The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Serenashome]

Well first off, does natural mean organic? As in GMO free? I want to go organic but the shipping cost for organic feed is very high. I haven't tried the ton route but right now a $30 organic feed bag $20 shipping which is like $1 a pound.

Anyone have a way around this? Like a reasonable internet company?

I went to our local feed store that is family owned and spoke to the owner about carrying organic feed for me. He said he had looked into it but was unsure how much interest he would have. I got on facebook asked around to other chicken people in my area and encouraged them to buy organic feed at his store. He ordered two bags for us and we now have someone right down the street to get organic feed from with the added benefit of supporting our local economy. Also... no shipping charges We paid 22.50 for a 50 pound bag and the more people who purchase it there the more our price goes down

I just started up with azurestandard.Com and when u order they will find closest "drop point" is to you and you only pay a percent of total cost of your order. Mine was 8.5 % which is like the tax if I went to Walmart or where ever which I thought was neat. You might check into that. They do sell organic feed.

Good tip!

 

[FridayYet]

Azure is great. I get my chicken feed and lots of other things from them. Love it.

 

[lalaland]

Some hens don't actually want to be moms, they just want to be broody, hopefully she will be more interested tomorrow. I have had other broodies take over chicks before from inexperienced hens. I will have my chicks in their wire fence than put hens down next to them to see if anyone is interested, if they are I put them in and see how it goes.

She still had the chicks under her when I went to check at night, and in the morning (it was cold here, in upper 30's) they were still tucked under her. When I set out fresh feed, she got up and called the chicks over...so I left them with her. I knew it was going to get into the mid 70's so...and they are all fine tonight! So maybe it was just a passing thing.

She was one of the trio of sisters that coparented chicks before.

I have a broody hatching next week and then the following week another broody, and then,....thats it!!!!!

 

[lalaland]

I gave both broody hens a box or pan of dirt since they have been caged up since the hatch. They were very appreciative, immediately started scratching and dustbathing. one even moaned - I swear she was saying "oh this feels soooo good". One set of chicks started dustbathing, one set didn't.

One of the broody's has a super pale comb. Worries me and I am not sure she is really eating much. I made her some grits with mashed hard boiled egg and a little milk. She wolfed it down, could barely get herself to share with the chicks. I guess she just doesn't like the game bird feed. I wish she was calmer, I need to check her for mites.

 

[JanetMarie]

It just takes a little time for the broodies to gain weight back and get color back. Right after their chicks hatch they are hard at work scratching for the chicks to find food, and they like to dust bathe right away.

I like to keep my broodies inside with their chicks for a week before they all go outside. It lets the chicks grow their wing feathers, and allows the moms to relax and eat.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@oldhenlikesdogs

I think it was you that said that you would take your adult hens to newly hatched chicks to see if any of them showed interest in brooding them? I have a couple of questions about that:

-Did the hen(s) that you tried this with exhibit broodiness, or did you just give the hens the opportunity even if they hadn't appeared to be broody?

-What age were the chicks when you did this?

If not broody beforehand:
-How did you decide which hens to try?
-How often has it worked?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

@oldhenlikesdogs


I think it was you that said that you would take your adult hens to newly hatched chicks to see if any of them showed interest in brooding them?  I have a couple of questions about that:

-Did the hen(s) that you tried this with exhibit broodiness, or did you just give the hens the opportunity even if they hadn't appeared to be broody?

-What age were the chicks when you did this?

If not broody beforehand:
-How did you decide which hens to try? 
-How often has it worked?

The hen was broody herself at the time, strangely a d'uccle hen who wasn't broody immediately started to try to mother through the wire, after I let mom and chicks out the d'uccle shadowed her and eventually was a second mom. So I guess it's possible for a hen to take chicks without setting. Both hens were older and experienced, the hen who hatched the egg was a first timer and didn't know what the chick was.

The chick was about a day or less old, it started when I tried to move the hatching hen to the floor, I just started going through my broody hens, one before this one didn't want it and tossed it. Another one who initially rejected it would fight fiercely with her when I tried letting her out, I wondered if it was jealous.

On a similar note I had a turkey hen, who wasn't broody, take interest in some 2 month old poults I was raising, after letting them mingle with the adults she attempted to mother them, after about a week the poults started following her to find food. I continued to remove them at night to the brooder, and every morning she would take them back. It was an interesting thing to watch.

I think any hen who has the predisposition to want to hatch and raise chicks can potentially take chicks. I have read multiple stories of people saying they have a hen who will raise anything whether broody or not. So I think it's unusual, but always possible. That's why I put the chicks in a wire enclosure and put hens next to it, interested ones will start trying to talk to them, after a bit I will put them inside to see how it progresses.

So I haven't done it a lot, it takes the right hen, she will probably be one that goes broody every year, and will be over a year old. This year I'm going to try my luck giving a hen some hatchery ordered chicks, which I have never actually tried, the hen that took the chicks last year isn't currently broody, all my broodies at the moment are first Hatchers except for the one last year that didn't want her chick. Unfortunately the dog got my 8 year old d'uccle hen a few months ago and I was devastated. So no extra mom this year.

What do you have planned? Or should I say what are you scheming? I'm always running some hair brained scheme.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Well....
I have some older chicks that are going out to the barn way-late for anything to happen with them. They are 5.5 and 3 wk olds together. Going to the barn late because there wasn't a safe pen for them until the end of today. [I normally have the birds in the hen shed which has a brood area and separate outdoor access so this is new for us this year to have them in the barn.]

But...
Tomorrow I'm picking up 6 Buckeye chicks - possibly 8 chicks altogether depending on what happens when I get there. These were hatched end of last week so 2-4 days old when I get them. They will go right out into half of the safe pen as soon as I get them home. There will be a divider between them and the older chicks.

I was hoping to see some interest for one of my adult hens to the Buckeyes.


In the past, I had an 8 mo. old hatchery red girl set eggs. They were shipped and only 1 hatched. I found someone within an 1.5 hour of me that some newly hatched SFH (the breed the single hatch was) and ran down there and got 3 of them. I put them under mamma with the one lone chick around midnight. Then I got up early before the sun to be sure she didn't reject them. She took them without batting an eye - all 4 were her babies.

Of course, in that situation, she was setting so I could do the deed in the darkness of night and it all worked well.

Unfortunately I don't have any birds right now that even act like they are going to be broody.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It should be interesting to see if someone shows interest in the chicks, it is the broody and mothering season. I see I'm not the only one juggling poultry and trying slip some more in where I can. It's lots of fun.

I have had lots of hatchery hens go broody, especially in my last batch, blr Wyandotte, Cochin, barnevelder, buff Orpingtons, and some really old show bred RIR, I was hoping some would knock it off during the second season, but nope, they are all back at it. The good thing about it is I get less eggs, I must be the only one wishing they would lay less.

 

[Leahs Mom]

The good thing about it is I get less eggs, I must be the only one wishing they would lay less.

You probably are!

I have only had one hen that was broody. The hatchery red girl and she brooded in December the first year, then August (9 months later). She did well with the chicks but has not gone broody again since.

Now...
I'm probably the only person that DOES want a broody! (But not 6 of them