The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

Quote: Is there a hatchery that sells marans cheaply? At some of the prices I saw this morning, I would be able to get in line for breeder stock and I don't really want breeder stock. I just want some to raise and sell as laying hens.
What do you mean by cheap? most hatchery's are around $6-8 for Marans.

I was discussing this with my husband last night and a few posts on here reminded me of it.

I am wondering if anyone has a good idea about what could be planted to feed chickens as their staple diet combined with foraging. Something that could be grown without any grow lights, hydroponics, etc. either out side or in a greenhouse and that could be grown in sufficient quantities to feed through the winter.

Any ideas? Not about to do this by the way, just wondered if it was possible!

I seen that this has been addressed.

I posted this in the Indiana Thread. But I would welcome gender opinions on the bird front and center and the bird on the right.

I was able to get a not too bad picture this morning of the chicken I got from Brad. I'm thinking it is 1 rooster and 1 hen for sure but there are 2 that are much smaller than the roo and might be hens so gender guesses are welcome. The coop is going to be repainted this spring, sorry for the messy walls and roosting bars.



The one under the roosting bars is female. The dark one closet to her is the roo. It is the splash chick in center and the dark one on the right that I'm not sure of.
Sorry about the picture quality. I'm not the best with a camera and it was really really cold this morning too.

These are hard to guess sex by the pictures. I see saddle/sickel feathers on one bird.

Quote: If they are hungry they shuld eat anything. They need a good food removal to get them hungry enough..a hungry bird is a healthy bird. It keeps them active and busy.

 

[emalin]

Thank you so much for all of these replies! I never dreamed I would get to talk to so many experienced people. I've learned so much (outside of what I read on the net and in books) already. Our family follows a nutrieint-dense/Weston A Price-type diet and I'm an herbalist, so I'm familiar with a lot of the principles in this thread and related blogs--like fighting bad bugs with good bugs. How fun to learn how to apply these principles to chickens!

My only chicken experience is with my grandparent's flock--dozens of rescued factory farm chickens that someone gave to them "because they had a farm". They had no coop, so they roosted in trees and laid eggs on the ground or in the hay barn. They were fed some corn once a day, but otherwise they were wild (though one was a house pet). The flock grew and grew despite predation.

Even though I want to be natural in my chicken raising, I don't trust in nature quite as much as my grandparents did, especially since ALL of the chickens in my neighborhood have been killed by coyotes who tear down coops. We have predators of all types, including bears. After talking to others in the area, it's very clear that our chickens will only be able to free range in our yard and when one of us is outside to supervise--which I hope is often because I want them to eat all the ticks! The rest of the time, they'll live in a coop inside our fence inside a big chain-link cube that will function as the run. I might electrify it too. I'll call it San Quentin. Maybe get some sniper towers. . . My big question right now is whether to get a rooster--trying to balance the need for protecting the flock with the need to protect my two year old who will be sharing the yard with them (supervised of course).

Our chickens will be pets/egg layers/pest controllers/child educators. Someday I hope to lose my squeamishness about butchering animals so they can breed and we can have a source of healthy meat. But the plan for now is to get 3-6 chicks every year so that we always have some hens in production. We'll probably end up with 12-15 unless we really get a farm going and can put them in the pasture. I'm most interested in Dominiques. I like Andalusians for some reason too.

Thank you again for all of these great ideas to consider. I absolutely don't mind listening to conflicting opinions. In fact, I love hearing them.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

I used to work as a librarian, then went to grad school for publishing, then worked in publishing. As much as I LOVE books, I prefer books I can read in my Kindle these days. I have trouble holding books and seeing well enough to read from a page. When my vision is particularly bad I can have the kindle read to me.

I really appreciate the craft of books ... but couldn't really read them for a few years. It is great to be able to read books again.

I'm not sure people understand the "accessibility" issues of real books for some people ...

I definitely get it. I have a kindle also and love it (shh. don't tell my boss). Anything that helps people read, I support. But I like to give a shout out when I see an old school book lover. I have taken my love a little far--last year I bought a 1927 letterpress and am trying to teach myself how to hand bind.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Sally - what are the age of the birds?

16 weeks 1 or 2 days.

Quote: I like the electronic books for taking out to read in public. No one really tries to read the cover or over my shoulder to see what I'm reading. And the comments / suggestions for a different book to read have completely stopped.
But at home with a cup of hot chocolate, I like paperback books in mid sized print.

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: Oh come spring they will NOT be getting the 4 cups of FF they get now. I started them on that last fall and they still don't finish it all most days. But I like to keep extra in the dish since the temps are fluctuating so much. Some days they will finish off their feed. On warmer days they will happily dig through the veggie garden once I shovel the snow off. I don't know what they are finding but it must be filling since those are the days they don't eat as much FF yet they all have good sized crops.

And they have decided they can walk in the snow also without harm to them

 

[TeaChick]

Well, I'm touching base. I can't read everything that's posted every day, but I don't want to be forgotten either. lol
I got my SLW cockerel and roo and a SLW/BO pullet. They're pretty and I'm so excited!!!

DS's hatch is going well; although nothing is hatching yet and it's day 23, but... first hatch, etc.

I'm hoping to be able to start hatching "soon"; although IDK how soon. Very soon, I hope!!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: You know, they eventually do eat them....over time. But it's funny to watch when I would throw them down they'd run and look at them then look at me as if to say, "What the heck are you trying here...we're no dummies! Where's the beef?"


Then later, they go and take the coating off each seed and eat the interior. Slowly.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thank you so much for all of these replies! I never dreamed I would get to talk to so many experienced people. I've learned so much (outside of what I read on the net and in books) already. Our family follows a nutrieint-dense/Weston A Price-type diet and I'm an herbalist, so I'm familiar with a lot of the principles in this thread and related blogs--like fighting bad bugs with good bugs. How fun to learn how to apply these principles to chickens!

I'll call it San Quentin. Maybe get some sniper towers. . .

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
I read all my books on the computer now... simply holding the book can get painful with my hands, bending my neck to read, seeing well enough... on the computer I look straight ahead, the text is nice and large, and I simply tap the space bar or mouse to get to the next page...

but the smell of a room full of old books... there's nothing like it.

 

[Scott H]

I'm a complete book rebel....I'm a truck driver so I download audio books to my phone from the library and listen while I work.....it's like old time radio!