Yet another question: I've got a tiny flock of Red Sex-Links and am considering increasing the number of hens. Since I'm only raising them for eggs and their working out well for that is there any reason to add diversity?
Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!
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I've never vaccinated or had a problem with Marek's. However, I do believe that the newer strains of Marek's are more virulent.
I don't think this will change my management. I do expect my flocks to be strong and healthy. I will simply not raise breeds or chickens that require special care. Therefore, I will cull those that get Marek's or symptoms that look like Marek's and probably begin to avoid any breed or line if it recurs in a certain line or breed.
As far as dusting, I use DE in my dust bath. I think it's a great preventative. I check frequently for mites and lice. Again, strong chickens, strong immune systems really seems to help prevent parasites. I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've noticed fleas on a cat or dog and only later learned that that dog/cat had an illness or cancer. Of course, once the bugs are there, you do need to get them out or everybody tends to get them but if you use the DE often, before it's a huge problem, it usually works well. It just doesn't work in hours, like chemicals do.
I realize most people on BYC have come to feel that "better living through chemicals" is their mantra but, being a physician, I see what happens with misuse/overuse of antibiotics and other medicines and how it effects the immune system. I also believe that what goes into my chickens or garden ends up in my body since they are my food. That's the most important reason I manage my flock the way I do.
Finally, I've seen chemicals misused so often and it usually results in chasing one's tail. It disrupts the natural system and you end up with one problem followed by another and another and another. My neighbor, who sprays for every bug and disease under the sun in his yard, is having a problem with ticks this year. I'm not. He's killed all the bugs that attract the birds and other natural predators of the ticks. I have desert cardinals, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, even a feral flock of lovebirds! Plus, praying mantis everywhere. His garden is a sterile desert, pretty plants and now, lots of ticks.
I've never vaccinated or had a problem with Marek's. However, I do believe that the newer strains of Marek's are more virulent.
I don't think this will change my management. I do expect my flocks to be strong and healthy. I will simply not raise breeds or chickens that require special care. Therefore, I will cull those that get Marek's or symptoms that look like Marek's and probably begin to avoid any breed or line if it recurs in a certain line or breed.
As far as dusting, I use DE in my dust bath. I think it's a great preventative. I check frequently for mites and lice. Again, strong chickens, strong immune systems really seems to help prevent parasites. I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've noticed fleas on a cat or dog and only later learned that that dog/cat had an illness or cancer. Of course, once the bugs are there, you do need to get them out or everybody tends to get them but if you use the DE often, before it's a huge problem, it usually works well. It just doesn't work in hours, like chemicals do.
I realize most people on BYC have come to feel that "better living through chemicals" is their mantra but, being a physician, I see what happens with misuse/overuse of antibiotics and other medicines and how it effects the immune system. I also believe that what goes into my chickens or garden ends up in my body since they are my food. That's the most important reason I manage my flock the way I do.
Finally, I've seen chemicals misused so often and it usually results in chasing one's tail. It disrupts the natural system and you end up with one problem followed by another and another and another. My neighbor, who sprays for every bug and disease under the sun in his yard, is having a problem with ticks this year. I'm not. He's killed all the bugs that attract the birds and other natural predators of the ticks. I have desert cardinals, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, even a feral flock of lovebirds! Plus, praying mantis everywhere. His garden is a sterile desert, pretty plants and now, lots of ticks.
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Thanks, Lynne. I didn't know that. So I guess all the bunnies in our neighborhood are just domesticated bunnies gone wild? No cottontails mixed in at all? I was just assuming since I saw some agouti colored ones that they had started to intermingle, although the dominant colors seem to be black/white with a few pretty buff colored ones.
Thanks, Lynne. I didn't know that. So I guess all the bunnies in our neighborhood are just domesticated bunnies gone wild? No cottontails mixed in at all? I was just assuming since I saw some agouti colored ones that they had started to intermingle, although the dominant colors seem to be black/white with a few pretty buff colored ones.
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To be quite honest, I never had heard of "scratch" before I visited this forum. I still don't think I've ever seen a bag of it for sale in the feed store I frequent. I mix some whole grains and just a dab of cracked corn in my layer mash each winter to cut expenses when the birds are laying low, but I don't feed this mix all by itself nor feed it as "treats".
I had also never heard of table scraps and such referred to as "treats" until entering BYC. What a strange concept! We always called that "garbage" and threw it to the birds when the garbage container/colander was full and couldn't hold anymore, or when something stunk so badly that it had to go out of the house NOW.
That is why I had to laugh when people were wetting their pants over feeding moldy foods and leftovers to the chickens....my chickens wouldn't know what fresh human food WAS if it weren't for the garden I grow.
All that food that grows green fuzz in my fridge? Chickens eat it. And they live...who knew?
Grandma fed her flocks shelled corn she grew right there on the farm. I feed mine layer mash from my local feed mill and I buy my grains in bulk to mix in with it when cold weather hits. I also use BOSS to keep my litter fluffed...just throw it in there and let the chickens have something to do on a rainy or snowy day. Saves me time and work.
My chickens love fridge clean out day. I must admit there are a few science experiments that end up in that huge pail on fridge clean out days.
In the everyday pail, which is huge, I can't believe how many produce and edible scraps two people can make, most things aren't stinky or nasty but I don't consider them treats, either. I consider it stuff the dogs can't eat but still edible, so better than compost pile garbage. When your food doesn't come from neat little cans and boxes, it's really amazing how many skins, peels, seeds and so on collect which would otherwise go to the trash can in a non-composting or non-chicken house. I also consider it a pretty important part of their overall nutrition. All those tomato peels, melon seeds and squash guts are loaded with nutrients.
To be quite honest, I never had heard of "scratch" before I visited this forum. I still don't think I've ever seen a bag of it for sale in the feed store I frequent. I mix some whole grains and just a dab of cracked corn in my layer mash each winter to cut expenses when the birds are laying low, but I don't feed this mix all by itself nor feed it as "treats".
I had also never heard of table scraps and such referred to as "treats" until entering BYC. What a strange concept! We always called that "garbage" and threw it to the birds when the garbage container/colander was full and couldn't hold anymore, or when something stunk so badly that it had to go out of the house NOW.
That is why I had to laugh when people were wetting their pants over feeding moldy foods and leftovers to the chickens....my chickens wouldn't know what fresh human food WAS if it weren't for the garden I grow.
Grandma fed her flocks shelled corn she grew right there on the farm. I feed mine layer mash from my local feed mill and I buy my grains in bulk to mix in with it when cold weather hits. I also use BOSS to keep my litter fluffed...just throw it in there and let the chickens have something to do on a rainy or snowy day. Saves me time and work.
My chickens love fridge clean out day. I must admit there are a few science experiments that end up in that huge pail on fridge clean out days.
In the everyday pail, which is huge, I can't believe how many produce and edible scraps two people can make, most things aren't stinky or nasty but I don't consider them treats, either. I consider it stuff the dogs can't eat but still edible, so better than compost pile garbage. When your food doesn't come from neat little cans and boxes, it's really amazing how many skins, peels, seeds and so on collect which would otherwise go to the trash can in a non-composting or non-chicken house. I also consider it a pretty important part of their overall nutrition. All those tomato peels, melon seeds and squash guts are loaded with nutrients.
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Has the heritage breeds vs. hatchery chicks question been addressed somewhere between pg. 38 and 50? If so, please point me to the right page. If not, I'll ask again - which would be best for building my dual-purpose flock? I currently have a big brahma roo, and 1 1/2 year old hens of varying breeds. (A BO, production red, SLW, EE, Brown Leghorn and a speckled one of unknown breed). I'd keep the brahma, but am wondering what would be some other good breeds for my goal of egg/meat birds.
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They way I look at it, if it's going to land on the compost pile anyway, might as well run it through the chickens first.
They way I look at it, if it's going to land on the compost pile anyway, might as well run it through the chickens first.
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I made a "Chicken Hook" like the ones my grandparents made and used. I never knew this was a item available for sale in some catalogs until recently.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/36435_caught.jpg
I need one of those. My Mediterrean breed chickens are so hard to catch unless it's nighttime. I've seen them before and just keep forgetting to get one.
I made a "Chicken Hook" like the ones my grandparents made and used. I never knew this was a item available for sale in some catalogs until recently.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/36435_caught.jpg
I need one of those. My Mediterrean breed chickens are so hard to catch unless it's nighttime. I've seen them before and just keep forgetting to get one.
Fred's Hens :
Worming:
(This will be my final post here, because I think the original purpose of the thread has about run its course and will soon risks becoming awkwardly long.)
For chemical worming, Dawg53 is the expert. You can PM him and get all the answers you'd ever need.
Organic farmers, such as myself, use curcurbits and Black Walnut tea and those natural remedies are effective on some kinds of worms. No antibiotics, drugs or chemical wormers are allowed, ever. But then, my grandma had no drugs or chemicals either and did just fine.
This has been fun. Hope it's been enjoyable to others as well. This forum is packed with junior high and high school kids, young, urban people. People so very far removed from the rural lifestyle of the late 1800's, which we touched directly through our grandparents. "Long ago" for the average BYCer was the 1980s. They are who they are. There are more threads on jokes, rants, "get 2000 posts before...", random ramblings, that so clog the screen under "Recent Posts" that is sometimes hard to even see real posts and harder to surmise that this is supposed to be a chicken forum. It just is what it is.
Before you leave, would you be so kind as to detail how you use black walnut tea?
Worming:
(This will be my final post here, because I think the original purpose of the thread has about run its course and will soon risks becoming awkwardly long.)
For chemical worming, Dawg53 is the expert. You can PM him and get all the answers you'd ever need.
Organic farmers, such as myself, use curcurbits and Black Walnut tea and those natural remedies are effective on some kinds of worms. No antibiotics, drugs or chemical wormers are allowed, ever. But then, my grandma had no drugs or chemicals either and did just fine.
This has been fun. Hope it's been enjoyable to others as well. This forum is packed with junior high and high school kids, young, urban people. People so very far removed from the rural lifestyle of the late 1800's, which we touched directly through our grandparents. "Long ago" for the average BYCer was the 1980s. They are who they are. There are more threads on jokes, rants, "get 2000 posts before...", random ramblings, that so clog the screen under "Recent Posts" that is sometimes hard to even see real posts and harder to surmise that this is supposed to be a chicken forum. It just is what it is.
Before you leave, would you be so kind as to detail how you use black walnut tea?
Quote:
Exactly! Me, big. Him, small. Oh he might be big for a chicken, but in my world, he's still tiny. I just don't get adults being afraid of them.
Yes. And, chickens don't have teeth. How many posts have we seen where the OP exclaims that his 6 week old chick attacked and BIT him?
Exactly! Me, big. Him, small. Oh he might be big for a chicken, but in my world, he's still tiny. I just don't get adults being afraid of them.
Yes. And, chickens don't have teeth. How many posts have we seen where the OP exclaims that his 6 week old chick attacked and BIT him?
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