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

[Gypsi]

Since I live far from my rural family roots, since I have almost no surviving older generation in my family, and since I was a very small child when my grandmother kept chickens, I am grateful to the internet. I ran a BBS in 1986 and 1987 - on a Commodore 64. Or was it a 128. At any rate, given enough time there might have been a chicken forum, at 300 or 1200 baud, with my phone line giving off a constant "busy" signal. The forums of today are the closest thing to an old BBS I can find, so I'll have to make do. And I am grateful that the OT's made the leap to the Internet - you have enriched our chickenkeeping experience with your wisdom.

I will not drive a fiberglass car however. I am grateful for metal around me, and I can do with fewer gadgets. I've gone modern in my daughter's truck these days. It is a 1987, with manual windows. It still has plenty that can go wrong, but a bad solenoid in the window isn't one of those things.

 

[Celtic Chick]

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Amen to ALL of that, IMHO........

ETA--back then, more things were made here in the US, by people who were proud of what they made, at the time.............

 

[bobbi-j]

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Amen to ALL of that, IMHO........

ETA--back then, more things were made here in the US, by people who were proud of what they made, at the time.............

Amen to that, too!

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

Eight years ago I had a 56 Pontiac & a 73 Caprice Coupe, loved both, you could sit on the trunk of the Caprice & not make a dent in the metal. My mechanics loved working on those cars, simple & easy, no computer in the car to worry about, or looking up a code to figure out what is wrong with it. And a trunk big enough to hold at least 4 bodies comfortably.

And what a smooth ride, I would drive to the corner to get a smoothie at Cold Stone Creamery, Set the cup on the seat of my 56 Pontiac & pull out of the parking lot, and the cup never moved. I also miss the panoramic view out of the windshield.

I am a 62 baby, so I missed out on the 50's, love that decade, the music, the dancing, even the clothes. If I could have the internet of today & a microwave oven, I would be more than happy to go back to the 50's, cause I would have my Pontiac again.

Time to check on my pumpkin bread I have in the oven. YUMMMMM!

 

[Attila the Hen]

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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

Thank you for answering this for me. I could never find the other worm medication and gave up. I guess I'll have to do another wazine treatment twice since I only did it once the first time. Or I may just go straight to the cayenne pepper.
thanks again

 

[Gypsi]

I think cayenne pepper mixed with tuna fish would go over rather well.... (oh my poor hens, mom read another cure!) I haven't seen a worm, but I'm sure not getting many eggs out there.

And I've got wd40. 3 cans of it, as one gets lost, and I buy another one. Much easier than making a trip to the store for orange oil.

 

[southerndesert]

We use Valbazen (11.36% Albendazole) when we have worms (rarely) safe and easy to use. Some wait forever to eat the eggs, we wait 5 days to eat and 14 to sell.

Hate using chemicals, but sometimes it is a must for us....

 

[jvls1942]

as long as we are talking about progress : when we got our first telephone, we had a four digit number, then we went to the Viking plus number system.. then it was gradually increaded until today hen I spend more time dialing than I do talking.. on one credit card call it took 23 digits and if you made a mistake, you had to start over.. and you know that once you made that mistake, when that digit came up again, you made the same mistake again !!

I see no problem with making any animal comfortable.. after all, they are at our mercy.. I find it amazing how an animal will stay at a place where they are so mistreated that is is criminal..

every time we butcher chickens, I ask my wife, why don't the rest of these chickens just run for their lives ? well, not every time..

 

[BooBear]

Just started reading this thread. Its gonna take me a while to catch up. Love the straight on comments, stories, and information in the thread.

The family had chickens when I was in my pre teens and teens and I now have had my own flock for a little over a year. The tips and input from BYC has been great help.

I started out with the sand n scoop method and found this was too much work! (Especially being I have a full time secular job) I have since switched to deep litter method and am liking this so much better so far.
I love simplicity in my approach to care, preferring preventative versus reactive. After all it is more fun watching chicken TV then stressing over chores or crisis that could be avoided.

When mom and dad got chickens the coop dad built was in the lowest spot in the yard (big mistake) and had no roof (big mistake 2). I learned alot of don'ts and was almost turned off by the smell of the pen as it stunk something aweful from the mud during the wet season. Us kids had the fun job of cleaning and collecting eggs. Mom and dad mainly feed them scrapes from my memory. Dad grew up on a farm as his folks raised chickens to sell for meat and for the family. The open top coop was no protection for the birds. Eventually I think the top did get covered with chicken wire as mom got tired of loosing the layers to coons. We had a pyschotic rooster back then too!

I had been wanting chickens for the fresh eggs and ofcourse I remembered Mrs. T who was my pet game hen back then. She was a really cool pet. But, I wanted a better setup from what I remembered with better care for them. So I did research, discovered BYC, got some chickens, had a predator coop that has a foundation raised up so no mud issues built based on info gleamed from BYC (open air style that works great for my area as we have mild winters and roasting summers). For all the hard work of researching I have a healthy, overly broody (Gritsar & Sourlands fault) flock, and am addicted to BYC forums.

I have gotten soft over the years so my ulitarian flock is a mix of layers, meat, and pets. Yep, I got some soft Silkies in there too!

Tips from my year?
1) Make sure your predator proof coop fits your zone/environment. Open Air coops are great in the South or areas that have very Hot Summers.
2) Prevention is priceless, simplicity is golden.
3) If one goes broody they all go broody (Sourland's law of broodies)
4) Deep liter when done right is AWESOME!! The chickens do all the stirring and refluffing of the litter and they make compost for next years garden for ya! Wish I started this first instead of the sand thing.

5) The only use for a chicken with attitude is providing the family dinner.

I am still learning and refining as I go.

OH almost forgot # 6) Chicken wire is useless, Hardy cloth costs more at the start but pays for itself in the long run.

 

[scottcaddy]

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I remember thinking that I could never do the kind of driving that I was used to doing ever again, when I could not get 4 Gal. for a doller.