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

[BusyBlonde]

Glad you mentioned that.  Why all the newbie questions on "what to feed, when, to who"???   Honestly?  Really?   Right on the bag of Purina or on the website of every major feed company, the "feed chart" is plain to see.  Really, if you don't know what to feed who when, then why not just follow the directions?   One day, perhaps you'll read and learn more about nutrition, but meanwhile, why is this even a question?  These people feed their children, right?  How complicated does this have to be?

I've never purchased grit.  With all the sand on this property, there's no known need.  Here's a real shocker.  I've never bought oyster shells either.  Not once.  Never have soft shells either.  My thinking is that my grandmother's chickens, in 1895, couldn't have walked the thousand miles to the ocean to find oyster shells.  Feed back the eggs shells.  They're free.  And, for pity's sake, there's no need to bake, nuke, wash, sterilize or otherwise fuss with them.    Again, you'd think this stuff is rocket science or something.

I've never used a thermostat in brooding either.  I brood in March, with night time lows in the 40s and I do NOT lose chicks.  I've got a couple of those famous Wal-Mart tubs, but I use them to transport tools to job site, never to brood chicks. 

Oh my.  The list of this kind of stuff goes on and on and on.  I've got gardens to work, repairs to make, some business travel to do, and generally, a life to live. 

I never incubated chickens until last year. The first time I was obsessive about temperatures because it was what I kept seeing on the site. After I saw some experienced OT's talking about chicks running around in the snow, I stopped worrying so much. And guess what? No 'pasty butt', just happy, healthy chicks. I give a heat lamp in a large area, they can get under it if and when they want. Also had my first broody hen this year hatch out three chicks. I wish I had a couple more broodys! She taught me a lot, mostly about how silly it is to worry about how 'fragile' chicks are.

I agree, Fred. I have gardens to tend, a job, a family, and other interests. My chickens are a part of my life, but not the center of it.

 

[fowlman01]

I have incubated a fair amount of chicks in my time and until I got here I had never heard the word :Lockdown"...not only that ....it is apparently a big deal and you post the good news in all of your 67 subscribed threads....maybe I am too old to get into this stuff.

Walt

 

[Beekissed]

Got a question for everyone. In my flock of 10 hens, one of them is consistently laying an egg whose shell is soft either just at one end or all over. It's sad really, because she lays nearly every day and a HUGE egg. It's not lack of calcium in their feed, I feed ground oyster shell free-choice, and none of the others have this problem. Apparently it's just something in this particular hen's plumbing. I've tried to keep an eye out to catch the culprit, but just can't seem to determine which hen it is. I want to eliminate her from the flock because I'm tired of broken eggs in the nest boxes. Any ideas of how to determine the guilty party without me setting out there all day?

I generally don't even notice or try to rectify the situation if it's just one hen/egg like this. At any given time all my hens are going through their own little thing. If I start to find more than a couple of eggs showing fragile shells I might make some adjustment but if it's just one I ignore it. This is either a hen on her way out of productive lay or is having some temporary health issues....either way time always tells or cures the problem.

Micro managing can drive you crazy if you let it. Shells cracked in the nest will soon get cleaned up...hopefully by the same gal that's laying 'em. This is a bird problem, not a flock problem. If you start finding more eggs that crack or break easily then you have a flock problem and you can look for ways to adjust their nutrition or overall health.

 

[bobbi-j]

I'm gone for 3 hours and have 30 posts to catch up on! It's going to take me forever when I get back from vacation!!

Yes it is more than watching. Observing may be a better word.

My thoughts exactly!

Yesterday I got a call from a friend of mine in the nearest town to us. He had some chickens to get rid off. Needed them gone like pronto.

A little back story;
He had bought some Cornish Rock chicks at TSC in the spring. Said the picture on the bin looked pretty. He decided he wanted to raise them. A month or so ago he called me to go look at them, said they were "looking funny and couldn't walk right". I took one look at them and said "Butcher them". I spent a half hour trying to explain to him that "Cornish Rock" is not a breed but a meat bird cross. Anyway, I don't think he really believed me because he still said he was going to wait until they started laying and hatch some out. Started with about 25 chicks. I told him he'd be lucky to get even a pair to live long enough to breed. Explained about how fast they grew, the leg and breathing problems, everything I could think of. Oh well, I tried.

Now this guy is one of my best friends, has had chickens before, lots of them, but never really stayed with any one breed, just raises them a while, gets bored, sells them and goes to something else. Has even had some pretty fair birds over the years.

The outcome is when I get there yesterday evening he had 7 left. HUGE birds. He told me I could have them. "Just catch them Terry and they are yours." Said they were eating him out of house and home. Said they were eating a bag of starter a day. Did I want them? For FREE? Heck yeah!

The smallest was 8 pounds before dressing, a bit over 5 pounds dressed. The largest was a bit over 10 pound live weight and dressed out at 8 pounds even.

I love it.

Anybody wanna guess what Sunday dinner is going to be?

More importantly, I want to know when Sunday dinner is going to be. I may have to leave soon to get there in time!

x2. We had chickens when I was a kid, for about 10 years they were mainly my responsibility to feed and care for. Many years later, and now I've had my own for the last 3 years. When I first found BYC, I was amazed how complicated raising chickens had become.
That's why I love this thread. I have also made mistakes (Golden Comets as my first flock), but I'm learning more every day. I love the no-nonsense advice. The honesty. Y'all aren't condescending or molly-coddling, but matter-of-fact. I have much better husbandry practices because of your sage advice.
Thank you to all who post here. I will never stop learning, and apply common sense at every opportunity.

Me, too! I've raised chickens on and off for years. I had so much stress when I first joined BYC and found out everything I was doing wrong... It's a wonder I ever got any to grow before.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Quote: About dark thirty... Come on over.

 

[bobbi-j]

About dark thirty... Come on over.

If I leave now, I might be able to make it. I've never been in your part of the country before!

 

[normanack]

I've found that people who respond to this kind of management really like the drama of having sick animals..it gains them attention.  In a world where reality TV rules, folks are bored, have no self respect drawn from accomplishment on their own, and they think that drama is the norm.  It's what they respond to....

When was the last time you saw folks watching shows on TV that promote calm, peace, and intelligent action?  Nope...gotta be drama, big and dumb action, killing, cussin', and turmoil for it to even catch their eye.  Even in books the biggest sellers are mysteries and romances....high drama, unrealistic scenarios, must have turmoil to gain the interest of the reader.  

I would so love to say you're wrong about people liking drama in their lives, but I've known too many that do. All that negativity and for no reason.

Excuse me while I go outside and weed my garden and observe the little universe that is my chickens' lives. Sounds silly but there it is. These things make me happy.

 

[galefrances]

Beekissed:

Hi, I'm very new to chicken raising and have been reading this thread for awhile. Learning a lot too I was wondering if you ever compiled that book you had mentioned writing a while back? I would be very interested in purchasing if you have. I started out on a different site and realize now the advice wasn't very helpful, just made me nervous thinking I couldn't do this. Well, thank you to you and everyone on this thread for keeping my head level....and my face smiling.

 

[galanie]

Glad you mentioned that.  Why all the newbie questions on "what to feed, when, to who"???   Honestly?  Really?   Right on the bag of Purina or on the website of every major feed company, the "feed chart" is plain to see.  Really, if you don't know what to feed who when, then why not just follow the directions?

Not to continue bashing others but YES. If you're intelligent enough and can read and use the internet well enough to find a website to post the question, why can't you just read the directions on the bag? The term "common sense" springs to mind.

 

[Beekissed]

Beekissed:

Hi, I'm very new to chicken raising and have been reading this thread for awhile. Learning a lot too I was wondering if you ever compiled that book you had mentioned writing a while back? I would be very interested in purchasing if you have. I started out on a different site and realize now the advice wasn't very helpful, just made me nervous thinking I couldn't do this. Well, thank you to you and everyone on this thread for keeping my head level....and my face smiling.

In the process....takes a lot of time to compile all the questions and answers. Currently building a little webpage where folks can ask the questions they would like to know and I can answer using the OTs replies to the thread~paraphrasing, of course...can't use all the replies word for word. That will help people who have a hard time sorting through all the many pages here.

The book will be in much the same format....questions, answers...real life scenarios with real life people answering. Not just the author and not just the USDA/Vet approved answers.

I'm glad you like the thread...and I can't wait to offer the book! I'll post the webpage site link when I get it done.