Araucana thread anyone?

[sega]

That's great! Do you clip your birds? I'd like to start setting Araucana eggs as soon as the weather is reasonable and I get a broody (I have one hen already thinking about it despite the current 13 degrees). I was going to wait until mid-February or so to clip, but it would be great if I didn't have to at all.

Kirsten

No, I do not clip my birds. I have 4 roos in with 15 hens in one pen and then 2 roos with seven hens in the other pen. They are are very prolific.

 

[Kassaundra]

A couple pics of Little man, and his best bud, Jaxom

 

[Rumbull]

I am always considering nutrition and figure my chickens needs change with the seasons, where they are with breeding and laying and so forth and something has always been on my mind and it really struck home one day when I was talking to my son Matt and he said something that was one of those Ah Ha! moments. He has a degree in Agriculture and doesn't have a whole lot of interest in poultry but did say something to me that struck a nerve. I had commented that feeding layer feed didn't seem to really make them lay or lay better. His comment was "Mom, that feed is for commercial layers to give them the minimum nutrition they need aimed at laying a lot of hard shelled eggs that won't crack on the way to the store. They don't expect those battery layers to lay for more than a couple of years either so the nutrition is sometimes hard on their livers and they don't live long past the 2 yrs."

l enjoyed reading your post regarding nutrition and layer pellets. Very insightful!!! I wonder if using a "grower crumble and free choice oyster shells is a better choice than layer pellets? It would be great if they developed a breeder pellet! My little flock has had free range of the back yard. I don't have much grass left ! I work at a hotel so I bring home "throw aways" from the breakfast buffet; scrambled eggs, sausage and biscuits. I put a scoop of that out at night for them to have each morning. I figure the eggs provide much of the nutrients that they need for egg laying. The sausage provides the protein and biscuits have grain in them. I probably have chickens with very high cholesterol in their veins! I have brought home vegetable scraps in the past and they don't seem to care for them. Chickens are absolutely not vegetarian by choice! I set a mouse trap every day (where the hens cant step in it) and catch about 2 mice week. The food attracts them. The chickens seem to enjoy a mouse dinner as well. If your are not doing this, I would be that you are loosing feed to mice every night. You can cut a 6" piece of PVC pipe and put the trap in there. It works like a charm! I use the traps that have a large yellow cheese shaped trigger. That way you don't have to actually bate it.

 

[beausonge]

A couple pics of Little man, and his best bud, Jaxom

Little Man gets handsomer everytime we see him.

 

[Kassaundra]

Little Man gets handsomer everytime we see him.

Thanks so much. Both of them are a mess, they are so friendly and just come running to either one of us the second they see us. We both bring the good treats and gaurd them while they eat in peace, the others aren't mean to them but they don't trust that and run from the older girls. I don't know if he is going to brighten up as much as Ari, but his personality more then makes up for it. He is also growing larger then Ari which is what I was hoping for. For those that wonder about Ari he has an amazing home w/ his own haram of Araucana ladies (3 I think) where he gets belly rubs (that is what the gentleman that has him tells me)

 

[mbobb2012]

I know sega lol but with the weather and shipping I don't think I would have ended up with 24 eggs haha

 

[Anniebee]

To Smoothmule ( and Rumball ) I read your article with interest, and the comments made by your son ( Smoothmule ) ... that the pellet layer food is fed to commercial battery hens ( ugh - horrid situation for the birds ) for hard shells etc ... and indeed that's probably the case, but the reason the birds don't live very long is a) their living (? - existence ) conditions, and b) the fact that they are most likely Isa-browns or some other bird you may have over there, which are used for prolific egg laying, and don't naturally have a long life anyway, even in a back garden.

In Australia, and I am not sure if it would be available in the U.S. ... we have a manufacturer called Barastoc, which produces pellets for use in back yard or other, growing of chickens - in initially 3 stages, and now two stages. The first is the Pullet grower pellet - fed up to about 10 weeks old, then there was the Pullet Finisher - fed to point of lay, and thereafter the Golden Yolk Layer pellets. Barastoc has now pulled the Finisher off the market, so the birds go straight from Grower to Layer pellets - at about 16 weeks onwards, or so I have been told by my stock and feed store. The grower pellets are properly laced with a variety of goodies including anti-biotic against coccidiosis. I believe to a lesser extent, the Layer pellets continue to have that in them. I worm my chickens every 6 weeks. (worming mixture in a litre of water - which they finish quickly ).

My hens are very happy on the Layer pellets now, and are in fact laying ( I bought them as young pullets at 8 weeks old ) ... the first 3 are just 21 weeks old, and they look the goods after having had a heavy moult. It's been a very hot summer this year, so their moult was early. The younger chickens ( 17 weeks old ) are still moulting a little, and I don't expect eggs until that's finished, and until they are a little older, but they too are now on Layer pellets.

All ( so far ) is great in the chook house. Personally, I would look to seeing if some manufacturer does produce a Layer pellet for home use, and that it has the appropriate goodies in it including calcium and a/b against coccidiosis etc. I have just Googled Barastoc, and it seems it is an Australian company only.

Good luck with the feeding. Not sure ( Rumball ) about feeding sausages to your chickens as they have a lot of preservative in them usually, and that cannot be too good for birds. Mice also are vermin, and carry a variety of diseases no matter what country they are in ! So I doubt I would ever go down that track !!! As it is, I have to try and keep crows out of our back garden, as they can spread disease to chickens .... so that's the dog's job - to scare the crows away. She loves the chickens, and they love her.

Anniebee ...

 

[smoothmule]

I feel even battery hens, if cared for as backyard chickens, can be much longer lived. I don't think it's the breed. It's the conditions and feeding that I believe shortens their usefulness, if not their lives. Using lights on 24/7 and the other conditions that have been scientifically proven to push them to lay out their entire life's worth of eggs over a 2 yr period is a good part of it. Even those great layers can take a break if allowed and live a good bit longer if they were cared for in a manner that would support a longer life. I wouldn't even say more productive because there "is" a finite number of eggs they were born with to lay so I think they can either blow them all out in a short time, or lay more naturally over a longer period of time. In both cases, their nutrition should meet the needs. Even a backyard chicken owner who is selling eggs may need to use layer mixes to produce those harder shelled eggs for their customers, and they may use lights in the winter or have breeds that lay well in the winter so they are not as confined as battery hens but they are expected to put out the eggs for sure.

I have had hens 10 yrs+ that laid. Not every day but good layers through the laying season. I am very casual about my hens laying. I understand their differences and know some lay hard and heavy for short periods, some lay infrequently but they don't have long periods that they're not laying at all. I do want mine to be healthy and long lived and I try to breed for that. I even prefer that in my cows, I have Brahman and they're known for productivity far into their teens when most cattle here are smooth mouthed and done Long before that. I think it requires good care and nutrition to support that kind o long life so I constantly look into ways to do better.

I have some yeast/probiotic cultured on cornmeal from Western Yeast Company. A little goes a long way and it's for any sort of livestock, my Arabian mare needs the "extra" that my foxtrotter mares don't seem to need to stay fat. I put a little in with grains to ferment and it's awesome stuff. I haven't been growing it a couple of weeks because of my recent surgery, but I have been growing fodder from barley grains too. I'm planning to put up another pen that my spare roosters can be confined in this spring on the days I can turn my penned flocks out to forage, to alternate every other day. My spare cocks free range between duty time and they are robust and healthy and I believe that has also been part of the reason for my good fertility without trimming vent feathers.

I worm twice a year here and if the need is indicated. I fixed the hens up with the coolest dust bath in the coop with the outside pen that isn't covered. I used an old dog house that wasn't in use for it, wood ashes, DE, sand and stuff and they seem to love it. I'm always looking for better ways to make them happy and that makes me happy too.

I love these forums because you never know what you're going to learn every day. Welcome to the group Anniebee! Do you have Araucana's there in Australia?

 

[KirstenJL]

I feel even battery hens, if cared for as backyard chickens, can be much longer lived. I don't think it's the breed. It's the conditions and feeding that I believe shortens their usefulness, if not their lives. Using lights on 24/7 and the other conditions that have been scientifically proven to push them to lay out their entire life's worth of eggs over a 2 yr period is a good part of it. Even those great layers can take a break if allowed and live a good bit longer if they were cared for in a manner that would support a longer life. I wouldn't even say more productive because there "is" a finite number of eggs they were born with to lay so I think they can either blow them all out in a short time, or lay more naturally over a longer period of time. In both cases, their nutrition should meet the needs. Even a backyard chicken owner who is selling eggs may need to use layer mixes to produce those harder shelled eggs for their customers, and they may use lights in the winter or have breeds that lay well in the winter so they are not as confined as battery hens but they are expected to put out the eggs for sure.

I have had hens 10 yrs+ that laid. Not every day but good layers through the laying season. I am very casual about my hens laying. I understand their differences and know some lay hard and heavy for short periods, some lay infrequently but they don't have long periods that they're not laying at all. I do want mine to be healthy and long lived and I try to breed for that. I even prefer that in my cows, I have Brahman and they're known for productivity far into their teens when most cattle here are smooth mouthed and done Long before that. I think it requires good care and nutrition to support that kind o long life so I constantly look into ways to do better.

I have some yeast/probiotic cultured on cornmeal from Western Yeast Company. A little goes a long way and it's for any sort of livestock, my Arabian mare needs the "extra" that my foxtrotter mares don't seem to need to stay fat. I put a little in with grains to ferment and it's awesome stuff. I haven't been growing it a couple of weeks because of my recent surgery, but I have been growing fodder from barley grains too. I'm planning to put up another pen that my spare roosters can be confined in this spring on the days I can turn my penned flocks out to forage, to alternate every other day. My spare cocks free range between duty time and they are robust and healthy and I believe that has also been part of the reason for my good fertility without trimming vent feathers.

I worm twice a year here and if the need is indicated. I fixed the hens up with the coolest dust bath in the coop with the outside pen that isn't covered. I used an old dog house that wasn't in use for it, wood ashes, DE, sand and stuff and they seem to love it. I'm always looking for better ways to make them happy and that makes me happy too.

I love these forums because you never know what you're going to learn every day. Welcome to the group Anniebee! Do you have Araucana's there in Australia?

In 2000 I rescued some commercial laying hens from a nearby facility that was destroyed by a tornado. They were giving away as many hens as they could, then euthanized the rest. I was not set up to keep chickens at that time, so gave them to people who could use them. I don't know how long they were productive, but they lived for years--the oldest one lived to be seven I believe.

Kirsten

 

[sega]

In 2000 I rescued some commercial laying hens from a nearby facility that was destroyed by a tornado. They were giving away as many hens as they could, then euthanized the rest. I was not set up to keep chickens at that time, so gave them to people who could use them. I don't know how long they were productive, but they lived for years--the oldest one lived to be seven I believe.

Kirsten

The farmers in my area that have the laying houses for the local Poultry Plant keep their hens for 5 years. They produce the eggs that will be hatched for new chicks for the poultry plant. They are not house in laying cages. They are housed in long pens. Normally the pens are 600' x 36', cover and with controlled climate inside. There are laying boxes in the pens for the hens to lay their eggs in. The lights do not say on 24/7. They allow the lights to go off around 9 pm and come back on around 4 am.

Totally different for the houses that house the chickens that will be processed for meat. The lights never go off in the houses. The chickens are only kept for 4-6 weeks depending on what vendor they are growing the chickens for. The chickens are full grown in 6 weeks. The breed of chicken was specifically developed for the local Poultry Plant. The breed does not have a name just a number.