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

[NanaKat]

When I first got the chicks and started reading here, I cleaned all the poo off the chickens butt if they happened to have any on it...do I really have to do that..won't it fall off soon or later if it's just a bit off poo. They are pullets now not chicks.

If your chicks had pasty butt, then cleaning it off is necessary. Otherwise the chick dies.

Question for the OTs: When a chicken dies suddenly and without any symptoms to show cause of death, either prior to the death or after the death, how do you handle this~from a flock management aspect. What steps do you take to analyze the problem and what conclusions do you draw on the situation? Can you give examples of actual incidents in which you have had this happen?

I have had a hen die with unexplained reasons over the years. In the beginning, I did necropsies on the girls noting that causes fit into categories: egg bound, bleeding around the heart, tumor (lung or falopian), worms/parasites...and frequently no cause could be found.

The ones with a cause that could be addressed by management ..culling for health thru genetics, monitoring the environment ...I could correct. The health of my flock has improved.

Those that had no cause, I attribute to "Some chickens just die" and leave it at that.

I no longer do necropsies. But I do keep a sharp eye on my flock and handle my birds often. You can tell a lot about the health of your flock by holding the bird and checking for problems.

Over the years I have learned that a sick bird will either die or become a carrier. I quarantine any bird that I think is not acting normal. If after 24 hours there is no improvement, I now cull.
(Yes, in the past I have paid a vet bill for surgery on a valuable bird...only to lose it in the end).

I've been catching up by reading the early pages and reading the current posts. Thank you for all the wonderful information and the frank discussion and banter.

 

[galanie]

Went out after lunch to work on the new cattle panel pen for the Porcelain d'Uccles (somehow, I just ran out of time and daylight yesterday!), and the other ones had pecked the poor thing's toe till it was a bloody mess again.  I should have known that they would, but just didn't think of it.  Removed poor ole Sore Toe and put  him in a giant dog crate that is used to transport goats around.  It is plenty big enough for him to move around in and I drilled holes in the ends of a piece of 2X4 and zip tied it half way up for a roost for him.  He can be by himself till his toe heals up. Can't believe I was so short-sighted as to put him back in with the others with a big, bright yellow blob of styptic powder on his toe!  I hope the other chicken's tongues are all drawn up!  I will learn from my mistake, and be sure not to do something like that again.  I WILL learn to "Think Chicken!"

Brie 

You've got the sense and inventiveness to get there faster than some of us. hehe.

 

[Beekissed]

We've got several here that crossed over to the fermented feed thread and are trying this method for their layers and meat birds. Anyone care to report on this thread why they wanted to try it and what results they have seen from feeding fermented grains instead of dry feeds?

 

[knjinnm]

...... Do any of you old timers raise meal worms or such for your chickens? I just got an order of 1000 meal worms in today and have them situated in a tank. I'm hoping to raise the meal worms to feed to the chickens and to sale.

LOL,

If you have a couple of dozen chickens .... you can not raise enough meal worms.

 

[Leahs Mom]

LOL,

If you have a couple of dozen chickens .... you can not raise enough meal worms.

Yes...I started some but they're a "drop in the bucket". I think I'd need a half acre of them to make a dent and then they'd be eaten in less than an hour!

(And I only have half a dozen chickens right now...)

But...I am interested in starting some red wiggler worms for the chickens. I also think I could never get close to enough. I saw how Harvey Ussery does a whole greenhouse floor with them and wish I had that kind of setup! Here's what he's doing...

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Earthworms.html

 

[Leahs Mom]

We've got several here that crossed over to the fermented feed thread and are trying this method for their layers and meat birds. Anyone care to report on this thread why they wanted to try it and what results they have seen from feeding fermented grains instead of dry feeds?

 

[knjinnm]

"But...I am interested in starting some red wiggler worms for the chickens. ..."

We keep a red wiggler worm bin for disposing of our kitchen waste ... no meat or bones.

But, the garden is doing well with the little compost we are able to produce.

Concentrate on the garden and the chickens will do well with any excess produce especially zucchini.

 

[Attila the Hen]

What do you old timers think of the following ideas 2 self confessed old timers gave me this week?
1. for worms: give a little strip of horse medication. I chickened out and didn't buy it. It seemed too draconian to me to give a little chicken something that you would give a horse. In my consternation I didn't see what the product was. It said Gold on it.
2. for shelless eggs give the hens access to a bowl of Hydrolyzed Lime. Now that seemed like a great idea since it is mostly calcium, the girls won't eat the oyster shell and it has gone on for too long (problems with shells) The guy said his father did that for dozens of years with success.
I don't recall ever seeing either of these suggestions posted anywhere on BYC. Just wondering if you old timers share these secrets.

 

[bruceh]

i gave a report on my chickens last week. i was telling of the skip in their step , so to speak. they just seemed off a bit. it was a protein problem as i thought. i feed them chicken scraps after making chicken for dinner. also feed the carrots and celery ends. i am happy to report they are back to normal. egg laying has picked up and they seem more active on the backyard pasture.

my not so manly rooster has turned out to be a great rooster. now he is the only rooster. he rounds up his flock so he can see them. he counts them and if one is missing he goes to find them and puts them with the pack. good boy. crows every so often 2-3 times. his crow is a soft spoken crow not overpowering.at all.

 

[bruceh]

i would like to see reports on egg layers being feed fermented feeds as well. i will start my own study next week on layers with fermented feed. i will say with meat birds the food cost savings alone is worth it.