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

[bobbi-j]

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Personally, I have no qualms about breeding mutts for my own use. I can understand preserving a breed, too, but if you have a rooster you like, and some hens of a different breed that you like, go for it. I wouldn't sell mutts if I bred them, though. Just keep them for myself.

PS - jvls, thank you for sharing your hatching wisdom! Someday I want to replace my little styrofoam incubator. Lost the one I had in a fire. I love watching chicks hatch! I've been known to sit up all night watching them...

 

[cbohn80]

can i ask why you wouldnt sell mutts? some people i work with want to try raising a few birds next year, i was hoping to sell a few.

 

[bobbi-j]

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It would be alright as long as they know that they're getting mutts. If people don't care, then that would be fine. I know that there are dishonest people out there (NOT saying you are one - just speaking "in general") who would try to pass of their mutts as purebred something or others. I guess I was just thinking to avoid confusion or controversy. And maybe keep peace with the breed preservationists....

 

[Gypsi]

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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..

She's been keeping chickens for at least 20 years, I've built her a pond, and when I bought nipples on here to build my waterer (still unbuilt) I ended up selling her part of the nipples and building her one. But I spot a dead bird on the ground in her pen now and then, so I am careful to wear my pond boots near her coops, not my regular shoes which are tougher to sterilize. She is a dear sweet lady in her 70's and I wouldn't hurt her feelings for anything, but I do not want to bring something home. Knock wood, the worst disease mine have had was dachshund syndrome (ended when I put my old dachshund down - after he killed his 3rd bird) and moulting. I did lose one to heat stroke this year. She lost half her flock to the heat this year. I think there's a problem, don't know what. She doesn't butcher, just gathers eggs and enjoys chickens. I am not old enough or wise enough to advise her.

 

[cbohn80]

well i'm a new chicken keeper with old values, i wouldnt lie about the breeds. i wouldnt even call them a designer breed chicken, a mutt is a mutt. cant stand the new designer dog "breeds".
i also think its funny how everyone thinks about being green nowadays. i see it as saving money and not eating chemicals. my hens eat food scraps and pests around the yard, their old coop bedding is either tilled by them into the garden or used as mulch and fertilizer around my fruit trees and strawberries in the front yard. i use the feed bags as a free weed guard under the mulch. my wife makes jewelry with the feathers, and extra eggs bring in money to buy their feed. it means i dont need insecticide or nitrogen fertilizers or mulch pumped full of poison and chemical dyes.

 

[perchie.girl]

I have had chickens since the eighties, but never in great quantity. Until I bought my land and moved away from the city. I bought about Twelve from an established flock of entirely Mutts that was raised locally. I figured I would get individuals that were Savvy enough to survive the predators in the area and Robust enough to survive the heat. It worked out great. My little flock got up to about thirty before a big fire swept through San Diego and drove a great number of big predators into my area.

Lost thirty chickens in thirty days. The last one right in front of me within about sixty feet. Little red hen obliviously scratching in the horse poo..... I was feeding the horse. And a coyote ran through the horse pen and snagged her with me screaming and throwing rocks. He looked at me and hesitated and realized I was no threat and disappeared into the big rocks behind the pen.

I have made lots of mistakes with chickens and tried to learn from each one. I took a break for a couple of years and am back trying to do it better.... I am building the flock now starting with Guineas and even the thought of free ranging has me cringing... At least until I can get a good dog that can establish a perimeter.... and Electric fence..... And a Donkey (death to coyotes)...

deb

 

[bobbi-j]

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I agree. Mutts are mutts! The "designer dogs" drive me nuts, too. I can't believe people would pay hundreds of dollars for one. Goes to show how marketing works. Present your product as a "designer" and you can get what you want for it. Call it what it is, and you can't give it away. Maybe I'm just jealous that I'm not smart enough to do that kind of marketing.

 

[cbohn80]

coyotes? i'd suggest a shot gun or rifle. they will jump an electric fence for food. unfortunatly coyotes will sometimes hunt in packs, one dog is no match for that. they will sound the alarm, you might have to do the dirty work. they do sell traps large enough for the coyotes too. good luck.


i am a new to chickens on my own but had hens often when i was a kid with my parents. we always had problems with racoons, fox, and owls. ours dogs never kept them away. just gave us the warning that there was trouble. they did get a few coons but fox are to nimble. there werent coyotes in jersey when i was a kid but now they're back with a vengence.

 

[cbohn80]

right on bobbi, dont people realize there are mutts for next to free at the pound all the time, instead they support puppy mills by paying more for a mutt than what i spent on my first car

 

[al6517]

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I am of the same mind as most of you, I don't clean my eggs nor do I set nasty ones. The nest boxes stay fairly clean and full of straw so for the most part they look fine. My hatch rates vary some but mainly stay around 75-80% after taking out the clears. I only candle once and once only, I do remove any suspect nuclear bombs as soon as I see their destin to explode, if I see weeping or smell a skunky one, which has never happened in thousands of eggs hatched. I just don't see the need to constantly fiddle with candling to see their development every few day's as so many folks do, I candle on day 18 when they go into the hatcher the bad ones go in the trash and that's that. I see in other threads folks candle sometimes 4 or 5 times.............. why ????????? for what reason other than to have something to talk about. for me the less handling the better.

I made my own Cabinet Incubator because I wasn't happy with any of the ones you can buy, aside from the GQF & dickeys. It was a fun learning adventure and my hatching success & experience has improved because of it. I have had some go broody but have only hatched a mere handful of chicks under broody hen's. My breed doesn't normaly go broody and when they do they never go through to term, I don't know why but they just don't hang.