The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

Quote: I am with you on this..I am not doing that for 10 chickens. Those chickens were stressed out from her contact too. I would be exhausted after all of that.

 

[Leahs Mom]

This one has always been my favorite. Return to it over and over.

 

[armorfirelady]

 
dang things I liked being an observer on here than dealing with them 

That wood I found that is suppose to be insect repellent is tigerwood

I've been dealing with them too! I feel your pain!  I treated with Frontline, shoveled out, vacuumed, swept the coop then spread Sevin dust & DE over all wood surfaces 7 days ago. Did it again yesterday but this time I whitewashed everything then put DE & wood ash in nesting boxes & on the floor and spread fresh shavings everywhere. Gonna have to do some touch up on the whitewash since I didn't get everything covered. Got 2 5 gallon buckets of ashes from my Dad dumped some in the dustbin and in the run. Saving some to continue sprinkling everywhere. Also had to cull 2 of my ailing birds in this same timeframe.  I tell you I'm pooped!

I hope you get rid of your mites.
I don't want to use chemicals so I used the neem oil and wood ash and Nustock. So far so good. Checked last night and no mites. 8 more days to go to see if any of their eggs hatch

 

[BlueMouse]

So here's a head scratcher for you guys.... I have my 18 mo old hen currently confined, she was among the ones that had to be treated with antibiotics

and is still being observed. Well, she hasn't laid since I shut her upin the grow out pen, This morning I went in to feed the "invalid" groups and there are TWO eggs. Now. I am 99% sure that last night when I fed and watered them there were NO eggs. I'm pretty much positive that when I checked on them yesterday afternoon there were no eggs.....

In good news all birds SEEM to be healthy again or at the very least on the mend. I know I need to give them a B1 supplement after the corrid, is there something natural I can do for them or should i just purchase a good supplement to put in their water??

 

[delisha]

So here's a head scratcher for you guys.... I have my 18 mo old hen currently confined, she was among the ones that had to be treated with antibiotics

and is still being observed. Well, she hasn't laid since I shut her upin the grow out pen, This morning I went in to feed the "invalid" groups and there are TWO eggs. Now. I am 99% sure that last night when I fed and watered them there were NO eggs. I'm pretty much positive that when I checked on them yesterday afternoon there were no eggs.....

In good news all birds SEEM to be healthy again or at the very least on the mend. I know I need to give them a B1 supplement after the corrid, is there something natural I can do for them or should i just purchase a good supplement to put in their water??

antibiotics and corrid?

yogurt, eggs, raw liver, garlic, oregano, spinach

 

[armorfirelady]

Just gave my hens some yogurt with basil & oregano this morning. They love it.

An ounce of prevention...........that's my thinking

 

[BlueMouse]

thank god I only had to treat three of them with the antibiotics. one laying hen and two of the broilers. broilers are leg banded for latest possible slaughter date. all the rest have quickly diminshing respiratory symptoms now that we treated the coccidosis. I'm giving them a respiratory tea in their water to help them past the rest and continuing with the garlic/oregano routine. I'm giving the ones that had the antibiotics some probiotic capsules (broken open and mixed into food) that I had on hand. I'm also feeing them back the eggs of the hens for a couple weeks even though they SAY that there's no withdrawal time for either tylan or corrid.

should frozen spinach work? or does it need to be fresh? gonna see if I can wrangle myself a beef liver from the butcher... until then, I'm going to give them the last of the frozen hearts/livers/gizzards from last slaughter.

and x300 on the ounce of prevention. Evidently in my area it's been a bad fall for sick birds. perhaps the dampness or temperature? talked to a couple local breeders that I respect and they said it seems like a lot of sick birds this fall.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote:
We use a cone and get the job done as quick as possible to start the draining. There are no goodbye speeches or petting or holding the bird to calm it. Once in the cone the bird gets calm fast enough for us. We use names like dinner, fatty, supper, BBQ, roast, tiny buzzards, just about anything to indicate that we don't want to fall in love with our supper. There are a few birds that my children see as pets and well when the day comes, the children will learn that it is for the best and all life must come to an end. At least their favorite chicken will not be the first one they have seen processed.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I"m stressing a bit on how to heat the hot water. I have the kitchen stove, or a fire pit.....thats it. and the kitchen door is a ways away from the area that I think we will be processing in.

I have a friend with a grill that has a side propane burner, maybe I could use that....

There are all kinds of propane burner stands for outdoor use ... if you plan to do this often it might be worth the investment so you can have your water pot near your plucking area. You don't need a huge pot for a chicken, and you don't need the water to be at a rapid boil, either. With a smaller pot of water the side burner on a gas outdoor BBQ might be adequate (I'd be worried I'd flip the BBQ if I put the turkey pot on the side burner of my BBQ ...)

Here is a quote about picking a scalding temperature: "Young birds with easier to remove feathers can be scalded at 125° - 130° F. for 30 to 75 seconds. The proper length of time for adequate feather removal leaves the epidermal layer of the bird's skin intact. Temperatures of near 140° F. for 30 to 75 seconds can be used with older birds for easier feather removal. The cuticle covering of the skin will generally be removed at this temperature. Because of the difficulty in removing feathers from waterfowl, ducks and geese are processed at higher temperatures 1 to 2 minutes in water at 160° - 170° F. Adding detergent to the scald water helps water penetrate through the feathers, especially on waterfowl."

I found that quote at this site: http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/livestocksystems/components/0701b.html

You might find that the hot tap water in your home is 120 or more ... for me 120 is a little higher than I'm comfortable putting my hand in, but not by much. I recommend a thermometer rather than a finger. A meat or candy thermometer will help test the water temp. It isn't hard to get the scalding water so hot that you can tell you're actually starting to cook the bird ... that's too hot.

I like this video for really explaining how to make the cuts and efficiently eviscerate the bird.

 

[CoopChick719]

I like having it around to use even on ME if I need it! (But I better not be going anywhere if I use it or I'll stink them out

)

I'm getting so used to it I'm starting to like the smell!

Love your chick proofing! Will be filing that one away for Spring. Hoping to have a broody by then.