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

[jvls1942]

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Do you know why people have incubators ? because hens do not do what you want them to do ,,, when you want them to..

Have your neighbor train a hen for you,, I would not depend on a non broody hen to go broody just in time for the chicks to arrive..

It doesn't take much room for chicks in a brooder.. and as they need more room, they are grown enough to not need such controlled environment..

I raised 80 one day old chicks under a brooder hood outside under just a lean-to roof when the temps were minus 20F. Every one of them lived..
It is not something I would do again..

this draft thing ? I never heard about it before here.. the only thing I can imagine that is bad about draft, is that it carries heat away from where it is supposed to be.. I have had birds roost in the pine trees in the winter with wind and snow blowing. none of them ever died..

 

[smarsh]

i haven't read this entire post, but has anyone said "don't count your chickens before they are hatched"?

I learned at an early age, don't turn a game rooster loose in the chicken yard with your standard breed roos. What a bloody site for a 10 year old. Killed 4 in a half day.

 

[jvls1942]

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this is the type of blanket statement that is misleading.. I have four game roosters mixed in my flock of Delawares, hens and rooster, Barred rocks, hens and rooster, and a Bluelaced red wayandotte rooster and a dozen mixed breed hens , all together. abou 45 chickens.. there is no fighting..

Years ago, I had a light Brahma rooster kill a large Wyandotte rooster.. does that mean that you should never put two of that kind of rooster together ? NO ! it all boils down to the individual rooster..

 

[Vcomb]

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this is the type of blanket statement that is misleading.. I have four game roosters mixed in my flock of Delawares, hens and rooster, Barred rocks, hens and rooster, and a Bluelaced red wayandotte rooster and a dozen mixed breed hens , all together. abou 45 chickens.. there is no fighting..

Years ago, I had a light Brahma rooster kill a large Wyandotte rooster.. does that mean that you should never put two of that kind of rooster together ? NO ! it all boils down to the individual rooster..

also depends on what type of "game" roosters you have. it can happen in any breed though, I had it happen with two cochins once.

 

[jvls1942]

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this is the type of blanket statement that is misleading.. I have four game roosters mixed in my flock of Delawares, hens and rooster, Barred rocks, hens and rooster, and a Bluelaced red wayandotte rooster and a dozen mixed breed hens , all together. abou 45 chickens.. there is no fighting..

Years ago, I had a light Brahma rooster kill a large Wyandotte rooster.. does that mean that you should never put two of that kind of rooster together ? NO ! it all boils down to the individual rooster..

also depends on what type of "game" roosters you have. it can happen in any breed though, I had it happen with two cochins once.

It boils down to the individual rooster.. What kind of environment did that game rooster come from ? Did it pick the fight , or did he just finish on top ? usually a new chicken does not pick the fight, the ones in the existing flock usually do..

ETA : even before the first rooster was killed, somebody should have removed the new chicken..

 

[Tracydr]

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Try Pinetree seeds, also. Very good prices on seeds.

 

[loanwizard]

One thing that has always bugged me. Somebody was talking about breeders sometimes give up production for looks.

I have about 75 chickens from oldies to chicks. How do I tell how many eggs a specific hen is laying? These are free range, with nesting boxes in the coop with the exception of a dog box by the garage that I get 2 eggs in daily. I suppose I may have loss elsewhere, but these are the ones I have found and none others found around the property.

I could no sooner tell you how many eggs my flock averages in a years time then fly lol!

 

[fowlman01]

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this is the type of blanket statement that is misleading.. I have four game roosters mixed in my flock of Delawares, hens and rooster, Barred rocks, hens and rooster, and a Bluelaced red wayandotte rooster and a dozen mixed breed hens , all together. abou 45 chickens.. there is no fighting..

Years ago, I had a light Brahma rooster kill a large Wyandotte rooster.. does that mean that you should never put two of that kind of rooster together ? NO ! it all boils down to the individual rooster..

It is an individual rooster thing, but all roosters and hens can and will fight under certain conditions. Most chickens just need to find their place in the pecking order. Games and orientals are a bit different. Your game roosters may not bother any of the other birds, but my Shamo's or Asils will kill them all. My females will kill roosters and each other if I don't take precautions. I haven't trained them to do that, they just have that in them. The babies will kill each other at 3-4 weeks if I am not careful.

Each situation is different and each strain of chickens is different in how they will react in groups. Some of my other breeds I can run males together without problems and some I can't.

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

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If you want to spend the time you can trap nest the females and know exactly which eggs came from which hen.....and how many.

Walt

 

[Tracydr]

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We must be twins, separated by geograpgraphy.
I'd love to see pictures of your chickens, what a great mix. I love everything you wrote, too. I used to summer with my Grandma in N.MN. No running water, a little hand pumped well and a wood burning sauna. It was wonderful. At home, I had a horse that I practically lived on and raised all sorts of critters and birds in my little horse shed/tack room.