The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

If you can find information about the solar heaters you saw, could you post a link? I think folks would be interested in seeing them.

 

[islandgirl82]

Well, apparently home depot carries them now...who knew?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbrande...Solar-Thermal-Air-Heater-SIS25M1848/203972918

 

[islandgirl82]

There are a bunch of videos on youtube showing how to make your own but the comments on them are mixed yays and nays.

 

[JackE]

NEED OPINIONS ASAP

I'm sitting here wondering what I should do. My most beautifully feathered girl (hatchery) went into a very heavy molt all of a sudden and has lost ALMOST ALL FEATHERS. She has been looking miserable the last 2 days.

I put an apron on her hoping it would help keep her warmer but these temperatures are very cold to be sleeping naked.

Today when I got home she appeared to be having trouble standing upright to walk...but she did. She would be hunkered down, then get up and walk a few steps then hunker down again. I fed her raw ground meat by hand and she ate it very eagerly which was good to see because yesterday and the day before she didn't eat very much. She did eat, but not much. Today she ate quite a bit of the meat and seemed to have a better appetite than the prior 2 days.

So I'm wondering if I should bring her inside during this cold weather until she recovers from molt. This is very tricky because I don't have any area that is intermediary between indoor temps and outdoor temps. If she comes in it will be a huge temperature change and I may have trouble getting her back out and acclimated. It is supposed to be in the 40s and 50s this weekend, then drop back low again. I'm not sure that short of time would give her enough time for her to feather back out as it's only a couple days from now.

So.... Opinions....what would you do?

From what I have seen, chickens are miserable while going through a molt. They are crabby, kinda loaf around, and they don't want to be touched. Last Jan. I had on of my BOs go through a severe molt, and it was in the mid teens. She made it through, with no problem. And you know me, there was no heater, and she didn't come into the house. I have one of my GLWs, going through a severe molt right now, with the temps in the mid 20s. She is still coming outside. Every year it seems, one of my birds will look like the feathers have just exploded off of them, instead of a regular molt, where they do a section at a time. They can handle it, as they have done for centuries.

 

[Lacy Blues]

NEED OPINIONS ASAP

I'm sitting here wondering what I should do. My most beautifully feathered girl (hatchery) went into a very heavy molt all of a sudden and has lost ALMOST ALL FEATHERS. She has been looking miserable the last 2 days.

I put an apron on her hoping it would help keep her warmer but these temperatures are very cold to be sleeping naked.

Today when I got home she appeared to be having trouble standing upright to walk...but she did. She would be hunkered down, then get up and walk a few steps then hunker down again. I fed her raw ground meat by hand and she ate it very eagerly which was good to see because yesterday and the day before she didn't eat very much. She did eat, but not much. Today she ate quite a bit of the meat and seemed to have a better appetite than the prior 2 days.

So I'm wondering if I should bring her inside during this cold weather until she recovers from molt. This is very tricky because I don't have any area that is intermediary between indoor temps and outdoor temps. If she comes in it will be a huge temperature change and I may have trouble getting her back out and acclimated. It is supposed to be in the 40s and 50s this weekend, then drop back low again. I'm not sure that short of time would give her enough time for her to feather back out as it's only a couple days from now.

So.... Opinions....what would you do?

Forgot to say this part.

On the hunkering down or walking very low to the ground, we've seen that in our flock with hard molts too. Meat is the thing... so you did right.

 

[Leahs Mom]

And she got some liver this morning too

@armorfirelady
Are you alive out there?

 

[Leahs Mom]

From what I have seen, chickens are miserable while going through a molt. They are crabby, kinda loaf around, and they don't want to be touched. Last Jan. I had on of my BOs go through a severe molt, and it was in the mid teens. She made it through, with no problem. And you know me, there was no heater, and she didn't come into the house. I have one of my GLWs, going through a severe molt right now, with the temps in the mid 20s. She is still coming outside. Every year it seems, one of my birds will look like the feathers have just exploded off of them, instead of a regular molt, where they do a section at a time. They can handle it, as they have done for centuries.

I'm glad to hear your experience with this. I had 2 old BRs that molted like that last year in December that did okay. They weren't exhibiting as extreme physical symptoms as this one I have now is... but it was very cold and they had little feathers.

Seems like they should do the molting at the end of September instead of late in the season. Last year they all molted late. This year everyone except for 2 birds molted early. This girl is one of the 2 and the other has shown no signs of beginning yet. So I have another one coming, unfortunately.

 

[JackE]

Seems like they should do the molting at the end of September instead of late in the season. Last year they all molted late. This year everyone except for 2 birds molted early. This girl is one of the 2 and the other has shown no signs of beginning yet. So I have another one coming, unfortunately.

Yeah, you would think they would get this out of the way in the fall. But there's always some that go late. Maybe it's due to "GlobalWarming". (FullSarcOn) or "ClimateChange" or whatever that scam is called now.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

Maybe it's due to "GlobalWarming". (FullSarcOn) or "ClimateChange" or whatever that scam is called now.

Careful, there's worms in that can!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
I'm thinking we have the hormones so messed up by breeding for egg production and no broodiness that things are out of kilter. I notice that when my girl brooded in the late summer, she molted in conjunction with the brood. She was the most beautifully feathered bird for the whole year after that.

Oddly enough, this one that is having the issue now is the girl that brooded 2 clutches for me. First brood at 8 mos old; second one about 8 months later. The only molt she has experienced was in conjunction with the 2nd brood in Sept. 2013. She didn't brood this year and then this horrible molt. So it's almost like a "first molt" for her. She will be 3 yo in March.

And on the

There is a lot i COULD say but won't