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

[Marthab1953]

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Now, here's someone who reads and learns....

I see you have your years of experience clearly listed in your display!

Maybe it will catch on? I hope so!

So...any pearls of wisdom you'd like to give to us?

Yep I saw how did it and figured it out. Thanks! Never too old to learn.

I will have to think and get back later on the wisdom part!

 

[flowergirl60]

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How many chickens do you have?

I don't do anything extra for the girls when they slow down on laying eggs. I allow their bodies to do what it needs to do without treating them like a vending machine. I let nature take it's course. I am not a fan of providing extra light for eggs. Something doesn't sound right about that.

x2

 

[dirtsaver]

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I sure know that feeling! I was raised on the farm and we always had chickens.....went to the hatchery every spring and got 100 broiler chicks plus the "red and brown laying hens". Until I got out of school and moved away I helped kill broilers,dunk and pluck feathers and the like. The thing is they were just chickens and I never learned anything about really taking care of them. In fact, I've learned more in two years of BYC than I did in all those years on the farm!

Thanks to all the old time gang!

Keep it rolling!

 

[Marthab1953]

Some of my thoughts on raising chickens I have lots more but this is all I can come up with right now.

1. Love the boys and sweet talk the ladies.
2. When raising chicks I listen to my chicks and do it their way if you pay attention to what they are telling you and really listen to the chicks you will know if you are doing it right or not. I always start them out in the house (Unless they are under a hen) and even though I sometimes have over 40+ chicks and as few as 3, I still sleep great at night and they are in the next room, Happy chicks are quiet chicks.
3. Chickens are not picky about their home they can live in a shack or a mansion it is all the same to them. Long as they are protected that is what really matters.
4. Sometimes your chickens own worst enemy is your own dog I have found that out several times over the years, to my dismay!
5. Always be willing to learn from others, no matter how long you have been raising chickens, have an open ear to what others say, you might learn something new.

 

[Marthab1953]

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I sure know that feeling! I was raised on the farm and we always had chickens.....went to the hatchery every spring and got 100 broiler chicks plus the "red and brown laying hens". Until I got out of school and moved away I helped kill broilers,dunk and pluck feathers and the like. The thing is they were just chickens and I never learned anything about really taking care of them. In fact, I've learned more in two years of BYC than I did in all those years on the farm!

Thanks to all the old time gang!

Keep it rolling!

I was raised on a farm too and participated very much in the farming from chickens to Bucking hay choping wood etc. Grew up and ordered 100 chicks at a time and raised for food and eggs many years. Now I just raise them for the love of them.

 

[Beekissed]

That's funny about sweet talking....I have a problem with my voice when it comes to talking sweetly to roos. I have a low, husky voice when sweet talking and the timbre of it must be a vast irritant to the roos I've owned. All of them. Each and every roo will vigorously shake his head when I put on my "sweet as wild honey" voice...doesn't seem to affect the hens in any way.

Wonder what THAT means?

It does make for some fun when children and city slickers come to visit....I can ask the roo questions in my sweet talkin' voice and get him to shake his head "No".

 

[Marthab1953]

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Thats Funny made me laugh!

 

[halo]

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The American Indian did not die off from white man disease, majorly, they died off from the introduction of white man corn. Corn became their main staple, and what happened was they got poor nutrition, poor immune system due to poor nutrition, and all their teeth rotted from the sugar.

I guess its a good thing this thread isnt about Indians.

 

[Country Parson]

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How can this be true? Corn is a plant native to the Americas. European explorers got it from the native Americans and took it back to Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, and from there spread it throughout the known world. Here is a reality check: the native americans already had rotted teeth and poor nutrition (as did the rest of the world...thank the Lord for Crest toothpaste and vitamin supplements). Corn already was THE staple food of Native Americans, and their gift to the "whiteman". At that time there were known varieties of corn, two major groups being what we now call field and sweet corn. In 1779 the Iroquois introduced European settlers to sweet corn (what they called Papoon). The only varieties known in Europe at that time were field corn (which the got from the Americas via Spanish explorers a century earlier).

Corn gets a bad rap today, and corn-haters float many myths. It is truly the wonderfood (though I am not a big fan of Round Up ready corn). When kept within its proper use, of course....and when properly supplemented. Interestingly, many colonists suffered negative health cosequences because while they incorporated Native American corn into their diets, they ignored tradional Indian practices when cooking with corn, resulting in serious health deficiences. For example, when cooking corn and cornmeal, Native Americans had developed a practice of incorporating ash from the fire into the food, and the mineral mix in this ash increased the availability of vitamin B3 from the corn. Colonists thought the practice barbaric, and thus sufered unknowingly from poor nutrition.

Of course, I'm almost old enough to remember some of this history first hand.

 

[hallerlake]

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In a way that's a bit unfair. For example-I have aquariums. It's relaxing, makes me feel good & give me peace of mind to do water changes on them. I do a lot of water changes. I feel good knowing the fish's water is clean/low in nitrates. Ok...same with my chickens. I don't have sand in their runs but I do like to make sure they're not stomping around in poop all day and sleeping in it at night. Some people LIKE to fuss around cleaning up after their chickens, it's a hobby. They like it for the relaxation and peace of mind it brings them. I don't see people bashing those of you who *don't scrape your poop boards and decorate your coops. To each their own. It's a matter of preference and personal priorities. As far as neighbors I could care less, but (once again) some people DO care.
Am I wrong in thinking of it this way?

Nope...but you might have come to the wrong thread. The very first post states that, if you offend easily, it may not be the thread for you. Curmudgeonly farmers are not going to make you feel good about fussing around with chickens...there are other threads that will support that kind of chicken husbandry.

This thread supports chickens stomping around in their own turds because this is natural as paint to chickens...not a one of us keep unclean coops. But, neither do we track down the turds daily and make sure our chicken's feet never come in contact with them....actually, I use deep litter so that the chickens can actually recycle their own turds if they so wish. It's added proteins and a very natural process. It also keeps your chickens healthy as opposed to trying to eliminate that lovely culture in their coops.

This thread is, after all, down to earth advice on how to keep your chickens healthy and alive...for longer than one year. Think in terms of many, many years...that's where we're coming from.

Some people LIKE to fuss around cleaning up after their chickens, it's a hobby.

This is not the "chickens are hobbies thread"...this is about real chickens raised by real chicken farmers for utility purposes. Sorry...

Are you saying hobbyists can't learn anything from old timers?