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

[123ChickieLou]

I read a lot about roosters protecting the flock from predators. In my case, it's my oldest hen that does that. She's the leader, the teacher. I have one roo that is almost fully grown and even he bows to Her Grace. He's second in command and learns quickly. I suppose if something happened to my oldest hen, he might inherit top spot in the flock and become leader. But I do believe it is purely incidental that either of them are leaders. She certainly doesn't know she's teaching anyone anything nor is she intending to protect anyone. I've read that about roosters too, that they aren't trying to teach anyone or protect anyone, its just that the others happen to heed the calls and learn the signs of danger and respond accordingly.

 

[galanie]

Funny story: My neighbor has a bantam rooster that he says has been picked up before by that hawk. He said the roo started crowing while being carried off and the hawk dropped it.  Same rooster was picked up (and dropped) by likely the same hawk, all of his birds went nuts and his amazon parrot, who could see it all from the window, started screaming "Bad bird! Bad bird!"

I've had parrots and cockatiels for years. You can't tell me that they don't know what they're saying!

 

[ajlynco]

I'll be getting a dozen day-old chicks next week and was wondering if you OT's add anything special to thier feed/water? Is chick starter a complete feed and my maim concern is giving them the best start on life I can. Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Fred's Hens]

I'll be getting a dozen day-old chicks next week and was wondering if you OT's add anything special to thier feed/water? Is chick starter a complete feed and my maim concern is giving them the best start on life I can. Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

I've probably brooded a few thousand chicks. All I can tell you is what I've done. You can take it for what it is worth. I've long ago given up trying to talk folks in to anything, as they usually have a dozen voices yelling in their ears.

Clean water. Chick starter. That's it. Absolutely nothing added to their water and nothing beside chick starter and the occasional scrambled egg, if I've got some messed up eggs to spare. That's it. All I've ever done. Haven't lost a chick in a decade. Don't know what else to say.

 

[cubalaya]

we put sugar in the water for the first few days and we stopped using medicated starter.

 

[ajlynco]

I've probably brooded a few thousand chicks. All I can tell you is what I've done. You can take it for what it is worth. I've long ago given up trying to talk folks in to anything, as they usually have a dozen voices yelling in their ears.

Clean water. Chick starter. That's it. Absolutely nothing added to their water and nothing beside chick starter and the occasional scrambled egg, if I've got some messed up eggs to spare. That's it. All I've ever done. Haven't lost a chick in a decade. Don't know what else to say.

Fred, I ordered GroGel with my shipment, do you think it's beneficial or a waste? I'm a firm believer in the way most of the OT's raise thier chickens, keep it simple, treat em humane and give tough love. They'll get tough or die, and the ones that stay alive are stronger for the experience. I'm thinking of puting the chicks in a basement brooder for the first 7-10 days, then move em to a brooder set up in the coop. I'll still give em a heat lamp at one end of the brooder. How soon can I wean them off of the heatlamp and should I supplement regular light at night or let em get used to the light/dark cycle?

 

[Beekissed]

Beekissed- Question, since we're on the topic of worming.

I've been following your posts about how you manage your flock and am planning to incorporate many of your philosophies into my keeping/husbandry as I can. Culling being one of them.

I have eight chickens right now of varying ages, none over 1yr; I've three young roo's, four pullets and one laying. I've never 'wormed' them but I've not seen anything that makes me think they need it. I do see one occasionally yawn and shake its head, but it seems more of a natural thing, like shaking out the feathers. They all look really healthy, nice feathers, one came to me with sparse wing/shoulder feathers but within a couple of weeks came in nicely. Everyone seems happy, albeit a little cramped, but happy.

I have a pen that's about 10x10 that I confine them to at night; all I have to do is shut the door, they put themselves to bed. They have a hutch and a repurposed 4x4 compost bin raised on plywood that they ALL pile into at night, leaving the hutch empty. I've put fresh hay in the comp bin several times only to find it scattered about the pen in the morning. They've shoved it all out down to the old poop-hay. I use hay bc shavings are too messy to keep in the bedding area. They'd have shavings all over the yard. The hay, they pretty much leave in their bed.

Right now the pen sopping wet. Its been raining a lot. Not much I can do but wait till it dries.

During the day they have the run of the backyard, about 40x20ft that they've de-grassed (but there's new growth constantly from the seeds I throw down being covered by leaves). I give them a slosh of ACV in their water every day; I don't wash the waterers unless I absolutely have to (haven't yet). They're fed primarily grower feed and I give them a few handfulls of wild bird seed mixed with dry oatmeal. What should I start thinking about feeding them next as their full diet, after they're off the grower feed?

I don't give them medicine of any sort and I don't want to start. However, I will have to cull two of the roo's pretty soon. I only wanted one and I think 1:5 is a good ratio. I'm still deciding which two look tasty. For sure the one that came with bad feathering.

With the given situation, what are your thoughts about worming or preventing a worm problem? I understand that they probably already have some worms and that's natural and not to worry about. I don't want a problem breaking out. Right now the plan is for the remaining roo to produce some chicks to replace anyone that needs getting rid of and not buying new chicks. So, heartiness is important here. What would you suggest for that as well?

BTW- if anyone else has advice, that'd be fine too. Keep in mind though though that I'm not interested in medicating with unnatural chemical medications.

AND- Thanks in advance!!

The areas I've highlighted could be a problem with your setup. Damp runs and housing is a perfect setup for parasites, both internal and external, not to mention some bad molds and bacteria as opposed to healthy growth and culture of good bacteria. I'd get the damp hay out of your sleeping area, place a board across your opening so you can contain your pine bedding, or just do without and take a leaf rake and rake out each and every day when you do your chores. Only takes a few minutes. Do they have a roost? Roosting is important for many reasons, one of which is that sleeping on a roost is nice and dry. They don't absolutely need one but I try to follow the natural way of things and roosting seems natural to me.

If you can't cover your run, I'd suggest trying to get good drainage going by ditching or building up one end of the run to form a slope. If this is impossible, maybe using some gravel base and sand to top it...something to give your birds dryer footing/run.

There are many ways to encourage regrowth of grass and folks on here seem to have some great ideas. My brother was telling me the other day about these interlocking plastic grids that come in sheets that one can put together right on the ground, they are pretty indestructible...they allow the growth of grass up through the holes in the grid but do not allow scratching and beating down of the ground and vegetation. They would give your birds some dry footing while allowing your grass to grow. I don't know how much they cost.

When my chickens are about 3-4 mo. old start back to feeding my older flock(and the youngsters) their laying mash, particularly at this time of year. Any supplements I offer right now are primarily calcium...no other whole grains. They are ramping up for peak laying season and they need the optimal fuel for that and laying mash has it. I don't care for the pellets and such but everyone has their own preference. I wouldn't be feeding the wild bird seed and dry oatmeal as it isn't necessary and is just filler when they need to be filling up on a good laying ration.

I'm not the chicken expert, by any means at all and I wouldn't mislead anyone with that idea...I just do what I do and it works great. I understand that not everyone has the setup I have and must adapt their setup as they go along. I had to do the same..everyone does. Find what works for you and provides the healthiest environment for your chickens and it should be alright.

For now I'd concentrate on getting your birds into a dryer setup, give some high quality, fresh feed, try to get some green in your range area one way or another and cull aggressively for healthy appearance and performance.

 

[ajlynco]

Bee
I've followed this thread since you started it and really appreciate your and the other OT's wisdom and experience. Over the years I'm sure you've had many different breeds and have probably found what breeds work best for your type of husbandry/management style. I'm curious what breeds you've chosen to stick with and why? Also, you're always commending your dogs, who seem to do a fine job guarding your flock. What kind of dogs are they? Thanks

 

[ajlynco]

Will the chicks born from a BR or RIR roo and either a black sex link or a california white leghorn hen be as a prolific layer as their mothers? I know the hens aren't known for their broody instincts

 

[alaina]

I've had parrots and cockatiels for years. You can't tell me that they don't know what they're saying!

Thats amazing and very funny...birds are a trip!!!