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

[Leahs Mom]

And now...along those lines...

Does anyone know where I can get BUCKEYE chicks from a good line in northern Indiana area (including Southern Michigan, Eastern Ohio, etc.)? I would like to have a few Buckeye hens and a rooster for my own flock.

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are a lot of things about poultry that interest some folks......a lot of it quite different. If we were all interested in the same things what a boring life this would be.

That’s for sure. I have no interest in raising birds for show, I raise them mainly for the pot with the eggs a side benefit. But it is a lot of fun playing around with the genetics. My current project is a green egg laying black speckled chicken of decent size and that can find most of its own food. Not breeding to any standard, just having fun with it. It sound simple, but I only hatch enough chicks for the two of us to eat, so it is harder than it should be. Somehow those dogs that people drop off out here in the country or the foxes seem to know which ones I don’t want them to get. But that is part of raising chickens that can take care of themselves.

I just looked. There are over 1,000 people on this forum right now, about 75% of them unregistered visitors. I have no idea how many actually use this site in a day.

I often see comments on here about people not understanding why some people say there are only two or three breeders of a specific breed in the country. I think that is because they don’t understand there is a difference between purebred chickens and truly breeding to the SOP. You can’t take a flock of purebred chickens and let them reproduce without guidance and keep the SOP standards. They degrade very quickly that way. And you have some people breeding purely for show and don’t worry about performance or behaviors that are part of the true breed. It takes passion, knowledge, hard work, and money to truly breed for what the breed should be. I’ve never been afraid of hard work, but I don’t have the passion or the money to try to breed for show or to the true SOP. I have other interests.

By the way, my dogs are mutts from the pound. My cat is a stray from my daughter-in-law that worked for a vet. And I purposely breed mutt chickens.


I think the big reason you beginners are having such health issues can be sum up in one word.

Husbandry.

I partially agree and I think an element of that husbandry is how they feed them. Too many "treats" or they think a fat obese chicken is a healthy chicken. But I think there is another element. How many people on this forum consider one chicken pecking another to be a reason to call out the National Guard to stop the riot? A rooster chasing a hen to mate is a reason to give him time out in the corner. How many people get all torn up because they find that their chickens have a parasite? All that is part of chickens being chickens. They are not human. I expose my chicks in the brooder to dirt from the run so they can develop the immunities they need. I don’t try to keep them in a sterile environment. That’s not how they live.

I know I’m not is step with most of the people on this forum. A couple of years back, a lady was cleaning out an old coop to get it ready for chickens. I agree cleaning the coop was a real good idea, but she found some insect eggs. The forum exploded. Kill! Destroy! Clean! Sterilize! They must die!!! My thoughts were that it was a shame the chicks would not have the fun of chasing down that free protein.

I am going fishing the heck with chickens today.

I noticed you are on the coast. Specks? Reds? Maybe flounder? I used to fish Shell Beach east of New Orleans, mainly for reds. I still remember one day I went out of Campo’s dock and they said the fishing was not good that day. I only caught four fish that day, but those four totaled 108”. I don’t keep the large breeding-stock reds and most of those were so large they were illegal in Louisiana. Reds that big have too many parasites anyway. But I’ll take that for when the fish are not biting.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
I have the same, only they were pure hatchery stock hens....going strong at ages 6 and 7, White Rocks, New Hamps and Black Aussies. I've also had burn outs from hatchery stock but they were the breeds bred for maximum egg production in a short amount of time~Production blacks and reds.

Not all hatchery chicks are poor genetics and not all breeder stock is of superior genetics...it all depends on from where and from whom those birds are purchased. I got bad chickens from a breeder but I don't believe that all breeders have bad genetics~nor do I believe all hatcheries have poor genetics in their breeding stock because I got a few bummers.

If you were to poll all the members on the forum who have kept flocks for years, I'm betting that many of those flocks started as hatchery birds and you would have varying reports as to their hardiness and performance levels, depending on husbandry efforts and other variables. The fact remains that hatcheries have what we like to call availability and affordability. Breeders do not.

And as long as we are talking about boring...imagine if no one in the world had thought of cross breeding different breeds of animals to produce other breeds/varieties? It even applies to humans...who in the world wants only blue blooded strains of inbred genetics?

Get over the "breeders are superior and hatcheries are bad" thing already...let's get on to chicken management~or did they move this thread and I didn't notice? The chicken breeding forum awaits these kinds of discussions and will gladly debate this subject ad nauseum.

 

[fowlman01]

There are over 100,000 people registered to this site. Who knows how many more view it without registering. Of this group less than 1/10th of 1% knows anything about breeding birds......nor do they care. If no one cares, who will be preserving the heritage breeds? Maybe it doesn't matter....I don't know, but I care and I find it extremely interesting and rewarding. For me personally it brings me great joy to see a young person I have mentored go into the commercial poultry field and hopefully contribute to our food source in a major way. For some reason I feel that is more important than having the ability to know how to build a coop or stop a dog from sucking eggs.

One of the things not being mentioned here is the contribution that serious breeders and show people bring to the commercial end of poultry. We have talked about shows, hatcheries etc, but no one seems to realize the connection the hobby has to the commercial poultry industry. Do you think these kids going into the commercial end of poultry only have experience propagating chickens bought from a hatchery? They have a passion for the birds and have gone way beyond what most people do with chickens.

Since we have also thrown horses into this discussion I will have to say that no sense beating a dead horse. I participated in this discussion as an OT thinking I might have some unique skills to contribute and I don't remember it being limited to discussion of just raising hybrid chickens for meat or eggs.

The male Shamo I posted is 17 lbs........anyone with hatchery birds with that much meat on them?....as the young people say......."just saying".

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

I have the same, only they were pure hatchery stock hens....going strong at ages 6 and 7, White Rocks, New Hamps and Black Aussies. I've also had burn outs from hatchery stock but they were the breeds bred for maximum egg production in a short amount of time~Production blacks and reds.

Not all hatchery chicks are poor genetics and not all breeder stock is of superior genetics...it all depends on from where and from whom those birds are purchased. I got bad chickens from a breeder but I don't believe that all breeders have bad genetics~nor do I believe all hatcheries have poor genetics in their breeding stock because I got a few bummers.

If you were to poll all the members on the forum who have kept flocks for years, I'm betting that many of those flocks started as hatchery birds and you would have varying reports as to their hardiness and performance levels, depending on husbandry efforts and other variables. The fact remains that hatcheries have what we like to call availability and affordability. Breeders do not.

And as long as we are talking about boring...imagine if no one in the world had thought of cross breeding different breeds of animals to produce other breeds/varieties? It even applies to humans...who in the world wants only blue blooded strains of inbred genetics?

Get over the "breeders are superior and hatcheries are bad" thing already...let's get on to chicken management~or did they move this thread and I didn't notice? The chicken breeding forum awaits these kinds of discussions and will gladly debate this subject ad nauseum.

I believe each has it's place and I started with hatchery birds. I have said all I need to say.

Walt

 

[loanwizard]

Ridgerunner, that was a very good post. Walt, I applaud your passion. Beekissed, I am more like you I suppose.... sorry

I have mutt chickens. Why? Because they were given to me. I considered silkies and Lavendar Buff Orpingtons.... for profit.

I didn't because I work hard being a car dealer and a landlord and honestly don't have time to breed correctly if that makes any sense.

I am looking at changing my flock because a friend has RIR's, but apparently because he got his from a hatchery so they really aren't RIR's lol.

I have an incubator. I will probably hatch a couple hundred, maybe 500 this fall for myself and a few people. What they will be? Probably mutts or them half breed RIR's.

Why do I hatch? Because I am cheep.... misspelling intended.

Why pay for stock when God and my chickens give me eggs?

I think I love chickens because they are a perpetual food source.

 

[wsmith]

I love this thread!

There are so many things I have been reminded of that my day and Grandma did, and I didn't know why. All of us raise chickens for whatever reason or reasons, and have different goals for their flocks. While I think some are silly, they may also think I am off my rockeer too. This thread has (for me) been the best source of real, down to earth advice and chicken smarts of any of the threads I have perused. Thanks to the "more experienced" poultry keepers for sharing. And don't stop. Though depending on how you count, and if we count the years doing all the chicken chores until I was 18, I may or may not be an old timer, and we can all keep learning.

Here's a question....

My grandam didn't have an incubator, the broody hens did all that work, and taught the chicks what they needed to know. My dad used both. AS a kid, we always gave the flock scratch of some sort to supplement their feed, and the chicks were always with the flock, but under the other hen's care. At what age do most old timers make scratch available to younger chicks that haven't had the benefit of a mother hen? It wa always available to our chicks when I was young, but I don't think I even thought about that as a kid. I just did as I was told.

 

[Kassaundra]

I do not usually post in this thread b/c I am not an oldtimer in ANY sense of the word (doubt I'd admit it if I was

) but I just wanted to share a recent experience that has been discussed on this thread. I have 3 chickie doos that are 1 wk old and they have been spending their days outside in the garden (fenced in) and their nights in a small brooder in the garage, not a heat light in sight. It is summer here days int he 90's nights in the 70's, and if I get around to making a safe enough place for them in the coop they will be spending their nights there soon.

 

[fowlman01]

Ridgerunner, that was a very good post. Walt, I applaud your passion. Beekissed, I am more like you I suppose.... sorry

I have mutt chickens. Why? Because they were given to me. I considered silkies and Lavendar Buff Orpingtons.... for profit.

I didn't because I work hard being a car dealer and a landlord and honestly don't have time to breed correctly if that makes any sense.

I am looking at changing my flock because a friend has RIR's, but apparently because he got his from a hatchery so they really aren't RIR's lol.

I have an incubator. I will probably hatch a couple hundred, maybe 500 this fall for myself and a few people. What they will be? Probably mutts or them half breed RIR's.

Why do I hatch? Because I am cheep.... misspelling intended.

Why pay for stock when God and my chickens give me eggs?

I think I love chickens because they are a perpetual food source.

Chickens have been a good source of food for quite a while. 500 chickens is a lot of chickens even by my standards. Anyone who can stay in business at this time needs to keep his/her eye on the ball. lol Before I retired I watched my birds a lot...mostly for entertainment to relax me after a hard day dealing with idiots at a university......it is remarkable how little common sense one finds in a place of higher learning. It has been a great source of relaxation for me even though it requires a lot of physical work. Hopefully you are enjoying the birds in many ways.

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

I do not usually post in this thread b/c I am not an oldtimer in ANY sense of the word (doubt I'd admit it if I was

) but I just wanted to share a recent experience that has been discussed on this thread. I have 3 chickie doos that are 1 wk old and they have been spending their days outside in the garden (fenced in) and their nights in a small brooder in the garage, not a heat light in sight. It is summer here days int he 90's nights in the 70's, and if I get around to making a safe enough place for them in the coop they will be spending their nights there soon.

I have found the sooner I can get lights/heat off the birds the better. I never use a heat lamp, but I do use an incandescent light bulb for a short while. If it is cold then you have to give them some heat. Since I loaned my incubator to a friend 5 years ago. (don't loan your incubator to anyone) I have been using broodies to hatch and brood the birds. My observations lead me to believe that while this is not good for getting a lot of birds out, it is excellent for everything else. The obvious is that it is a lot less work, but the not so obvious is that the young develop a high degree of disease resistance and for some reason just seem to develop into superior birds in just about every way.

Walt