- Jun 16, 2016
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Can you maybe have a couple of hens at your house and just bring them with you to the orchard and then go back home with u?
Beginner - Are chickens low maintenance?
- Thread starter mathie
- Start date
I was going to say sounds like you are going for semi-feral chickens but only they are in a moveable cage and not really getting to roam the orchard as a whole...?
Chicken Feed does attract vermin: mice on up to raccoons. And behind their little smelly back and forth trails come the bigger nuisance predators. More cunning and lethal on up the food chain. Aerial predators require Bird Netting across the whole orchard....but maybe you have that already...?
This would have to be top of the line systemic feeding, watering, fenced- protected automated orchard. And as said previously not really new chickeneer-friendly/easy.
Corner cutting would be unwise.
I've been at chickens for 6 years and I still have hard lessons every year. It's a humbling hobby that is taken out in chicken life usually, no matter how good you are (or think you are) Anyways Opinion of moi is 'be there' for your first set of yard birds. For the animals' sakes.
San Jose is pretty warm in the summer I'm guessing. They would need some sort of reprieve from heat. That is a day to day chore making sure they have iced water founts to keep them cool.
Chicken Feed does attract vermin: mice on up to raccoons. And behind their little smelly back and forth trails come the bigger nuisance predators. More cunning and lethal on up the food chain. Aerial predators require Bird Netting across the whole orchard....but maybe you have that already...?
This would have to be top of the line systemic feeding, watering, fenced- protected automated orchard. And as said previously not really new chickeneer-friendly/easy.
Corner cutting would be unwise.
I've been at chickens for 6 years and I still have hard lessons every year. It's a humbling hobby that is taken out in chicken life usually, no matter how good you are (or think you are) Anyways Opinion of moi is 'be there' for your first set of yard birds. For the animals' sakes.
San Jose is pretty warm in the summer I'm guessing. They would need some sort of reprieve from heat. That is a day to day chore making sure they have iced water founts to keep them cool.
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I am in agreement with those that have a more realistic view point of the situation.
Land left to itself goes feral and invites all manner of predators and pests, as you would expect with the absence of humans, especially land out towards the ends of town in farming country. (I grew up in farming country and logging country...I've had land close in and land far out).
Penning up livestock with little oversight will create a situation where you have left free food for the wild life in the area. It sadly will be only a matter of time until a break in occurs even if you attempt to create "Fort Knox." Wild life are very ingenious and will be especially attracted to tasty, noisy, defenseless, chickens.
Chickens essentially go into a stupor when they roost at night. Coons can devastate a coop in a single night as will cougars or coyotes or a number of other predators in the area. Rodents will chew through solid walls to get to stored feed. (I have gaping holes in the *sides* of my coop now because I boarded and clothed up all the easy access areas).
Then, a lot of things can happen in 6 days between each visit. I find things that I thought were the perfect set up fell apart after a day or two. The times I've had disease or disaster were when I got very busy in my schedule (such as family member had a heart attack) and had to tend with a light hand for several weeks.
Your automatic door may lock down and not open penning birds in the coop for days or stranding birds on the outside.
Feed spills, molds, or is eaten by rodents. Water spills, is soiled. Disease inevitably begins as the rodents and wild birds bring in disease.
Feral birds in a park may look "happy," but define "happy." If you were to follow a single bird in that park, you might be surprised at its short life span. You may also be alarmed at what happened to the original population before it became feral.
Many animals left in the wild can go feral, but it takes a heavy toll on the population the first couple of years. Only a few stragglers are left to slowly build the feral population to a balance point with the predators, or the species simply dies out.
I am of the philosophy that when we incur livestock we accept a moral responsibility towards that livestock to actually take care of them.
Domesticated animals are not like wild animals as they do not have the survival instincts to be in the wild....we've bred that out of them in domestication....they do not forage well, succumb to disease quicker, do not have the instincts for predator survival.
So putting some chickens in a penned cage, even a movable one, and checking on them infrequently (even once a week), I believe will sooner than later result in tragedy.
It definitely is not the kindest thing to the animals. If you want feral birds, then have feral birds not penned bait.
Perhaps see if it is legal to trap some of those in the park nearby and relocate them to your orchard. Many cities have times that feral birds are trapped and disposed or relocated if the population has become a problem.
Otherwise, I believe you will put domesticated animals into a very harsh environment which invites only "the survival of the fittest."
I have found life has seasons. Perhaps in time you will be able to spend more time at your lovely orchard and be able to keep a lovely flock with the over sight it will need.
My thoughts
LofMc
^ THIS
If you can't be there for regular care, you can't offer them the care they need. If you keep them in a tractor, what benefits are you giving your orchard regarding pest control and manure? You're basically locking them up, hoping for the best, not able to collect eggs and hoping the confinement (chicken tractor don't have a lot of room, due to being set up to be moved regularly) doesn't make them problematic. I'd just enjoy the feral ones that are there. Keep in mind, the feral chickens you see are the ones that have been skittish enough to survive so far. I would imagine there have been plenty of chicken dinners served up too.
I personally go through cycles with my flock, all good for months then one thing after another and they need close monitoring. If you're not around them that much maybe they won't be like pets to you and you'd be willing to cull any that get sick or injured and just replace. I don't have ducks but I've heard that they are less susceptible to diseases so that might be a better animal for you. If you want to try it then I suggest going with a landrace breed that is known to thrive on its own. For example Swedish flower or Icelandic. Maybe you could provide those chicken run tunnels along your orchard to give them "free range" and protection at the same time or use electric netting with the coop inside it to give them some protection and move the netting every time you visit.
Personally, I think that if your situation is good it can work. You will have to put a lot of effort into the setup, though. Predators can be effectively excluded, but it takes heavier equipment. You'll need a fair sized tractor and a robust flock with very hardy breeds.
Operating under the assumption that you DO follow through with it, disease control is a serious consideration. Feral chickens live by having lots of chicks, most of whom die. In a light management situation you won't be able to treat disease, illness or injury the way many others would. You will need to be willing to cull any sick or injured bird that won't get better with a quick shot or ointment and then be left to it's own devices. A sick bird is a threat to the whole flock.
Many people who keep chickens manage their flocks this way anyhow. This will also mean that they won't be around as long. As chickens age they become more and more prone to illness and injury. Chickens can be incredibly hardy but what to do 3 years down the line when your entire original flock is aged a little and falling ill more often is something to consider. You may want to consider keeping a rooster as part of your flock and adding 1-2 chickens likely to go broody so that they will raise out new chicks for you every year. You can put the extra roosters in your stewpot and the hens go on to be the next generation. Extra hens can be sold online to bring in a few dollars. But you will have a faster turnover rate for your birds than many consider acceptable. It won't be wild levels of turnover, but you may still be replacing your whole flock every 2-4 years.
Chickens in a tractor will leave plenty of fertilizer but will not be able to consume much of their diet from the environment. They will not be very good at pest control. If the stocking density is too high they can make your soil worse, not better. Space is important. Build big, not small.
Or consider ducks. I have heard great success stories of semi-feral range ducks in orchards. Especially Muscovies.
Operating under the assumption that you DO follow through with it, disease control is a serious consideration. Feral chickens live by having lots of chicks, most of whom die. In a light management situation you won't be able to treat disease, illness or injury the way many others would. You will need to be willing to cull any sick or injured bird that won't get better with a quick shot or ointment and then be left to it's own devices. A sick bird is a threat to the whole flock.
Many people who keep chickens manage their flocks this way anyhow. This will also mean that they won't be around as long. As chickens age they become more and more prone to illness and injury. Chickens can be incredibly hardy but what to do 3 years down the line when your entire original flock is aged a little and falling ill more often is something to consider. You may want to consider keeping a rooster as part of your flock and adding 1-2 chickens likely to go broody so that they will raise out new chicks for you every year. You can put the extra roosters in your stewpot and the hens go on to be the next generation. Extra hens can be sold online to bring in a few dollars. But you will have a faster turnover rate for your birds than many consider acceptable. It won't be wild levels of turnover, but you may still be replacing your whole flock every 2-4 years.
Chickens in a tractor will leave plenty of fertilizer but will not be able to consume much of their diet from the environment. They will not be very good at pest control. If the stocking density is too high they can make your soil worse, not better. Space is important. Build big, not small.
Or consider ducks. I have heard great success stories of semi-feral range ducks in orchards. Especially Muscovies.
Well, it seems like their are a variety of opinions about this topic, so I will add mine to the mix.
Since it seems as though you won't really be around to provide for the birds' safety, which is always my #1 priority, I can't see this working out for anyone other than a predator. The amount of chicken fertilizer you're likely to get out of the addition of chickens to your property is going to be so slight that I don't know why you'd bother.
Sounds like you & the chickens would both be further ahead to shelve the idea until you are able to come up with a different plan, or postpone the chickens indefinitely.
In the mean time, there are plenty of local, backyard farmers who can sell you eggs & likely lots of ranchers who can sell you animal manure for fertilizer.
Here's my two cents...
While I think it would be possible to build a safe, sturdy, and sufficient coop setup for this situation (something like this)... if you truly don't have time to spend there more than once a week, you wouldn't really get to enjoy your chickens much. Also, you would have no control over what happens to them when you're not there! While you may be able to make your coop safe from coons, coyotes, etc... it would be much harder to make it people-proof... it would be sad to come out to an empty coop.
I'm also wondering if this is actually your property or just a seemingly abandoned place you visit? I was a little unclear on this point from your original post. If you don't own the property then it's totally a no-go from me.
This might be a fun venture if you could find a few friends that would "co-op" with you and take care of the chickens on different days of the week. Each person just gets the number of eggs that are there on their day(s), all other expenses split equally(?) Or if you are willing to make the "investment," then they just get paid in eggs and the enjoyment of the chickens! This would be great if you could find 2 friends that were available 3 days each that also wanted chickens- you could share
While I think it would be possible to build a safe, sturdy, and sufficient coop setup for this situation (something like this)... if you truly don't have time to spend there more than once a week, you wouldn't really get to enjoy your chickens much. Also, you would have no control over what happens to them when you're not there! While you may be able to make your coop safe from coons, coyotes, etc... it would be much harder to make it people-proof... it would be sad to come out to an empty coop.
I'm also wondering if this is actually your property or just a seemingly abandoned place you visit? I was a little unclear on this point from your original post. If you don't own the property then it's totally a no-go from me.
This might be a fun venture if you could find a few friends that would "co-op" with you and take care of the chickens on different days of the week. Each person just gets the number of eggs that are there on their day(s), all other expenses split equally(?) Or if you are willing to make the "investment," then they just get paid in eggs and the enjoyment of the chickens! This would be great if you could find 2 friends that were available 3 days each that also wanted chickens- you could share
eggciting eggs
Chirping
I agree with most of these replies but with that said, don't get white colored chickens(!) if you aren't going to be with them often because they stand out to predators.
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