The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Silly chickens out in the open. They rely on the roosters to warn them.


Young chicks from last season hanging out in the goat yard, using the platform and feeders as cover. The hay from over winter composts down into lovely chicken scratchings.


Some of the goat yard.


Back side of my shed, those doors are open all summer and the smaller is open year round.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Foot stool thingy.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I want to be one of your goats

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Backside of the shed again. We are working on coveting the tin to wood siding, so eventually my she will look better and have better ventilation.


My husband also has a large burn pile he makes yearly and chickens will use that for cover too.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have a large and complex yard, so lots of places for chickens to go. Here's the yard and the back tree line they follow as well as hanging out under the pines during the summer.



It's still stinky cold here, but this week it will get into the 40's so maybe the rest of the snow will go early.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

So all that open space between your buildings and the trucks...and no hawk hits when they are going from place to place....

I keep imagining that they'll be between places and too far away to get to cover quickly.

I also have a rubbermade dog house that my husband saw on the side of the road for $5.  I put that out and several small plastic "foot stools" or benches (you can see them in one of the prior photos I posted) that they can conceivably hide under. 

Just doesn't seem like enough with the open spaces.

Roosters are key, they can spot hawks from far away and the hens hustle to cover pretty quick. Too much cover can cut down of the roosters ability to see. I also keep turkeys which can spot birds from very far off and will give a warning shrill that perhaps the chickens pay attention to. It's one of the main reasons I keep multiple roosters as well as not keeping irresponsible ones. They need to be a good lookout or else they are worthless to my flock.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You could make low platforms using pallets or lean to with them putting two together. Metal t fence posts can be handy to put things up with. Chickens like platforms that are low to the ground. All those people with coops off the ground need to fence that area off because chickens like to hang out under them, so something similar put out in your trees would give birds somewhere to get on as well as under.

Pine trees are a favorite of my birds. Your cove Leahs Mom is a nice chicken hang out. You will have troubles growing stuff between your trees. It's better to use stuff for hiding places. You could build a brush pile with the old dog house in the middle.

I'm starting to think that having more open spaces is better for chickens as they can see the hawks coming more. As long as a hiding spot is close enough to get to they can get away, but again the good roosters are needed to give the warning.

 

[Bantambird]

Turkey are very suspicious of anything in the sky. When my turkey hens had poults last summer, the two hens raised the 15 poults as a team, and one of the hens always had an eye to the sky. They would trill and gather as soon as so much as a crow appeared on the horizon. Turkeys are amazing free rangers.

 

[Bantambird]

They only lost 2 poults, one to horses ( foraging in horse pasture, one got smooshed) the other drowned in the stock tank ( there is a ramp in the trough now to help prevent drowning)

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks.... getting some ideas already. Love seeing everyone's photos @oldhenlikesdogs and @Bantambird !

And I'd love to see more from others too!