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

[al6517]

Quote:
Well have you taken into account that they will totaly overcrowd that small coop space and demolish it with 40 ton's of poop in 30 seconds flat. These bird just need more room, not because of their size or activity level but just because of the shear amount of care they need. I think you could fit maybe 3-4 in there max and that doesn't seem hardly worth it. and if the coop is in any way elevated that won't work, they won't use it. I have raised more of them than I care to count and you really need to wrap your mind around the mess, one of the main reasons folks don't like them, they can be lazy and very dirty and smelly if raised in an itsy bitsy area. Just saying is all.

 

[navasima]

AH. Mess doesn't phase me much - but I do believe that I'll make them a large, well ventillated space - with an open, ground level coop. This little one is only a couple inches up, but sounds like I'm back to building! Heh! No worries - if something's worth doing....... I'm quite happy to get guidance and get a good start than guess and deal with disaster! Thannks!!

 

[Gypsi]

Quote:
Cass,

Switch to healthy treats. Garden scraps, BOSS, a handful of fresh scratch... That's what I did. I believe my hens love of oatmeal contributed to a calcium deficiency come molting time, caused me a lot of stress and loss of eggs. (I am not an OT, but this I learned in the school of experience.)

 

[Gypsi]

Quote:
I guess what I mean was it is truely a tough project and it has to be approached with a definite goal and a well thought out plan. here is a link that is quite long but we discuss this and 3 or 4 of us me included had the same ongoing project and compared results as time went by and some are still trying. It does have a ton of pic's.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=316007

I started my sustainable meat bird project with the goal to have nice big meaty birds that grew fast but not too fast for the stew pot but that could also live for years and lay and naturaly reproduce and hatch consistant heavy birds. As I stated most started out with inferior hatchery stock and after much tribulation just ended up with different colored hatchery birds, I started with my own stock of show quality birds using Rare Pure LF white Cornish and SQ white rocks and commercial Cornish X. Yes thats right commercial Cornish X's raised special under a very strict diet to laying age, mine lived 3 years. I wanted the birds to be white so I started out with white and stayed that way, eliminating the whole color issue from the start. I bred them together in various matings, evaluated them culled heavy and rebred again and again and again. Until I achieved a finished bird that was white, grew to 6lbs dressed weight in 20 weeks, had no heart or leg issues, and could lay 20 weeks and hatch out the same type bird consistantly over time, with a slight infusion of new blood every 2 years, they also could free range well and had very good temerments.

Anyway that is what I did, some folks had some results but not near what they invisioned by crossing hatchery Cornish with things like Hatchery americanas, Jersey Giants, Welsumers, BO's stuff that you might think would work well because of their size. The obstacles as you can imagine was growing out, selecting, hatching, culling, raising and then starting all over again and again for years, and this was the sad demise of many who tried such a project because they just thought hey why don't just cross this and that and then like magic WaLa a sustainable meat bird. It doesn't work that way, the commercial Cornish X took many many years to develop and their parent stock is locked up and maintained tighter than fort know. The rare LF White Cornish was the cornerstone to their program so they systamaticly bought every single bird in the country they could find to reduce the chance of any home flock doing the same thing, that is why there are only less than 10 flocks of LF white cornish in the country today.

AL

Sounds like if a person wanted sustainable chickens, you are the source. I'm glad I back-tracked through this thread. (although I suspect it will be a while before I can add anything, need to negotiate and get a bit more land, I'm full)

 

[Dead Rabbit]

last yr i raised the cornish X b/c the hatchery sent me X's instead of pure cornish.........any who. obviously i wasnt prepared for them so i just raised them battery style in some of my rabbit cages. the cage sizes were. 30" x 30" i raised 4 and 5 per cage. got them up to weight quick. and butchered them. i switched them over to 15% protein layer crumbles at about 6 wks of age. only had one go lame in one leg. he was first one butchered. the manure was a mess in smell and quantity. i just shoveled the mess up in the wheel barrow and made trips to some new raised beds i had built. and put the manure in them. then covered it with mulch to keep the flys and smell down. this yr i'll plant those paticular beds.

 

[dkcrumly]

Quote:
Two of my cochins went broody sitting on one wooden egg and the 3rd Cochin hadn't even starting laying yet and she went broody. I'm sure it depends on the breed.

kristen

 

[Cass]

Quote:
Cass,

Switch to healthy treats. Garden scraps, BOSS, a handful of fresh scratch... That's what I did. I believe my hens love of oatmeal contributed to a calcium deficiency come molting time, caused me a lot of stress and loss of eggs. (I am not an OT, but this I learned in the school of experience.)

I only feed healthy treats....if you don't count the cranberry bread I left on the counter uncovered so it got hard....BOSS, swiss chard (that hasn't died yet), scratch grains....I just feed too much. They walk right up on the deck and tap on the sliding glass door if I don't bring the treats fast enough when I get home from work. It's really comical, but does tell you just about how spoiled they really are.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

At least you won't have a hard time catching them, when you need to.

 

[Gypsi]

Quote:
That is why I started feeding treats, actually. The hidey-hen, a BR, I thought a hawk had got. Nope, she was hiding, didn't want to go back in the run. My dachshund killed her sometime in the next few hours.

When I started with treats the next day, they learned to come running and go to the pen when I came out the door, as treats are only served IN the pen.

Really impressed visitors. I'm using bits of tomato, (my counter-ripened ones) or a few sunflower seeds to train my pullets the same, and they are getting there. But it is for their own protection and my schedule. I can plan on being home all day, get a phone call, and need to be in the truck in 10 minutes, with dogs outdoors for a long day. Those chickens had better get in the pen.

This is why I want a coop on the lot.... I seem to have iffy watch dogs, they watch, but the smallest one always finds the chickens fascinating. Even though it is a new smallest dog...

 

[Cass]

Quote:

TRUE...but cleaning the poo off the decking is starting to get a little tedious especially in the cold weather. The 4 D'uccles stand on my shoes to warm up their toes. Now THAT is spoiled. LOL

The third roo in the pecking order follows my cat around trying to have someone "below" him in the pecking order. I wish I could get a picture of the look on my cat's face when she turns around and sees him there. She's like "what the heck do you think you are gonna do with me when you catch me, I have claws and teeth".