The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Jewelwing]

If you put those babies under the mamma... be sure it is totally dark night. (And remove all the other eggs.) Then get up early in the morning before dawn and be out there to watch to be sure she accepts them. If she doesn't, she will kill them.

I was going to do all that, but I do need a flashlight to see what I'm doing, right? Or should I do it by feel so the light isn't a problem?

I was also considering just putting two or three under her the first night to see how she does, and then put the rest under her the next night. Do you think that would be better than putting all eight under her in one go?

 

[Leahs Mom]

I'd do it all at once.... as low a light as you can just enough to see what you're doing. (Reason I'd do it all at one time is that if she is going to accept them, they'll all be "in". Others coming later may not be accepted. Of course, each broody is so different! I know one gal that kept giving hers new chicks over a long period of time and she had a huge brood of various ages. I've only heard of one person that did that successfully, but it all depends on the attitude of the mamma! And if momma ain't happy, ain't no one happy

)

I feed my whole flock the same feed. I just give extra protein to the babies and put a calcium source out free- feed for the adults.

The mamma is going to want to move her brood away from where she was setting. Sometimes just to a corner across the room, but she won't want to stay in the place she's been in. I'm guessing that is an instinct to avoid predators if she was in the wild...perhaps moving away from the strong scent of a new hatch, not sure. If you have 6 ft. in there that should be plenty for her to move wherever she wants.

 

[Jewelwing]

I'd do it all at once.... as low a light as you can just enough to see what you're doing.

I feed my whole flock the same feed. I just give extra protein to the babies and put a calcium source out free- feed for the adults.

The mamma is going to want to move her brood away from where she was setting. If you have 6 ft. in there that should be plenty for her to move wherever she wants.

Great, I'll do all eight tonight then!

Yes on feeding the whole flock the same feed. The question is whether grower feed will be fine or if I should get some starter feed because the chicks are so young. I'm sure the adult hens will eat whatever I feed them. I have a 50 lb bag of organic grower feed that I ferment to feed the adults, and they have calcium on the side (crushed egg shells plus oyster shell if they run out of egg shells). So I was hoping that it will be okay to feed the chicks that as well, but this morning I got to thinking that maybe the chicks will need starter feed instead. If so, I'll switch everyone over to starter, but I'd rather just use the grower I have if it'll work.

I'm glad to hear that the space the broody is in should be big enough for them all for a few days!

Thanks!!!

 

[Lacy Blues]

I put chicks under a mamma that had only hatched 1 baby when the original hatch was 1 day old. In the morning the mamma got up and treated them all as her own with no problem. But I have heard that other mammas have rejected chicks. It will all depend on your particular girl. Getting them under her in the dark with as much time as possible for them to be under her before morning light as possible will give more them for them to take on a familiar smell.

Something that was really strange last year and this is the only time it's ever happened to me... I had a broody. Two years ago she was great, sat the eggs well and when the chicks hatched she was one fierce mama! Last year, she brooded again and this time when the eggs hatched she went to killing the chicks. I had to rescue them from her and tossed her out on her ear. This year she is brooding again. She has less than a week to go so I will be watching like a hawk come hatch time!

Great, I'll do all eight tonight then!

Yes on feeding the whole flock the same feed. The question is whether grower feed will be fine or if I should get some starter feed because the chicks are so young. I'm sure the adult hens will eat whatever I feed them. I have a 50 lb bag of organic grower feed that I ferment to feed the adults, and they have calcium on the side (crushed egg shells plus oyster shell if they run out of egg shells). So I was hoping that it will be okay to feed the chicks that as well, but this morning I got to thinking that maybe the chicks will need starter feed instead. If so, I'll switch everyone over to starter, but I'd rather just use the grower I have if it'll work.

I'm glad to hear that the space the broody is in should be big enough for them all for a few days!

Thanks!!!

If the feed you're fermenting is a pelleted feed, you should have no problems at all feeding it to your chicks.

I use a grower feed mixed with another flock feed to get the protein to about 22%. Sometimes chicks will not want to eat the wet fermented feed. What I do is give it to them anyway (it isn't soupy wet, but holds together well) and sprinkle dry feed over the top. This will dry up any excess moisture and they seem to be more comfortable with that. However, with that stated, this year's hatchlings have done very well with the fermented feed. I haven't had to sprinkle dry over the top at all. To get them to start eating after hatch when they're standing around crying or biting each other's feet because the pecking instinct is so strong... they know what to do but not what will satisfy what is driving their behavior.... I'll take some of the fermented feed off my big scoop I use to dole out my ff (when I have chicks, I allow a little food to dry on the scoop) I'll take this and rub it between my hands and let it rain down on them and they'll start eating those right away. The next time, I focus the rain very close to the feeder... just so they get it. And they do.

 

[EastNashChick]

I

I didn't say anything about their opinion, I said to not make assumptions about the birds as they do not know me or know know my set up.

Here is our set up for 2 ducks, 6 egg laying pullets, and friends 6 meat birds:

they have the coop to roost/sleep in,  good run that is enclosed they are turned out into during the day if we aren't going to be around, and yes they free range when we are home they have 2 acres of yard and 5 of pasture they get to forage in

coop is cleaned and sanitized daily when they are turned out and closed up until they roost for the night unless it's really nasty weather
waters are all cleaned out and fresh water put back in
run is cleaned out
waters in run is cleaned and fresh water put back in

feed is available but they aren't using a whole lot of that.

Anything else I am missing?

Eats I have egg layers BR, RIR but my friend added in 6 cornish crosses

I was more interested in the habits of your birds and behaviorial traits of the Cornish Crosses than your setup. But thanks for the info and the all caps correction that "keeping people's opinion to themselves' somehow means you weren't 'commenting on others opinions. '

I was to direct the conversation to constructive commentary on meat breeds and not nitpicking posts incorrectly. If anyone (else) has opinions on these breeds I welcome them to comment. Thanks again slordaz.

 

[JulesChicks]

I would wait to add a sod plug, just because of how the chicks are acting. It just sounds to me like the chick is tired and doesn't want to let its guard down in a new place so will stand there trying to stay awake but falling asleep... much like a child who refuses to take a nap.

A day or two to wait won't hurt anything.

Not totally caught up yet but...

Sounds like this "could be" a vitamin B deficiency or Vitamin E.

Natural route: Get some good liver, chop into tiny pieces or grind and feed raw. Another alternative: Brewers yeast.

Synthetic Route: Either poultry nutridrench (usually can find at Tractor Supply) or Poly-vi-sol children's vitamins liquid NO EXTRA IRON in the waterer...this can be found an almost any store that sells baby food.




I put the sod in about a week but you can do earlier if you want.

Thanks slordaz, Lacy and LM for the feedback. The breeder puts his chicks on Rooster Booster, I will have to look it up and see what the ingredients are. I have Nutri Drench I can give them today. I am only making up a small amount at time of water with probiotic and electrolyte powder (like a quart), can I add the ND to that? I don't have liver or brewer's yeast but I can try to find it when I go grocery shopping later. I do have molasses. Maybe I could put a little molasses in their water or fermented feed (providing they eat it)? And to your point Lacy Blues, the chick in question seemed normal today so you may be right. It was like he/she was standing there falling asleep and kept doing these strange neck moves to stay awake. I did put a small piece of sod in there before reading your comment. If any strange behavior continues I'll remove it immediately.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Lacy Blues]

If you choose to use molasses, use very very little of it. It is used as a "flush" generally, to remove toxins from the body so you don't want much of it on any kind of a regular basis.

I used to add wet cob (corn, oats, barley with molasses) to my birds' feed in small amounts as I figured if it was used for toxin removal then it wouldn't hurt to use just a little bit but that was for my adult birds. I don't know that I would use it on chicks at all. Give them a little time to adjust to a wet feed. You could also crumble some hard-boiled egg yolk around for them to eat.

 

[Jewelwing]

If the feed you're fermenting is a pelleted feed, you should have no problems at all feeding it to your chicks.

I'll take some of the fermented feed off my big scoop I use to dole out my ff (when I have chicks, I allow a little food to dry on the scoop) I'll take this and rub it between my hands and let it rain down on them and they'll start eating those right away. The next time, I focus the rain very close to the feeder... just so they get it. And they do.

My food isn't pelleted. It's Countryside Organics, which is a mix of grains & fish meal & a vitamin powder, I think. Anyway, it's got lots of chunks of stuff in it. I just took some of the already fermented stuff & whirled it in the food processor and it's kind of like a paste with chunks in it now.

I just picked up my new chicks from the post office, & they're all wanting to eat! But they didn't seem to like the ff in their tray, so I crumbled up some scrambled egg that my daughter didn't want this morning on top of it, and of course they LOVED that. I'm hoping once that gets all picked out they'll start eating the ff it's mixed in with.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Leahs Mom]

I wouldn't feed molasis to the babies. Like LB said, it would be more conducive to a different issue.

Your Countryside will have a good pre-mix in it for the minerals. Just be sure to get those b vitamins (thiamin riboflavin niacin) in. Very important on the neck/leg issues along w/vitamin e. I think I'd just stick to the vitamins right now.

 

[Leahs Mom]

PS: My feed is similar to the countryside. I just grind it a bit smaller for the babies.

If the mamma takes them, she'll teach them where it is and she may even break up the bigger pieces for them. Love watching a mamma take care of the babies!