Poultry as livestock forum

[schmism]

Ive found backyard chickens less and less useful as my backyard flock of 2 chickens has grown into a flock of 30+ hens with roosters.

The backyard "pets" have moved from small tractor style coupes to "large" barns. The girls stop being named and as egg sales climbed costs vs review became an important issue.

I recently posted in the brooding chicks section about people who have used hover style brooders. Traditionally these are only used in larger flock operations and my post got few responses and quickly dropped off the front page being buried in endless questions about raising 2-4 chicks in your living room.

The coupe and run forum suffers the same issues. Countless posts about coupes for 2-4 girls mean issues that "livestock" owners deal with get little notice such as,
- Wanting input on how other people have dealt with watering 30+ girls is no longer 1 gal feeders that a replaced every other day issue.
- Dealing with bulk feed issues is outside the topic of most bag-feed discussions.

A "<B>Poultry as livestock - Got more than 20? Look here!</B>" forum would give us property owners that have outgrown our backyard flocks some place to be topical without being drowned out by the 100's who come here looking for help with there backyard few.

 

[GardenerGal]

I think there are people here who have 30+ chickens or mixed poultry, though they're not commercial operations. If there aren't enough of us "larger flockers" to justify a new forum, maybe just use the words "Large Flock Issues" or something like that, in your thread headers.

If a new forum does get started, a name such as "Large-Flock Keepers" or "Commercial Backyard Poultry" might be more accurate than "poultry as livestock," mostly because "livestock" usually is associated with hoofed mammals, not the scale of the farming operation.

 

[wsmith]

I would subscribe to such a thread or forum.

 

[schmism]

On the issue of livestock i borrowed from wikipedia

Livestock are domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. This article does not discuss poultry or farmed fish, although these, especially poultry, are commonly included within the meaning of "livestock".

Livestock generally are raised for profit....

I like to use the term livestock because its a distinction that is made clear in zoning rules of most cities. More and more cities are allowing 2-4 backyard chickens as "pets" but still do not use the term livestock, vs agricultural zoning which clearly states you can keep livestock.

This is the clear distinction between people who raise a few backyard pets, and those of use that have grown from a few back yard pets to 20-30-50 or more chickens that are kept to produce high quality eggs for CSA or similar programs.

As another example of some of the fundamental differences between the "pet" owners and larger flock owners. I read a post yesterday indicating that the person wouldn't recommend free ranging because to many predators also free range. Yet this is a cornerstone in my large flock management. Its simply not feasible to fence and cover an acre's worth of land, and I want them to move between the pasture and the large garden. But then again I also employ a guard Lama and a great pyrenees as nothing but livestock guardians. I also except the reality that there will be losses and therefore my behavior in how to deal with such losses has also changed.

Its this type of clear distinction between backyard "pet" owners who have there small enclosed tractor/run/coupe and us large flock owners that highlight why a new forum section would benefit the community here.

 

[aart]

I would love to see a sub forum called Poultry as Livestock for people who are raising chickens for food rather than the 'pet chicken' contingent.

 

[slidnonice]

I think this is a great idea. I have 20 birds and as the demand for their eggs is rising, I'm considering getting at least 10 more. On the watering front, now that summer temps are starting to show their ugly faces here in Texas, it's becoming a concern for me, as well. I found a product, that while I haven't tried it yet, I'm very excited about. It's called 'The Chicken Fountain' and can be found at chickenfountain.com . Looks pretty innovative and I can't wait to try one!

Shari
Sherwood, TX

 

[Overoberyl]

I would definitely be interested in a thread/forum on this topic. I think there are a LOT more BYC members with 100+ birds than you might think.

I personally am tired of having to explain to people why I have so many (do I need a reason?!), or that I haven't lost my sanity. I'm sure other large flock owners can relate!

 

[tcmstalcup]

Are you my neighbor? I live in Barnhart.

 

[slidnonice]

Yes, I believe I am! We just moved here last July and I really love it...

 

[schmism]

I would love to see a sub forum called Poultry as Livestock for people who are raising chickens for food rather than the 'pet chicken' contingent.

This is mostly covered in the meat bird section.

I am currently in the process of rebuilding a large portion of our old barn to accommodate what will be 40 chickens. I was hopeing i could put this thread in our new forum as I plan to discuss some of the issues ive had to deal with that normal "pet flocks" dont generally have to worry about.