I keep my chicks in the brooders in the house until they start hopping up on the edge, around 3 weeks. Its then time to go outside!
I free range most of my birds. I have 2 breeder pens set up with birds that Im hatching eggs from, for replacements. I will keep them in there until I have hatched what I need. I will lose a few to free ranging now and again, usually from hawks. So I dont free range anything that I dont have a replacement for. I dont lose many, since I have a good sized crow population here that harass the hawks and eagles. I make sure and put a few eggs out each day for the crows, to keep them close by.
My coop is a little small for all the birds I have. When they all pile in for the night, its standing room only in there. But the door opens at 6am, so they arent in there very long, just long enough to sleep safely. They are all outside for the duration of the day, free ranging, until dark, when they all come back and pile in again.
I process excess roosters for my puppies. I like to butcher them about half size, easy enough for me to kill, skin, and gut, and the perfect size for my puppies. Quarters for each of the youngsters, and my old man gets the breast with the softer ribs. He hasnt got many teeth left, so I have to be careful to give him soft bones.
A relatively new phenomenon with chickens seems to be selling eggs and chickens, if not show quality, then they are "pet quality". Pet quality?? These arent pomeranians, they are chickens. If they arent show birds, they are flock birds, production birds, dinner. Not to say you cant make a pet out of them if you want, its great people have them for pets. But there is no such thing as a "pet quality" chicken (unless they are silkies, which are some wierd subspecies).
I free range most of my birds. I have 2 breeder pens set up with birds that Im hatching eggs from, for replacements. I will keep them in there until I have hatched what I need. I will lose a few to free ranging now and again, usually from hawks. So I dont free range anything that I dont have a replacement for. I dont lose many, since I have a good sized crow population here that harass the hawks and eagles. I make sure and put a few eggs out each day for the crows, to keep them close by.
My coop is a little small for all the birds I have. When they all pile in for the night, its standing room only in there. But the door opens at 6am, so they arent in there very long, just long enough to sleep safely. They are all outside for the duration of the day, free ranging, until dark, when they all come back and pile in again.
I process excess roosters for my puppies. I like to butcher them about half size, easy enough for me to kill, skin, and gut, and the perfect size for my puppies. Quarters for each of the youngsters, and my old man gets the breast with the softer ribs. He hasnt got many teeth left, so I have to be careful to give him soft bones.
A relatively new phenomenon with chickens seems to be selling eggs and chickens, if not show quality, then they are "pet quality". Pet quality?? These arent pomeranians, they are chickens. If they arent show birds, they are flock birds, production birds, dinner. Not to say you cant make a pet out of them if you want, its great people have them for pets. But there is no such thing as a "pet quality" chicken (unless they are silkies, which are some wierd subspecies).
