The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[NanaLynn]

just the crate, food , water, and they see me. No outside. A few days might work. 5 to 7 works better. They only see the occasional Sumatra hen who sneaks in the workshop to pester me

Thanks for the tip, I have a mean White Rock hen that needs to be demoted, so chicken jail it is! We have 16 younger pullets that she keeps mounting and pecking on the head and comb. Yesterday she made my Golden Campine's head all bloody, so that was the last straw.

She would be our first chicken to slaughter, if she did not lay such large eggs everyday. So she gets a 2nd chance, if that does not work, I guess we'll be eating some chicken soon!

I guess it would be easier to process a chicken that you do not like, especially for the first time.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: Ah.... easier processing. Makes sense.

"Cuteness", however, is in the eye of the beholder. When my husband (and others) first saw a photo of an adult naked neck his response wasn't that it was cute.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
I have the same thing with these 2 I'm dealing with. Best layers in the flock.

 

[Mrs Hutcherson]

My husband and I rescued a rooster from some people that were just going to feed it to a dog, ( live by the way) and the chicken jail caught my attention. We have 2 rosters already and they have been brutally tag teaming this poor boy. When I separate one of the older boys from the rest of the flock it calms down. My question is, how should I handle this ? Would putting one or both in jail for a while help with the fighting? Resetting the pecking order to neutral for all the boys? I've had to break up a few fights when they had the new boy pinned down with his head in a crack in the corner if the porch or a nest box. He is a pretty nice rooster one on one but they have been terrorizing him.

 

[delisha]

My older hens will peck a young pullet under a young male..the young male too.
I ignore it.

As your male matures he will not put up with that non sense. They do not do it with the mature male. Female can be vicious, it takes time to find or let mature a good flock male who keeps a calm coop. Some males need two-three years to be confident and run a smooth ship. Other are naturals..and run a coop well from a young age.

Time out is effective..to restore pecking order..most times. You might have to buddy up the low and top hens away from the rest of the chickens if your crating does not work.

 

[Shan30]

It would be better at 100-101. That 99 in the beginning of egg development can cause all kinds of issue. It is important to have the incubator running smooth and perfect before the eggs go in. If its not..you need to return it and get another incubator. Add at least another day to your incubation. 

I would leave them in the turner..just unplug them after internal pip. Your internal pip will probably be around day 20.

They will be fine..just take longer and cause you to want to mess with them more..
I would get it regulated to 100.


Quote:
If she is broody..give her the eggs..she will get them hatched..or at least part of them.

Between last night and this morning I think I got it stabilized around 100. Before setting the eggs it was hanging out around the 100 mark but once I put the eggs in it seemed to stay lower. Harder to heat eggs than air? It's just a little $150 Hova Bator and the thermostat is super finicky. I will probably give her some of the eggs but really want to know if I can do this. Will feel really guilty if I screw it up though.

Thanks for all your advice!

Oh and what do you do with the comfrey? We have oregano and comfrey growing all over the property and I have no idea what to do with the comfrey. It's pretty and I understand that it's great for fertilizer.

 

[misbhaven]

I have red clover and white clover coming to plant for my girls.and to plant in my dog run mixed with grass seed. Our weather is supposed to break this weekend. (Hopefully) today it is 10 snowed and windy. My poor son is going to have soccer practice wends. And have to wear winter gear. Anyway when is the best time to plant clover? It is supposed to be my normal weather 45-50 degreed by this weekend. I just moved some 4 week old to the new coop yesterday 6 x6x6 with a milkhouse heater inside..they did great so going to move another batch in there tonight.

 

[RedRidge]

I have red clover and white clover coming to plant for my girls.and to plant in my dog run mixed with grass seed. Our weather is supposed to break this weekend. (Hopefully) today it is 10 snowed and windy. My poor son is going to have soccer practice wends. And have to wear winter gear. Anyway when is the best time to plant clover? It is supposed to be my normal weather 45-50 degreed by this weekend. I just moved some 4 week old to the new coop yesterday 6 x6x6 with a milkhouse heater inside..they did great so going to move another batch in there tonight.

Lespadesia normally gets broadcast about Feb 1st around here. You want to do it when the ground is frozen (which doesn't last for long here). Then not graze it until well established.

 

[misbhaven]

I guess I will be planting this week while ground is still frozen. Thks. I

 

[NanaLynn]

I have the same thing with these 2 I'm dealing with. Best layers in the flock.

It is so frustrating, we have a lot of people that want eggs now too and she is not even a year yet. My plan was to wait and worry about having one of our chickens for dinner after they had a couple of years of egg laying. She is a sweet chicken to us, but a terror to the little ones. She even beats up the ones bigger then her.