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

[cubalaya]

whats with the cannon fodder posts? thats the second time that i have read that today. 31 years having chickens here. before backyardchickens forum people had to just learn from experience. the collective knowledge of 50,000+ members is awesome and i have learned from posts on this forum and others. i try to learn something new everyday. some advice:
if you are going to be hatching and selling chickens pick one breed and stick with it a few years. after that only keep at most 3 breeds. i dont believe one person can breed and improve more than 3 breeds unless that is their full time job.
i see people on here crossing 2 or 3 different breeds trying to have their own brand of mutt. thats a lot of culls that need to be killed or sold with this practice. there are enough breeds that are critical or endangered or rare that need improvements.
i think as the economy worsens more people will raise chickens and want them to be dual purpose. hatch accordingly.
when you decide on a breed try to buy them from 3 different bloodlines. buy some from a prominent breeder, buy some from a local breeder, even some from a hatchery. keep the best from all 3 lines and you have genetic diversity built in and the local breeder's bird has been exposed to the same things that your birds will be.

 

[annep]

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[annep]

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"Cannon fodder is an informal, derogatory term for military personnel who are regarded or treated as expendable in the face of enemy fire"

 

[dfr1973]

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Hear, hear!

 

[pdbantam]

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"Cannon fodder is an informal, derogatory term for military personnel who are regarded or treated as expendable in the face of enemy fire"

That's a lot of hostility for a CHICKEN FORUM!

 

[annep]

No doubt..Seems there were several people who didnt know what it was, and it seems to me that it was not used correctly..So, thought I'd post the right meaning...

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

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My grandpa used to use the term. Must be an OF who lost her/his favorite chook this morning, or something going on to make him/her be so harsh. It is ok, we can move on and have our fun without getting our spirits culled

 

[loanwizard]

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My grandpa used to use the term. Must be an OF who lost her/his favorite chook this morning, or something going on to make him/her be so harsh. It is ok, we can move on and have our fun without getting our spirits culled

Spirits culled.... is that Freezer camp? LMBO!

 

[Beekissed]

This has been an interesting read while I've been gone! You all are doing a great job! Keep it up and keep that info coming...it seems there are many who appreciate a hard knock look at raising chickens.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I ordered 40 RIR chicks from Ideal last week and when they arrived they were 2 days old. I debated about the temps (reading so many posts about 100 degrees and then (-5 degrees), 95 degrees then the 2nd week and on and on and on) with the heat lamp but since they were inside (in the garage), (although the garage is VERY drafty) (and outside temps were 38 degrees some nights), I was comfortable with a temp of only 80 degrees. I checked on them periodically throughout the night (to make sure they weren't cold) and to my surprise, they were JUST FINE. They were NOT huddled up next to each other. They were spread out throughout the brooder, which is about 5 feet long and were knocked out fast alseep. I think I even heard snoring.

ALL OF THEM ARE STILL ALIVE @ 80 degree temps!!!!

My hens usually hatch their own eggs (I don't own an incubator - have never owned an incubator and never will own an incubator) and I don't have to worry about chicks and temps but I needed a quick order of future layers.

So it looks like 80 degrees works for me and 2 day old chicks. Although this temp may not work for others, I can only tell my experience. I will be looking at lowering temps to 75 degrees at the end of the week.