The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Jewelwing]

I'm glad you give them DL in their run. It makes me so sad to see chicken runs being a barren waste land.

I put dry leaves in the run in the fall, dump kitchen scraps on it every day, and put more (saved) bags of leaves on top when it snows, to encourage the chickens to go out anyway.

Does that sound good? Or is there something better I could be doing in their run?

 

[armorfirelady]

Chaos sounds like you have very lucky chickens

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
Fed soy so... No thanks.

soy = organic? then i'll pass. I want my chickens to eat meat! grrrr! LOL

(that's not popcorn, it's chicken nuggets!)

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
well, it's better than my own runs, I usually just put shavings in when it gets too wet, to try and control the mud more... I've put grass clippings and leaves, but with our clay everything just seems to sink down into it and become part of the mud again. LOL

tho covering the pens seems to be helping some by keeping the excess water out in the first place, so maybe I've got it licked for next winter (once I finish these pens and get it all done right!)

 

[TeaChick]

Everybodies babies are so cute ..mine were reshipped today

I hope everything goes as planned!!!

I had the best hatch EVER yesterday and today. 56 eggs into lockdown (because that is how I count my hatch rate..) 54 fluffy healthy chicks. 18 Easter Eggers, 14 Silkies, 10 Naked Necks, 5 Mutts, 4 Buckeyes, 2 Barred Rocks and 1 Mottled Houdan

Yay!

Congrats! Pretty chickies!!!
I quoted it so people who may have missed the pics on their original page would have another chance to see them. =D

 

[TeaChick]

But Maremma are like potato chips, you can't have just one.

Besides... they really work best in pairs... they establish their own coordinated work patterns and behaviors. It's really fascinating to watch.
And more importantly, as they learn to work as a team, they also learn to trust each other and know when the other has their back.
That is not only important when predators are present, but when sleep is required. When working as a pair they get much better quality, much more sound sleep because they know their partner is on duty.

Now, would I have to train (or have them trained) them to work together or do they do all this herding, not eating your livestock, and working together stuff by instinct?

I'm still 20 between the ears... I just wish the rest of my body would slow down!
Dry hatch?

~~DE is actually recommended in the garden for insect and slug/snail control. It actually has some beneficial nutritional properties, so no worries there! I can't imagine that it would kill bacteria. I'm glad you give them DL in their run. It makes me so sad to see chicken runs being a barren waste land. I'm so sorry to hear that your Dad and Mom are not doing well, but am thankful that you have some siblings to share the load.

Going for a walk w/ DH; be back later. =)
Remember: you're on pg 2817, teachick. =D

 

[ki4got]

ok... here's an off the wall question that has nothing to do with chickens (except they eat the left overs...)

I've got a nice pork roast, wanting to do a potroast with it, but not sure what seasonings to use... the last beef roast I did I used salt, pepper, bay leaf & a garlic blend seasoning, beef base and then added some cloves of crushed garlic, onion potatoes carrots and celery and cooked it for about 12 hours on low...

for the pork roast, would I do the same thing you think? or would I use different seasonings?

I mix the dry seasonings and use it like a rub on the meat before braising, then add water to clean the pan and add the rest of the ingredients... that last roast was probably the best I've ever made, I just don't want to screw up the pork one. LOL

 

[TeaChick]

I put dry leaves in the run in the fall, dump kitchen scraps on it every day, and put more (saved) bags of leaves on top when it snows, to encourage the chickens to go out anyway.

Does that sound good? Or is there something better I could be doing in their run?

If I'm every a chicken, can I come live with you?????

 

[Jewelwing]

well, it's better than my own runs, I usually just put shavings in when it gets too wet, to try and control the mud more... I've put grass clippings and leaves, but with our clay everything just seems to sink down into it and become part of the mud again. LOL

tho covering the pens seems to be helping some by keeping the excess water out in the first place, so maybe I've got it licked for next winter (once I finish these pens and get it all done right!)

Our soil is solid clay, too, but in the winter it freezes, so nothing sinks into it then. This will be my first spring with chickens, so we'll see how muddy the run gets then! I'm hoping that once the snow melts, they'll spend most of their time outside the run, free-ranging. Then maybe the run won't get so muddy.

Right now, they can't really dig in the leaves even though they're on top of the snow, because after a few days, the leaves get trampled into the snow and it's one solid block of cold that I dump kitchen scraps on top of. The chickens dig through them until they freeze, and then pick at them a bit longer. But there's a lot of frozen organic matter out there right now on top of frozen clay mud. We'll just have to see what happens when things thaw!

 

[Shan30]

Sorry to be totally random but... This morning I found an egg that was completely coated in blood. I see streaks on occasion and always figure a capillary broke and its no big deal, but this egg was really bloody. Any cause for concern? Everyone seemed fine... I was thinking I might be able to tell who's it is if I wash the blood off.

On a better note the water was not frozen this morning. Yay!

Snow is melting and daffodils and snowdrops are poking through