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

[Wynette]

alrighty, then.

 

[stonykill]

Now I don't consider myself to be a chicken old timer, (though my kids think I'm an all round old timer).....
I was perusing the 1869 American Agricultural Annual; (available as a free read on googlebooks), and ran across this comment:

"Poultry.-April is probably the best month to set hens for market chickens. When a hen shows the first symptom of broodiness, if possible remove her to the sitting apartment and let her lay, if she will, her last egg or two in a nest full of false eggs. She will probably soon take to the nest and may then be trusted with eggs. Many good hens will not bear removal after they have once begun to set in earnest. Turkey hens may be trusted with fowls'eggs to hatch but not to rear chickens. Hens, as a rule, are best mothers for young ducks or turkeys. Broodiness is easily induced in turkeys or hens by letting them lay in full nests; eggs blown and the shells filled with plaster of Paris are good false eggs for this purpose. A turkey hen will cover two dozen hens' eggs, more or less, and after sitting two weeks they may be removed and given to hens, and fresh ones given to the turkey, which may thus be made to do most of the sitting for quite a flock of hens for two months or more." page 13, 1869 American Agricultural Annual

What caught my eye was first, the use of blown out egg shells filled with plaster of paris, and then used as false eggs, and also the use of a turkey hen to sit on the eggs, similar to what many of us do with an incubator for the first couple of weeks, then give the incubated eggs to a broody hen to finish out.

interesting info. And yes very similar to what many of us do now.

 

[stonykill]

I love using broody's. I do incubate but much prefer the broody's. Last year I had 14 Sumatra's go broody. This year 7 Sumatra's so far and my 1st ever RIR broody. And I've had RIR's for 7 years. Had 1 broody runner duck who hatched and is raising 6 healthy happy babies to add to our duck flock. Broody's imho are absolutely the way to go to raise chickens.
I'm a pretty avid Facebook user. I find it interesting that the largest chicken page on FB tells it's users not to use broody's because they ONCE incubated and had a 100% hatch, that they READ that broody chicks aren't as friendly, can't be picked up etc. The owner of that page actually got angry with me for defending the use of broody's! lol.

Back to my point. Love the old book referenced a few posts ago. VERY similar to what I do, and figured out from trial and error. I use false eggs, golfballs, real eggs to entice a potential broody into going broody. If you know your girls well enough, this can often work. And the best chickens are raised by a broody. I know my hens are better at being a chicken than I am.

.

 

[Beekissed]

Thanks, guys!

I think that side of me has been the most misunderstood part of my nature in my personal and professional life. People often mistake common sense and a practical view on life as being not very feminine or soft~but it is my heritage, my upbringing and my love for truth and simplicity in life that keeps it alive in me.

I have a lot of hugs and lovin' to give out but chickens don't really need those to be content, so why waste it there when so many people are starved for love?

 

[babymakes6]

Thanks, guys!

I think that side of me has been the most misunderstood part of my nature in my personal and professional life. People often mistake common sense and a practical view on life as being not very feminine or soft~but it is my heritage, my upbringing and my love for truth and simplicity in life that keeps it alive in me.

I have a lot of hugs and lovin' to give out but chickens don't really need those to be content, so why waste it there when so many people are starved for love?

 

[fowlman01]

Thanks, guys!

I think that side of me has been the most misunderstood part of my nature in my personal and professional life. People often mistake common sense and a practical view on life as being not very feminine or soft~but it is my heritage, my upbringing and my love for truth and simplicity in life that keeps it alive in me.

I have a lot of hugs and lovin' to give out but chickens don't really need those to be content, so why waste it there when so many people are starved for love?

I knew you were a woman. My mother was an RN, so the direct approach did not fool me. lol...seems like a lot of nurses on this board.

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

I love using broody's. I do incubate but much prefer the broody's. Last year I had 14 Sumatra's go broody. This year 7 Sumatra's so far and my 1st ever RIR broody. And I've had RIR's for 7 years. Had 1 broody runner duck who hatched and is raising 6 healthy happy babies to add to our duck flock. Broody's imho are absolutely the way to go to raise chickens.
I'm a pretty avid Facebook user. I find it interesting that the largest chicken page on FB tells it's users not to use broody's because they ONCE incubated and had a 100% hatch, that they READ that broody chicks aren't as friendly, can't be picked up etc. The owner of that page actually got angry with me for defending the use of broody's! lol.

Back to my point. Love the old book referenced a few posts ago. VERY similar to what I do, and figured out from trial and error. I use false eggs, golfballs, real eggs to entice a potential broody into going broody. If you know your girls well enough, this can often work. And the best chickens are raised by a broody. I know my hens are better at being a chicken than I am.

.

A friend of mine has been using my incubator for the last three years, so I have been using broodys to hatch everything here including the geese. The offspring are hardier and in general and better put together birds. It is hard to explain, but in every way they seem superior. Maybe not as friendly, but I have no problems with them when I put them in exhibition cages. They are as docile as the incubated birds. I feel it is easier in many ways than incubating and then brooding. It is harder to get large numbers, but I don't need as many birds as I did when I was trying to improve the quality of my flock.

The owner of the facebook page probably doesn't know much about chickens....there are a lot of crazy ideas around.

Walt

 

[Beekissed]

I need to pick up chickens about once a year.... So....broody-raised, healthy, savvy birds that I didn't have to baby around in a brooder vs. a chicken I can pick up? No contest.

 

[stonykill]

I need to pick up chickens about once a year.... So....broody-raised, healthy, savvy birds that I didn't have to baby around in a brooder vs. a chicken I can pick up? No contest.

agreed. Now that once a year that you need to can be a challenge

. But when it needs to be done, I can do it. I'll admit, it usually requires a tag team effort to corner a free range chicken that hasn't been handled in 364 days. But it can and is done. Personally I prefer my chickens to act like....well chickens. They still follow me around the yard, RUN to myself or my wife for food, but extend a hand towards one, they BOLT!

 

[Beekissed]

I just stroll out to the coop at night, gently pluck them off the roost, do what I need to do and put them right back. Little bit of flapping or squawking at times but no real problems there...it's all over before they know they've been disturbed and I can stroll right back to the house without breaking a sweat. Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy!

I don't chase chickens unless it's one of those rare, few times I need to school a rooster and that only lasts mere minutes.