The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[misbhaven]

off topic anybody know how to see anything in really dark Maran eggs 6-8 on Maran color scale ? they are so dark my kids thought they were not real even my 9 yr old he thought i was hiding Choc. ones from them until Easter when he saw them resting..I got them in a swap from Chiqita on BYC i have to give her credit 8 FBCM eggs came from CA to IL not even one cracked and very dark...of course i shipped 9 to her and all 9 made it there also...I can manage to candle duck eggs, Americauna eggs, ..I Incubate in my basement i just shut the main lights off ..these have me stumped I use a 15 bulb LED flashlight didn't even make them glow...BTW I have Swedish ducks trying to pip right now will have some cute pics to post anytime..

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote:
Yes! If I had one to give, you'd win the prize!

Love it !!!

I keep thinking I need to buy some stale bread & toss it out there every few days for my LGC

Mine must be going into the veggie garden to steal the bones from carcasses that I have given them over the winter. I've caught the crows a couple times in the yard with a bone. I keep meaning to pick them up & toss them in the compost before someone sees them all over the garden......

 

[RedRidge]

My LGCs have been making a ruckus ever since I've been at the house today.  (Working from home.)  Sure enough, every time I hear them and take a look... pair of hawks.  Very happy for the LGCs as long as they decide to hang around.



Edited to fix typos

Livestock guardian crows?

ROFL

 

[Jewelwing]

OK guys and gals. Have tried it all and finally figured out the boiled egg thing. Pull up a chair and listen carefully. Cold H2O with baking soda in it. I pricked the air cell end of 2 day old eggs with a tack. Bring to boil. Turn stove off and leave for 10 minutes. Drop eggs in ice water. after a few minutes kinda squash the air cell end. Go pick up son (about 1 hour). Open beer. Roll eggs between palms and peel. Take good pulls off beer between each egg-sometimes more frequently. Works pretty well. Might require 2 beers.

Awesome! That's the method I'm going to try first!!

there is a nest the hens like that they've made on the floor wedged behind a door in the coop in a pile of hay. usually there is a pile of eggs. last night, no pile, instead, all the eggs were lined up in a row, about 4 inches apart, leading away from the center of the nest out behind the door. there was also an egg in the middle of the floor.

It defies imagination to think the girls laid this way (never happened in my life) or that the girls hauled the eggs out of the nest and lined them up.....

I think your chickens are up to something...

 

[Sally8]

What's with the crows today? I was beginning to feel like Tippi Hendren in The Birds only without the phone booth. They were everywhere.

Can we speak of rats and mice for a minute? We have battled them even before I had chickens. We do not have garbage or anything else out for them to feed on except for when I fed the little birds out of a feeder and have had them always. There is a pig farm not so far from us and we are smack in the center of a wooded area with a stream running through. I finally relieved myself of feeling "dirty" because of it. I noticed the mice trails in the snow all winter. What does anyone do? No mice or rat poison.

Finally, Wrinkles seems to be doing fine. Not sure of the issue but he seems to be back to normal. I'm so happy!

 

[Ms Jellybean]

Does this mean I have rats?

there is a nest the hens like that they've made on the floor wedged behind a door in the coop in a pile of hay. usually there is a pile of eggs. last night, no pile, instead, all the eggs were lined up in a row, about 4 inches apart, leading away from the center of the nest out behind the door. there was also an egg in the middle of the floor.

It defies imagination to think the girls laid this way (never happened in my life) or that the girls hauled the eggs out of the nest and lined them up.....

remember, I had something going on a few months ago with the girls coming off the roost at night and huddling in the opposite corner of the coop. as far as I know that stopped. I did put the rat zapper in the coop, but the batteries kept freezing.

no signs of rats or mice, but of course they are there....

Ideas?

I hope you don't have a rat like this one.

 

[stonykill]

What's with the crows today? I was beginning to feel like Tippi Hendren in The Birds only without the phone booth. They were everywhere.

Can we speak of rats and mice for a minute? We have battled them even before I had chickens. We do not have garbage or anything else out for them to feed on except for when I fed the little birds out of a feeder and have had them always. There is a pig farm not so far from us and we are smack in the center of a wooded area with a stream running through. I finally relieved myself of feeling "dirty" because of it. I noticed the mice trails in the snow all winter. What does anyone do? No mice or rat poison.

Finally, Wrinkles seems to be doing fine. Not sure of the issue but he seems to be back to normal. I'm so happy!

either traps or lead poisoning from pellets: DISCLAIMER!!!!!!!!!! GRAPHIC PIC !!!!!!!!!!!!!! SCROLL BY IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE!!!!!!!!!!!

















killing them with a pellet pistol is a fun challenge.

 

[Ms Jellybean]

What's with the crows today? I was beginning to feel like Tippi Hendren in The Birds only without the phone booth. They were everywhere.

Can we speak of rats and mice for a minute? We have battled them even before I had chickens. We do not have garbage or anything else out for them to feed on except for when I fed the little birds out of a feeder and have had them always. There is a pig farm not so far from us and we are smack in the center of a wooded area with a stream running through. I finally relieved myself of feeling "dirty" because of it. I noticed the mice trails in the snow all winter. What does anyone do? No mice or rat poison.

Finally, Wrinkles seems to be doing fine. Not sure of the issue but he seems to be back to normal. I'm so happy!

Buckeye chickens are supposed to be awesome mousers. Said to rival cats at times. Sounds like you need a dozen.

 

[Sally8]

either traps or lead poisoning from pellets: DISCLAIMER!!!!!!!!!! GRAPHIC PIC !!!!!!!!!!!!!! SCROLL BY IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE!!!!!!!!!!!

















killing them with a pellet pistol is a fun challenge.

This is how my husband takes care of them too but I was hoping I could find a way where I didn't have to sit and wait He has more patience than I.

 

[stonykill]

This is how my husband takes care of them too but I was hoping I could find a way where I didn't have to sit and wait He has more patience than I.

I just carry all of the time at home. Go about my business with a loaded air pistol on my side just in case.