The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lalaland]

If the sulmtalers were in the big coop, there would be lots of room to have a separate area for her. But since the rooster hates hates hates the sulmtalers, and attacks them, spurs them and chases them,.....they are in a tiny coop. Ok for three hens, but.... I'm planning on making a larger run for them when the ground thaws enough to put in posts, but the coop is really a bit small for a broody nesting !


ice rain and sleet tonight. yuck!

 

[Leahs Mom]

@lalaland
I'm getting very frustrated with roosters. Mine is targeting the lowest girl even though she's healthy and friendly...shes a runner. Like bullies in a playground, the victims that stand up and fight back fare well; runners always lose.

Do you have an idea why he targets those birds? Are they a different color? Younger? Anything you can figure out?

I know that sometimes it is a health issue but in my case, she does not have a health issue. She is healthy, lays an egg almost every day (7.5 mos old). She is almost white - very light grey sfh. She is the only light colored bird and sticks out like a sore thumb. She has the "runner" personality. Very shy but very friendly and nice girl. Sometimes I could just shoot the rooster.

This little girl would make a great "pet chicken". I have 10 females. She is right now in a group of 8 females that get a long just fine. She's still bottom of order, but no targeting and running off and attacking.

Problem is, I don't have another area that I can put the roo and the other 2 females that is separate.

 

[ki4got]

@lalaland
I'm getting very frustrated with roosters. Mine is targeting the lowest girl even though she's healthy and friendly...shes a runner. Like bullies in a playground, the victims that stand up and fight back fare well; runners always lose.

Do you have an idea why he targets those birds? Are they a different color? Younger? Anything you can figure out?

I know that sometimes it is a health issue but in my case, she does not have a health issue. She is healthy, lays an egg almost every day (7.5 mos old). She is almost white - very light grey sfh. She is the only light colored bird and sticks out like a sore thumb. She has the "runner" personality. Very shy but very friendly and nice girl. Sometimes I could just shoot the rooster.

This little girl would make a great "pet chicken". I have 10 females. She is right now in a group of 8 females that get a long just fine. She's still bottom of order, but no targeting and running off and attacking.

Problem is, I don't have another area that I can put the roo and the other 2 females that is separate.

is that the sfh roo? my first suggestion would be swap him out... then again, I have ulterior motives there. but even if I didn't, I'd still say swap roos. put him in a pack of other roosters where he's the new guy and he'll get his story straight IMO... +

my extra roos and those without breeding pens all free range and have figured out the pecking order. each of the top guys has 2 or 3 girls that hang out with him during the day, the extras all just wander about and try stealing girls when they can. LOL

 

[ki4got]

on the topic of broodies... I didn't want to post anything at first, because I was afraid it wouldn't work, but it HAS!

when I got home last weekend from the swap, all the babies that went with me got put straight into an outside pen, where the oldest of those youngsters had already been. i moved the nest box down to the ground for them to sleep in. but the first night it was too cold and the younger ones didn't huddle like I figured they would, so I added a heat emitter (ceramic heating element that uses a light fixture - puts out no light, just heat). that helped some, but a couple had already been chilled and weren't catching up. so on a whim, I took my buff orp girl who's been broody for well over a month and just tossed her in with them, to see what would happen.

she's been in there a week now, and this is what resulted.

the oldest chicks continued sleeping on the floor of the house.
during the day the chicks 'act like chicks' eating, drinking, getting warm (either under buffy or the heat).






and no, the roost isn't crooked. it's perfectly level. it's the ground that's crooked... LOL
if you look over the top of this pen, you see my hoop coop which stands only 5' tall, and just beyond that, the carport that has a 10' center peak... LOL next time I buy property it's going to be a lot flatter... the roof of this pen is just over 6'...

I put some bales of shavings up against the exposed sides of the pen to help keep heat in somewhat, since the breeze comes from that direction the most. there are 8 older chicks (12-16 weeks) and the rest (about 15) are 4-6 weeks.

 

[Scott H]

Now that's natural heat!

 

[ki4got]

my second broody is still acquiring chicks... I brought my dark dorking girl back in night before last, in preparation for yesterday/today's hatch. I gave her the first 2 chicks yesterday and have been adding to her brood as they hatch. she's currently up to about 12 chicks, and more still hatching. Once the hatch is done, i'll take her dudd eggs away from her so she'll start being a mom again. but this time no free ranging right away.

my motivation for broodies right now is the swap we have coming up next weekend. last year I was saved by my broodies, since I didn't have a generator (if needed) for heating the chicks. and it was very cold that weekend, so they were invaluable to me. this year I will have the generator, but decided to go the broody route again anyways, since they were a big hit. LOL I have one more batch due to hatch on wed or Thursday that will go to one (or more) of my bantam cochins (I only have 5 of them to pick from!)

here's blitz, taken just a few minutes ago in her brooder, waiting for the rest of her clutch to hatch.

this is her second round of broodiness this year so far.

 

[delisha]

ok, I'm a turkey noob here. LOL but went to southern states yesterday for a bag of pellets and some sweet feed, the manager runs up and says, hey! you have chicks all the time, right? .. uh, yeah. hatching weekly, why?

she drags me over to the chick pen, where only 3 white turkeys remained. legally she said she can't sell less than 6, so could I take them? LOL

so now I have 3 white (unknown breed) turkey poults in the brooder with some week old cochins and 2 week old sfh.

anything I should know about these guys? treat them like chickens and life goes on? (I hope)... hubby said sell them, but told him that 2 of them are already named... Thanksgiving and Christmas. LOL

I have no idea if they're double breasted or 'normal' or what... and I'm not a huge fan of white, either. so likely they're freezer bait. but if they do well maybe I can talk him into another breed that I like more (color wise).

eta: ok correction. just thought I'd look up the hatchery (mt healthy) and they're broad breasted whites... they're too heavy to breed naturally, right?

Turkeys should be up off the ground and on wire when young. They do not do well sometimes with chickens until they aquire immunities. (16 weeks). They are good to havee with chickens because it seems people with turkeys usually do not have Mareks.

Quote:
I made a small wood slate box frame and burried it in the ground with worms. I covered it with my compost pile. It is the birds favorite place. You can use a shovel any day and pull up many worms. (If the chicks are still locked up you might get some for fishing) If the chicks see a shovel in your hand you get mobbed.

Look what I just found. First time I've successfully had a hen hatch her own eggs Now what do I do? Do I let her be and she will care for it (them if more hatch) or do I intervene? The nest is actually an old sand bucket and is about 10" off the ground. The hen is a BT barred rock. There are three other chickens in the coop one is a rooster.

would be OK just to leave them.

Hi all, hope you are all enjoying the beginnings of Spring!

Please can you give me some advice?

I have, for the first time, a broody sitting on eggs. She is an Orpington and looks huge when she is all puffed up on her eggs. She has broken 2 eggs so far and I have now put some eggs into the incubator so at least she will have some babies at the end of 3 weeks. The remainder of her eggs under her are covered in yolk, should I take them out and wash them or just leave nature to sort out? My inclination is just to leave her be and let her sort out all for herself as I have removed the eggs that I wanted hatched so the balance are not that important. Also she is very reluctant to come out and eat etc unless I entice her with a beaten egg (this is for my peace of mind so at least I know she is getting protein). She will stay on the nest for over 24 hours without getting up at all - again my inclination is just to leave her. Am I right in what I am doing?

Thank you for all help

At night time take her off the nest and carefully wipe off the eggs. (warm water and paper towels)

@SallyinIndiana
Is the tractor too small to put in a plastic container w/peat moss and ash? I'm thinking it's probably too small to leave it in there but possibly put it in for an hour or so every other day maybe?

Great idea..I have a container I drag on a rope I put in breeding pens..I move it every day to a new pen.

Quote:
Keep us all updated..nothing like broodys..I have three of them now..it looks like I have a few more who are going to go soon..they are making broody noises and looking for hiddy holes.

Since I have one area divided, I put my broody in there until hatch. Just a cheap rubbermaid container with a door cut on the end for her nest.

I use these too..I have even used cat litter boxes that have tops on them ..I picked up a few at rummage sales for a few bucks.

my second broody is still acquiring chicks... I brought my dark dorking girl back in night before last, in preparation for yesterday/today's hatch. I gave her the first 2 chicks yesterday and have been adding to her brood as they hatch. she's currently up to about 12 chicks, and more still hatching. Once the hatch is done, i'll take her dudd eggs away from her so she'll start being a mom again. but this time no free ranging right away.

my motivation for broodies right now is the swap we have coming up next weekend. last year I was saved by my broodies, since I didn't have a generator (if needed) for heating the chicks. and it was very cold that weekend, so they were invaluable to me. this year I will have the generator, but decided to go the broody route again anyways, since they were a big hit. LOL I have one more batch due to hatch on wed or Thursday that will go to one (or more) of my bantam cochins (I only have 5 of them to pick from!)

here's blitz, taken just a few minutes ago in her brooder, waiting for the rest of her clutch to hatch.

this is her second round of broodiness this year so far.

I have one that is perpetually broody..it has its advantages..but I do not like it when I need her eggs. She is my only pure black only hen...I have two for her daughters growing up so that might help...I have to make sure I don't sell them.

 

[armorfirelady]

Ki4got so happy that our broody took to the chicks so well

 

[ki4got]

Ki4got so happy that our broody took to the chicks so well

and an added bonus, looks like she's accepting the turklings too

clarification... Blitz, the dorking has the turklings... Buffy's got enough in her pen for now. LOL

 

[lalaland]

Leah's mom, thats the trouble with roosters - they just cause chaos.

The broody was joined by her sister, who went broody this morning and climbed in the nest with her. I checked later on and the broody had rolled all of the eggs I gave her out of the nest, and was sitting on two new eggs from her sisters. Can they tell eggs by color? why would she roll out the eggs from the other chickens? will they still hatch if she stays broodY/ I took her sisters eggs away and replaced the original eggs but they were cold. But it is the first day!

Advice?