The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

I just want to say that muddy runs = dirty eggs. got 5 inches of snow but there is mud under the coop.

Leahs Mom, I found a chicken book you might like. It is written by an english woman who lived on bainbridge island in washington (that island is magical) - moved there in the 20's and raised dairy cows. At age 86 , n 1975, she wrote a very short book about raising chickens. Minnie Rose Lovgreen's Recipe for Raising Chickens. it was reprinted in 2009, and I found a copy online for 4 bucks. It is very anectdotal vs scientific, though....but I am loving her discussion of broody hens. she says hens talk to their chicks when they are in the gg.

Where did you get yours?

 

[stonykill]

Ok fellow BYCers here is a weird question.............

Anyone have owls near them? DO they who...who at night? Why I ask is because I have heard several nights after dark someone Who..whoing while I was out at the coop. And it seems close.......there are no barns near us. But I have a dozen pine trees on my property & some woods behind me so I wonder if its in there nesting?

I live in town so it seems kind of weird to hear them. Usually we here morning doves but they havent come back this spring yet & we only hear them during the day and I have never heard them at night.

Thoughts??

yup, owl. Not all owls live in barns. Most live in the woods/tree's. We have several here that I know of. Small to huge

 

[Scott H]

Scott -
Do the "wild" chickens hang out and eat feed with the "kept" chickens...and are the folks able to gather eggs from the "wild" ones at all?

The wild chickens are just that...wild....they are descended from jungle fowl and were brought in by some of the first people to "discover" the islands as a food source. I think people catch them and let them have a brood and keep the chicks. His chickens did not look like the native ones tho and were kept in a run. Felt sorry for them and asked if they would take off if allowed to free range. He said no but he was worried about pox. I told him they could catch it thru the wire and it wasn't contagious to people. <Scratch head here> Maybe I got him thinking but they are his chickens.....

 

[Scott H]

Oh, and no predators on Kauai.....yet.

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: Thank you.....the only time we have heard owls before was when we were camping and they were screeching and who whooing.....no idea what they were up to other than waking us up lol

 

[ChickChickChicky]

Ok fellow BYCers here is a weird question.............

Anyone have owls near them? DO they who...who at night? Why I ask is because I have heard several nights after dark someone Who..whoing while I was out at the coop. And it seems close.......there are no barns near us. But I have a dozen pine trees on my property & some woods behind me so I wonder if its in there nesting?

I live in town so it seems kind of weird to hear them. Usually we here morning doves but they havent come back this spring yet & we only hear them during the day and I have never heard them at night.

Thoughts??

You might be able to ID your owls here http://hubpages.com/hub/OwlsoftheUS-AWhosWhoofOwlsOwlCallsIdentificationandCulturalSigificance

ETA: I live in town too and hear (and sometimes see) owls on a fairly regular basis. I don't mind them at all as they eat a lot of rabbits, mice and other rodents. I also love listening to them, I think the calls are so pretty.

 

[Sally8]

We have all kinds of owls around us They actually sound pretty but make me nervous. (I hear them but don't see them.) When I was a child an owl came in the barn and took the heads off all the baby chicks my parents had. They seem to leave us alone, so far.

 

[misbhaven]

I bet that was tramatic...
off the subject but i made a peanut butter sheet cake w/peanut butter icing and put choc. chips on top tastes like reese's (good bribes so neighbors don't complain about rooster

 

[lalaland]

Ok fellow BYCers here is a weird question.............

Anyone have owls near them? DO they who...who at night? Why I ask is because I have heard several nights after dark someone Who..whoing while I was out at the coop. And it seems close.......there are no barns near us. But I have a dozen pine trees on my property & some woods behind me so I wonder if its in there nesting?

I live in town so it seems kind of weird to hear them. Usually we here morning doves but they havent come back this spring yet & we only hear them during the day and I have never heard them at night.

Thoughts??

have to love the owls calling. and they call at all hours during the night and early morning and dusk. I love it when they do the monkey cackling sounds too. I have owls and this time of year they are really calling.

Where did you get yours?

alibris. they are online, and bookstores all over the country list their books, new and used. I usually check Alibris and Amazon and go for the cheapest.

 

[CoopChick719]

Ok fellow BYCers here is a weird question.............

Anyone have owls near them? DO they who...who at night? Why I ask is because I have heard several nights after dark someone Who..whoing while I was out at the coop. And it seems close.......there are no barns near us. But I have a dozen pine trees on my property & some woods behind me so I wonder if its in there nesting?

I live in town so it seems kind of weird to hear them. Usually we here morning doves but they havent come back this spring yet & we only hear them during the day and I have never heard them at night.

Thoughts??

We have owls and I live in town too but have woods & pines that border our property. Lots of wildlife yet we are less than a mile from town.