The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[SherrieC]

Our main coop which is a converted garden shed is about 15 sqm so I could easily partition some off I think as I only have 7 girls, no roosters as even though I live in a country town I am only on about 1500-1600 sqm and I have neighbours all around and the coops are along the back fence with 2 neighbours as the block behind is split in half.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That should work good, I use a piece of hardware cloth formed into a circle, it's about 3 feet in diameter. But any thing to keep them separated but still seen by the flock, though there still might be some drama when you go to let them out, it seems like other broodies get jealous. I really enjoy watching them grow up within the flock, and it removes all the work from me.

 

[Sutremaine]

Actually I did clip BOTH wings. I never knew that would give them more lift.

If you clip both wings, they can flap harder to compensate. If you clip one, they can't compensate by flapping one wing harder than the other.

 

[mlowen]

Got my first egg from the pullets I bought from Lazy Gardener! Really pretty shade of green! Not sure the photo does it justice. They are beautiful birds, too.

 

[SherrieC]

That should work good, I use a piece of hardware cloth formed into a circle, it's about 3 feet in diameter. But any thing to keep them separated but still seen by the flock, though there still might be some drama when you go to let them out, it seems like other broodies get jealous. I really enjoy watching them grow up within the flock, and it removes all the work from me.

How long do you keep them separated for?

My wyandotte is still on the nest, she seems quite determined, I fed her today just to make sure

 

[thechickenflock]

Does anyone have success or experience with treating avian pox?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Wet or dry, I've had the dry, it runs it's course in a few weeks, looks nasty, had not had trouble with the wet type.

 

[thechickenflock]

Dry, I think.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Dry pox covers the head, wet pox is in the mouth and throat, wet is worse because they can't eat very well, the dry looks horrible, but they should recover on their own time, it is brought in by wild birds or on the wind, I think there's a vaccine, but there isn't really any treatment, you can give antibiotics, but it's just supported therapy, doesn't actually treat the pox which is a virus. They can get pretty hideous, I had it in a few turkeys over the summer, haven't seen it in my chickens.

 

[thechickenflock]

My roo has eye swelling shut from the sores , I am fairly certian that its the dry, I applied blue kote to the sores to dry them up