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

[mississippifarmboy]

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We are on the northern edge of the state and have raised chicks the year around. I don't think you would have any trouble at all with temps. Keep some heat on chicks for the first few weeks, the gradually do way with it and you are set.

Never had any rock bantams, so I'm no help there.

 

[ajlynco]

LOL, I started thinking about raising chickens back in August. I'm a notorious workaholic and wanted something to do to relax with and reap some benefits from, chooks seemed like the way to go. I was raised on a farm in Kansas, we had chickens, and it seemed pretty easy. THEN I found BYC, and I've been consumed with everything chicken ever since. Well, what to do with all the chicken manure? I'm gonna start up a small garden. And now I'm going to plant some forage for my girls. this just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I'm not complaining, I feel like I've found a new family amongst all the BYCers. Your knowledge is incredibly inspirational. I'm really looking forward to getting started, hopefuly next month. I've learned so much from all the OTs, I hope I can pass some pearls along to someone someday. Anyway thanks for everyones help and I'll keep readin' n postin'.

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Well, I'm in Phoenix so my schedule is upside down from the rest of the world. To be very efficient, I would recommend Eliot Coleman's Four Season gardening since you actually have seasons. I would then check my extension agency planting calender, which you should be able to find online.
You have a fairly reasonable winter so I bet you can even grow some very hardy greens through the winter, although I'm not exactly sure which zone you are.
I'm in the middle of my busiest planting season right now and for the next two months, starting tomatoes and peppers indoors, finishing up getting the greens and garlic planted and getting the potatoes in the ground. But, we take the summer almost completely off, unlike the rest of the world.
There are several great gardening forums which have wonderful communities, much like here. Baker Creek is a good one.

 

[Gypsi]

I love this thread. It is what it is.

"Tracydr wrote:

Amaranth goes a long way. Greens and high protein grain. Then, you need cool season crops. Kale, mustard, collards are easy and produce a lot. Fenugreek is popular and higher protein, as is crimson clover but the clover is slower so I'd mix it with kale/oats/annual rye and some mustard.
Quinoa and chia are other easy high protein, cool season grains.
Plant some boss seeds anywhere you have vertical spaces for the summer and get big beatiful sunflowers."

Are you feeding the seed or just planting the plants and letting them forage the greens? (I bought crimson clover seed for bee forage, am planting it now, but none where I run the chickens. Should I let it go to seed and feed them seeds, or are the plants themselves high in protein?)

 

[Tracydr]

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You also aren't sending it "to freezer camp". I don't know why, but that phrase irritates me. You're butchering or processing your chicken. Period. It might sound nicer, but you're still killing the bird, plucking and gutting it and putting it in the freezer.

Never heard freezer camp before BYC. Where did that ever come from? It's processing or butchering.

 

[Tracydr]

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I would feed the clover, fenugreek as plants. ( they are great sprouts,too,FYI). Boss, as seeds.oats,wheat you can graze, then wait until it gets bigger, keep them off awhile and harvest the seeds.quinoa and chia are for the seeds. Fenugreek you can also use the seeds.
You can buy chia, quinoa,amaranth at the health food store in the bulk bins, or I can anyway. Or, amaranth, there are some fancy, stunningly beautiful red grain varieties for the flower garden. Chia has pretty purple flowers and crimson clover, a field is the prettiest sight you ever saw.
Fenugreek, I pet in two pound bags from a spice store along with mustard seed,online, Penzey'sSpices.

 

[Gypsi]

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I am not sure what is up with my friend's chickens, but when I say every now and then I spot a dead chicken in a coop, and I sterilize my boots, that means that chicken didn't die of a predator. I've been out there when coon got through the wire, I've lost birds to dogs, feral cats, and thought I'd lost one to a hawk before. No, for awhile she had young birds dying in her secure pen. Not sure why, it is not my business to advise because I know I don't know that much, but I have been keeping fish for about 28 years, and researching fish diseases since the mid 90's. I don't know all the chicken diseases, but I do quarantine. My new chicks didn't meet my grown hens until I'd had them a couple of weeks, just to be sure they didn't bring in something with them. (Unlikely - they were chicks). But adult birds, well I've read the quarantine thread, and I've accidentally passed enough fish germs around to have respect for the power of mother nature, especially when combined with human husbandry. I just don't take chances. Even if I had a flock of mutts, I probably wouldn't take chances. I see no sense in burying my food supply due to my own negligence.

 

[eggdd]

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You also aren't sending it "to freezer camp". I don't know why, but that phrase irritates me. You're butchering or processing your chicken. Period. It might sound nicer, but you're still killing the bird, plucking and gutting it and putting it in the freezer.

Never heard freezer camp before BYC. Where did that ever come from? It's processing or butchering.

it's all over here. i've read it countless times. and i agree w/ him/her. it's silly. however, i disagree with the other poster - - cull can sometimes be an appropriate word because you're not killing them. you're removing them from your breeding stock. perhaps they're going to a layers flock, or being given away, or sold. cull does not mean kill. they are different words with different meanings.

 

[toofarout]

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Oh, it is quite valid to fret over the cold spells in Interior Alaska.

 

[jvls1942]

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Oh, it is quite valid to fret over the cold spells in Interior Alaska.

Yeah, and in Siberia too.. and in Antarctica..
we hit minus 20F to minus 30F here in Wisconsin.. I know, I know, in Alaska they hit lower than that,,big deal.. I won't get into a pissing contest over it..

There is always an exception to every statement.. I agree, Fretting is just a waste of time.. If you are going to stand around and wring your hands and cry, "woe is me",, then don't have chickens, no matter where you live.. You can have chickens anywhere you live, all you have to do is adapt your cirmucstances..

TDM. I do not understand what you are trying to say..??

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

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Are you saying none of the advice here means anything? Calling people cannon fodder seems a little harsh....it is the holidays now.....I would have to disagree ....I will take all the help and insight I can get.
so in the spirit of the holidays, Merry Christmas to you! Your tractor/coops really are awesome.