Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[CSisley]

It there a way to stop rats getting at the food in the containers ? I liked your pvc post CSisley. would a hard wire prevent them getting into the tube ? a Screw cap on top is easy enough ?

I don't have a rat problem so I don't have any kind of cap on the top of mine. Just my large mouth funnel hanging on a hook directly above the top so it's easy to fill. A cap on top or hardwire would prevent them from crawling inside the PVC pipe but you would have to remove it every time you wanted to fill the feeder up and they could still eat food out of the sewer cap at the bottom where the chickens have access. I'm not sure there's any kind of feeder that would keep rats out entirely.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I don't have a rat problem so I don't have any kind of cap on the top of mine. Just my large mouth funnel hanging on a hook directly above the top so it's easy to fill. A cap on top or hardwire would prevent them from crawling inside the PVC pipe but you would have to remove it every time you wanted to fill the feeder up and they could still eat food out of the sewer cap at the bottom where the chickens have access. I'm not sure there's any kind of feeder that would keep rats out entirely.

Do you keep your feeders filled or just enough for the day?

 

[CSisley]

Do you keep your feeders filled or just enough for the day?

I keep them filled. The longer the pipe, the more food it holds, the less often you have to fill it up. In my case I can go roughly 4 days before I have to fill it again.

 

[fultzie]

It there a way to stop rats getting at the food in the containers ? I liked your pvc post CSisley. would a hard wire prevent them getting into the tube ? a Screw cap on top is easy enough ?

just get a metal trash can with metal lid..they cant get in that ..nor can they eat there way in like the plastic ones ..my buddy had a plastic can and the rats had chewed a hole in the bottom and over night cleaned it out lol..so yeah..metal..no plastic unless you have that where mice and rats cant chew at it

 

[Ivywoods]

Wow. Over 300 pages here before I took time to check it out. I guess you could consider me an old timer. I'm 57 and have had chicken off and on all my life.

My mom had chickens before I can remember. In fact when she was a little girl, the building behind their house was a hatchery. She and her sisters used to sneak out back to the trash and listen for peeps and rescue unhatched chicks and chicks that had been thrown out for whatever reason.

When I was young we raised broilers every year. We would butcher 50-100 at a time. I did the dippin' and pluckin'.

The thought of that smell still makes me sick. I raised my own chickens while growing up, along with the other farm animals. After that I didn't have chickens for a while, but got some to raise with my own kids. Now the kids are gone, and I am raising them just for my own uses.

Here's an amusing thought (kind of). I've heard people say, "I won't make my chickens drink anything that 'I' wouldn't drink." Well, I don't know about you, but my chickens would have to die of thiirst if that was the case. Ain't NO chicken waterer that I'M going to drink out of!

 

[IamSamSam]

thanks I put a trap up in between the roof and the outer roof and caught 3 massive rats. None have been back since......I set it again to no avail.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:

Come to think of it, I guess I'm with you on that!

 

[TMNfarm]

Raising them to be chicken killers does not mean they won't still turn out to be big softies.

When I was 7 or 8 years old I was expected to help pull feathers out of recently butchered chickens. I remember distinctly watching roosters run around with no heads after my dad had decapitated them with an axe. I remember the awful smell of the feathers after the chickens were dipped in scalding hot water and the sound of the pressure cooker as Mom attempted to make the meat more tender. Most of the time hens were safe unless they were especially old but my Dad would buy the chicks straight run so we would have extra roosters that would need to be thinned out. I remember being excited whenever new chicks would arrive but it was mingled with sadness because I knew one day in the near future it would mean chicken killing day. As soon as the chicks were old enough for me to tell which ones were males and which ones were females I would avoid the males like the plague trying hard not to get attached to them. I would also never name them if I knew they were going to be food one day. My parents would let me pick a rooster that I wanted to keep, which was kind, but I also felt a little like the grim reaper of the chicken world. I never resented what my parents did but to this day I don't choose to have the stomach for killing what I raise. I do believe it is a choice. If I had to survive by killing my own food, I would, but foodlion is just way convenient and it's easier to to enjoy my food if I haven't spent hours crying over it. When I was little I would rescue drowning earthworms from puddles so my temperament gives me a bit of a disadvantage from my fellow omnivores.

My advice to parents who raise birds for meat:
1) Do not hide your intentions from your children. Make sure they understand which animals will be pets and which will be food so they have a chance to emotionally distance themselves from the food.
2) NEVER and I mean NEVER let them name the animals destined for the dinner table. Names add attachment.
3) Treat the animals you raise for food with the care of a good steward. They may be destined for the crock pot but ensuring they live quality lives until that day will help your children cope with the loss and respect you. Help them to understand that the animals were put here for us and not the other way around but that that also gives us the responsibility of stewarding what we have been given.

You may never turn them into butchers but you can earn their respect and help them cope with the realities of life. I'm still a softie, but my upbringing has made it possible for me to still enjoy fried chicken and respect folks that raise their own meat.

This is my first year raising chickens. We bought 12 layers and 12 meat chickens at the same time and raised them for the first couple of weeks together in the same brooder. We could tell them apart by their color. I told my kids (16, 12, & 10) that they could name the layers, but not the meatys. The meatys are going to be butchered soon, and my kids know it. We still built them their own coop, we still give them the best care we can, we still enjoy watching them and offer the new foods to try, just like we do the layers. Butchering day is coming soon, and to be honest, I don't know how any of us will handle it when the time comes. But I have never hid the fact that we will butcher them from my kids. I don't believe in lying to my kids... ever. If something is going to hurt, I tell them it's going to hurt. I need them to trust me... I won't force my kids to be there or take part if they choose not to, but so far, they are all planning on participating... Their choice. If it goes well, I will probably get 12 more to raise and butcher in the fall. The layers, however, will never hit the stew pot... If they need to be culled, we will cull them, I am a realist, but I will cull them and treat them like any other "pet". I guess I'm kind of a believer in "you don't eat what you have named"... Just my opinion...

 

[bj taylor]

where is beekissed? she started this thread & i havent seen her for a few days now. she always has such great input

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I think she said she had something to do for a few days...anybody know about trimming rooster spurs? I'm going to try a dremel, works on dogs so why not.? I've been reading alot about the sentiment on eating your chickens/pets and gotta say, it can be hard to dress out a fav bird, but I also know what it's like to be hungry, really hungry and wasting the meat is a luxury I won't subscribe to. I name my chickens too, pet them, treat them well...I just don't name the freezer pack,so when it's chicken dinner night I'm not thinking that I'm eating a pet. Besides, the spirit is flown. There may be one or two that go into the pet cemetary, but I'm hoping those will live to a tough old age and stay too skinny to be tempting.