The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

@Leahs Mom I sort of got a pic of Stella the other day. Well a rear view but you can see what I mean about her feathers. The black on her bum is new feathers coming in. It's now totally black. Her neck and top of head where feathers were picked off last spring have finally grew back in also. I'm hoping after her molt she starts laying normally again.

And more good news......I changed out the pop door motor and it works again!!! And the babies roosted in the coop by themselves tonight

And then I decided to put the door back on the old coop that I use as a cover over the pop door. I had to flip it over so I can use it when the herb boxes are in place. But at least this way if I need to keep the hens in the coop I can just close this door.

And if anyone decided to put grommets on their plastic or anything use a drill bit that's the same size as the grommet cutter. Much easier & faster. I got half the coops plastic/ billboard done in grommets in half an hour!!!

 

[lazy gardener]

Wonderful idea. thanks for the tip!!!!

 

[hoosiercheetah]

I buy feed in large amounts because it's cheaper. I'm only feed normally 8 hens so i dont use a ton of feed. I mix together the grains to make a 50# batch at a time. All the feed is stored in heavy duty totes in my garage. I've never had a problem with the grains going bad. And the tight lids ensure critters won't get in their either. I store the mixed up grains in a tote that has a hinged lid on the front so I can easily fill my container without having to move tubs to get to it. The extra grains after making batches are stored in their bags in heavy duty totes I can stack easily

Thank you for the link!

Do you grind the grain before you feed it to the birds? Do you mind if I ask for your recipe?

 

[lalaland]

I've had a rash of broodies, right now I have 5 out of 16 adult hens who are broody. running out of places to put them. And tonight, after having had them separated in broody quarters to see if I could break them of the broodiness, some of the other hens decided they were strangers. And the rooster, believe it or not, who was hatched by one of the sulmtalers, and whose dad was culled because he Hhated sulmtaler crests.....decided to go after the sulmtalers today.

It was total chaos in the coop at roosting time. I locked the nesting boxes up and the broodies were hysterical, fighting each other to sit on the rail in front of the boxes. The other hens were harassing the broodies. the juvies were harassing the tiny chick and tiny rooster. lots of fuss, and even some blood drawn.

could it be coincidental that I hung bunches of mint, tansy, and wormwood in the coop today to dry for the winter?


also dosed everyone the past three days with molly's wormer, I've been seeing wormy poops and egg production is going down. seems a little early to slow down, but maybe molting is right around the corner?

 

[lalaland]

@Leahs Mom I sort of got a pic of Stella the other day. Well a rear view but you can see what I mean about her feathers. The black on her bum is new feathers coming in. It's now totally black. Her neck and top of head where feathers were picked off last spring have finally grew back in also. I'm hoping after her molt she starts laying normally again.


And more good news......I changed out the pop door motor and it works again!!! And the babies roosted in the coop by themselves tonight

And then I decided to put the door back on the old coop that I use as a cover over the pop door. I had to flip it over so I can use it when the herb boxes are in place. But at least this way if I need to keep the hens in the coop I can just close this door.

And if anyone decided to put grommets on their plastic or anything use a drill bit that's the same size as the grommet cutter. Much easier & faster. I got half the coops plastic/ billboard done in grommets in half an hour!!!

i'm loving that metal roof on the old coop part...

 

[armorfirelady]

[@=/u/121188/Leahs-Mom]@Leahs Mom[/@] I sort of got a pic of Stella the other day. Well a rear view but you can see what I mean about her feathers. The black on her bum is new feathers coming in. It's now totally black. Her neck and top of head where feathers were picked off last spring have finally grew back in also. I'm hoping after her molt she starts laying normally again. And more good news......I changed out the pop door motor and it works again!!! And the babies roosted in the coop by themselves tonight

And then I decided to put the door back on the old coop that I use as a cover over the pop door. I had to flip it over so I can use it when the herb boxes are in place. But at least this way if I need to keep the hens in the coop I can just close this door. And if anyone decided to put grommets on their plastic or anything use a drill bit that's the same size as the grommet cutter. Much easier

i'm loving that metal roof on the old coop part...

It's actually not metal. It's a composite material. Very light weight and this will be its 3rd winter. They have held up well. Pricey but they holding up well. And I doubt the herbs would have anything to do with everyone acting up. My girls are cranky here as well. Always pecking at the babies on the roost but the babies are staying out. I did have to move Stella to far end of roost. She is a snot with the babies. It's been very humid here the past few days and girls are warm on the roost. Especially since sides are down because I was putting rivets in them and washing them down. As for broodies I found putting them in a dog,crate so air flows all around including from the bottom, breaks them. It worked well for Lucy.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Just a quick note....death in the family and out of town last weekend so I'm going to have to get caught up later.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Curious...and don't have the time to search it out right now...

But it seems like the dry ice would possibly defeat the purpose of the fresh-ground feed. I wonder if whole seeds (grain) packaged that way would still sprout and grow? I'd think it is altogether possible since seeds winter over and sprout in future seasons. Just not sure what the chemical mix in dry ice would do to them....if it would contaminate them in any way or otherwise deter growth and/or vitamin/mineral makeup?

One time I got a bad batch of corn that had bugs. (Not grain mites...weavles??) Anyhow, I had too much of it to put in the freezer so I did a dry ice just to kill the bugs. This particular bag had a lot of broken corn in it...almost looked like "cracked corn" rather than whole. They probably grabbed the wrong bag. Anyhow, never had a bug problem before or after. But I keep my grains WHOLE not ground so that it's not getting rancid in larger batches.

@hoosiercheetah
How/where will you be storing? I used to get 300 lb. batches but I had someone to share part (maybe someone would share w/you?) I kept mine in the basement (air in summer/heat in winter) so it has a better chance of doing okay than if it were outside or in a damp place. Still, when I'm using pre-ground, I don't like to keep it around more than a month due to rancidity issues. The oils in the grains begin to deteriorate as soon as they are ground.

That being said, I still believe it is better than the bagged feeds at the farm stores that may have been sitting in storage for more than a year (not to mention the nutrient loss in the manufacturing process.)

 

[hoosiercheetah]

I wonder if whole seeds (grain) packaged that way would still sprout and grow? I'd think it is altogether possible since seeds winter over and sprout in future seasons. Just not sure what the chemical mix in dry ice would do to them....if it would contaminate them in any way or otherwise deter growth and/or vitamin/mineral makeup?

One time I got a bad batch of corn that had bugs. (Not grain mites...weavles??) Anyhow, I had too much of it to put in the freezer so I did a dry ice just to kill the bugs. This particular bag had a lot of broken corn in it...almost looked like "cracked corn" rather than whole. They probably grabbed the wrong bag. Anyhow, never had a bug problem before or after. But I keep my grains WHOLE not ground so that it's not getting rancid in larger batches.

@hoosiercheetah
How/where will you be storing? I used to get 300 lb. batches but I had someone to share part (maybe someone would share w/you?) I kept mine in the basement (air in summer/heat in winter) so it has a better chance of doing okay than if it were outside or in a damp place. Still, when I'm using pre-ground, I don't like to keep it around more than a month due to rancidity issues. The oils in the grains begin to deteriorate as soon as they are ground.

That being said, I still believe it is better than the bagged feeds at the farm stores that may have been sitting in storage for more than a year (not to mention the nutrient loss in the manufacturing process.)

https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/...ability/seed_viability_myths.htm#.VAYEyNJdWSo

According to the research, seed viability is not affected by the gasses it's stored in.

I'd be comfortable with buying 300 lbs of feed at a time, if I can store it to last until it's used. I'm planning to store in my basement in 5gal food-grade airtight buckets. I get them free at Meijer.

I'm sure I could find someone(s) in Indy to go in on bulk feed purchases, if it saves a little money (per comparable quality, of course). My main goal is to be free of soybeans/GMOs, and maybe go organic at the same time. I'd have to talk to some mills within my driving range and see who can do what for me, I suppose. Right now I have more questions than answers, I think.

 

[BlueMouse]

ok. so here's a strange chicken behavior. I have two naked neck girls, both of them jost molted and lost ALL their tailfeathers (very silly did they look indeed) anyway, one of them has started holding her tail cocked down all the time. at first Idon't think I noticed it, I thought it was just her general rumplessness from moulting, but now her new tail is definitely coming in and it's pointing down at almost a 45 degree angle instead of the normal perky upward angle. Otherwise, she seems fine, scratching, pecking, dustbathing, hanging with the rest of the flock. Do you think anything is wrong with her? She's flighty but I could nab her off the roost to inspect for injury, I can't see anything with just her normal activities for sure.