The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[SunnysideupstateNY]

Ahh but if all of the males die before they reach that point than the vinegar did something. If not there is the diet that makes the female body acidic not just part of it acidic. And believe it or not there are home remedies that even try to increase or decrease the time it takes to get into the cervix.
There are some pretty extreme home remedies out there. It is a great research project for a rainy or snowy day.

Not too sure how many can be effectively tried on chickens though. Maybe the diet ones. Maybe the timing ones. Can't say I would try washing out a chickens vent with vinegar to see if it worked. And there are a few other home remedies that can't be tried with the rooster as no way you are going to get a rooster to take a hot shower just before mating the hen. Then again you might be able to have a rooster mate with many hens and hope the last hens of the day produce more female chicks.
I'm thinking I might try the diet tricks on my hens but that would be about as far as I would take the experiment

I guess I would depend on if the vinegar was used before or after, and if there were no other fluids present to combat the acidity. There are many factors.

Yea, the diet wouldn't be as effective….LOL poor hens. If anyone tries the "non-diet technique" with their hens, please water the vinegar down….that would buuurn!

I'm sorry when I made my statement before I assumed one was trying to influence the gender after conception. I hear all sorts of misinformation come out of peoples mouths. I shouldn't assume.

 

[fallenangel79]

Exciting thing just happened for me... I got my first egg e

so happy for you

 

[mlowen]

Looks like northern fowl mite or feather problems..the other birds might be seeing crawling things and trying to help get them off.
NuStock it thick for a 10 days and reevaluate.

I looked at her really closely tonight as well as each of the others. No bugs at all. She also seems more bare below her vent, lower abdomen, no injury. Could she be having a little molt and coincidentally got pecked or scratched on a piece of wire or something? I'm going to keep a really close eye on her and keep nustock on until she's pretty healed. I'm also going to take a lesson from Armorfirelady and check on them all very carefully every night.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
no, Dorkings are the 'original' meat bird that many meaties can trace some of their lineage back to... it's an exceptional table bird with a long broad breast, short legs and well developed thighs. the bones tend to be finer than other comparably sized birds (more meat per pound). they are an ok layer, better than the average in winter in my experience, and can be very broody and protective mothers.

the breed has suffered neglect over the last 50+ years (since the advent of the commercial meat birds) and is nowhere near what they used to be. the girl pictured currently weighs in around 6 pounds, tho the SOP calls for 7+. (roos 9 pounds +/-) that pic was taken not long after she started laying, so 6 months or so... usually they start for me between 4-5 months old, but don't reach their full size until well over a year. closer to 2 for roos. but even at 2 years old, the roo is still tenderer IMO than some other breeds slaughtered at 16 weeks old.

here's a pic of a mixed group of birds, for size comparissons...

the buffs are hatchery orps (weighing in at just under 5 pounds - they're all fluff). and a 3-4 month old bantam cochin near the buffs... and a couple nice LF blrw hens off to the left

 

[Jewelwing]

I have heard that the diet for a human can impact the gender of her baby. More the female diet but some tiny things in the male diet. Calcium overload is supposed to favor female babies while potassium in large amounts is supposed to favor male babies. Maybe the same works on chickens? Time to invent calcium treats for hens only, just to test the idea.

Oooh, I tried this. I had access to a medical school library at the time, so I avidly read any research studies I could find on influencing the gender of a baby. I already had a wonderful little boy and wanted to try for a girl. There were actually a few studies on the calcium/magnesium vs sodium/potassium diets in women (the first favoring girls, the second boys). I thought that made sense because I've always been a salt fiend! According to these studies, the diet angle is not perfect, but increases the odds dramatically.

Other studies indicated that the older the mom, the more skewed the ratio is towards having girls. I wasn't willing to wait for that, so for about 3 months before trying to conceive I cut out nearly all sodium & potassium (while still staying healthy) and heaped on the foods rich in calcium & magnesium (really, I need to eat this ice cream!). I also found studies involving the timing of conception relative to ovulation, so we did our best there too.

I had another wonderful little boy.

For the (surprising) third child, we hadn't tried anything different (didn't do any of the stuff we'd done with baby number 2), but had a little girl that time! So go figure.

But I think the take-home message of all the studies was that male sperm are faster but less hardy. So anything that makes the vagina or uterus less hospitable to sperm is likely to favor the girls.

I'm new to chickens, but I know a little about human biology and you are right about the acid (in the case of humans), the male sperm have a harder time surviving in a more acidic environment in the mother-to-be's body.

Yes, I read that too, but didn't do anything about it.

I say - no need apologize (or be embarassed) if you have a pet chicken. If that's why you have chickens (or even just one of them is a pet), that's your choice!

And you still want to raise them as naturally as possible

Good, because all I have are pets! Well, actually for eggs, but we're not going to eat ours, even after they stop laying. Nothing against it - we eat a lot of chicken! But not these ones.

But obviously, douche works as well as the rhythm method (my mom's method of BC in the late 70s, which produced two fat, happy, little babies: me and my brother lol)

Haha! Yes, my mom always used to tell me "Do you know what they call people who use the rhythm method?" pause "Parents!"

I will agree that timing can have an impact but so can diet. The male swimmers don't survive well in acidic environments leaving more female swimmers, thus increasing the odds of a female baby. I would think the same would apply to the hen. But there are lots of debates online about the different home methods of getting a girl or a boy baby. There is no perfect way to get a girl / boy without medical intervention. Nothing will give you that 100% promise of a girl without a lab sorting the swimmers. Still the home remedies abound and can be fun to try, especially if one is trying them out on chickens where the turnover time is really quick compared to humans. I mean waiting less than a month to see if there was an impact on the hatched eggs sure beats the up to 42 weeks it can take to grow a baby.

I agree! And hopefully one isn't having a baby just to see if they can influence the gender!

...when I made my statement before I assumed one was trying to influence the gender after conception. I hear all sorts of misinformation come out of peoples mouths.

Yes, no way to influence gender after conception! Well apart from drastic measures...

I totally get what you mean that all sorts of misinformation is floating around! And it's so much easier to find nowadays, with the internet to help. Plus, if it's written, it must be true, right?

 

[SallyinIndiana]

We got the rope lighting put up in our coop today. I'm hoping the chickens don't peck it. Anyone have experience with rope lighting in the coop?

 

[armorfirelady]

My girls are not impressed with the FF I whipped up....any suggestions to make it more palatable or does it need to sit longer? They peck at it a little bit and then leave. Then it freezes....supposed to warm up this next week....girls are doing fine in the open air coop so far....it's a beautiful, sunny 35dg here today!

Leave it out. When they get hungry enough they will eat it. That's what I did with the tots when I got them. Now they eat it like its candy

Looks like northern fowl mite or feather problems..the other birds might be seeing crawling things and trying to help get them off.
NuStock it thick for a 10 days and reevaluate.

I looked at her really closely tonight as well as each of the others. No bugs at all. She also seems more bare below her vent, lower abdomen, no injury. Could she be having a little molt and coincidentally got pecked or scratched on a piece of wire or something? I'm going to keep a really close eye on her and keep nustock on until she's pretty healed. I'm also going to take a lesson from Armorfirelady and check on them all very carefully every night.

Well I tend to be a little OCD But I have found that by doing a brief check it allows me to see when something is off. Like the mites/lice I had. I couldn't figure out why they were so itchy on the roost. I never saw them scratch endlessly while out foraging.
When you go out at night take a bright light and on each hen gently push the feathers back the wrong way on each one. If their molting you will see new little pin feathers coming in. It's actually pretty cool to watch them grow in. When they start the remind me of little needles they are pokey little things. I have had only one girl who looked bad molting but she molted in July till October. The others look like some fluff feathers are going the wrong way and the new feathers will come in darker (my PRs feathers did at least)

We got the rope lighting put up in our coop today.  I'm hoping the chickens don't peck it.  Anyone have experience with rope lighting in the coop? 

Not me but I want to try it in mine on the outside at least. My solar spot light is not lasting as long with cloudy days.


I splurged today and bought a hand powered feed mill to crack my grains. It's just to messy in the food processor when its wet. And I am a messy cook lol

 

[Leahs Mom]

I splurged today and bought a hand powered feed mill to crack my grains. It's just to messy in the food processor when its wet. And I am a messy cook lol

What kind? Photo?

 

[Eggcessive]

http://www.southernstates.com/catalog/p-9983-southern-states-tradition-poultry-maintainer-50lb.aspx

http://www.southernstates.com/catalog/p-9950-southern-states-all-grain-meat-bird-maker-50lb.aspx

Is one of these what I need to get to feed a mixed age flock?  The only starter grower that they can get in 50lb is Medicated, which I don't want....  What is my best option? 

I have lately using Southern States 20% Rocking Rooster pellets and it has a little animal protein in it too. I have all ages,, but no tiny chicks right now, and everyone loves it. It is the same as an all flock raiser.

 

[Nickeyo]

Just ate my silkie cross, he tasted better than shop bought, yummy , he was quite an athletic bird so had a very gamey taste