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

[Miss Lydia]

with this diversion away from poultry talk, may I share one of my requests to Santa this year?

Oh my goodness I want one too.

 

[normanack]

with this diversion away from poultry talk, may I share one of my requests to Santa this year?

Illegally cute! Question for livestock (not just chicken) OTs: do miniature horses/burros/donkeys, small goats or sheep, or any other smallish farm animals make good guardians for chickens? And, if it's a herd animal, would a pair of them, or the chickens themselves, provide enough company to make the herd animal(s) happy? I know someone who has a guardian llama for her goats, but it is a large and fearsome creature. Silly, but it would be cool: a hawk that had changed alliances. (Stop laughing now. I'm trying to think outside the box. Okay, you can laugh. . . .)

 

[Pullet Surprise]

A couple of fellows from church came today to cut up the old oak tree we had to take down last spring. One of them had his two young sons with him, ages I'd guess 4 and 6.
They have a few chickens too....down to 3 right now. Here is the most amazing thing..while dad was cutting wood the boys and I went to look at my chickens etc. The conversation was great.
From both I heard about dominate roosters, and chickens that had to be eliminated. Just like that, adult and matter of fact. I had better chicken conversation with these two youngsters than I have had with some adults. Oh and by the way, even if the chicken has a name it can still be "eliminated" and it has left no emotional scars!!!! Great kids! Good parents. There is hope.

 

[Melabella]

Illegally cute!
Question for livestock (not just chicken) OTs: do miniature horses/burros/donkeys, small goats or sheep, or any other smallish farm animals make good guardians for chickens? And, if it's a herd animal, would a pair of them, or the chickens themselves, provide enough company to make the herd animal(s) happy?
I know someone who has a guardian llama for her goats, but it is a large and fearsome creature.
Silly, but it would be cool: a hawk that had changed alliances. (Stop laughing now. I'm trying to think outside the box. Okay, you can laugh. . . .)

Hey, don't laugh! The answer is YES!

These are the most tenacious little guardians. The pair I know locally won't allow my dogs to visit. Their owner told me he no longer has break in's from raccoons, or weasels that were raiding his eggs! They are DEFINITELY companion required by another equine, doesn't matter horse, mule, other donkey as equines are herd animals. Will they die without one? No, but especially mini donkeys, they truly crave companionship. Being a Mediterranean based animal, they must be protected from severe cold, and I wouldn't leave them outside overnight like a cold blooded equine breed could handle, but many could fit in one stall! There is actually a horrible problem out west with the economy suffering, and people not being able to afford to feed their herds, with donkeys, especially large donkeys that are used to protect cattle, sheep and goat herds being turned loose into the wild. I donated recently to a rescue organization that has THOUSANDS of abandoned donkeys that are in dire need of funding. I wish I lived closer to get myself one, or help out more.

 

[Miss Lydia]

A couple of fellows from church came today to cut up the old oak tree we had to take down last spring. One of them had his two young sons with him, ages I'd guess 4 and 6.
They have a few chickens too....down to 3 right now. Here is the most amazing thing..while dad was cutting wood the boys and I went to look at my chickens etc. The conversation was great.
From both I heard about dominate roosters, and chickens that had to be eliminated. Just like that, adult and matter of fact. I had better chicken conversation with these two youngsters than I have had with some adults. Oh and by the way, even if the chicken has a name it can still be "eliminated" and it has left no emotional scars!!!! Great kids! Good parents. There is hope.

 

[colburg]

This one actually bothered me less than the woman. The chicken didn't seem to die as slowly here.

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I started watching this video and my older daughter walked over and wanted to watch it too. I'm pretty sure everything will be ok when we butcher with her around in the future. The conversation went like this.
Me: Honey, they're gonna kill a chicken in this video.
DD: Why are they going to kill it?
Me: Because they want to eat some chicken for supper.
DD: Why do they want to eat it for supper? Is it dead now?
Me: Yes, it's dead. Because they're hungry for fried chicken.
DD: Why are they pulling out the feathers?
Me: Because no one wants to eat feathers. They don't feel good in your mouth.
DD: Why don't they feel good in your mouth?

Everyone that's ever had kids knows this conversation never ends so I'll stop there, but she had no problems watching it die. In the spring it's probably time for her to help with the meaties.

 

[Beekissed]

Thanks for the support, everyone!
Also- even though i have been following this from day 1, I somehow lost track of where people are getting their sulfur. I don't want to interrupt the flow by having a repeat, so someone could just pm me if they feel it's necessary. Otherwise, just reply here I guess.

Sulfur can be found quite cheaply at garden centers, Lowes, Wallyworld...just plain ol' 100% sulfur powder for around $6.

Is it my imagination ,or do u find yr flocks/chickens seem more relaxed/laid-back,contented on FF.
my observations of my 2 flocks ,while they still forage all day they seem to do it in a more laid-back,slower fashion,the flocks seem to be more relaxed with each other,more co-operative with each other .while they may still play keep-away if one finds a particularly juicy morsel ,they seem to me to spent more time just grooming sun bathing dust-bathing ,seems to be less push &shove IMO
no they were not hungry before ,my flock of 22 LS were getting thru 65-70 lbs of high grade grain mix every 7 days + forage all day on 2 acres
My FF is 50% layer pellets+ 50% whole grains (inc boss) now use approx 35-40 lbs every 7 days for both flocks (22 LS + 7 BA ,total 30)

Maybe they ARE getting a mild buzz from the ferment...who knows?

My flocks have always been laid back so I see no difference but it could be that your birds are getting more nutrients in their system from the same feed and are not getting those triggers to feed and forage as much. I'm loving the FF so much that I doubt I'll ever go back...the flock looks better, I use less feed and there really is no down side.

with this diversion away from poultry talk, may I share one of my requests to Santa this year?

Very cute! The adults may make good guardians for small livestock.... but if alone among a herd of sheep they can get a little possessive of the lambs and can keep the mamas away from babies and even kill them. Up here in the mountain regions everyone keeps donkeys of all sizes (miniature too) with the herds on summer pasture(way up on the mountain) and GPs for spring/winter herds~the GPs are great with the lambs and will clean up the afterbirth pronto.

The donkeys survive and thrive out in the snows without any shelter whatsoever and live to be very, very old. Don't make them too moochy or they will maraude you in the fields and while you are doing chores, looking for handouts...they are like huge, funny kids. When not tamed down too much they can be very aloof and sometimes when they get old, a little cranky.

Illegally cute!
Question for livestock (not just chicken) OTs: do miniature horses/burros/donkeys, small goats or sheep, or any other smallish farm animals make good guardians for chickens? And, if it's a herd animal, would a pair of them, or the chickens themselves, provide enough company to make the herd animal(s) happy?
I know someone who has a guardian llama for her goats, but it is a large and fearsome creature.
Silly, but it would be cool: a hawk that had changed alliances. (Stop laughing now. I'm trying to think outside the box. Okay, you can laugh. . . .)

The goats and sheep rarely make good guardians for chickens, as they are prey too, but I know a lady that had a Painted Desert wether that would stomp and kill any possums, coons, cats, etc that approached "his" chickens. Very effective against stray dogs too and would chase them and try to stomp them. That's a one in a million sheep, there.

A couple of fellows from church came today to cut up the old oak tree we had to take down last spring. One of them had his two young sons with him, ages I'd guess 4 and 6.
They have a few chickens too....down to 3 right now. Here is the most amazing thing..while dad was cutting wood the boys and I went to look at my chickens etc. The conversation was great.
From both I heard about dominate roosters, and chickens that had to be eliminated. Just like that, adult and matter of fact. I had better chicken conversation with these two youngsters than I have had with some adults. Oh and by the way, even if the chicken has a name it can still be "eliminated" and it has left no emotional scars!!!! Great kids! Good parents. There is hope.

That is really a comfort to know, isn't it? My boys were much the same way and, trust me, no emotional scarring happens when you introduce children to death early on. They are more able to understand when young that things die and are gone forever...this helps later to deal with the finality of death and adjusting their coping mechanisms for it.

 

[Ashdoes]

I have a story!
This morning when I let the chickens out I noticed a dog roaming around the peremeter of our backyard. Didn't worry about it because we have the three rail and goat wire all the way around. So I let my dogs out, because Waffle thinks he's awesome, and needed to go get that dog. I came in the house and the girls and I decorated the tree, for about an hour, and heard no issues outside. I looked out real quick and the stray was about an acre away from our back acre, and I stopped thinking about him. Ten minutes later I hear Waffle going crazy barking, and as some of you might know, Bostons don't bark much at all. So I look out and he's in the barn going off on something. I of course throw on shoes and run out there, since there shouldn't be anything to bark at in the barn. I get in there and Waffle is whining at the closed gate, which is between two stalls...I look over the gate and there's Lola, one of the red sex links, laying on the cube of shavings. I automatically get excited, go through the gate, gently pick her up and there it is, our first eggs! I figure she was doing her egg song, and freaked Waffle out.
The egg is literally perfect. Solid all around, and BIG. I absolutely think the FF is the reason.
The white one is an extra large store egg. Can you believe how big her first eggs is?

Since Waffle went all nutso about the egg song I've decided I'll leave the run door closed in the mornings till about ten. Also I've got to get these girls in the nest boxes, and not laying eggs all over the other areas of the barn.
Yay!

 

[off-grid hen]

Thanks, bee. I was just checking because since I never bought the stuff before, I didn't know if they had different mixturesor grades for different purposes.

Also- the thought of chickens getting a buzz from FF made me think of my girls stumbling around the yard!

 

[Beekissed]

I have a story!
This morning when I let the chickens out I noticed a dog roaming around the peremeter of our backyard. Didn't worry about it because we have the three rail and goat wire all the way around. So I let my dogs out, because Waffle thinks he's awesome, and needed to go get that dog. I came in the house and the girls and I decorated the tree, for about an hour, and heard no issues outside. I looked out real quick and the stray was about an acre away from our back acre, and I stopped thinking about him. Ten minutes later I hear Waffle going crazy barking, and as some of you might know, Bostons don't bark much at all. So I look out and he's in the barn going off on something. I of course throw on shoes and run out there, since there shouldn't be anything to bark at in the barn. I get in there and Waffle is whining at the closed gate, which is between two stalls...I look over the gate and there's Lola, one of the red sex links, laying on the cube of shavings. I automatically get excited, go through the gate, gently pick her up and there it is, our first eggs! I figure she was doing her egg song, and freaked Waffle out.
The egg is literally perfect. Solid all around, and BIG. I absolutely think the FF is the reason.
The white one is an extra large store egg. Can you believe how big her first eggs is?

Since Waffle went all nutso about the egg song I've decided I'll leave the run door closed in the mornings till about ten. Also I've got to get these girls in the nest boxes, and not laying eggs all over the other areas of the barn.
Yay!

Unusual to have the first egg to be so big...so YAY indeed!!! Don't ya just love FF? I think your Waffle dog has what it takes to be a LGD, don't you? Sounding the alert is great, even if he is small he can bring your attention to larger preds so that you can take action. Bostons are great, aren't they? Next to Scottish Highlands, they are one of the few small breeds I admire.