The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[oldhenlikesdogs]

@oldhenlikesdogs Got the chickens some goats! [finally!] These are Spainish with some mixture. Steeler in red collar; Twix the tan guy. Brought them home Friday and put them in a holding pen so they could get accustomed to us. Out to work this morning. Here is their job. Grateful these boys were already accustomed to electronetting. But theirs was white so they had to test out the green... ONCE!

They are very pretty boys, they look healthy and shiny. You have a really nice set up and area for them. I love goats. How friendly are they? You can bribe them with crackers, bread tortillas, chips or regular. Mine at least love that stuff and will knock me over for their snacks. Congratulations, I'm so excited for you.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My chicks will be three weeks old tomorrow, they are thriving. I have stopped providing extra heat to the large breed, they are growing like weeds, and may be the youngest batch that goes out to the shed. They are outside all day now too unless it's raining. The bantam are doing great too, the roosters help to take care too.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@oldhenlikesdogs Yes, they are very friendly. We chose the black one because he was one of a large herd that came right over to the fence to visit. We were supposed to get a different one than the tan (a Kiko) that the folks we got them from really didn't want. They had brought him as a companion goat when they purchased a buck that they wanted and the folks insisted that his companion come along. However it became obvious that the kiko and Steeler weren't particularly compatible and these 2 boys are buddies.


I had read about the Spanish Goats as an endangered breed. That they are very hardy, usually don't need much medical intervention, and are parasite resistant. That got me very interested so I checked the breed conservancy website to see if anyone near me had any. I found these folks (lady is a retired veterinarian) about 1.5 hours north of us in Michigan. After talking with her I found that we had a lot in common in our view of animal husbandry. She is keeping the breed just to help keep it alive and active in the US. She uses the FAMACHA parasite monitoring method and neither of these boys have needed to be wormed. They are both 5 years old.

 

[Leahs Mom]

My chicks will be three weeks old tomorrow, they are thriving. I have stopped providing extra heat to the large breed, they are growing like weeds, and may be the youngest batch that goes out to the shed. They are outside all day now too unless it's raining. The bantam are doing great too, the roosters help to take care too.

You are tempting me with those banties!

My youngest babies are 5 weeks old last Friday (Buckeyes). Need to get some photos soon. Crazy kiddos all look alike. (I'm used to having the SFH that are all very different in appearence.)

 

[Leahs Mom]

PS: @oldhenlikesdogs
Thanks for the bribery ideas....I'm sure they'll come in handy

 

[Leahs Mom]

Leahs Mom
Thanks for the coop pictures. !

Welcome!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Yes, they are very friendly.  We chose the black one because he was one of a large herd that came right over to the fence to visit.  We were supposed to get a different one than the tan (a Kiko) that the folks we got them from really didn't want.  They had brought him as a companion goat when they purchased a buck that they wanted and the folks insisted that his companion come along.  However it became obvious that the kiko and Steeler weren't particularly compatible and these 2 boys are buddies.


I had read about the Spanish Goats as an endangered breed.  That they are very hardy, usually don't need much medical intervention, and are parasite resistant.  That got me very interested so I checked the breed conservancy website to see if anyone near me had any.  I found these folks (lady is a retired veterinarian) about 1.5 hours north of us in Michigan.  After talking with her I found that we had a lot in common in our view of animal husbandry.  She is keeping the breed just to help keep it alive and active in the US.  She uses the FAMACHA parasite monitoring method and neither of these boys have needed to be wormed.  They are both 5 years old.

That's amazing. We have troubles with worms here and I have lost few from a heavy worm load. Working some seems to not matter. Some are more resistant than others. It's frustrating to lose them from worms and not being able to stop it. It would help for us to rotate pastures but aren't set up for that.

I find if fed correctly goats are pretty hardy. I avoid grains and rations except for small amounts occasionally and feed a good grass hay, second or third crop, pasture, browse and avoid rich hay like alfalfa. I give free choice a lose goat mineral and baking soda.

Hopefully you will find goats and their shenanigans fun. They are either a joy or a pain depending on how you view life. I do enjoy outsmarting them, it's like goat chess.

I have read up on Spanish goats too, they do seem like the perfect breed. Hopefully yours live a nice long life.

I would love to see how your chicks are doing. Is there any particular reason you chose Buckeyes as a breed?

 

[Leahs Mom]

I would love to see how your chicks are doing. Is there any particular reason you chose Buckeyes as a breed?

The Buckeyes were 5 weeks old on June 10 (Friday).

I wanted to try some "heritage Buckeyes" because I've heard so much good about the breed if they're from good lines. Cold hardy, good egg producers, true dual purpose with more meat on them, good foragers, and even good mousers! Supposed to be somewhat laid-back. (But varies on the line. I've heard some are "mean as snakes" to quote a Buckeye enthusiast who tried to help me steer clear of that particular line.)

I don't particularly care for a whole herd of red based birds as far as pleasing the eye, but I was hoping they would be great foragers, friendly, dual purpose, and do well in cold winters.

Because of the pea comb I really don't have experience telling male female. Little blue band has a tiny bit more colorful comb, and it's maybe a little broader than most of the others so I'm guessing it's a boy. A couple others are a toss-up. I've marked them with color bands so I can tell who's who and then have some kind of idea if my guesses were correct or not.

Here they are today:

The whole gang. 6 of them.




I think little blue band is a boy.







Blue band and green band.

 

[Leahs Mom]

And photos of the 11 wk old SFH. I always prefer black based. Blue (especially dark blue) is my second favorite.

Girl


Whoopsie. Also a girl.



Girl



Boy Mr. White Band



My favorite boy.



Boy Mr. Green band.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

To me all the buckeye look like girls. Maybe they are slower to mature, I don't see any pink on those combs. They are a cute little bunch. Are the roosters a different color when they are adults, are they like RIR, where they are solid red as adults? I have seen them but haven't looked into them.

Same with th SFH, yours are nice looking and you can obviously sex them. Will you keep all the roosters? I like the last one.