The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

What a cool idea. I think that's the best chicken tractor ever. It def would be predator proof with hardware cloth on it. Great find !!

Its a January thaw, 35F and sunny! lucky me, due to a fluke I'm home from work today. Did a little coop cleaning - put fresh hay down. Found a nest of 8 eggs, looks like two more pullets have been laying in it. Wonder who?

Flock was busy scratching in the hay under the trailer and in the sun porch - had 6 chickens crowded in there, tons of dustbathing going on everywhere....opened the coop door to let the sun in and it didn't take long:


The front two are hatchery girls from the family that didn't want to keep their chicks this winter. The middle one is a mutt hatch from my broody last spring, and so is the one in the back. All sleeping in the sun.

Glad to hear to hear you thawed up some there. I love the sleeping hens. My girls also love sun baths

 

[potagergirl]

Aw he's cute......my hubby says guineas are too loud

But I have enough chickens to keep me happy. I don't notice the rooster much so I doubt guineas would bother me.

I'm told male guineas are very loud compared to females. We happen to have started with 15 guineas and would still have them if they had not started hurting the chickens. We kept 2 and it turns
out one is male and one female. The female has like a chortle sound while the male has a very loud "come back" sound others say it sounds like "buck wheat".
I'm also told that once they turn a year old they do not make as much noise. Ours will not be a year until June/July. They have loud moments but I wouldn't say it is constant or worth getting rid of them.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I would.

I had chickens and had heard how loud guineas are and I thought... "how bad can it be, I mean really!". I tried them. There is no way I would do that again. I've heard that they get better at a year old too but I couldn't stand them that long.

They laid eggs everywhere except in the coop and as they got older, they wanted to roost on the coop instead of in it. Mine didn't bother the chickens at all until I got rid of more than half of them. I think I had a dozen.

Anyway, if you are at all sensitive to noise, do yourself a favor and don't get them.

If I was ever going to get more guineas, it would be this kind...

vulturine guinea fowl. Apparently they are very quiet and they sure are pretty!

 

[lalaland]

shan, I hope were able to find some treatment for botuluism for your rooster. I know there are some out there, just can't remember what they were. Keeping my fingers crossed for you

 

[COChix]

I think hatching eggs in class is a great lesson for the kids. So many people have no idea about chickens and how they reproduce and etc.

I agree, I have offered to provide a Q & A to the kindergarten classes regarding chickens and eggs.

If I were donating hatching eggs, and yes, I think it's a wonderful opportunity for teaching, I'd want to be sure there were some things in place first:  like a plan for the hatchlings.  And that would have to be a good plan, not just to hand those chicks out to the students like a sack of candy.  And, who would be responsible for any chicks hatched with obvious defects.  My first poultry experience was from hatching eggs in my 6th grade classroom.  I donated the eggs, and took the resulting 4 bantams home.  (100% hatch, I might add!)

The chicken hatched will go to a farm, I have asked for clarification of what type of farm. I'm not overly concerned about giving them eggs. I am ok if they don't all hatch, as ours are a barnyard mix.

Don't know if anyone will remember mentioning how wet my DL is and that I thought one of my young polish cockerels may have botulism.

Now I'm torn wondering if I should just clean out the entire coop in case any beetles remain or not. I haven't seen any since I got rid of the dead little bird (so nasty) and I'm also uncertain as to what to do for this guy. I generally figure if they want to eat they have will to live left but he really is in rough shape. I may be wrong with my diagnosis but it would be a heck of a coincidence. Anyone dealt with botulism? Is there anything I can do beyond supportive care? Or should I be considering culling?

Hope your man is doing a little better.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Shan, something I just remembered. I haven't looked it up yet, but I will try to do that later. Activated charcoal like what is used in fish aquariums, absorbs toxins. If you get it from a pet store, it will be pelletized and they are fairly small. No problem for a chicken to swallow. Just remember when you see black poop, its the charcoal.

 

[Shan30]

Shan, something I just remembered.  I haven't looked it up yet, but I will try to do that later.  Activated charcoal like what is used in fish aquariums, absorbs toxins.  If you get it from a pet store, it will be pelletized and they are fairly small.  No problem for a chicken to swallow.  Just remember when you see black poop, its the charcoal.

Thank you and everyone else. Unfortunately he was still in really rough shape this morning but still hungry so I fed him eggs until he fell back asleep and then culled him. I was surprised by how upset I was but its so different culling a bird that you have been trying to save and comforting. I beleive that he may have had it beat but was too brain damaged to recover. Poor little guy, I feel aweful but he was in distress more often than he was comfortable.

So far all my other birds are doing great, laying like mad too. It's possible that it wasn't botulism and he had taken a nasty peck to the head which I have seen in polish before but the symptoms weren't quite the same.

I worked off my upset in the yard all day not coming in for breakfast until 4. It's freakishly warm here right now and everything is confused. I have three broodies I need to break, daffodils are six inches out of the ground, the snap dragons are coming up and I found a patch of pansies actually blooming. I have to keep reminding myself that its January and winter will definitely rear her head again before its over. Either way it way it was nice to have garden therapy and the flock enjoyed all the dandilions and bugs I was throwing to them.

 

[potagergirl]

Sad to hear about your rooster.
I agree with garden therapy. I spent the day working on all things garden when my roo past. It kept my mind busy planning and my body busy
working in the greenhouse.

 

[debbiegt]

Shan, something I just remembered.  I haven't looked it up yet, but I will try to do that later.  Activated charcoal like what is used in fish aquariums, absorbs toxins.  If you get it from a pet store, it will be pelletized and they are fairly small.  No problem for a chicken to swallow.  Just remember when you see black poop, its the charcoal.

I was just reading a post about this and the lady recommended crushing it and making a slurry and she fed it with a syringe

 

[COChix]

Thank you and everyone else. Unfortunately he was still in really rough shape this morning but still hungry so I fed him eggs until he fell back asleep and then culled him. I was surprised by how upset I was but its so different culling a bird that you have been trying to save and comforting. I beleive that he may have had it beat but was too brain damaged to recover. Poor little guy, I feel aweful but he was in distress more often than he was comfortable.

So far all my other birds are doing great, laying like mad too. It's possible that it wasn't botulism and he had taken a nasty peck to the head which I have seen in polish before but the symptoms weren't quite the same.

I worked off my upset in the yard all day not coming in for breakfast until 4. It's freakishly warm here right now and everything is confused. I have three broodies I need to break, daffodils are six inches out of the ground, the snap dragons are coming up and I found a patch of pansies actually blooming. I have to keep reminding myself that its January and winter will definitely rear her head again before its over. Either way it way it was nice to have garden therapy and the flock enjoyed all the dandilions and bugs I was throwing to them.

Shan sorry about your roo, but at least he is no longer suffering. Sorry for your loss, it is never easy.