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

[off-grid hen]

Question abut the wood ashes. Can I spread them in the run where it'll get wet? There are a few posts around this site that are very adamant about not getting wet wood ashes on the chicken's feet. Something about lye and chemical burns? When I put the wood ashes out I the winter, it's in the coop, but I was wondering if it would help in the run too. We have an outdoor wood boiler, so I have a endless supply.

Edited for typos. -sigh-

 

[Beekissed]

Chickens pretty much won't stand around in something that burns their feet. Don't know that I've ever heard of wet ashes burning the skin, though I know folks are thinking about lye. The ashes get wet here, just like sand...when they are wet, the chickens don't try to dust in them. When they dry out, the chickens go back to it....just the same as a regular dusting spot.

You can avoid all that by cutting down a large cardboard box and placing the ashes in a sheltered spot...they will use it like a kid in a kiddie pool.

There is always one Nervous Nellie out there pointing out all the possible dangers of any given thing....can't really listen to all that if you want to live a full life. Chickens and ashes? As old as time.

 

[Beekissed]

Gnarly Bunch Daily Update: One very large egg that was fertile...yay, Toby! Now that they are filling out and settling in, I've noticed they aren't eating so ravenously now which is a good thing. When they first came they were just frantic for food but that has gradually tapered off to a more normal intake for this group.

As a free range flock, they are constantly gleaning protein and greens and this counts for a large part of their total intake. I haven't had this small of a flock for some years, so it's hard to scale down my feeding portions but I think I'm getting the hang of their style and needs now.

The feed I put out yesterday evening was just getting finished up this evening, so I'm going to have to realign my thinking and realize that this flock has a better foraging field than my last place in which they lived and foraged. There it had plenty of greens but no forest floor on which to forage in the fall....so much more protein opportunities at the edge of the woods.

I brought home some persimmons that I foraged(funny, I know) and they really liked them....the dog liked them as well. They were very ripe, beautiful persimmons and they had their fill. I'm beginning to think these chickens are getting spoiled.....

Tomorrow marks their 3rd week since chicken hell and they are looking so good. If it's pretty tomorrow I'll try to get some pics for comparison. Funny thing is that now they are getting feathers back from their former life, they are also molting pretty badly so I don't know if we are coming or going with feathers. I know the coop is full of them and they fluff off when they groom~the yard is speckled with feathers~ but they are still getting more feathered than they were...how is that possible?

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Bee, I was thrilled to find that Dr. Julie Helm is not your typical USDA vet. She and her assistant are trying to educate people about good husbandry. So many new people cram too many birds into too small spaces, overfeed heaven knows what, etc. When she came here for my NPIP inspection, she was pleasantly surprised to see how my Buff Orps live.Their sheer size amazed her too.She went through my feeding program, checked my roosting, hatching, and brooding areas too.My spiderweb of monofilament over the orchard intrigued her. I told her that the hawks have been sitting in a tree trying to figure it out, but none have done so yet. They don't want to risk their wings! I was amazed to meet such a common sense person who worked for the state. South Carolina chickens are lucky to have her on their side!

I'm not normally impressed by fame, fortune, etc. except on occassions like this. As I read your post, I caught myself feelin' a bit envious that you had an opportunity to have her review your operation ... you oughta have that printed on your business cards ~'-)

 

[JennB]

I really want to let my birds free range, we have had a rough 2 yrs. rewind 2 yrs ago life was great for me, my husband and our flock of 12. I was pregnant with our first, our chickens had a large backyard to forage in and a garden. Dec 2010 our house burnt Down, everyone was safe, but this lead to a chicken massacre.
While we were trying to figure out our housing situation, (we lived across the road with my sis. This lasted a yr and a half, as we built a beautiful post fame house.) a couple month after the fire we lost all of our chickens in one night, something dug under the run and killed them all. I felt so bad, There was nothing to protect them. Creatures weren't scared off by my dogs.
So this past spring we ordered 20chicks, I was so excited to have chickens again, we raised them only lost 1, me moved them to the coop, my plan was to leave them in the coop for a week so they were comfortable with the big house. We also were moving in to our house. It wasn't 5 days they were in there something,maybe a coon, chewed a hole through the chicken wire covering the window. Killed all 19 chickens. I cried for those girls, they probably watched in fear as that thing slowly chewed through.
So we moved the coop behind the house probably 50-75 ft. My dogs are close by, which also make me nervous since they are coon hounds, but I'm still nervous about letting them out of their run. My old birds loved to wander down to the spring. I want that for my new flock, What do you think. We also have no grass yet but just behind the coop is over grown wooded area and the spring is o so close.

 

[MyGardenHelper]

It would be hard on the skin. In a nest box, where it would settle down under the top layer of nesting stuff, sounds pretty good though. Then again, might be a reason we don't use it today. Mine dust in wood ashes all the time and unless it's been a long while since I've been able to supply them with any, they just don't get mites.

I signed up for backyard chickens sometime ago...but rarely frequent since it's difficult to find natural methods due to chattiness back and forth due to the 'for' and 'against' natural ways. A friend directed me to this thread, the OT thread and the fermentation thread. Love them all! And I like direct...especially when searching for pertinent information.

Beekissed and others, thank you so much for your experience, knowledge and for sharing with everyone. You are truly a blessing. I've only been raising chickens for about 4 years now. Took me a few days to get through this thread...(I was teary eyed, then smiled, and then laughed, then teary eyed, smiled again, laughed, etc.)

Beekissed...please write the book you've been wanting to write...I love how you write. I am sooo happy that you rescued your once beautiful, vibrant hens and rooster and focused on getting them back to their original health with natural methods. I need to learn how to cull and I'm learning from you. I have not had diseases, but I have had a small percentage of weak stock from a certain rare breed hatchery last year. Will not be ordering again from them. We have 38 chickens to date.

Two questions:

1. I use wood ash in the nest boxes. Otherwise, the chickens do their dustbath in the pasture....so do our llamas. This time of year in Northern CA, it starts to get damp. MItes/lice start to come around. We have plenty of access to wood ash, but I read that if it becomes wet (from rain), it will turn to lye and become caustic. What is your experience (or anyone's experience) with wood ash and damp/rain? I'm working on 'real deep litter' since reading this thread (thanks for clarifying!).

2. I wish I had time to read all of the fermentation thread (almost 200 pages) before I start with fermentation...but I want to get it going now while we have some heat. I think I have the gist of it and I have the buckets drilled...but I've been sprouting for my chickens for about 3 years now. I would like to sprout first and then ferment. Can I do that? Mainly whole grains are sprouted. They also have access to organic pellets (not a fan of processed anything) and since sprouting, they eat less if it and lay more eggs

Comment:

From a previous post on this thread. I LOVE plantain. We have narrow leaf plantain growing wild everywhere. The chickens love to eat it and the llamas go for it first. It draws poisons and debris from skin, draws out stings from bees/reduces inflammation, Indians used it for snake bites, it helps with itchiness/swelling of bug bites. Another favorite herb that grows wild here is yarrow. Pick the leaves for any bleeding and it stops it immediately. I had a knife cut on my finger and the bleeding would not stop...no matter what I tried. Ran out and grabbed some yarrow leaves and within seconds the blood stopped. Read about it...but then saw it with my own eyes. Didn't have the money for stitches and I think I'm allergic to doctors anyway...even when I have medical insurance. Comfrey salve did the rest of the healing.

 

[Beekissed]

Dogs in a run will not deter predators. You have already had successful predation at your place and this will bring more of the same. If you can't have a dog that can run free in their range(contained by electric or perimeter fence, of course) then dog help is not an option.

Your best bet is electric poultry netting. Easy to install, easy to move, will keep out ground predators and good hides and experience with ranging will help with aerial raids. If you have breeds that are conducive to free ranging, the netting is a great option.

All the posts on BYC that claim that free ranging is so dangerous for chickens have obviously not taken notice of just how many chickens are getting killed inside closed coops and runs on this forum.....WAY more than free ranged flocks. Like shooting fish in a barrel to enclose defenseless birds in areas where they cannot escape a predator. At least out on range the bird has a running chance.

If you haven't already, you might think of changing out chicken wire for something a little more substantial. Another cool trick is to attach your dog runs to and around the sides and back of your coop, leaving the pop door and human door to the front. This way, a predator has to use the front or nothing at all. That leaves three sides protected. Then place your poultry netting out the front end...this leaves the front protected. No more worries about the coop or with ranging inside a large paddock. Provide good hides within the paddock and you have a nice little system.

 

[JennB]

We fortify our coop and run with hardware wire, im gonna look in to the electric netting. Thanks

 

[MagicChicken]

Quote:
LOL! Don't look at the shipping prices for some of the ingredients if you decide to make your own. Shipping can cost more than the items themselves. With luck you'll find most of the ingredients locally.

Chickens pretty much won't stand around in something that burns their feet. Don't know that I've ever heard of wet ashes burning the skin, though I know folks are thinking about lye. The ashes get wet here, just like sand...when they are wet, the chickens don't try to dust in them. When they dry out, the chickens go back to it....just the same as a regular dusting spot.

You can avoid all that by cutting down a large cardboard box and placing the ashes in a sheltered spot...they will use it like a kid in a kiddie pool.

There is always one Nervous Nellie out there pointing out all the possible dangers of any given thing....can't really listen to all that if you want to live a full life. Chickens and ashes? As old as time.

From what I understand, wood ashes are a component in a number of native recipes involving corn. (Check out Hopi piki bread recipes.) The wood ashes help release the niacin in the corn, making it a more nutritionally valuable food. Europeans in this country didn't catch on to the ash trick right away, and wound up suffering from pellagra (niacin deficiency) until someone clued them in.

Wonder what the nervous nellie types would think of that? "Eeeewww... ashes!" I can hear it now...

 

[Beekissed]

I signed up for backyard chickens sometime ago...but rarely frequent since it's difficult to find natural methods due to chattiness back and forth due to the 'for' and 'against' natural ways. A friend directed me to this thread, the OT thread and the fermentation thread. Love them all! And I like direct...especially when searching for pertinent information.

Beekissed and others, thank you so much for your experience, knowledge and for sharing with everyone. You are truly a blessing. I've only been raising chickens for about 4 years now. Took me a few days to get through this thread...(I was teary eyed, then smiled, and then laughed, then teary eyed, smiled again, laughed, etc.)

Beekissed...please write the book you've been wanting to write...I love how you write. I am sooo happy that you rescued your once beautiful, vibrant hens and rooster and focused on getting them back to their original health with natural methods. I need to learn how to cull and I'm learning from you. I have not had diseases, but I have had a small percentage of weak stock from a certain rare breed hatchery last year. Will not be ordering again from them. We have 38 chickens to date.

Two questions:

1. I use wood ash in the nest boxes. Otherwise, the chickens do their dustbath in the pasture....so do our llamas. This time of year in Northern CA, it starts to get damp. MItes/lice start to come around. We have plenty of access to wood ash, but I read that if it becomes wet (from rain), it will turn to lye and become caustic. What is your experience (or anyone's experience) with wood ash and damp/rain? I'm working on 'real deep litter' since reading this thread (thanks for clarifying!).

2. I wish I had time to read all of the fermentation thread (almost 200 pages) before I start with fermentation...but I want to get it going now while we have some heat. I think I have the gist of it and I have the buckets drilled...but I've been sprouting for my chickens for about 3 years now. I would like to sprout first and then ferment. Can I do that? Mainly whole grains are sprouted. They also have access to organic pellets (not a fan of processed anything) and since sprouting, they eat less if it and lay more eggs

Comment:

From a previous post on this thread. I LOVE plantain. We have narrow leaf plantain growing wild everywhere. The chickens love to eat it and the llamas go for it first. It draws poisons and debris from skin, draws out stings from bees/reduces inflammation, Indians used it for snake bites, it helps with itchiness/swelling of bug bites. Another favorite herb that grows wild here is yarrow. Pick the leaves for any bleeding and it stops it immediately. I had a knife cut on my finger and the bleeding would not stop...no matter what I tried. Ran out and grabbed some yarrow leaves and within seconds the blood stopped. Read about it...but then saw it with my own eyes. Didn't have the money for stitches and I think I'm allergic to doctors anyway...even when I have medical insurance. Comfrey salve did the rest of the healing.

Thank you so much for your words of kindness and I am so glad you find this thread helpful...I was hoping it would be such. I hope you participate here as much as possible.

1. Ashes that get wet may have caustic runoff from the rain..not sure about that. All the soils and grasses around our ash piles don't seem to be affected at all. But the point is, they run off and are absorbed into the soils. They do not hold the water and/or the resulting caustic lye in a dried form. Our ash pile gets wet, it gets dry, it gets used and the cycle happens every time it rains.

If it was caustic to the chicken's skin they would not willingly bathe in it, believe me. They pretty much know what to eat, where to dust, and what to do to stay healthy if left alone.

2. I don't see why not. Be the first to try it and let us know how it comes out. Some are fermenting alfalfa meal and cubes on the FF thread and are quite pleased with the results.