The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

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.....

Sounds like football to me

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: I had never heard that before.

 

[lalaland]

I had never heard that before.

x2. and is it only 9v batteries that can do the fire thing? not AA or AAA? and does it make a difference if they are rechargeable?

 

[CourtsCacklers]

x2. and is it only 9v batteries that can do the fire thing? not AA or AAA? and does it make a difference if they are rechargeable?

The video only said 9v....probably because of how the positive and negative are so close together but it seems to me that it might be able to happen with other batteries... I really have no idea though.... we did not research it further.... we just totally changed how we store any batteries (old or new!). We actually recycle our batteries too-- just like the guy in the video-- so we had a whole ton of them as we have missed the last couple of recycling days and with kids we go through batteries like crazy.... maybe someone else on here knows if it applies to other batteries?!?!?!

 

[CourtsCacklers]

Sounds like football to me

yeah, I know, right.....

so far tonight they haven't moved anymore besides standing and sitting.... it is funny to see 5 chickens with no legs showing and then the one that decides to sleep standing up showing her little legs. They change that off and on throughout the night too. It sure is goofy that birds sleep how they do....doesn't look comfortable at all...

 

[CourtsCacklers]

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.

Crazy.....absolutely crazy....

SNOW--- GO AWAY!!!! ( I have to admit the snow that fell here was absolutely stunning this morning.....) still ready for summer!

 

[NikonD2xer]

x2. and is it only 9v batteries that can do the fire thing? not AA or AAA? and does it make a difference if they are rechargeable?

Any battery can start a fire. it only take a direct connection between + and -.

9 volt batteries have the terminals on the same end so they are more likely be shorted together.

I had some change and a fingernail clipper in my pocket while shooting a wedding.
I had to replace the AA's in my flash quickly and dropped used ones in my pocket.

After a few minutesI smelled something burning and much to my surprise it was my pocket.

Being front of a church full of people during a wedding ceremony is not a good time to find out your pants are on fire.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
it would be much more difficult to cause a dead short between the terminals on the other standard sized batteries. had to ask hubby about that, he's the electronics pro.

 

[Jewelwing]

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.....

Oh, gosh, I wasn't talking about too much light in your coop! It's just that seeing you talk about your chickens moving around at night made me think of what I saw in my coop last night, when I did have the heat lamp on. I was just so surprised to see one of them on the floor looking for food at that hour! And I figured it must have been because I had the heat lamp on. Usually I don't, and when I check on them they're all on the roost in the dark. I was talking to myself about one more reason to keep the heat lamp off.

That's what I get when I post when half my mind is trying to answer my daughter's frantic questions about the homework project she's working on - unclear posts. "The printer's not working, Mom!!" "Do we have any CD cases I could use?" - part of her project has to be submitted on a CD (times sure have changed since I was a kid!).

The printer worked as soon as I plugged its USB cable into the computer she was using. Always a relief to have such an easy fix!

Crazy.....absolutely crazy....

SNOW--- GO AWAY!!!! ( I have to admit the snow that fell here was absolutely stunning this morning.....) still ready for summer!

Must have been the same snow we got last night. It was truly beautiful!

A little freaky because this morning there were animal (non-chicken) tracks in the run! The run is fully enclosed by 1/4" hardware cloth, including an apron all around it. I'm pretty sure it's a vole or a shrew, but it was still a surprise.

 

[chick rookie]

I've had really good luck with a mix of layer pellets, some oats, scratch, recently wheat, sometimes BOSS--using buttermilk as the "kicker." It's been going since last July and they scarf it down. On single-digit mornings I heat it in the microwave for just 30 seconds and it stays un-frozen a bit longer. I also give them less than if it will be a warmish day. I have a free-feeder for the pellets, so if the FF freezes and they can't get any more, they can have pellets.
Check out this article: http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/p/fermented-feed.html

I read that to DH and a few more too... thanks for the link. I like that site for other stuff it talks about to. If I remember right that ( or maybe it was a differant one like it ) is the same site I got my birthing kit together from. ( for my goats due in march I'm going to be a first time Granny. As the time gets closer I get more scared. also have a first time mommy to be. but anyway I got off topic, sorry.