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

[darkmatter]

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Catching a chicken with the hook is easy if you do it like my Grandma and I do it. You don't use it causally or all the time, only for Sunday dinner or cull purposes, the chickens will learn what the hook does if you use it too much. What you do is toss a little scratch down and come up behind the chicken you want and catch it's leg---quick and easy.

 

[ajlynco]

Al, can you describe(or have pics of) a 'chickens catching hook stick'?I'm very interested in this device and how you put it to use.

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[Lollipop]

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I didn`t want this question to go unanswered for ya, Attila. I`ve read all the reasoning behind the recommendation and find it fascinating. I`ll try to make some since out of it for you. The idea is that, if a chicken is heavily infested with round worms and also other types, Wazine will wipe out the round worms, which will exit the bird, and the broad wormer will kill the other types and all the worms won`t die at the same time and clog up the plumbing. I don`t know who thought that one up, but in my opinion, use the Wazine, kill the adults, then in 10 days, use Wazine again to kill the hatchlings. If, later, you suspect other types of worms being present, then use the broad spectrum wormer, but don`t forget the second dose in 10 days.

That said, a good natural wormer for fowl is cayenne pepper. I`ve seen it recommended over the years and even on this thread as a kick start for laying hens and that could very well be. As a wormer, the reasoning is this. Chickens don`t have the heat resceptors that other animals have. Therefore, they eat cayenne like it was candy. Worms of all types, however, do respond to the heat. Cayenne in the front, worms run out the back. Funny how that happens. To feed cayenne as a wormer, mix it in the feed to make it look rusty. Feed one day and then again in 10 days.

Like other OT`s here, I only worm when I see the need, same thing with treating for lice/mites. I`ve used Sevin Dust since I was a kid and never been dissapointed. I`ve even used it in the nest box with hens hatching chicks and found it safe and affective. On the rare occasion that I`ve had a severe infestation of lice/mites, Adams Flea and Tick Dip has cleaned them out pronto. I mix it as directed in a 5 gal bucket, dip the bird up to the top of the neck and then let them dry naturally. Must be a warm day for this. Mix more and spray the coop, nests, roost, everything. Adams will work for a month or so and you can smell it on them for that long. It doesn`t smell bad, it`s dog dip. There is no need to retreat in 10 days as with other products. I understand that Permethrin acts the same way.

For scaley leg mites, anykind of oil will do. From Vaseline, to oily lotions and potions, to burnt motor oil. Dip or rub it in real good once every two weeks for a month or so, then stop. In a short while the scales will rejuvinate and all will be well. Be sure to also oil the roost as the nasty little vamps hide in the cracks and grooves during the day. WD40 works well also and is easy to apply.

Enough of this rambling. Ya got more than ya bargained for. Merry Christmas.......Pop

 

[southerndesert]

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hope I'm understanding you right- you do mean eat the rabbits and not the cats, right?

BTW, love the thread, just lurking and picking up tips

Yes the rabbits.....

 

[al6517]

I also use the hook when I need to catch just one or two in a bigger run. It won't break feathers like a net, but I do use the net when moving birds to different pen's, you can scoop up 3 or 4 at a time in a big net. My problem is I had to modify the hook slightly to accept the huge stumps my cornish call leg's.

 

[Lollipop]

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I made a "Chicken Hook" like the ones my grandparents made and used. I never knew this was a item available for sale in some catalogs until recently.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/36435_caught.jpg

LOL, my Granny used the same design. Been using one myself all my life. Like you, I just recently saw one offered commercially. Couldn`t believe it.

Hey, here`s one for ya`ll. I had a Puerto Rican cocker keeping his roosters at my house before I moved from FL to GA about 6 years ago. When he transported his birds, he merely put them in an old pillow case and tied the end. The birds didn`t seem to mind as they couldn`t see anything. They were calm and well at the end of the ride. I tried it myself and adopted the method for short rides. Just thought I`d throw that one out........Pop

 

[southerndesert]

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I'm going to bump this a little...I think it got a little lost in the shuffle. I have no working knowledge of chemical dewormers and I'm hoping those of you that do could give her an answer.

We use Valbazen when we have worms in our flocks which is not often, but we just dealt with tapeworms. We do use 2 doses to be sure they are eliminated, but we do not ever worm our chickens unless there is evidence of worms such as a fecal sample showing positive. I do not think it wise to do it once or twice a year just because....

I do not like having to use any chemical wormer, but Valbazen (Albendazole) is the same wormer given to humans when infected and is also broad spectrum killing any and all worms in a chicken. Withdrawal? we wait a week for eating and 2 weeks for selling.

I have tried all the natural preventatives and still use some, but every now and then we indeed see worms in our flocks and must deal with it.

 

[al6517]

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I made a "Chicken Hook" like the ones my grandparents made and used. I never knew this was a item available for sale in some catalogs until recently.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/36435_caught.jpg

LOL, my Granny used the same design. Been using one myself all my life. Like you, I just recently saw one offered commercially. Couldn`t believe it.

Hey, here`s one for ya`ll. I had a Puerto Rican cocker keeping his roosters at my house before I moved from FL to GA about 6 years ago. When he transported his birds, he merely put them in an old pillow case and tied the end. The birds didn`t seem to mind as they couldn`t see anything. They were calm and well at the end of the ride. I tried it myself and adopted the method for short rides. Just thought I`d throw that one out........Pop

Sure.................. I keep a few big onion sac's just for that purpose, they do work very well in a pinch and allot folks still do that.

 

[deerman]

Fred's Hens :

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Each experienced keeper here will have their own take, based on their own experience. A chicken can survive, feral, on dung digging, bugs, weeds, grasses, scraps, found dead animals, you name it. They have for 4000 years. Scratch surely isn't going to kill them and as long as they can range about, they'd likely survive just fine, even better than just fine.

But here's the thing. I don't want survival, I want healthy, robust, productive hens. That's my niche in the chicken thing. Hens. Eggs. To accomplish that, I must feed the best layer mash I can. Truth? My feed's ingredients is essentially scratch, in the beginning. Think about it. Wheat, oats, corn, milo, soybeans and such. Nothing worth paying a buck or two more than I can buy scratch, right? Hold the phone. Actually, to those base grains, my old fashioned, local, mill adds 5 lbs per 50 of a mineral/vitamin/nutrient rich package. Worth every penny of that additional $2. I know my feed represents the very best of agri-science and nutrition. Old timer? Yup. Old fashioned? Yes indeed. Stupid? nope. If I divided my flock in half and fed half of them scratch and ranging, I'd get far less eggs. Simple reality and simple economic reality. My feed IS essentially a high quality scratch, just with the added package. There is very little to be gained in feeding the scratch alone, absent the added nutrition.

 

[jvls1942]

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No kidding.

From a sociological point of view, BYC is pretty darn fascinating.

On the one hand, you've got people dressing chickens up in little outfits and worrying about their self esteem, and, on the other hand, you've got people boasting about feeding their animals garbage "just like grandma used to do." There are folks posting pictures of coops so filthy you could practically get typhoid just looking at the photo, and other folks expecting kudos for killing hundreds of perfectly serviceable birds because their feet are the wrong color.

Wow.

I used to think horse forums were weird, but those are nothing compared to BYC.

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