The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

I am still reading this thread from the beginning, which is taking a while, so my question is about worming. Do it or not and if so how and with what? I have 43 chickens ranging in age from 2 weeks old to 2 years old. BTW really enjoying this thread! Thanks

I recommend that you DO NOT worm routinely. Worming irritates the lining of the intestine and weakens the immune system. So, in my opinion which I believe is based on sound reasoning and research - I would only worm if you know there is a problem. (This could be confirmed with a stool sample to a vet for a very reasonable price usually.)

If you have sound husbandry, good feeding and housing that isn't too crowded, and the ability to range some, you will likely never need to use a wormer. In NATURAL CHICKEN KEEPING, the focus is on PREVENTION rather than TREATMENT.

[FYI...the "Chicken Health for Dummies" book which was co-authored by the owner of BYC also cautions against "routine worming" as well for the same reasons. And that book isn't necessarily coming from a "natural" approach.]


That being said, there are some good, more "natural" alternatives for worming that don't upset the system quite as much as the chemical wormers do and really do work wonderfully.


If you do find the need to worm, the next job is to try to figure out what is causing an environment such that they are in that condition and, if possible, fix the cause.


Also...
Sometimes a particular chicken is weak for whatever reason and does not have good immune response. On occasion you'll find one chicken in a flock that is weak and the ONLY one that has issues in the whole flock. In that case it is likely the time to cull, unfortunately. If you have a whole flock of healthy, strong chickens and one is continually weak it is "usually" an underlying issue with that particular bird.


Edited to fix a typo!

 

[Leahs Mom]

I am still reading this thread from the beginning, which is taking a while, so my question is about worming. Do it or not and if so how and with what? I have 43 chickens ranging in age from 2 weeks old to 2 years old. BTW really enjoying this thread! Thanks

PS: Glad you jumped right in! And good to have you here

 

[LindaB220]

Hello, I am a Newbie here trying to do my chickens (like my life) as natural as possible. I figure this thread should keep me busy with lots of reading material for awhile!

I have a question - I'm wondering do any of you give Kefir or Kombucha to your chicks. My chicks will be 3 weeks old tomorrow, (with one that is 5-7 days older than the rest). I am just thinking there are so many good healthy probiotics in both that they could be good for the chicks. I always have both on hand b/c I make them so it would be easy for me to give to the chicks. I was thinking I would mix it with their water. Right now I put ACV in their water.

So what do you think? Thanks for your help!

Even better, try fermenting their feed in kombucha. 2T of kombucha added to 1/2 pail of water and stir and start adding feed. Stir and sit for 3-4 days stirring daily. Cover lightly with the top or a towel. This is the best find I've ever gotten on the forum. Healthy, less smelly poops, feed goes a lot further. I keep it the consistancy of thick oatmeal. Add more feed if necessary. When it get down to almost the bottom add more water and stir and start adding feed again. No kombucha necessary anymore. It's ready overnight. I feed it in a trough or big dog bowls. Check out the fermenting threads.

 

[Kassaundra]

This is what happened to us yesterday. 7 hour labour where we stayed with mom the entire day. She gave birth to a single Doeling who weighed in at 9lbs 11 ounces. Mom is SMALL. Baby was so not small.

On top of that we had clients come get chicks all weekend. It was a holiday for us Canadians yesterday - so I got to be there! Both kiddings this year took place on a holiday! Easter and Victoria day.

We are keeping this little girl. She is way too cute. Alpine father and her mom is Alpine and Nubian cross.

So are you calling her Edelweiss?

 

[armorfirelady]

I worm on occasion by adding red cayenne pepper flakes to eggs or yogurt I feed to the girls. Haven't done it in a long time tho.

Only worming I've seen around here lately are the girls eating the ones they find

 

[BirdsOfAnarchy]

Yeah thats a great idea. Some "?s:
How much cayanne do you give?
What are your ratios?
And how often do you do it?
Does it work on all worms tape, round, gape?

I worm on occasion by adding red cayenne pepper flakes to eggs or yogurt I feed to the girls. Haven't done it in a long time tho.

Only worming I've seen around here lately are the girls eating the ones they find

 

[aoxa]

So are you calling her Edelweiss?

Her name is Margaret. Or Margie for short. After our friend kept us company all throughout the labour, only to have to leave just as the water sac presented because she had to work. What a bummer! She was there 4 hours waiting.

 

[potagergirl]

The kid is a real cutie pie

 

[flyladyrocks]

This is what happened to us yesterday. 7 hour labour where we stayed with mom the entire day. She gave birth to a single Doeling who weighed in at 9lbs 11 ounces. Mom is SMALL. Baby was so not small.

On top of that we had clients come get chicks all weekend. It was a holiday for us Canadians yesterday - so I got to be there! Both kiddings this year took place on a holiday! Easter and Victoria day.

We are keeping this little girl. She is way too cute. Alpine father and her mom is Alpine and Nubian cross.

 

[aoxa]

Goats do not need a big lot. They aren't much for grazing, and more for browsing. We are splitting our 1 acre fenced pasture in two so the goats aren't near the chickens (big mess, they go after their feed and break feeders, etc.)

I still have to mow. I get them an organic grassy hay mixture. It has weeds, clover, timothy, and more in it. They get that on top of their pasture and grain, which is just a little every evening. Some people offer a lot of grain. I do not.

I also end up with lots of evergreen in our woods. They love that stuff. We pile it in their yard, and they go crazy for it.





The chickens enjoy roosting on it as well