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

[omaeve]

I read where some one said thier rooless hen's , 3 of them mind you all went broody same time so they ordered chicks and snuck 2 under each chick in the middle of night , so when they woke up they had babies and it worked roflol

 

[al6517]

Anyone's chickens have a fear of large shinny things?

 

[al6517]

I read where some one said thier rooless hen's , 3 of them mind you all went broody same time so they ordered chicks and snuck 2 under each chick in the middle of night , so when they woke up they had babies and it worked roflol

LOL sort of like a chicken santa clause or the tooth fairy, very original thought and a good way to break a broody and cheap too.

 

[Minchi]

I know I know but my were terrified when I put there need food dish in a few days ago. The only way I could get them off the scratch block (in the far back corner) was by putting dry mealworms on it.

 

[omaeve]

Feeding for good feather quality starts with the proper conditioning of the skin coat, proper fat content is so very important. Chickens will hardly get fat in the same sense as we humans view it, so top dress your feed daily with rendered or liquid fat's that keep/store well in the barn or coop during the different seasons. The best I have found for this is common processed lard from the store, it's inexpensive and you can buy enough to treat a decent sized flock for a full season for $10.00 or so, and it won't spoil ever. I also feed seed grains such as white and red milo which is has a heavy/healthy concentration of benificial oils, as does BOSS ( black oil sunflower seed ). high quality wild bird seed includes these seed grains in proper %.

I will often buy these seeds seperately available at any farmers coops or good feed & seed stores. then I will keep them in seperate bins in the breeder barn and custom mix them accordingly in each feeder as needed. I will mix them with a combination of high quality breeder feed, some 16% common layer feed, some added calcium if needed, then finish it off with a drizzle of softened lard or corn oil and mix.

Their skin will become softer and have a better oil transfer to feathers and also help the oil gland produce this very important byproduct. when a chicken preans itself it is spreading the oil from that gland onto it's feathers to maintain their feathers look and placement and dextarity. never apply anything directly to the feather as this will really screw them up and make the feathers sticky and attract dust & dirt which clumps and is a mess. Now as a breeder of rare LF Cornish I keep a miriad of different feed mixing aids at my disposal that is not to say you even need any of that for your birds, just take away from that what you will. Also you may think it's hard to do and sounds like allot of work, but it's not and if keeping your birds in good health is too much work.............. get another hobby LOL.

This feed mix has other beneifts as well, clearer eyes, healthier colored and textured combs and wattles, better looking feet and legs in color and feel. shiney strong beaks etc etc.

oh yes lard will go rancid my relitives used to give me rancid fat all the time ..I boiled it with pine needles to get rid of the smell and used it for school kids to make to ake soap ..old timer told me his mama saved fireplace ashes and boiled them in water to make lye..she floated a turkey feather in lye water ,too weak, the feather just sits there.eat the feather but not the quill ,just right .Eats the quill to strong add more water..I just loved playing olden days.

.

 

[al6517]

I am speaking of store bought processed lard, I haven't had that problem ever, yes perhaps with homemade self rendered lard, but not the store bought stuff. If that makes you uneasy just use some corn oil.

 

[bruceh]

well put al. simple and to the point as always. just fyi. my post are geared to get people to think. what can i say my parents where school teachers

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

If someones is interested in starting a flock of chickens or is new to chickens I personaly think they should start with Hatchery birds, wet your feet first with these birds and see if it's something that you like and would like to continue to pursue. Doing this help you decide if the common mutt hatchery bird is fine for you or if venturing into other more exotic breeds suits your fancy. make your mistakes and learn yourself through your birds with the cheaper mass produced primarliy egg laying mutts, then if it doesn't work out you haven't lost anything valuable.

I have to disagree. Start with birds that meet the Standard of Perfection (SOP). Your breeder will stand with you as a mentor. It cost just as much to feed hatchery birds as it does quality SOP type. I have both SOP and hatchery Buff Orpingtons. Our SOP type will out produce the hatchery and are much larger. They are also less aggressive than hatchery type.

 

[bruceh]

i am all for heritage breed birds, i commend all you guys for your dedication and time put into your pursuit of the perfect standard. i sincerly mean that. all you breeders work hard. if my circumstances change i would use nothing but heritage breeds.

 

[al6517]

Quote:



I know I know, I was just trying to keep the hatchery huggers from forming a lynch mob and coming after me LOL. It's just that they have so many issues as it is that throwing good birds at the newbys will just confuss them more. Sure those of with good birds know the diferences in all aspects but they always fight that tooth and nail because they only want eggs and more eggs and then they want some more eggs. Besides way too many newbys are to way to concerned with cost and prefer to buy $1.50 chicks dropped on their door step along with a ready made toy 3 chicken coop, and one of those manuals for dummies that directs them to a website, that by throwing around SOP's and heritage breeder birds will just confuss them even further. I have tried many times to involve them in better birds but those hatchery folks are like a dang cult for petes sake and you ain't gonna get them away from that. so I chose the flower instead of the sword to get my point across.

I can't tell you how many hatchery bird folks I have seen at poultry shows, in just a state of shock in the difference between what there seeing in the cages vs what they have in their yards. It's like they just saw an alien and can't believe they are the same breed bird as they sit at the right hand hatcheries LOL.

Just remember the hatcheries started out many many years ago with heritage birds and look where they went with that, straight to the toilet and have single handedly ruined so many breeds I can't count them all.