Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[GreenGoddess]

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I greatly appreciate the advise... I guess I am over thinking things a bit but when I decide to do something, I tend to think of the whats and what ifs and try to find any info on all of the above *before* I do it.. I definitely look before I leap...

The only time I've ever culled was the bad experience I stated in my earlier post and chicks that were between a few hours old and 5-6 days old... I've never culled/processed a grown chicken nor have I seen it done, except in videos so your information is of great help to me... Thank you!

Goddess

 

[GreenGoddess]

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That's a great idea! I don't have any trees (except for one small on in the front yard) but my husband is growing bamboo out back and of course I will have my garden in the spring... Could till it straight into the ground... Or maybe compost some of it for a later time...

Goddess

 

[GreenGoddess]

perchie.girl :

How about not digging a hole but putting a trash can under then cooking the blood and feeding it to your dogs or back to the chickens. I haven't processed yet just trying to think Logistically.

deb

Another great idea! Thanks Deb!

Goddess

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I have large 3 stage compost piles and my killing cone is on a post over the first stage pile. When I slit the jugular I hold the head back and let the blood drain directly onto the compost. The feathers, feet, head and entrails(except heart, liver, gizzard) go into the pile too well covered with brown material i.e. leaves, bedding/manure, grass clippings.
I never used to put animal products into compost but my piles were smaller then and I learned that dead animals on commercial farms are composted.

 

[jvls1942]

good morning, I would not mess around with cooking blood.. I the first plae, there is not that much to contend with if you are doing less than 100 chickens.. I have never done it, but I have seen blood sausage simmering on a stove.. not the most appetizing thing to witness.. I think that cooking a small amount of blood would result in a dried up mess in the kettle.
just toss it.. and don't be surprised when the live chickens come around and try to drink the blood, because it will happen..and they will steal guts from the gut bucket , too..

when I clean gizzards, I just throw the contents onto the ground.. the chickens are more than willing to clean it up..

I just want to mention that culling is not another word for killing.. I have noticed on byc that people are afraid of the word kill.. when you take a chicken's life you kill it,, not cull it.. culling is simply removing unwanted birds or animals from the herd.. they do not have to be killed to be culled.. like sorting the bad from the good..

I take the tractor bucket and scoop a large hole in my compost pile.. then I dump all the guts and feathers in and scoop a bucket full of compost on top to bury it.. I never had any animals dig it up.. it will be pretty well composted in a few weeks..

 

[ajlynco]

Perchie- Why is a donkey 'death to coyotes'?

perchie.girl :

I have had chickens since the eighties, but never in great quantity. Until I bought my land and moved away from the city. I bought about Twelve from an established flock of entirely Mutts that was raised locally. I figured I would get individuals that were Savvy enough to survive the predators in the area and Robust enough to survive the heat. It worked out great. My little flock got up to about thirty before a big fire swept through San Diego and drove a great number of big predators into my area.

Lost thirty chickens in thirty days. The last one right in front of me within about sixty feet. Little red hen obliviously scratching in the horse poo..... I was feeding the horse. And a coyote ran through the horse pen and snagged her with me screaming and throwing rocks. He looked at me and hesitated and realized I was no threat and disappeared into the big rocks behind the pen.

I have made lots of mistakes with chickens and tried to learn from each one. I took a break for a couple of years and am back trying to do it better.... I am building the flock now starting with Guineas and even the thought of free ranging has me cringing... At least until I can get a good dog that can establish a perimeter.... and Electric fence..... And a Donkey (death to coyotes)...

deb​

 

[galanie]

I've got dogs, cats, dead birds, guts, fish scraps, shrimp shells, you name it buried all over my yard within the past 35 years. So long as it's deep enough, and you aren't sloppy about it, just bury the stuff at least a foot down or deeper, depending how much you have to bury. Naturally the more there is the deeper it needs to go. Don't spill blood and guts all over the place or leave any close to the top of the soil you fill it back in with and nothing can smell it. I've only covered the spot once, when the soil was so dry that I'd have had to use a jackhammer to get any more than 8 inches down. Luckily I wasn't burying much.

 

[al6517]

I know I am not the only one who saves most of the innards for fish bait. Livers, gizzards, heart, neck, all saved in small left over butter tubs in the freezer. Catfish love this stuff as fish bait, Just sayin.

 

[ajlynco]

Clay-I'd like to plant a 4X12 bed of forage for the chooks(6) this spring. I live in the city Of Reno so space is limited. What would you, or any other OTs reccomend I plant to last/grow the longest.I'll let my birds out of the run in the afternoons and I plan to fence around my garden to keep em outta there.

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I'm always amused to read on a forum that something "can't be done" when I've either done it or seen it done. I've also read here that you can't plant forage for chickens, because they'll immediately graze it down. Good thing I didn't know that in the spring, when I was planting the buckwheat and peas my birds grazed on for four months.

But then, I also read that if you let them forage, it'll throw off the carefully-balanced feed that the nutrition experts have formulated. So, overall, I'm waiting for Chicken Protective Services to come take my flock away and declare me an unfit chicken parent.


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+1.

Er, I mean, I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!

 

[Clay Mudd]

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Disclaimer: I'm not an OT, just an enthusiastic experimenter.

I'm not sure what's going to grow well in Reno , but I've observed that buckwheat, field peas and fodder radish all recover pretty well from grazing. All three of those crops also have osme effect of impriving the soil, as well. You might find you have to limit access to it. It depends on how large your yard is and what is already growing there. is Reno as deserty as I imagine it to be?