ALABAMA!!

[Dragonfly216]

That's the handsome fellah. The one that apparently doesn't crow... He's up for a new home, still. Just can't have the stress of 'eventual crowing'. The other one is so shy, he runs off whenever I get within 8 ft. No pics of him. He's the one that will have to be culled.

So is the boy you don't want, the handsome quiet one, an Australorp by chance? We are working on our coop now, prob be a couple of months, but I'm interested in that breed and want at least one rooster for new chicks. If it is and you still have him when I'm ready, I'd love to take him off your hands! I live in McCalla

 

[Highcotton]

I have a fenced in backyard. I've had two hawk attacks. So yes, don't trust a fence alone! My run is 6ft tall, no top and under a HUGE tree, no hawk attacks there. The two times they got attacked was when they ventured into the yard without the shelter of a tree. No worries though, both girls survived and healed back up. I just try to prevent folks from heartache.


And do yourself a favor: Do not skimp out of wire. Get hardware cloth or something similarly sturdy. Don't buy chicken wire. A raccoon or dog will tear through that like it's nothing.


I start my babies on flockraiser/grower feed, day one. I don't do starter, just not really needed. Just more bags you have to finish before starting the next. Layer starts around week 18-20 (depending if I am running out by week 18, or closer to 20. No sooner than 18 weeks though). Some folks use grower feed all the time, simply providing oyster shell on the side. I can only get that stuff in crumble = waste. Pellets last me twice as long as crumble


Can't really tell you how much you'll need, as it really depends how messy your 'kids' will be. Starter/grower is more waste than food, sadly. They just looove to dig in that stuff, poop in it and do other 'non-eating' activities with it.

From my reading on this site. The layer is good if you have all hens but the calcium in the layer will cause problems similar to kidney stones with roosters. My interpretation is that if you have roosters it is best to feed grower and provide oyster shells for them to eat if they need it.

 

[Tomtommom]

Ha! thanks sounds like the kids I have now

My 4 little mess makers, the dog makes 5 and I'm about to add a whole bunch more lol

I've never seen a hawk around here but plenty of opossums and raccoons. Since I'm on a dead end street there's a bit of woods a couple houses down so no telling what's in there really. I had a look at the rafters inside the building and there's some gaps under each one where I can see out... maybe big enough for a squirrel or small bird to get in. Those would need some hardware cloth too right? I figured they don't need completely covered since it would help with ventilation... heat rises and all that.

I'm in a subdivision smackdab in town and honestly haven't seen a possum or raccoon on my street EVER. I have had a few deer that got lost and went from yard to yard, trying to get back out of the neighborhood. Never saw hawks until we had chickens. They figure that stuff out quickly. I'm not super overprotective with my birds (the coop is open day and night...), because I don't have to be. Others are less lucky.

Hi! I'm from the Birmingham area myself! I haven't gotten started with my chickens just yet, just been researching and getting very excited We have a fenced in area that has been used for them previously and we just started clearing out the leaves and digging a trench around it to sink some chicken wire down deep to detract predators hopefully! Then the plan is build the coop and lay chicken wire over the top to keep anything from climbing in at night! We live in a pretty wooded area, the only real clearing is by the pond. Has anyone had luck with free-roaming their chickens during the day in the woods areas? I see at least one hawk flying around and have seen a coyote one morning, but we have two dogs that don't mess with chickens, so I think maybe they would protect them? I would love to let them free roam! But I do have a very heavy chicken tractor already built if I HAVE to use it

Wouldn't count on it. I've seen folks that had chickens snatched by coyotes while they were standing with the flock. You can buy predator urine (bear, wolf, bobcat etc.), which is supposed to repel smaller predators.. not sure if it work.

Some breeds free-range better than others. A rooster WILL protect his ladies, and sacrifice himself for it. Flighty birds are better free-rangers, but they wont be cuddly lap chickens. Most folks that free-range accept that they WILL lose birds.

I've only been doing this one year myself, but if I learned one thing it's that there's a lot of choices that have to be made when keeping chickens. Some easier than others.

I've been reading where you can make a nice chicken broth from roosters, even old ones, and freeze it in 1 cup increments for later use! Just an idea!

We actually did clean him and he was actually tender as could be. I was quite surprised that a 17 week old cockerel would be tender, as the last one was 12 weeks and tough as a nail.

The other one has been pardonned for now. I am bringing him in at night... he has gotten to a point he only crows when he hears us getting up in the morning.. waits until he hears us moving and talking and then he crows as to say "Get my out of this durn box!" He has not crowed at all during the day... Ofcourse the ladies are not really warming up to him yet and he's too wussy to make advances

Chickens crack me up.

 

[Tomtommom]

So is the boy you don't want, the handsome quiet one, an Australorp by chance? We are working on our coop now, prob be a couple of months, but I'm interested in that breed and want at least one rooster for new chicks. If it is and you still have him when I'm ready, I'd love to take him off your hands! I live in McCalla

Oh, missed this post in my mass-quoting.

He's an Ameraucana. Hatched from a blue-green egg, which I suppose means he's not 100% pure, as Ameraucanas are supposed to lay blue-blue eggs.

He's been pardonned for now. As long as he doesn't start making a bunch of ruckus during the day. So far he's very good, but we'll have to see what happens when the hormones start flowing. He's not doing much rooster-ey stuff yet, except for walking around with a little strut.

 

[kingfrodo]

I know I shouldn't complain but I can't help myself.

I have gotten zero eggs the past two days. These girls are freeloading and it is making me sad.

I am lucky that I've at least gotten one or two a day all winter but I thought for sure now that we are getting more daylight a little each day they would pick up instead of quit.

ok, rant over.

 

[DeannaA]

I feed my chicks starter for 4 weeks (and grit) and them switch to grower until 18 weeks. At 18 weeks I switch to layer. I use 16% protein feeds and my birds free range. They get scratch feed as a supplement/treat.My birds also get fresh vegetable scraps and left overs on occasion. Our chickens are for egg prodution and insect control.

I have read that if they are eating pellets or crumble they don't need the grit because it is already processed. I only feed mine grit when I feed them grain. I don't think it hurts them unless they eat too much but I think that is only a concern with the younger ones.

So is the boy you don't want, the handsome quiet one, an Australorp by chance? We are working on our coop now, prob be a couple of months, but I'm interested in that breed and want at least one rooster for new chicks. If it is and you still have him when I'm ready, I'd love to take him off your hands! I live in McCalla

I have a Rhode Island Red x Buff Orpington sweetie rooster, some Langshans, an Easter Egger and a Black Copper Maran roosters. I am in Cottondale andI work in Bessemer. The RIR mix is already full rooster. I love him but I have too many. I can pick him up for snuggles. He already knows the rules.

From my reading on this site. The layer is good if you have all hens but the calcium in the layer will cause problems similar to kidney stones with roosters. My interpretation is that if you have roosters it is best to feed grower and provide oyster shells for them to eat if they need it.

My friends roosters eat the oyster shells. I have read many many times, vet university websites included, that the layer pellets won't hurt them. Hope they are right. My chickens are super picky. They love chick start, even the grown ones will try to steal it, and only 2 brands of layer pellets. They have stopped eating for 2 days when I tried to change.


Someone was asking how much, here is a good chart.
http://afspoultry.ca.uky.edu/files/pubs/How_much_will_my_chicken_eat.pdf

 

[icandi]

Someone was asking how much, here is a good chart.
http://afspoultry.ca.uky.edu/files/pubs/How_much_will_my_chicken_eat.pdf

Thanks for the link that was me

 

[DeannaA]

There are many options for everything poultry. There's a ton of info on this site but hard to know who knows what they are talking about. There are a lot of 'this is the way I do it, so you have to or you're wrong.' There are old timers that do it 'the way it's always been done' just like their parents and grandparents and great grandparents. There are repeaters but no expierence. There are super googlers and people with years of experience. There are classic farmers, homesteaders, green farmers, organic farmers, limited budget farming out of necessity and people raising chickens for fun with loads of money. There are people raising poultry for eggs, meat, money (silly people), pets and/or show. A lot of advice but depends on your situation. I always take the great ideas from here and look it up further on other sites. There are some great Veterinarian University websites. I have also found great info on some 3rd world countries. They don't raise poultry the same commercial way larger countries do. The government puts out the info for everyone. India has great information. And practicle on large and small levels. They even tell you how to hatch without electricity.

Don't stop with the advice of one person or website. I made that mistake. Lost some chicks. Just remember they are your responsibility, like any pet.

 

[Tomtommom]

I know I shouldn't complain but I can't help myself.

I have gotten zero eggs the past two days. These girls are freeloading and it is making me sad.

I am lucky that I've at least gotten one or two a day all winter but I thought for sure now that we are getting more daylight a little each day they would pick up instead of quit.

ok, rant over.

Mine are the same way. This crazy weather has them all over the place. We're rationing eggs at this point

I had ONE egg for breakfast, instead of my usual three. Had two for breakfast yesterday.... Imagine my joy when I found 5 eggs in the box this morning... sad, because I used to get 8-9 on a good day, now 5 is a good day haha

Hard to imagine only two months ago I was giving them away because we had 4 dozen in the fridge.

There are many options for everything poultry. There's a ton of info on this site but hard to know who knows what they are talking about. There are a lot of 'this is the way I do it, so you have to or you're wrong.' There are old timers that do it 'the way it's always been done' just like their parents and grandparents and great grandparents. There are repeaters but no expierence. There are super googlers and people with years of experience. There are classic farmers, homesteaders, green farmers, organic farmers, limited budget farming out of necessity and people raising chickens for fun with loads of money. There are people raising poultry for eggs, meat, money (silly people), pets and/or show. A lot of advice but depends on your situation. I always take the great ideas from here and look it up further on other sites. There are some great Veterinarian University websites. I have also found great info on some 3rd world countries. They don't raise poultry the same commercial way larger countries do. The government puts out the info for everyone. India has great information. And practicle on large and small levels. They even tell you how to hatch without electricity.

Don't stop with the advice of one person or website. I made that mistake. Lost some chicks. Just remember they are your responsibility, like any pet.

I'm a super Googling budget dream-to-be homesteader in a subdivision so it has to look pretty too haha

Totally agreeing. That's why I said that with chicken keeping comes a lot of choices. Gotta decide how you're going to do things. Keep a roo? yes/no. If no, how do you deal with it? Eat/rehome. Medicated feed or unmedicated? Are you going to take chickens to the vet, or cull if they need that level of care? Open or closed coop? What breed? Hatch your own, feed store, hatchery or breeder chicks? Etc. etc. Best to decide what sort of chicken keeper you want to be and plan accordingly. Just keep in mind, chicken math will happen.. just stay true to what you can handle. It's a terrible idea to have several coops with tons of chickens if you have a very demanding job or take care of an elderly parents or something else that may make it hard to for you to be all over the place all the time.

It tooks us over a year before we finally settled on a coop design... Lots of preparation

 

[DeannaA]

Thanks for the link that was me

Just in case you're interested, there are some good sites on fermenting. It cuts down on food and there are a lot of benefits. The fermentaion partially digests the food helping the chickens get more nutrients from the food causing less waste (poop) and the need for less food. Especially if you feed grains. I use buttermilk to start mine. If you have time, check it out. It has cut my food by 1/3 to 1/2 and definately cut down on the smell. Every feed store I have gone to around the area I live has told me there is no reason to do this. Of course they have never tried it. I know a few peple that have done it and love it. Oh the best part, they drink way less so you don't have to refill their water as often. The fermentaion heats the food so in the winter it helps warm them up.