The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lazy gardener]

I second LM guess.

 

[CoopChick719]

Thx LG! Appreciate it!!

 

[armorfirelady]

So I got home late last night & glanced out my kitchen window to see an extra hen roosting. I went out to investigate & it seems Lucy is back to roosting at night. Sophie on the other hand was in the nesting box trying to cover her 5 chicks alone. Chicks were plenty warm & it only got into the 50's last night. And the chicks are sprouting real feathers every day. My gray girl actually has black feathers coming in

Here she is in the veggie garden with a black chick after I got done weeding the garden. Another week or so and they wont be getting in there anymore since they are growing so quick.

The funny thing was I was going to ask everyone at what age did their broody Mom's start having the chicks roost? I have no doubt they could make it up to the roosts. Those babies can fly well. Will the moms show them how?

And I think Lucy is laying again. I had a darker than normal egg in the nesting box. I took out the temporary one so the girls would start using the regular one again. The co broodies nor the chicks were using it during the day so no reason the other girls couldn't start laying in it again.

 

[lalaland]

AFL, its fun to see the changes in the chicks and hens - and thanks for posting the pics

 

[lalaland]

Hairline crack in the beak!

Poor Angelina - she's my little year old icelandic hen who is half blind in one eye, has misformed wings, and is undersized. I've been noticing the past few days that she seems to have a smidge of black goop covering one of her nostrils. I've rubbed it off, or picked it off with my fingernail. Has a rotting smell to it. THe other nostril is always clear, and once I've cleaned the nostril off, I haven't seen any discharge. 24 hours later, a little black smudge. and when I say little, I mean....the size of a small freckle. smaller than a beet seed.

Well, cleaning if off tonight I saw that she has a hair line fracture or crack in the beak, running from the tip up to the nostril that gets the black smudge. Now I'm worried she has an infection - wouldn't you know I'm out of nustock? I have some sulphur on hand, and I could put a little there. Not sure if the rotting smell is an infection....but scared it might be.

Any suggestions? I did search byc but didn't find anything really helpful.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Hairline crack in the beak!

Poor Angelina - she's my little year old icelandic hen who is half blind in one eye, has misformed wings, and is undersized. I've been noticing the past few days that she seems to have a smidge of black goop covering one of her nostrils. I've rubbed it off, or picked it off with my fingernail. Has a rotting smell to it. THe other nostril is always clear, and once I've cleaned the nostril off, I haven't seen any discharge. 24 hours later, a little black smudge. and when I say little, I mean....the size of a small freckle. smaller than a beet seed.

Well, cleaning if off tonight I saw that she has a hair line fracture or crack in the beak, running from the tip up to the nostril that gets the black smudge. Now I'm worried she has an infection - wouldn't you know I'm out of nustock? I have some sulphur on hand, and I could put a little there. Not sure if the rotting smell is an infection....but scared it might be.

Any suggestions? I did search byc but didn't find anything really helpful.

Do you have iodine? There's a thread where it's suggested for use inside the hen's mouth to help heal fowl pox sores. The OP on tat thread uses a Qtip swab to get the job done. It's worth a shot, and if you don't have it directly on hand you might be able to pick it up at a nearby pharmacy?

 

[armorfirelady]

AFL, its fun to see the changes in the chicks and hens - and thanks for posting the pics

Thank you. I've had a lot of fun & enjoyment watching them grow. Momma Lucy has given up being a mom. She is roosting & ignores them when they are out ranging. Sophie is still watching them during the day, calling them for tidbits & keeping them covered at night. I will have them for at least 2 more weeks. My mom is going on vacation & forbid me from giving them away before then lol

 

[lalaland]

they grow so darned fast!


Hooray! for the first time, the 4 week old legbar chicks are outside on their own, and doing pretty good. The run has 5 full grown pine trees, lots of vegation to hide in (blackberry brambles, golden rod and other things the chickens don't eat). Most of the grownups could care less about the babies, but a couple go out of their way to run them off. I put out extra waterers, and am working from home so I can keep checking on them.

The 6 older chicks (10 weeks now) moved into the big run on their own today too! Fun to see them roosting in the pines . Guess they want to be where the action is, the other run has much more grass and edible weeds than the big run.

One more step left, to get the 4 week olds to go into the coop at night on their own.

Today Angelina with the cracked beak is still looking good. I will be able to grab her tonight off the roost to check on her cracked beak. Still havent decided whether sulfur, iodine or what?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Lala -
I wonder what happened to crack that beak? It seems to me that if you could find a medical adhesive that is not poison it would be good to try to repair it so that it doesn't continue to crack and hurt.

We'll all have to do some looking around to see what is available for something like that.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Sorry to interrupt, but who was it I was chatting with about Squash Vine Borer Control back in Late Winter? I am devastated, I just saw the red mom and now I notice she has already laid eggs on my vines I pick off those I can, but what do y'all think about taking the mash (leftover leaves & oil) from a Plantain + Olive Oil infusion and wrapping that around the stems? Might it smother the eggs before or during the hatch, plus prevent mom from getting back on the vine to lay again?

BTW, A HUGE Thank You for the Plantain links/discussion awhile back, that is one incredible weed!