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

[stonykill]

Very neat! I would love to see a chicken riding a sheep!

We get very little snow here. It may snow 3 times a year and no more than a foot each time. The coldest I've ever seen it get was 5 degrees and that was 1 night I believe 2 winters ago. We do have ice storms that close the schools down and can be a concern. There are maybe 5 days a year that I don't let the chickens free range do to the weather. I've considered moving to colder states and specifically looked into Colorado. Now I'm looking into Missouri and it looks like the one. It's colder than Arkansas but not extreme. It should be a fun experience to see how the chickens do in a real winter!

The chickens here have never been resticted from free ranging. 20 below zero, the coop doors are opened. 26 inches of snow, the coop doors are opened. Sleet, hail, freezing rain, doesn't matter. The doors are opened. What they do is their choice. Missouri has "real" winters?

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

The chickens here have never been resticted from free ranging. 20 below zero, the coop doors are opened. 26 inches of snow, the coop doors are opened. Sleet, hail, freezing rain, doesn't matter. The doors are opened. What they do is their choice. Missouri has "real" winters?

For me Missouri does do to the fact that it gets a decent amount of snow. I don't let the chickens out when it's storming really bad. The last thing I want to have is my chickens blown away in a tornado. And yes, we do get tornadoes. I've found dead fish and trash all over my place after some have gone through, but thank God we haven't been hit straight on.

 

[Beekissed]

My flocks always regulated their own storm activity....they know enough to go inside or seek shelter in a storm if you just let them make the decision. Those that do not? Not smart enough to live.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

My flocks always regulated their own storm activity....they know enough to go inside or seek shelter in a storm if you just let them make the decision. Those that do not? Not smart enough to live.

We always provide proper shelter, food and water souce for our birds. If they survive, great. If not, they would have brought our gene pool down anyway. We lost a Black turkey hen last summer. She was panting and begging for shade and water. Dumb bird layed out in the sun until she died. I had relocated her to shade and water 3 times that day. She just kept returning to her cozy spot in the sun and 105 degree heat. Thankfully, her genetics ended with her.

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

My flocks always regulated their own storm activity....they know enough to go inside or seek shelter in a storm if you just let them make the decision. Those that do not? Not smart enough to live.

We always provide proper shelter, food and water souce for our birds. If they survive, great. If not, they would have brought our gene pool down anyway. We lost a Black turkey hen last summer. She was panting and begging for shade and water. Dumb bird layed out in the sun until she died. I had relocated her to shade and water 3 times that day. She just kept returning to her cozy spot in the sun and 105 degree heat. Thankfully, her genetics ended with her.

Good points! I guess it's true, if they are not smart enough to find shelter then they are not worth keeping anyways. The only turkeys I've had have been really dumb. I used to have a royal palm that we named "Jake". Let's just say..he's no longer with us.

 

[HappyHenMama]

Bee:
I don't stare at poop to see if my birds have a problem. I look at the health of the birds. Any unhealthy looking/performing birds are cut from the flock when I do my yearly culling. Do they have an excess worm load? Who knows? I don't care. All I look for is general health and performance. If my birds can remain healthy and perform at peak with their existing worm load, this is the desired effect.

I can't remember the last time I found myself staring at poop, but I agree with you and since you are a nurse....why do I have this overwhelming urge to drag my butt on the rug now that you have told us all that we have parasites?

Walt

 

[stonykill]

My flocks always regulated their own storm activity....they know enough to go inside or seek shelter in a storm if you just let them make the decision. Those that do not? Not smart enough to live.

same here. Never had one stupid enough to get itself killed due to weather either.

 

[MoonAngel12]

This question would mainly be for Bee, but I would love any and all opinions!

I hope I haven't already asked this particular question on here - with multiple little ones so close in age and still with sleep issues, my brain doesn't always function as it should

. I've been thinking about it so much for so long it's hard to know anymore...

I'm mainly wanting to work on a good, solid backyard laying flock with the "extras" being for meat. This year was a total bust for some unknown reasons (my hatchery RIRs all turned out to be runts that never grew or feathered out - have no idea why) then one very apparent 5.5ft reason (black snake) that finished most of the scraggly things off... and then took out my guineas. 2 friends were generous and shared their extras with me so now I have a small flock of 3 BLRW (right now I'm afraid all 3 might be cockerels

), 2 EEs, and 1 Barnevelder. I did want to get some EEs for the kids b/c I knew they would enjoy the colorful eggs so that's exciting. Anyway, where should I go now? I want to get a few more before it gets too late in the season b/c it's looking like I'll probably only have 3 layers for next year. Buff Orps have me curious, but I know they can be hit or miss, especially with hatchery birds. I'm interested in Black Australorps and Barred Rocks also. Would those be good starts for a mutt flock? Does it matter in the long run as long as I breed and cull for hardiness and long term egg production? A good broody would be an awesome perk. I'm searching CL for possible local breeders, but it's not looking too promising... at least in my price range (not willing to spend $6+ per chick at this point, especially for straight run). Also contemplating an incubator but I wouldn't be able to afford anything more than $80 or so which really limits my options.

 

[Beekissed]

The BA and BR are a good choice of breeds. The Wyandottes I've had in the past didn't justify their feed, nor the EEs. How many can you keep where you live? In other words, what is your goal for flock size and are you equipped to handle it?

If you can only have 6 chickens it's going to be hard to cull for hardiness and lay and still get enough eggs to be worth the trouble. Say, starting with six pullets of various egg laying breeds the first year. Come next spring you check for laying or you notice some failure to maintain weight or keep good feathering or any other health feature that is undesirable...and you have to cull a couple. Then you have to replace those but when doing your own replacements you have to have a broody(no eggs being laid by her while doing so) and they usually start going broody in early spring/summer...by the time their chicks are fully producing at peak it is next year.

Meanwhile you might have 3 chickens laying but they hit molting time and slack off, so you may be getting an egg or two a day. If that doesn't bother you, then a small flock like that is worth working on until you get the very best 6 hens you can keep and, afterwards, look forward to a few years of good laying with steady replacement chicks coming along to eat or keep. It takes time and patience, but if you start out with good breeds and go from there, it is possible.

Ideally, IMO, to have a good backyard flock that produces enough eggs to eat and sell a little to defray feed costs, one needs at least 15 hens but better if you keep 25-30. If that isn't possible and you just want eggs for consumption and you don't mind that for the cost of the feed you are buying you could probably buy eggs a lot cheaper from the farmer down the road~then 6 is a good number.

If dealing with 3 hens it isn't even worth the time to turn around...no possibility of any long range plans for a self-sustaining flock at all. Buff Orps will eat you out of house and home and become too fat for good laying qualities. This has born out each and every time I've tried to include them in any flock of mine over the years. They are also too docile and become the roo's favorite slip and slide, leaving their backs as bare as grandma's cupboard all the time.

My very fave breeds~in order~ for egg production, extreme good health, occasional broodiness but not excessively so and just plain ol' longevity of lay are these...other OTs may have additions to this list:

Black Aussies **** Can't say enough good things about this breed!*****
White Rocks****Or this one!!!*****
New Hampshires
Barred Rocks ****** Just about any of the Plymouth Rock variations are a great breed.
RIRs and Leghorns ****These two production breeds are worth keeping for as long as can to produce many eggs but don't build a whole flock around them(unless you happen upon a breeder with some good, old lines)...they are great for keeping some eggs going through the winter while the other breeds take a little break. I usually pepper a flock with 4-5 of these out of 25-30 hens. If they don't burn out and make great hens, so much the better.
Speckled Sussex
Dominiques *****Only from a good breeder of old lines...hatchery stock is none too hardy...not a bit like the Doms my granny always had****
Partridge Rocks

There are several breeds I haven't tried that I would like to eventually... all are old heritage style breeds that haven't been too eroded by hatchery breeding~Buckeyes, Barnvelder, etc..

Breeds I'll not try again:

BOs or any other variation of Orpington
Any variation of Wyandotte
Production Reds or Blacks

YMMV

 

[therapydoglady]

MoonAngel12: Oh! How I wish we were closer! I just bought my neighbor's (broke his hip last month, and is not going to come home) entire flock so his kids could sell his place. There are a dozen lovely Buff Orp. hens, tho no rooster...I killed him day before yesterday in defense and revenge for my bloody knees. He (the neighbor) says they were a year old in June. I did worm the whole flock because they had fleas and I suspected tapeworms. They are beautiful, even through the horrible heat we've had. Has some black ones that he can't remember what are, and some white leghorns. And there are 18 fuzzy chicks, but there is a leghorn rooster that was in with them, too, so they may not be full blood Orps. All 3 mom hens are Orps. Sure wish you had 'em!