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

[deerman]

ok i may be a OT...got my first chicken in late 50s you do the math.....have had chicken on and off till this day...also many other type of birds

1. don't believe everything all the oldtimers tell you, some will not except change....new ideas have improve chicken over the years ,from the wild fowl.

2. worm your birds ..chicken with Parasites are not in top health....can they live and lay....yes but not as they would without parasites

3. nature way is not the best way, something i learn in 1964 , when i could hatch more eggs than the broody hens(game hens at that). using a old sear metal still air incubator. Dad bought in 1950.(till this day I can raise more poults,peachicks,duckling, and chicks than the mother can with less loses....so much for mother nature know best.)

4. when can chicks be put outside...day old with brooder lights, in a building of corse.

5. there is no way to sex a chick before it hatches.


one thing i never understand why so may people want to house all type birds together.......

 

[deerman]

Like I post before I started incubating eggs in 1964...OT take on incubating.

1. First forget those sytroform ones look for used older models...most will last for well over 30 years....and you can get them for the price of those juck LG.


2. Set eggs 14 days of age or earlier.

3. once incubator is set ,don't keep adjusting(to hot is the killer, to cool low hatch rate)

4. candle eggs at 7 days(10 days for those taking 28 day)remove all infertile.

5, eggs need turned 3 or more times per day at least first 18 days ,doesn't hurt to turn egg the full 21 days.

no neede to worry about lockdown if you have a good incubator....that recover temp. quickly.

Yes with a good incubator and proper setting ...you will get better hatch rate than mother hen.

 

[featherz]

I love this thread.

Just started with chickens two years ago and have actually changed a lot of how I did things - one thing that helped was having 40-50 chickens and not just a few..

I didn't have time to clean the coop daily, so I went to deep litter.. Didn't want to do heat lamps, so I didn't. All were fine. Found out that vaseline didn't do diddly to help the minimal frostbite, so I just left it alone and all was fine. Got an Ecoglow and noticed baby chicks didn't need anywhere NEAR the amount of heat I had been giving them..

After seeing broodies and their chicks run around in freezing weather, realized my indoor chicks could go outside a lot earlier. Had fully feathered 6 week olds outside in sub freezing last year (in a barn) and they were just fine also.

I do have lights in my coop, but that's for my convenience. Same with the heated dog bowls - I leave at 4AM some mornings and it's easier on me to not break ice each morning.

Does the 'OT' crowd worry about stuff like bumblefoot? I was doing surgeries until I realized that most of the chickens I had getting bumbles (from insisting on running around on my asphalt driveway) got better without treatment! I only drain one now and then. Or is that a 'cull' for you?

 

[Fred's Hens]

Brooding

Brooding outside was completely natural for centuries. Mother hen broods outside. I've never brooded inside the house in 50 years. People today are almost shocked to hear that, while Old Timers are shocked to think folks would brood in the own bedroom. With a 250watt heat lamp, or even a couple of them, a sided brooder box, and perhaps a brooder with a top, one could brood easily in 20 degree temperatures. I know. Last March, I got started on a batch a bit earlier than normal. Nighttime temps dipped well below freezing virtually every night. The chicks basked in a 75-85 degree heat spot.

I've always brooded right on the coop floor for 50 years, but lately I've been employing my utility trailer. It seemed like a no brainer. It is 5x8, room enough for 25 chicks to have romper room. It is big enough that no cleaning is necessary during the 6 week period. By using 3 different wattage bulbs, I can vary the wattage and the heat out put to match about any situation.

The 2 or 3 week old chick will spend the vast majority of their time far away from the heat spot. The ambient air is around 40 in these photos. The go back to the heat circle to warm up, take a nap, and sleep at night. The huge brooder size give them room to run, to chest bump, to stretch, test their wings and to scratch and explore. I've brooded out over 200 chicks in this trailer in recent years and, knock on wood, have had ZERO losses. None. Chicks don't have "pasty butt", don't stand and pant, don't croak right, left and center. I religiously provide clean, fresh water. I never, ever put sugars in the water, as I am opposed to such things.

Once the chicks are 5 weeks old, they get reduced heat and only at night. At 7 weeks, they are re-located to their grow out pen in the barn. The utility trailer gets hooked on the tractor and pulled to be swept out in the composting area. Done. That's the only brooder cleaning I have to do. Put the chick gear and hardware away in the barn and await another batch.

 

[henney penny]

Quote:
Going to try this today if it a one time feeding or more???

 

[OldGuy43]

The drought here in Central Texas has finally broken and we've already had three days of steady rain. Please reassure my DW, OldGal that a muddy run is not dangerous to her "girls"... or am I wrong?

 

[halo]

I do not treat sick chickens. Nor do I use antibiotics. Knock wood, I havent had any illness for years, and hope it stays that way. That being said, Im an absolute FRUITCAKE about visitors to the farm. I allow NONE. When I sell birds, I have meeting places where I meet people. Ive likely lost sales, due to people wanting to see how I keep the birds, and wanting to pick out their own. Doesnt matter to me, thats the way it has to be. I have a closed flock, no new birds unless they are from hatching eggs or a hatchery (Cornish X).

I will worm every now and again, maybe once a year, with Valbazon. I add it to their water and keep it out there for 2 days. I toss the eggs for a week, then Im back to business. I think its far less critical if you keep your birds on larger acreage. If I had cooped up birds, Id worm more frequently.

Keep chickens out of your gardens, unless you want them roto tilled better than the most expensive roto tiller. They are destructive little *%#%*s.

Theres not much a chicken won't eat. Leftover chicken carcasses, tomatoes and tomato plants; they'd probably clean up road kill if I gave it to them. Which I won't.

Chickens can handle wide varieties of weather and temperature, as long as they have some shelter. When its hot, make sure they have shade, and ventilation. When its cold, made sure they have shelter and ventilation. Dont forget the ventilation.

Did I mention ventilation?

When you build coops, be it in the north or south, make sure there is plenty of ventilation. During the summer, a closed coop with little ventilation can be a death trap. Open up that coop as much as you can safely. Large windows with cross ventilation, tack hardware cloth over the open windows for safety. You can't have too much ventilation in the summertime. And plenty of shade. During the summer, my flock hangs out mostly under the oak trees I have. In the evening when the sun starts to go down they all venture forth until dark. In the cold winters, you can close the coop up with plastic over the windows, but keep some ventilation. Chickens can handle the cold just fine, as long as they are out of the wind and elements. Just make sure they always have plenty of water, and never run out.

As speckledhen once said, Hens Are Not Vending Machines. They do not lay eggs every single day. They slow down if not stop altogether this time of the year. If your chickens have stopped laying, and they arent older than dirt, and you feed and water them, then its because its winter. Do not get chickens if you require them to lay every day 12 months out of the year, because you will be disappointed, and wanting to know why your chickens arent laying.

Older birds; many OTs rotate their birds, get rid of their older ones and bring in newer ones to keep the flock laying well. I admit Im a softy there. I let them all hang out til they just naturally croak. Im sure I have birds that are 5-6 years old that may or may not be laying. I don't mind, they have 10 acres to roam on, and since they are my hobby, not my livelihood, I don't begrudge them the extra feed it costs.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Continuing To Learn

Absolutely!! It has been an amazing time learning from others on BYC. The number of knowledgeable people in the fields of nutrition, genetics, and husbandry has been one of the most rewarding aspects of participating. I am amazed at the knowledge of some many folks here. I'm like a student in Ag school whenever there are posts by Chris09, Robert Blosi, Mac in Wisco, Dawg, KathinMO, Speckledhen, patandchickens, Tim Adkerson and too many others to name. Other than a few inter-discipline classes in animal behavior, in college, my formal education was in the humanities side of things. At this point in my life, I feel like a student again when these and other folks post. So much to learn.

 

[m.kitchengirl]

I never really had the desire to mess with the perfection that is Chicken...they can do it so much better and I don't have to worry about electric outages, temps and humidities, etc.

This is how I feel now, as an adult. I would rather let one of my hens do the hatching, I am not a good chicken, but it was a wonderful experience in 5th grade science.
I find I can get lovely chicks at area swaps until one of my gals feels called to motherhood.

I'm just having a blast reading what y'all have to say & trying to come up with ways to keep it going.

Even the M.O.T.H. has been loving this thread. He was reading over my shoulder last night & said, "This must be the same thread as earlier, it makes sense".

In an earlier post someone mentioned making your gardens & chickens work for one another. I am researching things I can rotate into my garden, and am going to be planting in some new areas next year, in hopes I can raise more forage for the girls, more things to supplement their diets, and more bedding - any suggestions on things to plant (I did some winter rye & hairy vetch this autumn and it has been great as a season extender here) that would fit the bill? Or things that sound like a better idea than they are, so I can avoid them?​

 

[southerndesert]

Quote:
Hen house is well built and secure with a enclosed chain link with chicken wire over it run for night time security and has never been breached (2 of them)

Brooder house is also all wood and closed at night.

Each coop/run has a very large pen of 5 foot chain link as well that they hang out in until mid day when they are turned lose to free range. We do it this way because one of us or the dog is always out and about after noon or so. We have a Blue Healer that watches over the chickens very well even alerting us to hawks when they are above.

It is up to the chickens keeper to build to protect before disaster not after round here. The Arizona Desert has some crafty predators, but we built them out...