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Katt66 said:
Glad your electric came back on finally. That is such a pain in so many ways we dont' even realize until it's gone.


So...along similar lines, I just went out to check for eggs and found this when I stepped out the door...



I could have SWORN the weatherman last said we'd only be getting a light dusting here tonight and wouldn't be getting the 12 to 30" they'd been worried we might be receiving the beginning of the week. Well, see that yard there? It's got 3 days worth of dog poop from a Pit Bull, a German Shorthair, and a Brittany on top of the fresh white snow because it was too slippery for me to get out there and clean it up. (Yards on a hill, I step off the sidewalk and I"m down in the chainlink fence in no time whether I like it or not D:)
I don't see any dog poop right now. A "light dusting" of snow would not cover that much dog poop that quickly! There's like 2" out there again! D: That's it! I wanna move to Argentina.
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Yep, weatherman flubbed it for us also... we have gotten 2 or 3 inches this afternoon, we were splitting wood and everything we just split was covered in snow before we could even get it stacked.
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fisherlady said:
Yep, weatherman flubbed it for us also... we have gotten 2 or 3 inches this afternoon, we were splitting wood and everything we just split was covered in snow before we could even get it stacked.
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Yup, just got done clearing the snow around my Mom's car and getting it unstuck from it's parking space for the first time in over a week. And now it's all covered in snow again. Thank God she didn't trust the weatherman and trusted her eyes instead when it started snowing. She had to run from Hazleton to Lehigh Valley Hospital this afternoon. She had her Dodge Dakota and was going to stop home and get the G6 instead thinking it would be better on gas for that drive and the weather was going to be fairly decent tonight. Instead when it started snowing she just kept going instead of stopping to switch the truck for the car. That little car is TERRIBLE in snow.
 
SilkieSensation said:
I never said any chicken would lay (or even likely live) 10 years. All I said was with proper care & nutrition they can still lay well even after the first year or too, their production just drops a bit as does production with a lot of breeds.
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I am saying that I have chickens that are older (4) in fact that are at least 7 years old. I have had chickens since I was a tween. I am now 36. I have had production birds, hatchery birds, and birds from private breeders (SOP and non-SOP). I am saying what USUALLY happens to most production birds will lay well for a good 18-24 months. After that they will not lay much, or become dormant.

The hatchery birds that are non-production/heritage will do well for much longer.

Heritage\SOP\breeder stock will not lay as much, but will lay longer.

These are the things I said in my very first post to Vikki.
 
dheltzel said:
I've got some red sex link still laying well at 5 years or so. They don't lay every day like their first year, and that's why the commercial flocks replace them after a year - it's all about maximizing profits. If your goal is not maximum profit from each layer, then it's very feasible to keep even the commercial breeds and hybrids laying much longer. I nice heritage version of the breed might lay more "evenly" (meaning fewer eggs the first year, but slower drop off in the subsequent years), or maybe not. I don't think you'll find anything more than anecdotal evidence about which breeds, and strains of breeds lay well for 5 or more years. That sort of research is not interesting to commercial flocks, and is a significantly higher investment, so few (no) researchers will tackle that question.

I advise people to get a breed they like with known suitability for it's purpose. You probably take better care, and be more forgiving of "dry spells" if it's a breed you find personally interesting. Personally, I find the commercial breeds (both WH and SL) so BORING. But to each his own.
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I agree the commercial/production breeds are boring. They are also not good for free ranging. Their genetics are for living in a cage making eggs, then going into Campells Soup, and pet food.
 
I also want to add that I am a breeder. I love my birds! I also breed to the SOP. My birds have to be hardy to the weather, have disease resistance, and be able to free range. Other people have there chickens for other reasons, and have other perimeters to keeping them. I am on this forum to help answer peoples questions, not tell people what to do. I also have no problem saying what is an opinion etc................. I have had chickens for a long time, I am learning new things every day about them.
 
heatherscooby77 said:
I agree the commercial/production breeds are boring. They are also not good for free ranging. Their genetics are for living in a cage making eggs, then going into Campells Soup, and pet food.
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Eh, I'm gonna disagree here. While I will admit that my Aunt's Red Sex links are just boring little balls of scraggly orangish fluff and really don't "Do it" for me. I'm sure there are people out there who like them. Personally, when I was looking for something...ANYTHING to lay eggs for me this past fall, I snapped up the first definite pullets I found which turned out to be a Buff Orpington, Black Orpington and White Leghorn. Of the three the White Leghorn I almost didn't get just because they're "boring production birds with no personality"

Angel is anything but boring and has the sweetest most cuddly curious adorable personality of any of my chickens. She's the first to greet me when I open the door. Yeah, I know it's all about that bucket of fermented feed I'm carrying with me but she's still happy to see me for whatever reason. She'll just stop and squat when I reach to pick her up. And then sit with her head leaned over against my shoulder making contended little puck puck noises all the while I hold her. Her big floppy red comb so soft and warm and she's just adorable. She's actually been cuddly like that since we got her. I'd sit and watch TV with her in my arms when she was a little 4 month old pullet and from the start she'd stretch out her neck and lay her head against my shoulder, close her eyes and just look so happy. You'd swear she's a cat sometimes the way she acts.

But I do agree, you have to find a breed(s) that interest you or you won't keep them for long. Honestly, if Angel stopped laying eggs tomorrow I'd keep her for ten years yet if she lived that long.
It also depends a lot upon what you're keeping chickens for and what you expect from them. Mine are Pets With Benefits. As long as the majority do enough laying to make up for the ones that have slowed down they all stay. If and when it starts costing me way more than I'm getting out of them, I'll probably just get more chickens to make up the difference. By then the kids will be grown and have jobs and stuff and start earning their keep a bit as well so I'll figure that into the equation as well. lol! Seriously though, it is all about what you keep them for. As I said, mine are pets first, if yours are production first, you'll want to move out the slackers and replace them with birds that are laying more.
 
Katt66 said:
Eh, I'm gonna disagree here. While I will admit that my Aunt's Red Sex links are just boring little balls of scraggly orangish fluff and really don't "Do it" for me. I'm sure there are people out there who like them. Personally, when I was looking for something...ANYTHING to lay eggs for me this past fall, I snapped up the first definite pullets I found which turned out to be a Buff Orpington, Black Orpington and White Leghorn. Of the three the White Leghorn I almost didn't get just because they're "boring production birds with no personality"

Angel is anything but boring and has the sweetest most cuddly curious adorable personality of any of my chickens. She's the first to greet me when I open the door. Yeah, I know it's all about that bucket of fermented feed I'm carrying with me but she's still happy to see me for whatever reason. She'll just stop and squat when I reach to pick her up. And then sit with her head leaned over against my shoulder making contended little puck puck noises all the while I hold her. Her big floppy red comb so soft and warm and she's just adorable. She's actually been cuddly like that since we got her. I'd sit and watch TV with her in my arms when she was a little 4 month old pullet and from the start she'd stretch out her neck and lay her head against my shoulder, close her eyes and just look so happy. You'd swear she's a cat sometimes the way she acts.

But I do agree, you have to find a breed(s) that interest you or you won't keep them for long. Honestly, if Angel stopped laying eggs tomorrow I'd keep her for ten years yet if she lived that long.
It also depends a lot upon what you're keeping chickens for and what you expect from them. Mine are Pets With Benefits. As long as the majority do enough laying to make up for the ones that have slowed down they all stay. If and when it starts costing me way more than I'm getting out of them, I'll probably just get more chickens to make up the difference. By then the kids will be grown and have jobs and stuff and start earning their keep a bit as well so I'll figure that into the equation as well. lol! Seriously though, it is all about what you keep them for. As I said, mine are pets first, if yours are production first, you'll want to move out the slackers and replace them with birds that are laying more.
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Angel sounds like a real sweetie. I would keep her forever too
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