The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

He's beautiful

For those of you who collect leaves for your coops... Is there any risk to the birds with regards to mould or mildew?

I have the opportunity to get another 40 garbage bags from two sources but I'm a bit concerned. We live in a very wet environment.

I poke a lot of holes in the bag and make sure they ventilation on the sides. I hade some mold/mildew last year and those I just tossed where they forage and put others in coop.

 

[aaggjg]

Have any of you hatched out Silkie x Amerecaunas? If the mink hadn't gotten our broody that's what would have hatched and now I'm curious as to what they would have looked like. Google wasn't very helpful

I have a couple 50/50 Silkie x ameraucanas & just happened to snap a picture of them this morning. Its not great but.....

Here is one with a Silkie.

And dust bathing

 

[lalaland]

After I left for work in the dark this morning, it started snowing hard.

I had to take off work this afternoon to come home and shoo those girls out of the coop. 2 in the afternoon, no food or water in the coop, and they could not brave the white stuff and were still inside the coop!

I'm sure I'll be crawling under the coop to shoo them in too! Lest you think I coddle them, I do wait til it is way past the time they should go in on their own. Acck!!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: Grim. Yep. These birds always look grim. You know an ee by that "look".

 

[Leahs Mom]

I feed non-soy. Originally had it formulated by the feed mill and now I just make my own using their recipe. I can send the recipe by pm if you want. The recipe is very basic. In addition they get all kinds of other things including ranging when it's available.

The GM organisms may not be the biggest issue in GM feed. One of the main problems I see with it is that it is designed to handle a huge uptake of glyphosates which conventional grains can't handle. The pesticide issue isn't an "on the surface of the item" problem which can be washed off; it's a problem "in the structure" of the plant that we or our animals are ingesting. It has definitely been proven that it affects reproductive organs causing the animals tested (and some people) to have problems reproducing which becomes more pronounced in offspring and further generations.

That is one of the main reasons I want to avoid GM products if I can. There are plenty of studies on the effects of glyphosates on the endocrine system.

 

[aaggjg]

I feed non-soy. Originally had it formulated by the feed mill and now I just make my own using their recipe. I can send the recipe by pm if you want. The recipe is very basic. In addition they get all kinds of other things including ranging when it's available.

The GM organisms may not be the biggest issue in GM feed. One of the main problems I see with it is that it is designed to handle a huge uptake of glyphosates which conventional grains can't handle. The pesticide issue isn't an "on the surface of the item" problem which can be washed off; it's a problem "in the structure" of the plant that we or our animals are ingesting. It has definitely been proven that it affects reproductive organs causing the animals tested (and some people) to have problems reproducing which becomes more pronounced in offspring and further generations.

That is one of the main reasons I want to avoid GM products if I can. There are plenty of studies on the effects of glyphosates on the endocrine system.

LM Do you do corn in your recipe??? I do corn & soy free non GMO feed .... My girls turn their noses up at their FF in the morning and go running to gobble up the sprouted grains & BOSS I throw out for them. I have some questions about nutritional values of sprouted grains & seeds.... I am assuming that sprouted BOSS has a much lower level of fat then un sprouted sunflower seeds. I also assume that it is a constantly changing number based on how long you let your sprouts grow?? Does anybody know the answer to this?? My google efforts have not yielded good results..... My hen Caesar's necropsy said she was FAT and had a lot of fat surrounding her organs so I worry about my spoiled chickens... Thoughts???

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I feed non-soy. Originally had it formulated by the feed mill and now I just make my own using their recipe. I can send the recipe by pm if you want. The recipe is very basic. In addition they get all kinds of other things including ranging when it's available.

The GM organisms may not be the biggest issue in GM feed. One of the main problems I see with it is that it is designed to handle a huge uptake of glyphosates which conventional grains can't handle. The pesticide issue isn't an "on the surface of the item" problem which can be washed off; it's a problem "in the structure" of the plant that we or our animals are ingesting. It has definitely been proven that it affects reproductive organs causing the animals tested (and some people) to have problems reproducing which becomes more pronounced in offspring and further generations.

That is one of the main reasons I want to avoid GM products if I can. There are plenty of studies on the effects of glyphosates on the endocrine system.

I don't like GMOs either. But each time I discuss it with a feed person, even the Certified Organic specialty feed mill, I don't get very encouraging info about actually avoiding GMOs. They say everything has been cross pollinated, so non-GMO versions of GMO crops don't exist any more. It's discouraging.

 

[Leahs Mom]

LM Do you do corn in your recipe??? I do corn & soy free non GMO feed .... My girls turn their noses up at their FF in the morning and go running to gobble up the sprouted grains & BOSS I throw out for them. I have some questions about nutritional values of sprouted grains & seeds.... I am assuming that sprouted BOSS has a much lower level of fat then un sprouted sunflower seeds. I also assume that it is a constantly changing number based on how long you let your sprouts grow?? Does anybody know the answer to this?? My google efforts have not yielded good results..... My hen Caesar's necropsy said she was FAT and had a lot of fat surrounding her organs so I worry about my spoiled chickens... Thoughts???

I do feed corn. Somewhere I have some nutritional info on the grains but I don't have time to look up the location tonight.

Unfortunately, fat in the feed isn't the issue when hens get fat; carbohydrates are. That's unfortunate because the kind of feed we use (grain based) is predominately carbohydrate and vegetable-based proteins which are also packaged in a carb package. Proteins and fats from animal (insect and meats) source with a lower percentage of carbs "on the side" tend to keep the fat issue at bay.

I just read somewhere about the percentage of bugs to green forage that was found in the crops of the closest chicken relatives that are really still in the wild and the percentage of bugs was very high...over 80 percent if I remember correctly. If I get some time tomorrow I'll try to get links to the nutritional info posted.

 

[mlowen]

I got my Natural Chicken Keeping calendar, today. It's fabulous!

 

[TeaChick]

Lala I have her in the sick bay. Poor thing. She's not moving but she is eating a little so that's good.

I might go out to see if I can find her some liver....

Wow! Can I be one of you chickens next time I get sick???
I'd rather have ice cream than liver though.