The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[sonshine15]

Bantam of any breed can be little stinkers. I like their spunk and attitude. My large breed roosters are more calm. I only keep dual purpose breeds as I find the light breed roosters to be too much trouble. So either big boys or little boys for me.

I think the right roosters are a wonderful asset to a flock and they can keep the order, and look out for the hens.

I never medicate anything. Birds either recover in short order or they are culled. Most are sick for a reason and won't recover totally anyways. It's never an easy choice, but usually it's a necessary choice.

Welcome to the thread.

Thank you!!
Not online much these days except to pop off and on. Bad habit of leaving laptop open and tabs too. Nice to meet you all

 

[sonshine15]

@sonshine15


Do you have some photos of how you have them  housed?  I'm trying to picture what you're saying but not sure I'm getting it right. 

How many females do you have in total?  Do you separate the different breeds or let them all run together?  How many roos get out to range at the same time?

love the popcorn emoticon! I'll try to get photos after the ice thaws lol. They are in separate coops but close/only separate by netting. So far all is still well.

At first I thought they needed separated and out of view. Not so. The only one restless is a silkie roo.

 

[CuzChickens]

OK, so I treated my hens for the third and final time for lice today, I'm pretty sure they have left, I haven't seen a louse in 6 weeks. What do you guys do as natural prevenitives against lice and mites? I think this will be a bad year for them because we had such a warm winter.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I let my birds take care of themselves by dust bathing. Some people make special areas up with certain ingredients. Mine make their own holes, usually they include old donkey poop. Most dry ingredients will work well.

The only times I've had lice problems was on broody silkie hens. I personally just use a pyrethrin based poultry powder to treat. I also use regular old barn like in the bottom of nestboxes and on the coop floor and roost cracks as a drying agent after I clean the coop or shed out and before fresh bedding goes down.

 

[CuzChickens]

I let my birds take care of themselves by dust bathing. Some people make special areas up with certain ingredients. Mine make their own holes, usually they include old donkey poop. Most dry ingredients will work well.

The only times I've had lice problems was on broody silkie hens. I personally just use a pyrethrin based poultry powder to treat. I also use regular old barn like in the bottom of nestboxes and on the coop floor and roost cracks as a drying agent after I clean the coop or shed out and before fresh bedding goes down.

I don't really know how they got them, they had dust bathing areas, no broodies, no new chickens had been brought in, yada yada. One day I looked at a hen and realized she had lice. So I treated the, with DE and wood ash for weeks. It doesn't work, BTW. Then I let it slide for a few months because I was sick and tired of spending all day treating hens and cleaning houses with no progress made and then it got so much worse. I finally used permectrin and gave up trying to treat it naturally. Now its gone, but I feel like they need something more than just dust baths because they got them last to,e with dust baths.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I think wild birds bring in lice and mites. It's near impossible to rid your birds of all external parasites, the key is to keep them under control, and treat when necessary. Dusting with poultry dust is the only treatment I ever give birds, even then it's just a few that need it once in a while.

 

[JanetMarie]

@Leahs Mom They do look different, and are altogether different, which is probably why I want to have some, and keep the breed going. I will still have a flock of tailed birds. The eggs were $5.00 each.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I posted this on my state thread but thought I'd post here too since a lot of you have experience with many different breeds.


@Jntnrmn and I had a little discussion regarding hatchery purchased Buff Orpingtons but I haven't had any so wondered if anyone here has and your comments.

Would the Buffs tend to be a broody breed? In this case that would be desirable

Also any comment on your experience with them in your flocks in general.

@oldhenlikesdogs

 

[Paganrose]

I had two full grown hatchery buff orps that went broody and successfully raised chicks at least once a year!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks @Paganrose !