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

[southerndesert]

Quote:
We cull any sick or injured birds and also hens that have quit laying... Bout as simple as that for us and we do not feel keeping unhealthy stock is good management.

We also rotate hens at 2+ to 3 years old first offering them free and if no takers they are processed.

Roosters are eaten or given away depending, but we always keep one roo for each flock so we always have fertile eggs for hatching when needed.

 

[southerndesert]

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.

Big X-2​

 

[kuntrygirl]

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.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/69833_dscf3094.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/69833_dscf1991.jpg

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.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/69833_dscf3095.jpg

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.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/69833_dscf2049.jpg

THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love seeing pics. I'm a visual person. That's how I learn. But then again, I always learn from your posts.

You just gave me an idea on how to set up the heat lamp for the 40 new babies that I will be receiving next week. I have a large brooder in the garage and I was wondering how I was going to set up the heat lamp. I like how you have that set up. Looks very safe.

Love your setup!

 

[johnsons-r-us]

I love this reading. And all I can say is I'm so relieved

That there are those OT'ers here. And they have good old-fashioned commom sense. And as they post they talk just like my grandparents used to. I so wish I could have spent more time with my grandparents when they had their farm going. I was barely old enough to remember visiting, and by then my grandpa was sick and the farm was not a working farm any longer. Grandpa was born 1899. My flock will always be small.....probably under 30. There's no one else I know to learn from though....as I was city raised and don't know anyone personally who even has chickens! I've had/raised other kinds of animals but never chickens. I completely believe in the "old way" of doing things. I just don't always know what that is. My practical way of thinking takes over most times and I can get it figured out.

I will have no problems with culling birds or eating my birds. They are not pets, a couple do have names for the sake of referring to them.....but like my 4 BR's are all the same looking....none of them have names. Where I need the most help is doing the actual killing. We have no equipment for that and hubby came from a more city raised background that I did

Neither of us knows how to process a chicken. I'm planning to have a processor do it. Maybe in time that will change, but I learn by watching most things and I'm scared to try and process a chicken without someone that knows what they are doing there to show me.

Please don't bash me too hard for this weakness. Some things just take time.....I LOVED the post with the farmer processing the chicken in the killing cone. Wow, that was a great tutorial. Almost made me think someday I will be able to try it.

 

[Marthab1953]

Quote:
I am always looking for anything in my flock daily
Just a few of my criteria for culling:
Any chicken that starts developing a crooked beak are culled
Any chicken that starts to display a bully attitude—reason why is once they start bullying and draw blood the whole flock starts picking on the one being bullied and next thing you know they have eaten the one picked on and they develop a taste for it, out they go before they infect the whole flock with a cannibalistic attitude.
Any chickens that have a failure to thrive are culled
Any chicken that starts to show signs of getting sick are culled before they infect the whole flock.

I never let anyone up around my chickens do not want to take chances of them bringing in diseases etc. and for a good reason.

Back several years ago in 2002- when several states had including us in California had Exotic Newcastle Disease --everyone around me were either having their flocks dying on them or being destroyed by the State -- my flock survived and was found clean.

I remember them coming in their yellow rain suits boots and masks on going out and inspecting my chickens, putting a sign on my gate under quarantine, as they did to everybody who owned any kind of bird, when they left they would spray themselves down remove their protective gear etc, It was something to see. They came out 2 or 3 times over the several months, and my flock survived all this. Finally the ban on importation of birds from ones property was lifted. You could not take or bring any bird from or to your property during this multi state Quarantine. Millions of birds were slaughtered.

 

[Lollipop]

Funny I haven`t run accross this thread before. Good idea Bee. I`ve had chickens since I was 11 years old and joined the 4-H. Now, in March, I`ll be 65, so maybe I qualify to comment, even if I haven`t read through the thread yet. After all these pages, most of what I have to say will perhaps be a confirmation of a prior post, but here goes.

Early on I learned that roosters will naturally fight. Any rooster will fight a strange rooster and so will most hens. After a few years with chickens, I developed a fascination for game chickens. Game fowl are, to me at least, more majestic in attitude and appearance, than most other types of fowl. The idea that most folks have, that game roosters are mean, or manfighters, is pure bunk. There seems to be a whole lot fewer mean gamecocks than regular barnyard cocks. There are 2 reasons I see for this. First, barnyard stock is largely inbred to the point the birds are "bird brained", to use a term that most will identify with. Second, probably 99% of the old cockers would not tolerate a manfighter, much less breed from him. Manfighters have always been culled immediately with no consideration of "he`s so pretty", or "I raised him from a chick and I love him", or "I just can`t bring myself to do it". All this crap I see daily on BYC pages daily. Nobody considered "rehoming" a manfighter. Therefore, that`s the reasons I see for gamefowl to be more man friendly than your typical RIR or other barnyard breed. Are they aggressive to strange fowl, you bet, just like any other fowl would be. The biggest difference, other than what I mentioned, is that gamefowl are true athletes and the will to win (gameness), is a trait that has always been bred for.

I glanced through some of the posts and one of the subjects was feeding corn. Cracked corn is usually in the 7% protien range. Whole corn is 11-12% for most types of corn. Chickens need 14- 18% protien to be healthy, and layers do better on the high end, up to about 20-21%. If you feed a chick over about 25% for very long, it will lead to joint problems as it will grow way too fast. After 8 weeks, it`s best to bring the protien down to around 20%.

To determine if a hen is laying, tuck her under your arm and feel the pelvic bones under her vent. If you can only lay one fingertip between the bones, she isn`t laying. Two or 3, even four, and she is laying, or about to be. My uncle was a county Ag agent when I was a kid and showing chickens while in the 4-H. He showed me this and I never forgot it. Just consider the size and age of the hen when doing this.

I always build single, moveable nest boxes. When I get a broody, I move her, box and all, to a maternity pen, where she can have privacy and hatch her brood. Since my passion is gamefowl and I seldom have more than one hen in a pen, this is not a problem, even when the chicks are weened and she rejoins the rooster. I move the hen at night by covering the opening with a piece of cardboard and moving hen and nest as a unit. She simply wakes up in the morning in her new surroundings and all is well.

While on that subject, I usually leave a couple marked eggs in the nest and remove the fresh ones daily. I also mark the fresh ones with date layed and store them in a cool place in the house. When I add a fresh, dated egg each day, or whenever, I turn all the eggs. When a hen begins setting, she is allowed 2 days to lock on the nest, then she and her nest is moved and another 2 days goes by before the 2 nest eggs are removed, at night, and the fresh ones from the stash replace them, also in the dark, so as to cause little stress on the hen. Because I single mate (one hen to one rooster) I can judge the quality of the offspring produced by each pair. Each pair, by the way, is banded with a numbered wing band. I prefer wing bands as they are permanent. In good breeding, numbered bands and pristine record keeping is a must. Any fool can throw a rooster and hen together and produce chicks. This is not "breeding".

Another word on the subject of culling. My goal is to produce better fowl. Probably most of us agree on this. However, in my opinion, when producing quality gamefowl, sick birds cannot be tolerated and are therefore culled. Not only are sick birds a threat to the entire flock, but a severe illness will not allow a bird to recover to the point of full strength and vigor. Far better to lose one bird, even a most valuable bird, than to infect the entire flock. Breeding from a less than a wholesome pristine specimen is also shunned.

If your goal is to just have a few chickens in your back yard and get some eggs, disregard all the above. Just an old man ventin his passion and not meaning to offend anyone. I`ll probably think of more to say as I read through all the posts, so hold on. I`m still learning after nearly 54 years with chickens and many of you have helped in that regard. If I don`t get back here soon, ya`ll have a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Regards,
Pop

 

[riane'smimi]

Quote:
I am always looking for anything in my flock daily
Just a few of my criteria for culling:
Any chicken that starts developing a crooked beak are culled
Any chicken that starts to display a bully attitude—reason why is once they start bullying and draw blood the whole flock starts picking on the one being bullied and next thing you know they have eaten the one picked on and they develop a taste for it, out they go before they infect the whole flock with a cannibalistic attitude.
Any chickens that have a failure to thrive are culled
Any chicken that starts to show signs of getting sick are culled before they infect the whole flock.

I never let anyone up around my chickens do not want to take chances of them bringing in diseases etc. and for a good reason.

Back several years ago in 2002- when several states had including us in California had Exotic Newcastle Disease --everyone around me were either having their flocks dying on them or being destroyed by the State -- my flock survived and was found clean.

I remember them coming in their yellow rain suits boots and masks on going out and inspecting my chickens, putting a sign on my gate under quarantine, as they did to everybody who owned any kind of bird, when they left they would spray themselves down remove their protective gear etc, It was something to see. They came out 2 or 3 times over the several months, and my flock survived all this. Finally the ban on importation of birds from ones property was lifted. You could not take or bring any bird from or to your property during this multi state Quarantine. Millions of birds were slaughtered.

Thanks for sharing this .Sometimes we forget about the outbreaks and need to be reminded as to why we need a closed flock.

 

[Terri O]

I am amazed that this thread is still here! Way to go people...Pop--I skipped to the end and I really enjoyed your post. I have only had chickens for 24 years now...so I guess I am on the newer end of old! Everyone keep sharing your wisdom...I have to get some other folks on here who would really benefit by reading and will be able to write some down to earth posts as well! Thnaks for the thread! Terri O

 

[Marthab1953]

I just looked this up and thought I would post it, because once you go through a widespread disease of poultry you never forget.

You might want to read this whole article!

http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/Animal_Health/newcastle_disease_info.html


EXOTIC NEWCASTLE DISEASE - CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL REFLECTION
Outbreaks of END severely affect the poultry industry. In 1971, a major outbreak occurred in commercial poultry flocks in Southern California. In all, 1,341 infected flocks were identified and almost 12 million birds were destroyed. The eradication program cost taxpayers $56 million, severely disrupted the operations of many producers and increased the prices of poultry and poultry products to consumers.

The 2002-03 END outbreak, originally confirmed in backyard poultry in Southern California, spread to commercial poultry operations in California and backyard poultry in Arizona, Nevada and Texas. The Governor of California declared a State of Emergency, the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) declared an Extraordinary Emergency, and local emergencies were declared in San Diego, Riverside, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino Counties. A USDA and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Task Force was formed that involved over 7,000 individuals rotating in and out over the course of the outbreak. Trade restrictions resulting from the disease had negative impacts on California and U.S. poultry and egg producers. The outbreak, from discovery to eradication, lasted eleven months. The outbreak response led to the depopulation of 3.16 million birds at a cost of $161 million.

 

[al6517]

Culling !!!!

A good example of culling hard can be more easily explained from a hatch I had just this last Saturday. The chicks hatched on Friday and the last 2 on Sat, I mentioned in an earlier post that I cull heavy starting from day olds and on till young adults. So I have hatched 9 total this weekend and 30 more due in the hatcher next Saturday, Out of the 9 I had 4 that I can already see that their color will be off, so there outta here, then there were 5 left and out of those maybe 1 more may go due to a not so promanant head and brow. So that leaves me with 4 good prospects and in a month or two that may be reduced even further, My point is as a good responsible breeder I may only get 10% or less worth keeping to adulthood, that is culling heavy, and the reason I start hatching in December through till June. Hatching hundreds to just keep 50 or less.

AL