The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lazy gardener]

mine were out in the covered part of the run but wouldn't venture further.... yeah....they said a dusting.... we got like 5-6"....

One year, we got 2 feet of flurries.
My girls are finally able to have their FF back, and are inhaling the stuff. I'll have to buy a second heated bowl next winter so I can keep the FF going all winter. I'm working on making converts to sprouting by taking jars of sprouts to the folks at church who have chickens. Will work on them with the FF next. Spring is on the way. Turkey and mouse tracks all over the yard every day.

 

[mlowen]

I'm working on making converts to sprouting by taking jars of sprouts to the folks at church who have chickens.  Will work on them with the FF next. 

Blessed are the chicken-keepers....

Seriously.

 

[lazy gardener]

Amen! In response to the previous statements about EE and their ear lobes: At least one of my girls has blueish ear lobes!

 

[armorfirelady]

LM your girls are beautiful. Love the eggs as well. Stella my BR lays a nice fat egg also.

I agree with more of mine laying its got to mean spring is coming

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:

 

[Leahs Mom]

LM your girls are beautiful. Love the eggs as well. Stella my BR lays a nice fat egg also.

I agree with more of mine laying its got to mean spring is coming

 

[Jewelwing]

even with the light off in my coop...they still are moving around at night... I just recently started watching them but maybe it is because I had one out for a couple days and just added her back in. They have been acting funny over the nesting boxes too-- in--out--in--out--in--out. It is a power struggle! These girls.....crazy they are!!!!

(mine do have one window but this is after dark and there are no lights by that window.... hmmmm.... the interesting thing you see when you watch chickens at night... I don't mean to sound like they are busy all night....that isn't the case at all but we might start out with 3 on the bottom roost and within a couple hours-- there are only 2 on the bottom roost. They do it quietly but they are doing it.... My girls just never had an blatantly obvious "pecking order" until they have been more confined in the coop/run.... it has definitely brought out the worst of their personalities and since they are just hatchery chicks...obviously it hasn't been bred out of them like everyone talks about....

I checked on my girls last night around 11pm, and one was on the floor of the coop digging through the pine shavings! She could see pretty well because the heat lamp was on (it's red, not white, but still kind of bright). Another reason to keep the heat lamp off!

In this carton...for size comparison...
Left rear is a 2 yo Hatchery RIR egg; Front right is a 2 yo Hatchery BR egg. All the others are the pullet eggs.




Front left: BR egg then 2 pullet eggs for size. In carton are 2 pullet eggs.

Thanks for those pictures! My husband's been asking if our eggs will get bigger as the girls get older (they're 28 weeks old), so I showed him your pictures. Yay!

LM your girls are beautiful. Love the eggs as well. Stella my BR lays a nice fat egg also.

I agree with more of mine laying its got to mean spring is coming

I'd love that to be true, but isn't it just because the days are getting longer?

 

[ChickChickChicky]

@ Leahsmom-- here is the link to the video about 9v batteries starting fires.... crazy....

Ummm..... I thought it was pretty common knowledge that a 9 volt battery was a great firestarter..........

 

[CourtsCacklers]

I checked on my girls last night around 11pm, and one was on the floor of the coop digging through the pine shavings! She could see pretty well because the heat lamp was on (it's red, not white, but still kind of bright). Another reason to keep the heat lamp off!

Thanks for those pictures! My husband's been asking if our eggs will get bigger as the girls get older (they're 28 weeks old), so I showed him your pictures. Yay!

I'd love that to be true, but isn't it just because the days are getting longer?

Yeah-- well when my lamp is off there is NO LIGHT! I don't think they would be on the floor messing around in complete darkness but they do move some. I don't watch them constantly but earlier when it was pretty dark out--probably not quite all the way dark-- though their coop had to be pretty dark I had 2 on the top and 4 on the bottom. A couple hours later I had 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom. The baby monitor is a hardly detectable infrared light for night vision. tiny-- hard to see-- and no way they could move around to it. but I can see them plenty well.....

 

[CourtsCacklers]

Ummm..... I thought it was pretty common knowledge that a 9 volt battery was a great firestarter..........

nope... never gave it any thought..... and when I was taking regular "fire safety" training... I learned a lot of things but never that....