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

[TNBEARCHICK]

Like it, like it alot.

 

[ldutch123]

Just a funny comment....I was talking to a lady who took 2 of my roosters and she was trying to argue with me what egg bound is as opposed to internal layer. After putting up a good RIGHT fight I gave in and let her think she was right. All the while I was thinkin to myself.....nope I know what the the OT'S have told me and I know it's right lol. Maybe she needs to read this thread cause she acted like an expert and it's the type of advice she was giving me that really messes new chicken owners up! I'm very thankful for this forum because I like to learn and have learned so much here from u guys and gals

 

[furbabymum]

I can answer #1 for you Holderh. As someone who attempts to kill all the wildlife (FOR VALID REASONS) any type of rat or mouse poison will kill your birds. Fertilizer will not affect them really as they won't eat it. I fertilize and I've yet to kill a bird/rabbit/ground animal. If it worked I'd fertilize ALL THE TIME!

 

[NYREDS]

Can't imagine what could be a valid reason for killing ALL wildlife. As to the issue of any type of rat poison killing birds you might want to research that a little further. The fact is that many birds are not susceptible to some common rodenticides. You can look it up easily. Do a GOOGLE search for the question "are all rat poisons toxic to birds".

 

[Zany Chick]

Be careful, rational thinking isn't always well received here.

I read all of the warnings at the beginning. I think I'm on page 8 of 289, though I did look at the last couple of pages to see if the thread was still acitve. Still leads with me with a lot to catch up on. So far I like the OT wisdom and the sense of humor of regular posters.

 

[Zany Chick]

Excellent description of practical handling of chickens. When dealing with large numbers and a big chore, it's best just to use methods as described above, get the job done and get the chickens where they need to go with a minimum of fuss.

I also have carried chickens upside down for one reason or another all my life...as did my mother before me and so on and so forth. I chuckled the other day when someone stated quite emphatically that it would kill a bird to carry it upside down....IF ONLY. How neat would that be to just hang all the culls upside down, go have some lemonade, come back out and carry on with the gutting?

I would love that method too!

 

[Zany Chick]

I'm on my 5th week of chicks in my house

. Apparently read the wrong threads, the ones saying you can't put them out until around 7 weeks. I also, um, bought the chicks before building the coop

. I figured it would all be done since they had to stay in the house so long. I didn't buy them completely on a whim, I've wanted chickens forever, but I did put the cart before the horse so to say. My coop is smaller than I want it, so I will only be able to keep 6 - 8 chickens. They are my "test" chickens, because my husband thinks my chicken "farming" desire will pass. My grandparents were farmers, my mom's dad was the last generation of farmers who were among the first to "move west", from NJ

. My dad's dad came from a line of farmers that were basically family farms with extra eggs, meat produce being sold. He still had chickens when I was younger, I can remember fighting over who got to tromp through the chicken poop to look for eggs. My parents both ran from the farms when they were old enough. I've been really wishing my grandfathers were still around for some guidance and it looks like I found the right thread. Now if I could just get this darn coop finished so I can get these birds out of the spare room!!!

As far as temperatures and brooder boxes, I shut off the light around 3 weeks when it was about 80 F and the chickens were as far apart as they could get, holding their wings out from their bodies. Woke up the next morning and they were all fine. At least I know some of my gut instinct is right anyway!

 

[cubalaya]

the dander dust and smell must be getting pretty bad after 5 weeks. 7 to 10 days here and they move to the shed under a red light till they are 4 to 6 weeks depending on outside temps. then i move them to the greenhouse.

 

[galanie]

Some people put funny clothing on dogs and fancy ribbons on cats. Some people keep rats, skunks, or snakes as pets. Some people consider chickens as pets.
If someone wants to keep certain things as house pets and do all the stuff that I don't do, I figure that is their business, not mine. Just like if I eat my chickens, that is my business, not theirs. If they are not bothering me and I'm not bothering them, then who's busisness is it anyway.
I will admit I occasionally shake my head at what I see, but I don't get into their business and expect them to stay out of mine.

We could be cousins! That's my exact credo for life. Leave me alone and I'll leave you alone. Poke into my business though and away you go.

But if you ask, be prepared for my answer. It might not be sugar coated or what you want to hear. That's what I love about this thread. It ain't sugar coated.

 

[Zany Chick]

the dander dust and smell must be getting pretty bad after 5 weeks. 7 to 10 days here and they move to the shed under a red light till they are 4 to 6 weeks depending on outside temps. then i move them to the greenhouse.

In the past week the smell has started to get to me, and the dander, before that it wasn't too bad. Thank goodness the room has hardwood flooors, everything is going to need a good scrubdown once I can move them to the coop.

We had huge rain the last two days, so they may be moving into the coop on a trailer in my driveway until the yard dries out enoug to move it. It is par for the course though, there's a reason for that "Zany"