of that to last at least a week. It really takes way less time than I imagined it would. And when the grains are cracked or ground, they ferment much quicker. It takes a good amount of time to ferment them when the seed coat in intact but pretty quick when the internal starchy part is exposed.

If I weren't fermenting, I'd try to at least soak them overnight if I could.

I can buy the grains crushed. So that might be worth looking into