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

[Beekissed]

Any OTs raising meaties? Tried and true methods? Survival good?

 

[jvls1942]

I don't know a lot about chicken diseases.. what does pullorum do to a flock of chickens ?

what I meant by my posts, is I would hate to have someone judge my chicken farming practices by seeing a dead chicken every once in awhile.. I just had another dead one in the coop yesterday.. It was not the first one this winter.. but I do not have any kind of epidemic running through my flock.. the first one that died was 7 years old.. I don't know, is that old for a chicken ? She was not the oldest one I have.. most of mine don't ever see a 3rd birthday.. I rotate my laying hens constantly at 2 years old.. I keep my roosters for breeding longer.. I don't think they come into good breeding until they are 2 years old and then for a few years after..

 

[2 britts]

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Amen to That!

 

[Beekissed]

Most of the base of my laying flock are 5 and 6 years old, so if I find one dead I wouldn't be a bit surprised. But...the last bird that just up and died in my coop was a Black Star that had made my cut into the 2nd year....barely. That was 3-4 years ago.

Sometimes birds just up and die. It happens. I've never had one die outside of just natural causes, though....I don't know exactly why that is. All the ones that have died just dropped off the roost and I found them the next morning. No previous symptoms of acting ill, not eating or not laying....just fell over and croaked.

That's life with chickens, particularly if you don't cull the whole flock every 2 years.

 

[perchie.girl]

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Most of the real feed stores here in AZ also have a limited number of breeds, but it is not because they can't get others. It is because they carry breeds that do best in our scorching summers and often feed stores elsewhere carry breeds best suited for the environment. That said we can get BA here and they do quite well....

It can be nice to have some unusual hens in the flock, but they may not do well under extreme weather conditions so researching this before buying can be very important.

Until joining this forum I had no idea how many different breeds were out there as we keep mostly breeds for best production and overall health in Arizona's 110 plus degree summers. Before moving here we kept chickens hardy enough to handle the cold Northern winters without heat etc....

Often I see advise given here at this forum with no one considering their method may not be the best for someone 3000 miles to their East or West...

Just saying....

x2

We don't get consistently as hot but we have several days of 105-110. My next poultry to add to my flock is going to be Sumatras. Everything I read about them says they will fit in quite well up here in the high desert. First and foremost for me is being a good flier. And the hatching eggs I am getting are coming from a flock that originally was captured Feral up in New York State. So I know they can stand the cold too.

 

[perchie.girl]

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In regards to preds, finding the right breed is important....and also finding the right DOG of any breed is just as important. If you had dogs that wouldn't even kill a coon or fox, then you don't have the right dogs of ANY breed. No wonder they didn't protect your flock...let alone deal with a tougher pred like a 'yote or bobcat.

Where I live you need dogs who will fend off a bear if need be...you don't mess with little foo-foo dogs or even a pitbull. You need dogs who are fearless to predators, who work as a team, who will die in their duties. If you don't have that, even all your Ft. Knox coops and pens will not keep out a black bear.

I get to HEAR the coyotes but they never come in to my place....not even in a pack.

x2

 

[Avalon1984]

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It is so funny that you say that. Guess what just happened to me on Monday? Yup, she was 2.5 years old and flopped right off the perch. Oh well. I am still learning

 

[perchie.girl]

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Here is a very good description http://www.thepoultrysite.com/disea...um-pullorum-disease-bacillary-white-diarrhoea

Which is an excerpt from "A Pocket Guide to Poultry health and disease" And when you get right down to the bottom of the clinical discussion on the page the final answer was Cull because even birds that survive it can still be a carrier.

 

[Beekissed]

I guess that is why I know next to nothing about poultry diseases...nothing at all. I cull any unthrifty birds, so I'm wondering if those birds with already compromised immune systems are the ones that contract these diseases. I've never had any disease in my flocks, nor did my mother or grandmother and I'm wondering if that is because we just never tolerated birds who were not in optimal health and production.

Also? I'm thinking ours just had very strong immune systems due to our husbandry practices and the genetics that we allowed to procreate and survive.

Either way, I'm not well versed on chicken diseases because I really don't need the info...killing is an effective disease treatment too.

 

[perchie.girl]

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Also why you don't get it passed on through the egg, because you cull....

I am learning so much here and need to learn more. I have been dabbling for the past 20 years raising chickens but not really understanding the finer details. My Dad used to say. "I would rather hire a man with twenty years of experience than a man who has had one year jobs, twenty times." I have big gaps in my self education and the more I learn the more I know I don't know.

Thanks Beekissed