The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[MargaretYakoda]

I'm in the lead for the Absolute Worst Chicken Keeper Award. I feel absolutely horrible. You know it is my early week, up at 3:30 and by Friday I am not functioning on all cylinders. Last night I had to get up at 2:30. Went and did my chicken chores in the dark, carefully getting them fresh water, and putting out the mash in 6 different places in the run, and throwing out some oats to keep everyone happy.

Worked late, got home just before dusk to find.......I never opened the chicken door this morning. Meaning, chickens were stuck in the hot trailer (83 degrees today) with no food and worse yet, no water.

Opened the door and they came out - little Mrs Murphy just kind of standing there. I picked her up (she never lets me pick her up) and put her beak in water, dipping her in a couple of times before she swallowed. She then drank alot, and started to eat. Went in the coop, and my almost 5 year old EE who is in the midst of a tough moult was standing on the roost just looking catatonic. Repeated the dipping the beak into water with her til she was eating and drinking on her own.

I feel just sick.

Hey lalaland,

I'm VERY glad your girls seem to have made it through their ordeal.

I wanted to tell you something, though, something I would tell some of the parents when I worked in the infant room at a daycare. You're feeling like the worst chicken keeper in the world. I understand that. But here's the proof you're not: really bad chicken keepers never feel bad about how they treat their chickens.
It's not much comfort, but at least you can say you really, truly care about your girls.

 

[Pozees]

I'm in the lead for the Absolute Worst Chicken Keeper Award. I feel absolutely horrible. You know it is my early week, up at 3:30 and by Friday I am not functioning on all cylinders. Last night I had to get up at 2:30. Went and did my chicken chores in the dark, carefully getting them fresh water, and putting out the mash in 6 different places in the run, and throwing out some oats to keep everyone happy.

Worked late, got home just before dusk to find.......I never opened the chicken door this morning. Meaning, chickens were stuck in the hot trailer (83 degrees today) with no food and worse yet, no water.

Opened the door and they came out - little Mrs Murphy just kind of standing there. I picked her up (she never lets me pick her up) and put her beak in water, dipping her in a couple of times before she swallowed. She then drank alot, and started to eat. Went in the coop, and my almost 5 year old EE who is in the midst of a tough moult was standing on the roost just looking catatonic. Repeated the dipping the beak into water with her til she was eating and drinking on her own.

I feel just sick.

How human of you!

Seriously, there isn't one of us who hasn't made a similar sort of mistake, and yeah, you always feel horrible about it. Then you figure out a way to make sure it doesn't happen again. Maybe that means a note on your steering wheel that makes you stop and think before you drive off. I have left post-its on the front door, my steering wheel, the coffee pot, anywhere I know I have to look when getting out of here in the morning. I'm sorry you have to end your week feeling so bad, but don't beat yourself up too much. 83 is hot but at least it wasn't 100. You did the right thing as soon as you realized what had happened. They will probably be fine. We still love you.

 

[aoxa]

I'm in the lead for the Absolute Worst Chicken Keeper Award. I feel absolutely horrible. You know it is my early week, up at 3:30 and by Friday I am not functioning on all cylinders. Last night I had to get up at 2:30. Went and did my chicken chores in the dark, carefully getting them fresh water, and putting out the mash in 6 different places in the run, and throwing out some oats to keep everyone happy.

Worked late, got home just before dusk to find.......I never opened the chicken door this morning. Meaning, chickens were stuck in the hot trailer (83 degrees today) with no food and worse yet, no water.

Opened the door and they came out - little Mrs Murphy just kind of standing there. I picked her up (she never lets me pick her up) and put her beak in water, dipping her in a couple of times before she swallowed. She then drank alot, and started to eat. Went in the coop, and my almost 5 year old EE who is in the midst of a tough moult was standing on the roost just looking catatonic. Repeated the dipping the beak into water with her til she was eating and drinking on her own.

I feel just sick.

Don't beat yourself up. I have done this at least 3 times so far this summer.. but my barn is not hot in the blazing heat like that. I felt terrible. I'm sorry some of your birds are showing signs of heat exhaustion. Please let us know if they improve or worsen. Hang in there

 

[armorfirelady]

Leah's mom why it may be weird to feed the hens chicken but my girls really love the wings I throw to them. I toss them the bones after we eat. I guess since they don't know what they are eating they have no issues

 

[lalaland]

thanks Margaret, Pozees and Aoxa.
You can bet I'll be up early to let them out as soon as it is dawn. I'm sure they will be hungry and thirsty as there wasn't much time to eat before it got dark. It scared the beejees out of me ( I don't even know what that means) and I'm guessing I'll be getting in the car and then getting out to double check that I actually did open the chicken door. might try the post it notes, too.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

thanks Margaret, Pozees and Aoxa.
You can bet I'll be up early to let them out as soon as it is dawn. I'm sure they will be hungry and thirsty as there wasn't much time to eat before it got dark. It scared the beejees out of me ( I don't even know what that means) and I'm guessing I'll be getting in the car and then getting out to double check that I actually did open the chicken door. might try the post it notes, too.

if you can see your chicken door from your car, you can put a light on a timer in the coop. Have the light come on for maybe an hour about when you leave. if you can see the light the door is open.

 

[AletaG]

if you can see your chicken door from your car, you can put a light on a timer in the coop. Have the light come on for maybe an hour about when you leave. if you can see the light the door is open.

This is a good idea. I don't envy your early AM routine, Lalaland...

I have to get some thawed to feel how coarse the bone is. Still in process on that.

The calcium/phosphorus balance has to be right or it will leach calcium out of the bones. Seems that phosphorus and magnesium levels are usually what caused calcium deficiency in women and older folks and is also the case for animals. I'll have to do a little research on the balance and how that works out in the bone content. That's why I'm thinking I couldn't feed that to the baby chicks or the rooster, perhaps.

Only thing a quick search revealed was 16 to 18mg Mag. per 100g servings of beef tongue or heart. Ground beef didn't have a number. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/beef-products/3469/2 338mg per 68g of beef liver for phosphorus. It's the only reason to visit self.com, IMHO has great breakdowns on nutrition... was really helpful when I was figuring out how to feed my dog.
Probably too much CA for both the chicks and rooster, I would agree. Good luck. I don't understand how these local butchers just throw stuff in a grinder and say Ta-DA! dog food. They'll get sued by someone, for sure.

 

[Sally8]

I'm in the lead for the Absolute Worst Chicken Keeper Award. I feel absolutely horrible. You know it is my early week, up at 3:30 and by Friday I am not functioning on all cylinders. Last night I had to get up at 2:30. Went and did my chicken chores in the dark, carefully getting them fresh water, and putting out the mash in 6 different places in the run, and throwing out some oats to keep everyone happy.

Worked late, got home just before dusk to find.......I never opened the chicken door this morning. Meaning, chickens were stuck in the hot trailer (83 degrees today) with no food and worse yet, no water.

Opened the door and they came out - little Mrs Murphy just kind of standing there. I picked her up (she never lets me pick her up) and put her beak in water, dipping her in a couple of times before she swallowed. She then drank alot, and started to eat. Went in the coop, and my almost 5 year old EE who is in the midst of a tough moult was standing on the roost just looking catatonic. Repeated the dipping the beak into water with her til she was eating and drinking on her own.

I feel just sick.

You are not alone. I think most of us have made a mistake somewhere/someplace. Thankfully, all yours made it through. Tomorrow is another day. Put this one behind you.

 

[lalaland]

thanks again everybody. let them out early this am and everyone looked fine. My older EE immediately hid in the brambles, a combo of shame about her moult and a rooster avoidance tactic. She was still there a few hours later, so I put her in a pen by herself with feed, water, and some fresh chopped beef liver. when she finished the liver I let her out again.

this years moult is taking the older girls harder than usual - I"m going to up the protein via liver and boss for a week or two.

I am mulling over the great suggestions on how to make sure I know whether or not the danged door got opened!

 

[AletaG]

I'm having trouble with a new full grown Chocolate Orp Bantam... She appears healthy in every way except that sometimes she sits down to eat, or just sits randomly... like her legs aren't strong enough to hold her. She won't roost, either, had to clear out a nestbox so she can sleep where it was. Been keeping her away from all roos (thought was she'd been overbred by a LF Orp. from her home flock) Gave her some tuna carcass to pick at (she loved it) and plan on making her a yolk omelet today. Poor little mite. I was hoping she'd be a good companion for my half grown Orp bantam sport (black with cream bleeding)... but if she doesn't start acting like a chicken soon... I'll report what the yield is! Suggestions? And not for recipes, yet.