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

[ultra1classic]

I gutted a glass door pepsi cooler and converted it into an incubator..have used it for about past 5 years...holds temp and humidity great...

 

[Attila the Hen]

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And I'm a real life actual Prof. of Critical Theory, so I'm just gonna bide my time till you publish an article on this in The Sociological Review.

Nah...I'm too old to go onto my PhD, I need to get into the workforce- Masters is as far as i'm going with this. Besides, I know the real reason you want me to publish something - this forum is crazy and you would need an army to work on all the stuff going one here. (You're just like all the professors, making us grunts do all the heavy lifting. LOL)

I'll help. I have an MA in Applied Anthropology. I find animals more interesting these days--especially chickens.

 

[Gypsi]

I'm guessing that just stuffing some eggs under a non-broody hen isn't going to get me any chicks? I'll keep reading. And I suppose if I get another coop built, one of these days I'll have to buy or build an incubator! I mainly raise chickens for one thing: EGGS. And I guess until I've hatched an egg I can't say I raise them. I just keep them. Always something to learn!

 

[oshun55555]

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I am in the same boat as you, most of the folks on some of the other threads have been raising chickens (2-3) for a year and someone raising them for 40 something years, that information is to them like it came from people who learned to read off of clay tablets. Us OT folks just shut up and let them learn the hard way. Thanks for this thread Bee I feel much more at home here and not worried about telling folks how I see it. I have learned something that works great for me, is sprouting in the winter, I just never heard of it till I started reading on the BYC. Mostly i would just over winter a few hens who were resting from laying and not feed the bigger part of them through the winter as they can't forage, so in the freezer with those. But this year I have been sprouting wheat and corn I organically grow on my own land and the hens and roosters are faring real real good. I sprout them out in a couple old cat litter boxes I found in someones trash on the side of the road. The hens are even giving me enough eggs to feed the household doing this. I guess old dogs can learn new tricks.

 

[Attila the Hen]

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Your description of your BOs match 2 of my 4 hens. The person at the feed store said I needed to get more hens for the rooster and get a larger breed because the rooster is so large. In this scenario, would you still recommend your three favorites? And, I was told to come back in the spring and get larger more mature birds for the rooster. I was wondering if I could just buy chicks now and raise them separately so that in the spring they could hold their own with the rooster? Are these questions sufficiently demonstrating my ignorance?
Thanks Bee

 

[runsw/scissors]

THANK you!!! OMgosh that causes me more peevishness that almost anything else. They are chickens NOT people; so could we please just let them be chickens??

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I could not have said it better............. and these folks will vehemently rebuke advice from anybody who is older than 20 something. And that's what I find difficult to understand, our flocks are well cared for not pampered, they have adequate housing and PROPER common sense approach to feeding, Not to mention are flocks are healthier and stay that way for long periods of time without incident and drama. I Have to constantly correct my DW & DD when they look in the viewing window on the incubator and proudly announce that we have babies hatching, and I say NO!!!!! we have chickens hatching............... and quit making that AAAWWWWWWWWWWWW sound LOL. I feel this allows them to enjoy my birds better both in the coops and on the table JMHO.

Also boys & girls are young humans. Young chickens are cockerels & pullets.

 

[Gypsi]

I'm addicted. BYC itself is a great place, the forum is great. But on this thread I learn so much, and I haven't had time to read all of it.
Now for stupid question number 243, if I wanted Black Aussies or one of these great breeds, where on earth would I get them. My feed store has a very limited selection. I've got a customer with hens and roos, but her birds seem to die rather often so I do not want to get fertile eggs from her. I see a lot of vendors advertising on here, and I am on a super-tight budget, and in Texas. I accept PM's.

Gypsi

 

[jvls1942]

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that must be rough on butchering day,,, I mean if her birds die "rather often",, how many times does she have to kill one ??
sorry, I just came from a different thread where we were acting silly..

I would not be hesitant to get fertile eggs from her.. what could be the worse thing that could happen ? hatch plenty of them, then prolly none of them would die..

 

[Magic Birdie]

Ooh!!! Pick me! I'm old and wise!! And here's my wisdom...














BIRDIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I had to do that

 

[cbohn80]

wow this thread is stinkin awesome. do you oldtimers have any advice on whether or not to breed mutts. last year i gave my sister some amberlink hens(the amberlink i kept is a great layer and great personality) and an Easter egger rooster. our ee hen is a great layer and very alert, a bit skittish though. i wanted to take some of the fertilized eggs she has and incubate them. i only plan on keeping 1 or 2 hens and eating the rest. i know some people are all about preserving breeds but i'm all about preserving the amount of food in my freezer. any ideas?
i would also like to keep one rooster to have my own fertile eggs, is it fine to keep him caged separate in a shed to keep the noise down at night? i'm very close to my neighbors but as far as i know chickens are legal.

i'll be raising mixed breed ducks too. my wife insists that all our birds we have now are pets with the understanding all new ones are for the fry pan.