The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[TeaChick]

Fibre and because she is freaking adorable.

Alpaca milk is nasty I hear..


Here is Vivian

Fibre? What do you use it for?

Oh, she is freakin' adorable!!!

<I can't want one, I can't want one, I can't want one.> lol
I'm still working on getting decent at chicken keeping. My next step into crunchiness will be a goat (I think, so far). After that my DS wants me to get a horse for each of us, but, just between you and me, that's not going to happen and not just b/c DH isn't going to ride. lol But we might get an alpaca, if I can convince my DH that it's practical somehow. ;-)

 

[jime]

Thanks every body for your responses.
I think I am gonna have to get some lumber and start to buil more coops to separate the ladies.
The way it was (and did not work) all the birds free range in ten accres, at night the trios go to their respective tractors (3x6)with a 3x2 roosting area and 2x1 nest hanging outside.
Beside their tractors they have 100 square foot every two trios with electro net for night time protection (I conect this when the dog goes inside the house for the night.
In my case with the moms the two that share babies where in one coop together and the other two were in the other trouble star when they chase babies inside the coops and there was no way for babies to scape (babies run home while mama try to fight one girl while the other girl will attack, I guess my next step will be to put a kind of fence inside the tractor when babies can escape (since they will run home) mom will call later whe trouble is gone.
If this does not work I will have to keep everybody separate until babies feather out and then start to integrate witch I don't think will be hard because they will be separate just by wire.
Oh my that is going to be lots of tractors.
Here I am with bunch of broody breeds thinking that will be great not to use the bator but I did not count on Mother Nature cruelty

 

[CoopChick719]

[/URLWhat do you guys think of this rooster? We named him Einstein probably our most favorite rooster among our group.

Love your roo! His name suits him.

Again, just my conclusion and who knows, I may change my mind.[/B] But if you have openings on 2 sides you have a wind blowing through and nowhere to get out of that wind. It "seems" that having one side open works well and that there is still a natural movement for air to get out. And it also helps keep the interior feeling warmer as you cut down on wind chil THANK YOU!! I've been worrying about the window across from the pop door. It makes more sense to open the window above the pop door.

I lost four to predators so.... I'm concerned I'm working on my sixth loss. =(

I feel your pain Teachick!! I've lost 11 in the past year. Hugs to you!'

 

[TeaChick]

Love your roo! His name suits him.

I feel your pain Teachick!! I've lost 11 in the past year. Hugs to you!'

Thanks! I'm sorry. Hugs to you too!!!

 

[TeaChick]

Well, my hen seems to be feeling better, but I'm still giving her the sick treatment until I can't catch her to do so. Then I figure she's back to her old self and I'll just keep an eye on her from there. Otherwise, I'm putting her in the hen house with the other chickens at night b/c she doesn't seem to be contagious. I figure (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that, if whatever was/is going on with her were contagious, then I'd have other chickens sick enough to be caught too, right? Anyway, no one else is catchable, so I'm assuming she's not contagious and I'm putting her in the hen house at night.

Thank you for all the advice and suggestions and information!!!
Please continue to tell me anything I seem not to know or to be mistaken about! =)

 

[Shan30]

Justine, I wonder if you might have some ideas for me.

Sorry this isn't a natural chicken keeping question! Anyways I have pretty much declared that the only way to be sure to get clean stock to start out with might be to get some hatchery birds in the spring. Unfortunately I am having a hard time finding any in Canada! Spending $200 plus the birds when I only want like 25 just to get them into canada seem ridiculous. I am looking for Silver laced Polish, blue Silkies, Marans(can't decide on colour), and will probably throw some heritage layers in there RIR, Orps, etc.

Any good Canadian sources you know of?

 

[ki4got]

Quote: if you breed 2 good quality cochins together, then yes, I believe APA allows frizzle in all colors already accepted.

 

[ki4got]

Quote: black simply extends the black over the entire feather, but dominant white REMOVES all pigment from the feathers... so you could have both...

 

[Kassaundra]

black simply extends the black over the entire feather, but dominant white REMOVES all pigment from the feathers... so you could have both...

And that's b/c chickens genetics isn't for sissys!!!!!!! lol lol lol

 

[ki4got]

Just curious on the genetics topic.... if I hatch eggs from my G.comet girls covered by a BA... what are my likely offspring?

I am also thinking about getting a Silkie roo to put over my buff cochins, but am not sure what color it should be.... ?

Suggestions? I am really new to all this, and very curious!

BA = black australorp? if so, black is dominant over everything except dominant white, but heterozygous of both will allow some leakage from either/both directions.

gold comet is heterozygous for dom. white I believe, which means to a homozygous black, you might get whites or blacks with leakage... for a silkie over buff cochins, if you want buffs, get a buff silkie. stay away from white or black unless you what a jigsaw puzzle of genetics to show up. buff is on a wheaten base with mahogany and dilute. the only similar color variety would be red. everything else the silkies have (as far as I know, and cochins too for that matter) would be on the extended black, birchen or partridge e-locus.