The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Jewelwing]

Slightly OT:

My DS told me that he's into chickens.

He helps me in the evenings.

The next step will be for him to help me take care of my chickens in the mornings (when he learns to be quiet and not talk about everything under the sun just b/c he's excited).

(He's a little like his mother.

)


In a year or two, I plan on giving him some laying hen as a starting flock.

He wants to breed a heritage breed and he wants to raise his chickens naturally.

The only thing is that his flock will be in a pen and he & I will build a coop and all.

I'm so glad that one of my kids is as into raising chickens naturally as I am.

Awesome!! How old is your son? My kids like the chickens, but not enough to actually help care for them! Well, that's not quite true. My 12 year old daughter will help when I ask her to do something specific. I can't convince her to go out and spend time with them just because they're fun, though. Oh, well. Maybe as she grows older, she'll get more involved in them. She's definitely my animal lover!

 

[lalaland]

Oh, that's a little scary. My birds free range a lot, and in the past couple of days they've discovered the area around our house, which has bird feeders around back. I noticed them under the feeders this afternoon and shooed them away, but I don't know how I can keep them away. Any suggestions?

Not sure you can unless you fence it off. It is a favorite area for my chickens as well. I just keep an eye on the dropped seed - it gets eaten fast enough - but the BOSS seed shells can pile up. I try to keep it raked out. so far, so good.
Have changed out birdfeeders to ones that don't seem to get wet seed as much in the rain, leading to mold.

This may be a silly question, but how exactly do you crush egg shells to feed back to the chickens? Mine aren't laying yet, but I get eggs from someone else who has chickens (not from the store). I'm hoping they start laying soon! They'll be 20 weeks old on Monday.

I've been taking the shells and trying to scrape off the inside membrane under running water, then letting them dry. Then I just crush them with my hands, and keep crushing them with my fingers until they're somewhere in between the size of watermelon seeds and bell pepper seeds. Then I just pour them in a pile on the dirt.

Is that OK? Or should I be crushing them finer?

I don't wash the shells, I just toss them into the chicken run. Or compost and the chickens get them from there. Some people do wash, bake, crumble. Too much work for me!

 

[aoxa]

This may be a silly question, but how exactly do you crush egg shells to feed back to the chickens? Mine aren't laying yet, but I get eggs from someone else who has chickens (not from the store). I'm hoping they start laying soon! They'll be 20 weeks old on Monday.

I've been taking the shells and trying to scrape off the inside membrane under running water, then letting them dry. Then I just crush them with my hands, and keep crushing them with my fingers until they're somewhere in between the size of watermelon seeds and bell pepper seeds. Then I just pour them in a pile on the dirt.

Is that OK? Or should I be crushing them finer?

Not sure you can unless you fence it off. It is a favorite area for my chickens as well. I just keep an eye on the dropped seed - it gets eaten fast enough - but the BOSS seed shells can pile up. I try to keep it raked out. so far, so good.
Have changed out birdfeeders to ones that don't seem to get wet seed as much in the rain, leading to mold.


I don't wash the shells, I just toss them into the chicken run. Or compost and the chickens get them from there. Some people do wash, bake, crumble. Too much work for me!

What lala said

We don't do anything special. I crumble them with my hands a bit, or step on them, but that's it.

 

[armorfirelady]

This may be a silly question, but how exactly do you crush egg shells to feed back to the chickens?  Mine aren't laying yet, but I get eggs from someone else who has chickens (not from the store).  I'm hoping they start laying soon!  They'll be 20 weeks old on Monday.

I've been taking the shells and trying to scrape off the inside membrane under running water, then letting them dry.  Then I just crush them with my hands, and keep crushing them with my fingers until they're somewhere in between the size of watermelon seeds and bell pepper seeds.  Then I just pour them in a pile on the dirt.

Is that OK?  Or should I be crushing them finer?

I am like Lala and Aoxa. The easiest way possible. I rinse the shells after I open egg and throw them in a bowl and they sit there till I remember to take them out to the coop where I break them up with my hand and dump on their DL to eat as they want. Sometimes I put them on top of their oyster shell.

 

[lalaland]

I am like Lala and Aoxa. The easiest way possible. I rinse the shells after I open egg and throw them in a bowl and they sit there till I remember to take them out to the coop where I break them up with my hand and dump on their DL to eat as they want. Sometimes I put them on top of their oyster shell.

lol, I'm laxier than you, I skip the rinsing step.....


Made an extended snow free shelter for the chickens yesterday. Just a couple of hay bales with plywood on top for a roof, but figuring out how to place it so chickens have easy access from under the coop to it, and so northwinds can't sweep thru, and so any stray sunshine can warm it up from the south took a lot of time.

It is directly under the chicken ramp to the coop, and oh my, it has totally confused them.

Spent a good hour sheparading them into the coop last night because they preferred to snuggle under the trailer in the hay rather than brave the ramp with that strange new troll under it.

Half the flock is still inside this morning because they don't want to come out and risk that troll shelter rising up and grabbing them.

Just in time as snow is in the forecast again, right now anything we've gotten has melted and the chickens are enjoying freeze dried grass and clover.

Still. No. Eggs.

 

[lalaland]

I'm wondering if I could build them a sun porch next fall from old windows. SHould be a way to hinge the windows to form the roof....set it on haybales....presto a sun porch! wouldn't have to do it if I was willing to shovel the whole run....laziness is a bad trait.

 

[aaggjg]

I'm lazy too I keep my egg shells in a bowl (I don't rinse either) & then crush them a bit with my pestle when it gets to full. They are sharp!! Otherwise I'd just use my hands. Yesterday I decided I'd bake them as I was making cookies with my god sons. Well, I forgot about them and burnt them to crisps!! It smelled like burnt hair in my house.... So yeah I'm going back to doing nothing.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
well, the 'house' is only 2x4, I went out and checked them around 11pm and they were just bedded down normally. a few huddled here and there the rest just sleeping. put my hand on them all and they were all toasty. this morning it was a beeline straight for breakfast.

 

[aaggjg]

The crows are back!!! Yeah. I saw a huge hawk fly through my canyon 2 days ago.... Heard the crows yesterday and just saw them chase off a huge hawk!! Well done crows!! Now how do I keep them here

 

[Eggcessive]

This may be a silly question, but how exactly do you crush egg shells to feed back to the chickens? Mine aren't laying yet, but I get eggs from someone else who has chickens (not from the store). I'm hoping they start laying soon! They'll be 20 weeks old on Monday.

I've been taking the shells and trying to scrape off the inside membrane under running water, then letting them dry. Then I just crush them with my hands, and keep crushing them with my fingers until they're somewhere in between the size of watermelon seeds and bell pepper seeds. Then I just pour them in a pile on the dirt.

Is that OK? Or should I be crushing them finer?

I like to put mine in the oven at 220 degrees for 5-10 minutes. They will shatter much easier without the membrane holding them together. They cool instantly, and I put them into a freezer bag and crunch them with a jar to the same size you do, then store them in the freezer bag and add to it. Mine like to eat them like scratch when I throw them out.