The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[jtn42248]

When I was just a boy (mid-50's) I lived with my grandparents on their farm. We had chickens (lots of them) pigs, cows and various waterfowl. One of my jobs was to clean the chicken coop EVERYDAY! That involved clean out the run, cleaning out the coop itself and making sure there was no chicken poop in the nesting boxes. I also had to wash the pigs daily, milk two of the cows by hand, feed the other birds and do other general chores about the place. All this was done in the early a.m., usually before breakfast and school and more in the afternoon when I got home from school and before dinner and homework. This was not work. It was just the responsibilities of everyday life on the farm in those days. And, it was all something that I returned to in retirement today.

We never had an outbreak of bird borne disease or problems with pork when we butchered our pigs.

I do not doubt that there are serious issues with bird diseases these days. I read about them almost monthly some place or another. A lot seems to be imported with poultry from countries that have different standards than we do. And, while I respect the work that the CDC does I suspect that very few people have the funds or resources to live the sterile life that they would have us live.

Basic and proper sanitation in and around your animals will deal with almost anything in my experience.

 

[lalaland]

hey now, thats interesting. so your grandparents had you clean the run out every day - what, was that raking it out? and cleaning the coop - removing the droppings daily? do you remember the run being pretty full of chickens, or half empty?

 

[COChix]

@lalaland - on the CDC guy, guess it just goes to show you that you cannot always believe the so called experts. That is how mis information gets started.

 

[mlowen]

What is the general consensus with poop boards and deep litter?  For myself, I used a poop board in the summer, but not winter.

Question to all that use deep litter, do you remove the poop daily with a poop board?  Or do you just keep mixing it in?

Most of the reason I keep chickens is for fertilizer for my little garden, so I want poop. And less work is better, so no poop boards. I do deep litter...leaves from my yard almost exclusively. I toss scratch all around and for sure under the roost, they turn the litter for me. I bagged up leaves and put them under cover. I add a bag or two when the floor looks more like dirt than leaves. My coop/run is dirt over 1/2 inch hardware cloth and the leaves over the dirt. I throw greens and scraps in, too, from time to time.

 

[mlowen]

I'm curious because I get nagged when I leave mine out over night.
How long can you leave them on the counter? Is there a temp you expect them to stay at? I'm just curious.

There was an experiment done by, I belive, Mother Earth News. They left eggs out and opened a few over time and tested them. If I'm remembering right, you can leave eggs unrefridgerated for 6 weeks or more. If you google it, you should be able to find the article.

 

[mlowen]

On the salmonella... IT IS EVERYWHERE.  Even on you.

I'd bet on my eggs any day.  We eat them raw - even my elderly dad has them raw on occasion.  And they usually stay right on the kitchen counter unless I'm selling them - then they go in the fridge.

I made mayonnaise with one of my own raw eggs last week. Delicious. I would not do that with any store-bought egg. I just don't trust that they aren't infected and/or otherwise compromised.

I'm very relaxed about dirt and "germs." I almost never get sick. My godmother said: "You got to eat a peck of dirt before you'll grow up."

 

[COChix]

There was an experiment done by, I belive, Mother Earth News. They left eggs out and opened a few over time and tested them. If I'm remembering right, you can leave eggs unrefridgerated for 6 weeks or more. If you google it, you should be able to find the article.

Yes it was a Mother Earth and I read that article it was very interesting. Some they packed in salt, some in sand, some with lard and other ways as well. All old methods and then they published the results.

I read somewhere that most eggs in the store are anywhere from 4-6 weeks old. On top of that they are either bleached or sprayed with formaldehyde gas as sterilizers. No thanks, I will keep my eggs instead, the never washed sitting on the counter for weeks eggs. but that is just me.

 

[Leahs Mom]

You also will find a hard time getting eggs anymore that aren't "pasteurized". Meaning: irradiated. They are even advertising them that way in beautiful ads with little children and a "responsible" mom looking thankful that the eggs are pasteurized to protect her children. (Yes...in the shell...most of what you get in the grocery is irradiated and I'm not sure if you can even get grocery eggs that aren't.)

It may well be a good idea if you're getting eggs from the unhealthy, confined, CAFO operations.

If I didn't have my chickens, I'd be buying eggs directly from one of several small, local folks that still let their chickens be chickens.


Interesting story:
There is a huge CAFO egg operation in our area that sells eggs in most the groceries around our area. They also sell birds for meat. They are a huge operation.

One of our friends (a caregiver for my dad) knows the family that owns it and one day he was at their place. He saw a little chicken shed and some chickens running around their yard. He asked them why he had those chickens since he had the big egg operation. The guy told him that those chickens were for the eggs HIS FAMILY eats.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I cannot even imagine trying to live in a sterile little bubble like that! Ugh! No thanks. My immune system works pretty well.

 

[potagergirl]

Check her tonight to be sure she stays on them. If she is dedicated: stays on them both day and night, it sounds like she's committed to the task. So, the new eggs will be arriving after she's been sitting for about 5 days? You'll want to let them set for 24 hours to settle before popping them under her. Do you have an incubator? Can you get hold of one? The most important thing is to keep the rest of the flock from sneaking more eggs into her nest. If I was faced with this dilemma, this is what I'd do: I'd let her set those eggs until the new ones arrive. Then I'd let those new ones rest at room temp, undisturbed for 24 hours. Then: If I didn't have an incubator, I'd remove the old eggs, and slip in the new eggs. The problem with letting her have both the old and the new is that when the old eggs hatch, she'll abandon the nest with the new eggs which are 5 days younger. But, if you had an incubator, you could let her sit on the old eggs until the new ones come in, then swap them out... or not. You could incubate one batch while she sets on the other one. It would be a stretch, but I would be hopeful that when the bator eggs hatch, they could be popped under her to join the first batch... or held until her eggs hatch, then popped under her. Chances are that some of her eggs won't hatch. Shipped eggs have a poorer hatch rate. So, if she accepted both batches of chicks, you'd have a nice big clutch of chicks. Some folks would let her sit on the old eggs until the new eggs come in, then just toss the old eggs. Somehow, I'd have a hard time reconciling myself to doing it that way.

Thank you for all the info lazy gardener I appreciate all the help. Yes I do have an incubator and it is a great idea to put the eggs in it after the shipped ones arrive. So, I will put the old eggs in the incubator after letting the shipped eggs rest 24 hours. then I will mark the shipped eggs and put them under her at the same time I take the old eggs out. I'll get the incubator turned on in the morning so it's ready to go no matter the day it happens.
I've another question: is it easy to move her at night to a safer area where the other chickens won't disturb her? I ask because hubby purchased a small hen house for me and I have it in my greenhouse. My plan all along has been to use it for a brooder house I hope to only have at most 2 hens brooding at the same time. I was a little surprised this girl chose now to go broody. I figured I would have the shipped eggs in the incubator in case someone did go broody over the next month. I think the temps jumping up triggered her or she's just being the Cochin hen she was meant to be.