The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Lacy Blues]

Thank you LM. I am intensely interested in nutrient based information as well. However, I seem to lack the brain power to process it or remember it.

This is the second time I've heard "fermented cod liver oil" on here. I was going to ask before but it somehow slipped my mind. Imagine that!

I will be checking out those links and I really appreciate you posting them. I try to do the best I can by my birds and this is one more tool for my tool belt. Hopefully, I won't have any respiratory issues show up this year.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Here's are a couple of links about FCLO (fermented cod liver oil):

http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/update-on-cod-liver-oil-manufacture/

http://www.greenpasture.org/public/FAQ/index.cfm

 

[CoopChick719]

Here's an odd question

Has anyone ever had any of your chickens get a piece of feed or seed or wood shaving up in their nostril? Then perhaps have it get crusted over until you had to remove the blockage?

No but when I was 6, I did stick a cherry pit up my nose to see if it would fit. Well it did and got stuck! Had to go to the ER to have it removed.

Bahahaha I know the feeling. The only difference with me is that my family are the one's that say. " Why raise chickens? It's got to be cheaper at the grocery store". They are just coming around a little to the fact that I'm actually making a success with my chickens. They are well fed with FF and healthy as all get out. No smell. And absolutely gorgeous.

I hear it all the time! DH says, "How much do our eggs cost? $400 an egg?" When he's talking to people, he usually follows that up
with, "I figure it's cheaper than a divorce!"

I think that's very wise of him!

They are so therapeutic, I cannot imagine my life without my chickens.

I agree LacyBlues! When I lost my brother, I spent a lot more time in the coop...mostly to cry...cuz' the girls don't judge nor do they get upset because you're upset!

Have you ever seen these?

So no idea what they are called but they are metal, the bow tie part spins on the stew and they work great for holding access panels in place...
Please excuse the silly drawing

The former owner of my coop made his own with wood & a nail. They hold my inside hardware cloth screens over the vents & 1 window.

My neighbors said they missed hearing my rooster (after I ate him). I'm working on getting silkies for my daughter. I hope I get a hen and a roo, because I liked hearing it too, and because the only thing that could make silkies more hilarious is if one of them crows.

My neighbors said the same thing when I rehomed my Silkie roo! I loved that guy! He looked like one of Jim Henson's muppets. DH did not appreciate my roo's crowing at 3AM!

I will never understand how a daytime rooster crow is any worse than traffic, dogs barking, cats who yowl or the loud and obnoxious noises we humans can make.

Too true!! Our neighbor, at our cabin in the Northwoods of Maine, had 5 roosters that crowed all...day...long!! At first, it drove me crazy but after a while I didn't even notice. My daughter & I did notice that when we had certain songs playing outside on the stereo, they stopped. They mostly like the country songs...go figure!

 

[Scott H]

The lady I bought our Wyandottes from said she has 60+ roosters at any one time! She says she has just tuned them out. LOL

 

[Leahs Mom]

. They mostly like the country songs...go figure!

 

[Lacy Blues]

Anybody need a chicken t-shirt with long sleeves for a friend for Christmas or just for yourself?

See my signature for links to a cool shirt. I need one for Christmas.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@RedRidge

I have a rodent question. I believe you still (or at least you used to) house your birds in a barn stall or 2. I'm wondering what your experience is with rodents in that scenario since it would be pretty impossible to keep them out of the stalls of a barn.

So...please share your experience with that. Did you have issues? What do/did you do to avoid problems?


Because of the way my chicken shed is made, I've never had a rodent issue on the side of the shed where they are housed. But......the barn is a whole different situation and with the kennels they could go right in to where the chickens are housed.

This is what I'm afraid is going to happen if I move them to the barn.... And this is what I want to avoid or prevent.

 

[Leahs Mom]

PS: Even thought I tagged Redridge in that post, I'd like to hear from everyone on that who has experience with a "less-than-rodent-secure" housing situation.

 

[RedRidge]

@RedRidge I have a rodent question. I believe you still (or at least you used to) house your birds in a barn stall or 2. I'm wondering what your experience is with rodents in that scenario since it would be pretty impossible to keep them out of the stalls of a barn. So...please share your experience with that. Did you have issues? What do/did you do to avoid problems? Because of the way my chicken shed is made, I've never had a rodent issue on the side of the shed where they are housed. But......the barn is a whole different situation and with the kennels they could go right in to where the chickens are housed. This is what I'm afraid is going to happen if I move them to the barn.... And this is what I want to avoid or prevent.

Yes, for 3 months of the year (Dec through Feb) when not being rotationally grazed, all chickens except those in breeding pens (and cockerel pens), are housed in two 12x14 stalls. The barn cats, U and T (what can I say, when you're a TN Vol and have one white cat and one orange cat your husband names them U and T), do great at keeping mice at bay... As a matter of fact, they have been mousing daily over the last week or two as the field mice have moved into the barn. Our problem which will arise again in the spring will be the burrowing rats - Ick! They are huge and gross and dig burrows under walls and make nests just below ground. We finally invested in some contraptions called rat zappers. http://www.amazon.com/Rat-Zapper-Ultra-Rodent-RZU001/dp/B00CM859OA They work pretty well and are portable so you can moved them easily to along a wall where you need them. The biggest dilemma is you can only zap one at a time so you have to remember to check it daily. The light on the outside tells you if there's a dead rat inside. When the rat enters it gets killed by shock. I figure is better than poison. On the occasion I don't zap one prior to it having babies and i find a nest then i simply uncover the nest and U and T have a play day. ;-) The other occasional problem we have had is skunks - a litter of baby skunks are very friendly btw and not at all afraid of humans. Those get trapped in a live trap using cat food sprinkled on a peanut butter smeared slice of bread. We simply toss a towel over the trap when we catch one (usually in early spring), and then can relocate or dispose of easily without fear of spraying. The skunk babies are not heavy enough to trigger the live trap so we either get lucky and catch 2 at once or rig a small weight so the trigger point requires less weight. As an aside... loose feed/grains left over night are much more likely to attract rodents. Yet another advantage of feeding FF is that there is no food in the coop over night. ;-)

 

[armorfirelady]

PS: Even thought I tagged Redridge in that post, I'd like to hear from everyone on that who has experience with a "less-than-rodent-secure" housing situation.

Last spring I found that the mice enjoyed the bales of hay I put around the perimeter of the hoop coop. They are apparently great insulated homes for them. I think I saw a mouse in the coop once but it didn't stick around. I cant say that I have seen their droppings in the coop either. I feed & water the hens outside year round but their flock block is in the coop. But no dropping around that either.

I would think that keeping the food & water out of the barn at night would be a big detterant against rodents. And maybe a barn cat or 2.


P.S. I need to read those articles on cod liver oil. Thank goodness you like to read those kind of things. Reminds me to much of research papers lol