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

[bobbi-j]

Glad the thread is back. I hope some of the original OT's will come back and join us. I agree that those of us who have had chickens for many years don't know everything. I think alot of the wisdom shared is more what has worked for each of us, not necessarily a cut and dried "this is how it has to be done". I can see how it may have come across that way, though. Thank you, Wynette for the time you spent editing.

I have put alfalfa hay in my chicken coop - just a slice or so a day - in the winter because my chickens enjoyed scratching through it and pecking the leaves.

 

[Avalon1984]

Thank you for bringing this thread back Mods! I will try the raised bed idea in my chicken runs next year also. That sounds great. I too had an impacted crop from hay so I don't use that for the chickens anymore. And I only had it in the nest box

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

Wynette - I had also heard the bad about hay, and the only place I used it, was as insulation in my Silkie coop, which I built out of wood pallets. I still trow a handful of chick grit into the layer pellets, even though my chickens free range 90% of the day. I figure that a small handful in their feed can't hurt.

Am now checking out prices on soaker hoses, and planning out what size raised bed boxes I need to build. Am putting my tomato plants towards the center of the garden boxes, heard tomato plants are toxic to chickens too. Then I get to build my fencing around the whole kit & kabutal , and a BIG Keep Out sign for the chickens, just have to teach them to read.

thebirdguy - Thank You, Was going to build a raised bed frame & just flip it to the bottom side where I put the mesh fencing. That way the alfalfa can grow up through it, like you said. My hubby can get a good mulch/compost mix, can I plant the alfalfa directly into that, or does alfalfa need "real" soil?

 

[critterrun]

Quote:
I put up 1/2 a gate (short gate) so the chickens can get into there yard put my goat and pig cant
it has worked ok
when everyone rembers to lock the shorts gate when they open the big gate for the day

 

[CheekyMare]

I was also sad to see this thread go. I didn't see anything as bashing myself, but having been on unmoderated forums, this is a very happy place. I tend to skip over the posts that have no value to me and pick out what applies to my situation.

Please don't forget that there are some of us here that are raising chickens for meat and eggs (that are fairly new to it) that both enjoy and want to get value from it. It's not strictly business nor are they just pets. I have a few chickens that I have named, but I know that they will all end up in the soup pot eventually. I love to watch them, help some of them along that need a little push (like the blind in one eye chick) and hope to see them all live healthy long productive lives with sunshine and grass included.

If some people want to see my enjoyment as silly, or less than sensible, well, that's their problem. Not mine.

 

[Tracydr]

Quote:
Hey Ridge, bet you saw this one...........

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/22812_29255_1-anti_hunter.jpg

I'm speechless.

 

[thasista]

Quote:
Hey Ridge, bet you saw this one...........

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/22812_29255_1-anti_hunter.jpg

I'm speechless.

Really?

Its hard to imagine the thought process that produced that "article".

 

[GreenGoddess]

Fred's Hens :

One has a choice while being engaged here. You could just dismiss 95% of the posts as too inane to bother responding. You can get frustrated by the junior high student's questions, the PC remarks, the juvenile threads that clog works, the silly stuff asked over, and over and over. It can try one's patience.

The temptation to post sharp tongued, or harsh statements is very real.

It is much harder and challenging to offer some guidance that might help folks. If it gets too frustrating to deal with appropriately? Perhaps some time away from this place is in order, because this place just is what it is.

I have stated it before and I'll state it again.. I am a research queen.. I will exhaust every way of looking for an answer before I finally give up and ask...

Goddess

 

[CheekyMare]

There are apps out there now that allow you to create stuff like this. Not saying it isn't real, just raising the possibility that it's not.

Also not saying there aren't people out there like that. There are also people willing to believe there are.

 

[Tracydr]

Quote:
There is an annual alfalfa that is very easy to grow. The only place I've seen seeds is from Pinetree seeds.