The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

Quote: I dump their grains on the ground as well. They eat bugs & greens from it so what is the difference? Rain or shine on the ground. Unless its a strong storm and they are inside then I feed inside. During the winter its in a heated dog bowl. And I only feed once a day from the time their electric netting goes up till the fall. They all have good sized crops by the time I feed them around 7 pm so I know they are eating well. And when I give them frozen veggies/scraps it gets dumped in the compost bin. Mostly because then I do no have to walk around the yard picking up rinds before mowing. When I give them meat its in a glass plate tho.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: Makes sense to me. Mine actually like to eat from the ground more than the bowls. I put some on the ground every time I feed and some in the pans.

Do you have a different set up for winter?

 

[Leahs Mom]

We have night crawlers in our lawn, they freak the hens because they're so big :>)

Hey, nutcup

Sometimes mine will eat the night crawlers and sometime not. I always wondered if when they weren't eating them if it was because of something they could tell that the worm had or was carrying that may be detrimental to them. (worms do sometimes carry various things that cause problems for chickens)

It's very unpredictable as to when they will and won't eat them so I just figure they know what's up.

Are yours young? Sometimes they just don't know what they are and then when they figure it out the "go to town"!

 

[Leahs Mom]

@Leahs Mom can you section off a portion of the big coop to keep the Littles locked away for several days/couple weeks then one day when you let the bigger ones out, you open up the sectioned off part and the babies follow the adults out? Then leave the sectioned off part available for the babies in until they begin roosting/fully integrating with the adult flock?

Nice thing is -
I have the hen shed sectioned into 2 already and that's where the little girls are. And..... we added a pop door to their side so they can go out in their own area into the kennel run completely independent.

They've been in that situation for several weeks now, so when I integrate it will be on the OUTSIDE so they can go back to their own side through a fence set-up that only they can fit through to get in there.

Just not sure when to let them out into the "hawk-infested" world I'll likely wait a few more weeks.

 

[subhanalah]

Nice thing is -
I have the hen shed sectioned into 2 already and that's where the little girls are.  And..... we added a pop door to their side so they can go out in their own area into the kennel run completely independent. 

They've been in that situation for several weeks now, so when I integrate it will be on the OUTSIDE so they can go back to their own side through a fence set-up that only they can fit through to get in there.

Just not sure when to let them out into the "hawk-infested" world   I'll likely wait a few more weeks.

good plan. If yours are the size of mine (8 weeks?) A meadow would make them easy pickings.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
Yep. 8 wks tomorrow. Cute little chicken nuggets for a meal.

 

[Kassaundra]

Makes sense to me. Mine actually like to eat from the ground more than the bowls. I put some on the ground every time I feed and some in the pans.

Do you have a different set up for winter?

I have a sand tray under their roosts, if they are determined not to get out in the snow I will take a few pieces of wood and put on the sand in the coop and feed them there. I also have a bin type wood thing that holds a bag of food, in winter I am more apt to fill it w/ a bag of dry layer pellets for free choice if they get desperate enough to eat dry unfermented food.

 

[Kassaundra]

Yep. 8 wks tomorrow. Cute little chicken nuggets for a meal.

Mine have plenty of cover, a raised coop, bushes, trees, etc... and still at 10 weeks I can lose them to hawks.

 

[Nutcup]

yes, Kassaundra, they are about 3 1/2 months old, and they are slow to try new foods. We have 1 Americana that is always the first to try something new :>)

Nice to hear from you,
Mark

 

[LindaB220]

We have night crawlers in our lawn, they freak the hens because they're so big :>)

Nutcup, glad to have you.