The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

Big girls are not impressed with the first snow. To bad their food on other side of snow where I shoveled

The babies were under the lean to. Apparently they don't mind the snow from the foot prints I saw around the yard. Guess I need to get the heated dog dishes out and everything plugged in for winter

Either that or the older girls chased them outside.

That's what I hated last year; the older wouldn't let the younger come inside.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote:
without reading back too far, I'll say:
First think about what you want to see on a daily basis and what you want to put into it. Hatching is not for everyone so if you are not into hatching, then maybe you try a varied flock and add new hens every year with 1 or 2 being your favorite breed so you never run out of your favorite hens. But adding new hens every year also makes a need to cull hens every year typically.
If you like hatching or using broodies then having a varied flock without mutts is a bit more difficult but doable if you have different pens for breeding season or only hatch out your favorite breed and only have that breed of roosters.

 

[armorfirelady]

Big girls are not impressed with the first snow. To bad their food on other side of snow where I shoveled The babies were under the lean to. Apparently they don't mind the snow from the foot prints I saw around the yard. Guess I need to get the heated dog dishes out and everything plugged in for winter :/

Either that or the older girls chased them outside. That's what I hated last year; the older wouldn't let the younger come inside.

Why I dont doubt Stella would chase the babies outside I do know that they can hold their ground. Last week I came home to the old girls in the coop and the babies in that doorway that was in the snow pic. I'm guessing a hawk was nearby and everyone went in the coop. The fact the babies were in the entry way still means Stella left them alone there and they held their ground. That entranceway will be open to the coop all winter. That opening has a door on it I can shut and latch for the winter & it gives them a little more floor space for winters days, Saturday I plan on taking down the electric netting and moving the pop door to the north side so they can use the garden & the old run for winter.

Now that I think about it, I haven't read much about long-term flock planning and management. I'll have to look for some articles. Does anyone want to share their methods?

I think that people like @aoxa and @delisha and @SallyinIndiana and @MumsyII and @ki4got would all be helpful in answering that. And some others that I'm not thinking of at this minute. I'm hoping some of them will comment on this! @hoosiercheetah Have you read Harvey Ussery's book? It's worth buying. He has a lot of the articles here that are very interesting: http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Poultry.html Scroll down the bottom of the page for the articles list.

without reading back too far, I'll say: First think about what you want to see on a daily basis and what you want to put into it. Hatching is not for everyone so if you are not into hatching, then maybe you try a varied flock and add new hens every year with 1 or 2 being your favorite breed so you never run out of your favorite hens. But adding new hens every year also makes a need to cull hens every year typically. If you like hatching or using broodies then having a varied flock without mutts is a bit more difficult but doable if you have different pens for breeding season or only hatch out your favorite breed and only have that breed of roosters.

Or like me you are only allowed by law to have so many hens. I think a good broody or two and fertilized eggs from someone you know is the way to go. All I had to was watch the eggs hatch My plan is to get chicks every couple years to replace the older hens when they stop laying.

 

[armorfirelady]

@Leahs m
I'm curious how your glass jar does. I purchased a 2 gallon galvanized waterer and a heated bottom plate (who's name escapes me now) to keep the water unfrozen. I'm going to use glass bowl in the heated dog bowl. If I can find 4 that fit the dishes then we can take a bowl full out and just pull the empty bowl

 

[Leahs Mom]

Yah...that's what I was thinking by putting the glass in there. I can just put a clean one in when it needs cleaning.

The ladies are pretty clean with their water so far but the boys (who are still in the garage) have a very messy water bowl. Not shavings - but food. They get it all over their beaks then drink and it gets in the water.

 

[armorfirelady]

Yah...that's what I was thinking by putting the glass in there.  I can just put a clean one in when it needs cleaning.

The ladies are pretty clean with their water so far but the boys (who are still in the garage) have a very messy water bowl.  Not shavings - but food.  They get it all over their beaks then drink and it gets in the water.

Sounds about right for males

My son walks by the dishwasher to put his cereal bowl in the sink

 

[chicalot]

I think I said before I'm so not ready for winter! It's finally happened that I have to separate my 2 flocks (layers and silkies) slim, the leghorn established dominance yesterday. He took Fred, the silkie, to the ground twice and gave him a wooping. I was hoping they would hold off a few weeks until Wilma's eggs hatched and the chics matured some. I wanted them in the second coop alone. But fred was definitely cowering this morning and tonight wasn't allowed on the roost. He was under the nest boxes with the little ones. So we put Fred and some of his kids in the new coop. I'm thinking of just putting wilma and the new chics in with them when they hatch. Is it wrong to leave them in the coop without extra special care, especially a new coop.can mama handle the cold and others in the coop. I should have broke her instead of chics in November.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I think that the chicks will probably be fine in the new coop. You'll have to really watch Fred and the youngsters while the new chicks are very small. If it were me, I'd separate a small area for the mom and new chicks where the others could see them but not get to them...but that's just me. I might be a little bit over protective. As long as they have nice dry and warm bedding and are protected from drafts, they should be ok.

If you move the mama with her nest she is using you'll want to make sure the new hatched chicks can get into it. I lost two chicks in one day early last winter because they couldn't get back into the nest with their mama. It was only a 2" lip and I even had some ramps set up for them but they had gotten underneath the ramps and died of cold. Sad day.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

First think about what you want to see on a daily basis and what you want to put into it. Hatching is not for everyone so if you are not into hatching, then maybe you try a varied flock and add new hens every year with 1 or 2 being your favorite breed so you never run out of your favorite hens. But adding new hens every year also makes a need to cull hens every year typically.

That sounds like me. I have no desire to hatch anything.

I think my plan is to keep my laying flock at 12 hens... that's really all I can support with the space I have anyway. At that level, I can keep an eye on who's laying what, and watch them for slowdown. I guess I need to decide what is acceptable egg output. Right now I'm averaging 6 a day from 7 hens, so I might be a little spoiled. I've been getting the feeling that I shouldn't expect them to maintain this level, unless I want to rotate hens in and out of the flock every year. I don't really want to do that, either.

I think I'm looking for middle ground between output and longevity, within the constraints of preference.

Isn't everyone, though?

 

[sunflower4you]

Agreed. I don't really want to bring in new chicks every year. Some people I know that keep a small flock (12-15 hens) get chicks every 2 years. Once the new batch are laying, they cull the entire old flock. They have the flexibility of a coop that they can put a screen down the middle to keep the two flocks separate for a period of time. I don't really have that luxury. I would like to keep my birds for at least a few years. Adding new birds to the existing sounds stressful.