Simulated Natural Nest Incubation~Experiment #1 So it begins....

[Oldmomma]

So when are chickens considered big enough to eat? Im trying to figure out how often I would have to buy chicks to get my food supply started taking into losses. Im doing ok out of 17 ive only lost one so far. Might end up with a bunch of roos that if I can, will decide who to keep for breeding. Only my 5 month olds seem BIG enough but they dont seem very heavy meat wise. I dont have a scale that I can weight them with so I can only go by looks. Right now we buy 8 kilos every three weeks. We eat 1/2 to a whole chicken breast a night. Family of 5. Yeah, 1 chicken breast. Most families we know eat much less. Before we moved here we ate 3 full breasts on weekends and 1 whole chicken for an average meal or 16 pieces if we got cooked chicken from the Walmart quick dinner. I make 2 cups of rice and lately we've added salads and some fruits. Im dreading any power failures so im trying to learn to buy fresh twice weekly vs freezing. I lost 2 months worth of veggies last year. No deep freeze yet cant afford and no room in house. But its a planned item when I move. Adapting to food culture here was hard first year. Typical family meals pale compared to normal consumption back in states.

 

[BCMaraniac]

I was thinking you were selling chick chicks....newly hatched ones. Around here the going rate is $1 for newly hatched or a week or two old chicks, junior birds of around a month or more go for around $3, point of lay grade (hatchery sourced genetics) go for $7 and hens of 2 yrs or older go for $5.

Supply and demand in your particular area, I'm guessing....chickens just aren't much of a novelty in rural WV like they are growing to be in the suburbs and urban sprawl areas. The only way I'd get more than $3 for that age of bird is to explain in detail about the heritage line breeding~and most getting into chickens right now wouldn't give a flying fling about all that....they want silkies and cochins

~ and $3 won't even pay for the feed they've eaten during that grow out period.

I'll have to remember to mention the broody raising, all natural raising, foraging, etc. in any ads I place...that's a good tip!

I've never really sold chicks or birds before this Hootie Hatch....mostly I just raise the birds and eat the extras. If I start hatching for breeding purposes, I may learn how to capon so I can keep the cockerels long enough to get some size on them before butchering.

Bee, I've thought about selling chicks, but my concern is biosecurity of my flock. If people start coming in to look at chicks, then my concern is what diseases might they bring in to my other birds. We have poultry auctions where I live every week, but I don't like taking birds there either, cause many sick birds end up there.

 

[Beekissed]

Bee, I've thought about selling chicks, but my concern is biosecurity of my flock. If people start coming in to look at chicks, then my concern is what diseases might they bring in to my other birds. We have poultry auctions where I live every week, but I don't like taking birds there either, cause many sick birds end up there.

I don't worry about biosecurity at all...if my flock can be killed off by someone merely walking into my coop I need to go back to the drawing board and start all over on building stronger birds. That's what most folks are missing about biosecurity...there is no such thing, really...one cannot keep every wild bird, mouse, bug or worm out of contact with the chickens and these are all vectors of disease. If germs tracked in on someone's shoes can sicken or kill your flock you are fighting a battle you cannot possibly win.

The commercial poultry businesses are all locked down and using major biosecurity measures and who is the biggest source of disease in our food supply? Yep, the biosecurity fanatics.

I'd work on the inner "biosecurity"...the only one that can be improved upon...by breeding the best of your genetics for hardiness, longevity, vigor. Then I'd start from day one developing those immune systems...cull any animal that does not respond to your natural method of management, do not give meds under any circumstance for worms, illness, etc, unless that med can be found in nature...garlic, sulfur ointment, pine tar, etc. Cull until it hurts and you won't have to worry about biosecurity...God placed a built-in biosecurity in each and every one of us and in our animals if we would only just nurture that and He also gave us additional knowledge about normal, every day hygiene practices that help maintain that system.

If a bird falls off the roost dead as a doornail, look on it as a blessing more than a curse...that bird was not hardy, not able to live normally in a normal environment. Don't look for solutions to that problem unless ALL your birds are falling off the roost dead, then you need to go back to that proverbial drawing board and look for where you went wrong~breed selection, source of genetics, feed choices, environmental needs, lack of good management, etc.

Another area of natural biosecurity is their habitat....overstocking the soils in the coops/runs/yard/pasture is the surest way to keep perpetuating germs and parasites. Bare, hard packed soils are not healthy soils and cannot be cleansed in a natural way. Too much feces on one patch of soil is another killer of the ecosystem there, as is the runoff from that area.

Biosecurity begins and ends naturally and isolating your flock from anyone who comes to visit isn't going to change that. I'm all for keeping as closed a flock as a person can manage...that's just common sense that one doesn't want to keep intentionally bringing in possible disease vectors to live cheek by jowl with the flock...but additions to the flock are inevitable and that is when the flock's immunities need to be strong enough to withstand new pathogens.

 

[Tumbleweed Farm]

 
I was thinking you were selling chick chicks....newly hatched ones.  Around here the going rate is $1 for newly hatched or a week or two old chicks, junior birds of around a month or more go for around $3, point of lay grade (hatchery sourced genetics) go for $7 and hens of 2 yrs or older go for $5.

Supply and demand in your particular area, I'm guessing....chickens just aren't much of a novelty in rural WV like they are growing to be in the suburbs and urban sprawl areas.  The only way I'd get more than $3 for that age of bird is to explain in detail about the heritage line breeding~and most getting into chickens right now wouldn't give a flying fling about all that....they want silkies and cochins   ~ and $3 won't even pay for the feed they've eaten during that grow out period.  

I'll have to remember to mention the broody raising, all natural raising, foraging, etc. in any ads I place...that's a good tip!

I've never really sold chicks or birds before this Hootie Hatch....mostly I just raise the birds and eat the extras.  If I start hatching for breeding purposes, I may learn how to capon so I can keep the cockerels long enough to get some size on them before butchering.

Bee, I've thought about selling chicks, but my concern is biosecurity of my flock.  If people start coming in to look at chicks, then my concern is what diseases might they bring in to my other birds.  We have poultry auctions where I live every week, but I don't like taking birds there either, cause many sick birds end up there.

I bring a few chicks in the house in a box for buyers to chose from. I do not want folks in my coop or run.

 

[Beekissed]

Sixteen eggs into the broody box just now....mostly WR eggs but two BA, two NH and possibly a Del by mistake. Just want to see what pops out of those eggs. Did include one HUGE mystery egg from one bird that looks to be a double yolker and has a cracked shell that has been taped up....just for kicks and giggles. I want to see if it will even develop. I'm sure it won't but it will hold heat in the nest in the meanwhile.

 

[Tomtommom]

I ofcourse know what the cost of raising a chicken is... so I suppose in my mind I couldn't offer less than $10 for a pullet that age.... they eat a lot dangit. Mine are 9 weeks old and I would've bought 12 week old pullets any day for $10

I don't love chicks... Suppose I am odd for that, but I prefer adult birds. I'm the same with baby humans/dogs/cats.. I don't love babies (well, I love my own babies ofcourse... but I can't wait til they're walking/talking/not so breakable). I don't like needy things.

 

[fisherlady]

I don't worry about biosecurity at all...if my flock can be killed off by someone merely walking into my coop I need to go back to the drawing board and start all over on building stronger birds. That's what most folks are missing about biosecurity...there is no such thing, really...one cannot keep every wild bird, mouse, bug or worm out of contact with the chickens and these are all vectors of disease. If germs tracked in on someone's shoes can sicken or kill your flock you are fighting a battle you cannot possibly win.

The commercial poultry businesses are all locked down and using major biosecurity measures and who is the biggest source of disease in our food supply? Yep, the biosecurity fanatics.

Biosecurity begins and ends naturally and isolating your flock from anyone who comes to visit isn't going to change that. I'm all for keeping as closed a flock as a person can manage...that's just common sense that one doesn't want to keep intentionally bringing in possible disease vectors to live cheek by jowl with the flock...but additions to the flock are inevitable and that is when the flock's immunities need to be strong enough to withstand new pathogens.

I'm totally with Bee on this one... I do practice common sense hygeine, if I go to someone else's barn I don't wear the same clothes or shoes to my coop when I get home... those clothes go to the washer. But I can't prevent other wild birds from coming to the area, I can't prevent the local amish from running through the yard when their horses get loose (and many of them have birds) and I can't do anything about the local wildlife beyond general safety measures of not leaving food out that could attract them.

My birds aren't vaccinated, they don't get medicated feed (not even as chicks) and the only antibiotic use I do is for topical wound care. I do put ACV in the water and in cold weather we will treat the birds with some scrambled eggs or yogurt... It is always possible that the birds may get exposed to a germ they can't fight off, but I am in the 'an immunity system doesn't stay strong if it never has to work' camp. Yes, I am playing the odds in a way... but I haven't had a sick bird in 3+ years? Most new birds are kept in a different area for a few weeks to allow observation, although I did get 3 from TSC who were day olds to give to a broody this spring and they were fine.

I do warn anyone buying birds from me that they aren't medicated or vaccinated...and a bird who is good on one property may get sick on another property. It doesn't mean the bird was sickly to begin with, it just has not grown up being exposed to the same pathogens as are present in it's new locations... sometimes they can overcome the new pathogens, sometimes not... again, knowing ahead of time that these things happen can help prevent them from becoming an issue. Introduce birds slowly to new environments and make sure they have a good roosting/nesting area to retreat to, so if they do get mildly sick from the new environment they have a better chance of fighting it off if they can be warm, dry and feel safe/calm. Birds who are stressed are not going to be able to fight off the minor illnesses as well as happy (or at least calm) birds. I have asked anyone who buys our birds to report back to us if any problems at all with illness after they leave here and have not had anyone report back sick birds... so hopefully that is because all have transitioned well.

 

[LindaB220]

Alright Bee

We'll be

waiting with you. And hoping for a Great Hatch!

x2 Bee Waiting with you.

 

[Tomtommom]

I love you ladies. I so very much agree.

I don't coddle my birds... or any of my animals. No medicated feed, no antibiotics, no scrubbing down the coop with bleach or whatever the heck folks do. My birds have gotten sick ONCE and all lived, no ill effect afterward... and these are hatchery birds. I've dewormed them once, right after their little sick spell, just to make sure that wasn't the cause.... Didn't find a single worm after treatment, so I guess they didn't have any

Not surprising, they eat garlic, pepper flakes, onions and whatever worms don't like in a gut.

If a chicken is really sick, I'd cull, if I can't 'fix them up' with home remedies. I just have no desire to give all sorts of nasty medicines to something I plan on eating. Yuck. Not on my fruits/veggies, not on my eggs/meat, thanks. I can't afford to buy organic from the store or anything, but I sure am not going to purposely make my homegrown stuff as nasty as the store bought.

I do avoid auctions and swaps... I think that's just asking for trouble. If It was just a few folks I knew on BYC, sure. But those swaps with a bunch of random folks.. No. Heck, half of the locals here have no clue how to take care of a chicken

"This is my third try at chickens, all my previous ones keep dying. HELP!" Uh.. yeah...

 

[Beekissed]

This nest came up to temps very quickly and is holding well at 99.5 on control #2. Had to move the nest from my room to the middle of the house as my room tends to get very hot in the evening as the sun shines right into that window. Had the perfect place for it and hope it maintains a more steady temp there. I'm hoping to hold the temps just a tad lower this time if at all possible, so I may be adding a spacer later on.

This time I'm going to try to refrain from candling until the 10th day and then again on the 18th so I can turn the air cells upward. I'm going to try and lessen the heartache of seeing chicks moving and getting that nurturing feeling before they are even hatched. If I see something moving on the 10 day, they get to stay awhile longer. Nothing there, I'm not even going to open them up, just toss them out for the dog.

Heading out for a fishing trip this next week for 3 days...guess what's coming along for the ride.....

The day we come home is when the broody is due for hatching her clutch, so I'm moving her to a brooder area before we leave and hope to find something good when I come back.