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

[RWD57]

1. I like the round hanging feeders, i use some vintage galvanized ones, they have a smaller footprint and still provides 360° of trough.
2. Hanging 5 gal buckets with nipple waterers, best idea ever, keeping a backup heater for this winter.
3. Stake down the dog kennel brooding pen, lost a batch of pheasants in a straight-line wind storm.
4. One advantage of living in the cornbelt is that corn is grown all around the property, all i have to do is pick it

5. Varmits proof your coops, they all like chicken.
45 yrs. raising birds off and on, barnyard flocks, meat chickens, gunieas, pheasants, turkeys and pigeons.

 

[Fred's Hens]

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With smaller flocks, it is actually somewhat easy to learn their laying habits, watch who enters the nesting box, when, and which egg is which. I can keep track up to about a dozen hens, mentally, after that I find it much more difficult. If I have pens of smaller numbers, it doesn't take long. If I go out to the barn, on a nice day, a half dozen times and never see a certain hen in the box, I grow suspicious. I keep an eye on her. If after 4 or 5 days, I never "catch" her in the box, I get really suspicious.

In the peak of laying, in the warmer morning of early spring, I'll take my coffee and a lawn chair and sit out in the barn for an hour or two. I'll "chart" a couple dozen hens.

Another advantage to having pens of 6-8 per pen is that one should bat 1000 every once in awhile, especially during ideal conditions. One should collect 8 eggs for 8 hens. That kind of thing. I honestly keep very close track of laying. A lot depends on how much time one has to closely observe them.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I've got one Barred Rock who is consistently laying a football shaped egg. An extreme shape, almost bullet shaped. It's winter and I don't mind so much right now, as the egg is perfectly edible, if not sales worthy. But, come spring, I'll have to pin this egg on the specific hen, because I will not want to take her to the breeding pen.

 

[loanwizard]

That's kind of what I figured. Thanks Ridge and Fred. With my work schedule and just being there at bedtime and feeding time besides my days off, I don't have that kind of time, or perhaps better said, the inclination, to pen them up in small groups. I did put 4 in a cage before I butchered, and figured out 1 was still laying even though there was only 1 to 1 1/2 finger space between their pelvic bones. Also discovered that 2 of the 3 I butchered had partially developed eggs.... at least I assume that's what it was (soft egg shaped yellowish masses) in them.... but... they were older, hadn't laid in 3 days, and tasted good... OK, the first one tasted like rubber, but the other 2 got crock potted and were fine. Debating a pressure cooker to tenderize faster.

 

[Cass]

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I'm only on page 6 reading through this thread. BUT I am stealing this idea. The ice brought down the entire length of seamless gutter on the front of the house....insurance replaced it, but I have the old gutter laying next to the shop. And I own chicken wire. And my chickens POOP in their feeders ALL the very' time.....I am soooo going to steal this idea the instant it gets warm enough out there to touch the metal gutter without freezing my fingers. (Yes, I own gloves, but you ever tried to use tin snips with gloves on?)

 

[Lee-in-Iowa]

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See, that's what I'm talking about. I wish is had known beforehand just how dusty three lil chicks would be. Brooded them in my laundry room with the ceiling exhaust going constantly and the door shut. When we got them out in their coop a coupla months later, I even had to wipe down the WALLS in there and in the adjoining bath! Never again. Of course, now I have a coop, so problem solved. Thanks, Fred!

Hear, hear! I nearly DID choke on all that baby bird dander, and my side porch (part of the HOUSE) did look like someone shook a flour sack all over the place. Boy, I wish I'd known this!!

 

[Lee-in-Iowa]

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You forgot bra's. (I just became aware of such a thing this past week

)

Gee Kassaundra...thanks for that mental image I'll lay awake with tonight.....chicken bras....who knew? And more importantly.....who in the world came up with that off-the-wall idea? Geeesh!

Here I thought those bras and aprons and whatnot were reserved for silly people in the suburbs, who dress up their concrete goose in new costumes every season, out on their front porch!

 

[Tracydr]

I have a few Fayoumi's. A little loud but very good foragers a great in the heat. Since the flock that was brought to the US was at Iowa State I'd think they could handle your cold.
Don't use ivermectin on them. All of mine had seizuires and two went into comas, nearly died. For two days, one was unconscious. They must be very sensitive to it for some reason.
They lay pretty well, a smaller, pinkish egg. Very interesting bird. They run like a road runner and can really fly up into those trees.. Wing span is huge compared to most chickens!

 

[Dead Rabbit]

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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..

then you do not have a "true game" rooster. a true game cock can not be mixed in with any other rooster. either the game cock will kill the rest of them, or he will make their life miserable by chasing them esp. if they are in a small area.

"game" is used loosely in the world of fowl. alot of so called games are just games by name sake. but that does not make them a game rooster. its not an individual rooster trait, its a breed trait.

 

[Dead Rabbit]

been around fowl all my life. 38 yrs total. raised many different types from fancy to production. spent many yrs raising fowl. and in doing so this really takes your knowledge to another level. takes you out of the proverbial box. ive had hundreds and hundreds of fowl at times and was mentored by many older gentlemen that together have had hunddreds of yrs experience combined. thats the best way to learn. sit back and listen to older folks talk. and then sit back and observe.

also have dabbled in quail of different types, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, etc. now i have mostly just layers, few games, game bantams, few silkies, etc.