The road less traveled...back to good health! They have lice, mites, scale mites, worms, anemia, gl

[aoxa]

Draft horses eat about the same as a regular horse but still maintain their big build. That's me....big, solid, easy on fuel.

Maybe that's something you could breed for in your Silkies? Get them out on free range quicker with a good, resilient mama and then cull for those who are quick, forage well and have survival instincts. It's probably never been done before and you could sell them like hotcakes if you developed a strain that could do that. They have the very same body structures of any other chicken...no reason why they are slow to move and don't forage well.

Keep the fluff trimmed out of their eyes and see what you can do with them. You could market them to a whole new crowd of people who want one or two but can't free range them because they are hawk bait.

Welcome to BEEs slammin' style of developing a free range chicken....put them out there and kill all that don't do it well. You may only have one left, but that's still breeding stock.

It is all about how they were raised. I'm going to attempt your plan. I usually do give all silkie chicks to a broody. Usually.. Not always. The ones that are raised by a broody who is not a silkie do MUCH better. Like my silkies raised by a cochin. The cochin hen they are being raised by still has them at 12 weeks, but she is a good forager (for a cochin!) Though I seriously want my broody Marge to go broody again. She was the best. I just love heritage breed broodies.

Take your best forager who has gone broody, and give her as many silkies as possible. Train them good!







Note that this silkie was a co-parent with the Barred Rock. It forced her to get out and forage with her kids (who preferred the BR mother!) Don't tell the silkie that

I do think it's the vision that makes them poor foragers.

 

[aoxa]

So aoxia, you set your eggs yesterday?
How do those geese taste?
I have to go set my eggs in a little while..My very first Heritage RIR show stock. The toe punch might work for these better than my idea of using zip ties.

How do they taste? I haven't eaten any. They are not bred for meat. They are exhibition geese. There is a production Toulouse (Miss Lydia has one), and they are more for meat.

Haven't set any eggs. I'm not going to. My birds are not laying well now, and my fertility is low with the bantam Ameraucanas due to the rooster molting I believe.

Also not sure what I'd do with anymore chicks right now. I would have hatched if my silkies were still laying, and they aren't.

Easter hatch-a-long it is!

 

[Mountain Momma]

I got a whole page of info thrown at me....there's a little bit of urgency that I sense to get me to see the light.

I've read all the info before...been at this awhile and have been attacked many, many times on here for my choices...like using ACV. Notice a ton of folks using that now when only a few years ago they laughed me off the forum and tried to stuff amprollium up my nose holes.

Or free ranging. Yes. I've been attacked over and over for free ranging and it's been implied that I could never love my babies if I free ranged them. I've lost one chicken to free ranging, it was at night, and she refused to coop and was out of the dog's jurisdiction. She lost. That was in all the times I've had chickens in my life in the past 36 years...one chicken. Yeah...I'll keep free ranging.

Or not heating the coop. How COULD you???? See this article?? And, and, and THAT one? BAD chicken owner, you are!

The list goes on....

Yet here I am, doing what I do and it seems that, finally, someone thought I just might....possibly just might...have a handle on this whole chicken thingy without following the herd to the Emergency section.

Side note...not all of us OTs think alike.

Our methods vary a bit and I think I may be the only one on this touchy feely (as Al would call it)natural path to animal husbandry. I respect their wisdom on their husbandry methods and they have grown to respect, if not fully accept, my own methods.

Well, its been negative 10-11 degrees two days and who knows how cold two nights this past weekend. The buckets froze solid and I closed two windows and left one open and all of my chickens are alive and well. They refuse to walk on the snow and I didnt heat them. Even the three old biddies that were rescues and are probably at least 4-5 years old. Heating is not for the birds. They dont need it and this was a little tough for me but after all, as Bee says, you want a hardy flock and if the electricity goes out and they die what have you got? Thanks Bee for making sure I know that my chickens are cold hardy, know it- not just think it because they were advertised as cold hardy.
L

 

[Beekissed]

I can agree with that assessment. Silkie chicks forced to stay with the flock as chicks with a DP mama would probably continue that flocking instinct. Flocking instinct is the key to good foraging and pasturing of many livestock. Those who stay with the flock are less likely to be preyed upon and they also consume more on foraging with the rest of the flock due to food competition instincts.

This is something that the Aussies pioneered with sheep, so Pete could probably have something to say about that. Mob grazing ~bunching the sheep in small paddocks that they grazed completely in one day's time and then moving them to fresh graze each evening~resulted in them not eating selectively but consuming everything in their path due to competition for food/survival instincts.

This had two benefits. They didn't pick past the weeds and less desirable greens to just eat the best...which in turn helped the growth of better pasture. Grass does better when grazed, weeds cannot produce seeds when grazed in this manner. This keeps the pasture more full of nutritious grasses instead of an overgrowth of rank weeds.

The second benefit was that they were constantly moving to fresh graze and by the time they hit that spot again in the rotation it is months later and the worm ovum left behind had already reached larval stage without a host to consume it and died. Less parasites, better pasture, more food consumed which means fatter, healthier sheep. If left to roam a big pasture, these things do not happen.

End of shortcut lesson on mob grazing instincts.

 

[aoxa]

Well, its been negative 10-11 degrees two days and who knows how cold two nights this past weekend. The buckets froze solid and I closed two windows and left one open and all of my chickens are alive and well. They refuse to walk on the snow and I didnt heat them. Even the three old biddies that were rescues and are probably at least 4-5 years old. Heating is not for the birds. They dont need it and this was a little tough for me but after all, as Bee says, you want a hardy flock and if the electricity goes out and they die what have you got? Thanks Bee for making sure I know that my chickens are cold hardy, know it- not just think it because they were advertised as cold hardy.
L

Good to hear!

I had the same issues with the buckets freezing. Made a little closet to keep them warm (the buckets not the chickens).

 

[galanie]

How do you keep the beetles in the plastic storage bin? and where do you keep the bin, my problem is space. and keeping them beetles where they cannot get out. lol

They can't get out. They cannot fly and can't crawl up the said of a glass aquarium or a plastic box. Some people keep them under the bed, some in the bathroom. They do best where it's the warmest. Some keep the bin outside but I never would. I want them to breed and mulitply like crazy and they slow down if they get below 70.

If you keep them in a plastic bin without a lot of ventilation they will smell of uriates when you open the bin. If you give them plenty air, they have no odor at all.

 

[colburg]

Mountain Momma, don't know if you mentioned self-sustaining gardening on this thread or a different one, but,

I've seen tons of stories like this http://www.latimes.com/features/hom...t-biodynamic-compost-20121205,0,6946828.story Growing tons(literally) of food on only a few thousand sqft. Not sure in your climate though.

Another method of growing veggies is aquaponics. You can grow tons of stuff, year round, in little space. This is one of the best places I've seen http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/ . Not kin to BYC. My parents have 2 tanks going with about 3 different species of fish. They had fresh salads most of the summer, fall, and they're still going. Tomatoes, peppers are really perking up now. Mint completely took everything over and they pulled it all. Spinach and lettuce(not iceberg) doing well. My dad built a 4'x12' lean-to greenhouse on the South side of their garage. The only time they completely close the windows is on cold nights and if a day doesn't get above 40'ish.

Just an idea, Happy Gardening...when the ground thaws.

 

[Rachel'sFlock]

Ok, so the lessons I have attempted to learn from the OT quiz have begun to bubble and ferment in my spirit.
I am ready to start asking questions, now, more specific to my DP BA flock, than to the demonstration bird, the egg machines.

I am watching everyone closely for desirable characteristics, and for flock behavior (foraging ability/behavior, relationship to the roo, pecking order, flocking instinct, predator evasion, etc). At the moment, I am not exclusively evaluating egg laying, because several are now coming back into laying after molting between August and now.
I do see some hens with smaller combs than others. Is this a strong indicator of being less-properly-developed than one with a larger comb? They are all very bright, vibrant red, just some are smaller and some are quite large.
Also, I have one hen who is just turned a year. She was my first broody hatched, along with her "brother" who was culled for aggression last Summer. As an "only child" from that hatch, she became bottom of pecking order, and was severely pecked by her flockmates. She has recovered, but still continues to lack luster, despite 5 weeks on FF (while everyone else looks like I ordered them from a magazine!). Now the 10 chicks are no longer under their Mother's care, she has taken to pecking and bossing them around. I am not keen on her behavior or condition and am considering her first for cull, just after the 3 not needed baby roos.

Help me understand, Bee, if you would, the physical characteristics I am looking for with my BAs. I am not concerned about SQ qualities, only utility. (Otherwise I would let the BA breeders thread tell me to chuck them all down the pan, and start over with non-hatchery stock!)
I am going to cull the roos and Penelope the second week of January. I am keeping a close eye on everyone else, for a Spring cull, so this information will be helpful. Thanks, in advance.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They can't get out. They cannot fly and can't crawl up the said of a glass aquarium or a plastic box. Some people keep them under the bed, some in the bathroom. They do best where it's the warmest. Some keep the bin outside but I never would. I want them to breed and mulitply like crazy and they slow down if they get below 70.
If you keep them in a plastic bin without a lot of ventilation they will smell of uriates when you open the bin. If you give them plenty air, they have no odor at all.

Thanks galaine I will have to research where to get them and all other specifics and my give it a go.

 

[Sally8]

[SIZE=16pt]Testing font in rich code editor.[/SIZE] I copied and pasted from my microsoft outlook to the rich text editor. [SIZE=16pt]Testing font in rich code editor.[/SIZE]

I have been feeling ill all day and your post made me laugh right out loud. How did your testing go? (Can't help my sense of humor). Thanks. Sue