The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[hoosiercheetah]

hi i want to start selling eggs I have my chickens {6} in the huge barnyard by my barn my dad said I can build a bigger coup in our barn by the barnyard size is no issue by the way I can grow my on feed and bail hay to but anyway how many chickens should I get to turn a profit I may have to buy feed as last resort if I run out of corn also I want to get golden comets

It depends on a lot of things. How many eggs do you plan to eat yourself? Do you feed your chickens, or do they totally free-range? Do you plan to take them to the vet when sick, or cull them? Feed is the biggest expense, and some chickens do better at finding there own food. I don't have direct experience with them, but Red Rangers are supposed to be good foragers, and I've heard that Welsummers are also. If you keep your feed costs down, selling eggs for profit is easier.

ETA There's also a reason the big egg farms use Leghorns. Might be worth looking into. ;-)

 

[LindaB220]

hi i want to start selling eggs I have my chickens {6} in the huge barnyard by my barn my dad said I can build a bigger coup in our barn by the barnyard size is no issue by the way I can grow my on feed and bail hay to but anyway how many chickens should I get to turn a profit I may have to buy feed as last resort if I run out of corn also I want to get golden comets

Hi Ben

I like golden comets. I have six and they just started laying this week. Tiny tiny eggs for a month or two. Try for a dozen at first and go from there. Everybody has to start somewhere. If you can get your grain you will be set for a while. Figure 6 months to get laying large eggs. Then start selling. Good luck Linda

 

[lalaland]

I picked up some new babies today...6 ameraucana chicks that are 3-4 days old. Let's start them off right! What do I do?
I'm giving them fermented feed. What else can I do at this age to encourage strong immune systems?
Yogurt? Garlic? ACV? How much and how often?
And how can I protect them from cocci? I have read that some people mix a little adult poo into the litter.

I would add a plug of sod from your chicken yard to the brooder. Let them pick at it, etc. They will eat the dirt, don't be alarmed. It will last maybe a day or two before you need to dig a new one up and replace the old one in the same hole it was dug from. This is assuming you don't use poisons on your lawn!

every few days or once a week, add yogurt to their feed. Don't use the sugared fruit kind, go for the plain and make sure it has the live cultures in it. Start out with a little and you'll get a feel for how much they will want.

Some people give acv continuously with the water. I don't. Maybe once a week or so. I also don't add much, if I can smell the vinegar in the water, in my opinion it is too strong. I add a glug in a gallon....I know that isn't exact.

In summer, a cut clove of garlic in the water helps keep the algae down. I don't feed garlic often, I use it more if they are stressed.

good luck. and where are the pics?

 

[misbhaven]

I am about to have freezer hens for months i have had 3 first time moms go broody, I break them they wait a week then back at it..they finally hatched a live chick which they shoved out of the nest ..i went out to lock chickens up heard the crying went in the coop poor chick was running in circles crying for a mom tryed to put it back they pecked at it so brought it in..they killed some earlier this summer...crazy chickens...the real craziness is they are all pretty close 2 like to share a nest box the third is down a little further and stole eggs from the other two (they are sharing a milk crate the other is right beside them)..so that chick hatched alone under two broodies i know they only had 4 -5 eggs i moved them off to find the stinky one a few days ago. an the other one now has 5 and had none I could tell some of them were not new eggs...i lifted her trying to get her to go out and free range earlier in the day...crazy birds

 

[Phoenixxx]

What is everyone's thoughts on disease?

I had something go through my flock about a week ago that caused gurgled/raspy breath and watery/goopy eyes. Everyone survived and recovered except for the week-olds who just weren't big and strong enough to fight it.

I had posted a thread asking for advice etc, and one person told me to either wipe everyone out and start anew or, at the very least, not sell any birds or even hatching eggs!

Now, it seems to me that having my birds be sick and breeding all the healthy, strong ones is a GOOD thing - after all, we WANT disease-resistant birds, yeah? And the fact that they may now be carriers of something does not necessarily mean they will pass it on. I mean, even people are carriers of all kinds of different things, but you don't see 100% of the human population sick with herpes. And even if my birds had been vaccinated since the very beginning, that doesn't guarantee that they can't still catch and pass on whatever they're vaccinated against; it simply means they won't get full-blown symptoms if they do catch whatever.

So, being that we're here about the natural ways of doing things, what do you all think?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:

I do not know since chickens change all the time. It is never cut and dry. I would say my males introduce the young into the pack an protect them from juveniles. I have never had adult birds bother chicks except other mothers attacking chicks that get to close to her own chicks unless they are co-brooding. Some of my mothers are mental when they have baby's.

Thanks again for the input from everyone.

It sounds like some experience it as a breed issue; others as a particular bird issue.

@Kassaundra
I don't have a naked roo...so I can't use that method.

But I am wondering if if you could at least give that boy a shirt or something. (I think his name should have been "Adam"....as long as he hasn't eaten any fruit... )

 

[Leahs Mom]

What is everyone's thoughts on disease?

I had something go through my flock about a week ago that caused gurgled/raspy breath and watery/goopy eyes. Everyone survived and recovered except for the week-olds who just weren't big and strong enough to fight it.

I had posted a thread asking for advice etc, and one person told me to either wipe everyone out and start anew or, at the very least, not sell any birds or even hatching eggs!

Now, it seems to me that having my birds be sick and breeding all the healthy, strong ones is a GOOD thing - after all, we WANT disease-resistant birds, yeah? And the fact that they may now be carriers of something does not necessarily mean they will pass it on. I mean, even people are carriers of all kinds of different things, but you don't see 100% of the human population sick with herpes. And even if my birds had been vaccinated since the very beginning, that doesn't guarantee that they can't still catch and pass on whatever they're vaccinated against; it simply means they won't get full-blown symptoms if they do catch whatever.

So, being that we're here about the natural ways of doing things, what do you all think?

I will be interested to see what others think on this one too. It also seems that immunities would be passed to future generations but I always hear of people totally depopulating and starting over. But there are some diseases that remain in the soil pretty much indefinitely.

How do you think your birds got sick? Did you introduce new birds without quarantine? Go to a show or fair or around other chickens and bring something home? Wild birds? Just curious.

 

[Phoenixxx]

I will be interested to see what others think on this one too.  It also seems that immunities would be passed to future generations but I always hear of people totally depopulating and starting over.  But there are some diseases that remain in the soil pretty much indefinitely.

How do you think your birds got sick?  Did you introduce new birds without quarantine?  Go to a show or fair or around other chickens and bring something home?  Wild birds?  Just curious. 

No clue, to be honest. But being that I started with "used" birds and just added and changed the flock with birds from various sources it could be anything. The ones that got sick first were the teenagers, followed by a couple of the 6-week-olds. 2 grownups never got symptoms but the other 2 got a touch of the rough breathing but only for a couple days. Of the younger group, only 3 really got ill and the other 9 didn't get sick at all; of the teens, about half got sick, the other half were fine.

I also wonder if it could've been something that got blown in with Arthur - that storm brought blight to potatoes (according to a news article I read and according to my dead potato plants) so it could have brought this as well.

Since I began chicken-keeping a couple years ago, I've had birds develop coughs and sneezes - mostly in winter - but the watery, goopy eyes was definitely new.

 

[Phoenixxx]

I will be interested to see what others think on this one too.  It also seems that immunities would be passed to future generations but I always hear of people totally depopulating and starting over.  But there are some diseases that remain in the soil pretty much indefinitely.

How do you think your birds got sick?  Did you introduce new birds without quarantine?  Go to a show or fair or around other chickens and bring something home?  Wild birds?  Just curious. 

Oh yeah, and I never quarantine. By the time I found out that you're supposed to, I'd already made a few "toss 'em right in" additions. I think the longest quarantine period was overnight in the back of my truck 'cause it was late and the birds were already asleep

As for new additions: the most recent addition was back in january or february. All the chicks I'm raising are from what's left of my own chickens (bad year with foxes and dogs - went from 16 down to 4 in about a month.)

 

[Kassaundra]

Thanks again for the input from everyone.

It sounds like some experience it as a breed issue; others as a particular bird issue.

@Kassaundra
I don't have a naked roo...so I can't use that method.

But I am wondering if if you could at least give that boy a shirt or something. (I think his name should have been "Adam"....as long as he hasn't eaten any fruit... )

Adam would have been a good name too. I named him Rudy after that football player who beat all odds to get to play. I had incubator issues w/ his hatch and he had many health issues related to the incubator issues, he shrink wrapped before ready to hatch so had to be assisted about 12 hours before he was actually ready, had a huge abd. hernia, extremely weak and splayed legs, feet issues. He was all bandaged up for the first week or so w/ tape shoes, leg hobbles, over alls made out of vet tape (for the hernia). Put cotton balls in a cup and tape across the top to help keep him upright while he gained strength and balance. Then had to be re introduced to his hatchmates.