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

[jeepguy982001]

i agree with beekissed and not just because were both in wv. You learn something everyday.

 

[WI FarmChick]

I read most all this entire thread. I did skip towards the end do to off subject stuff.

I am wanting to share what I have learned. Even if it goes on deaf ears. I feel I earned it.

I took on these responsibilities when I brought home chicks.

a chicken is just that, a chicken.
a chicken is livestock when you depend upon it for your lively hood or earn it's keep.
a chicken is a pet when it don't earn it's keep.
Build your coop first before you get your chicks
chicks are not as fragile as first thought and shouldn't be treated as such for their own good. not mine.
more room for your chickens is better in the coop than not enough, less cleaning up poop, more room in weather when the chickens don't leave the coop.
Your chickens should be a breed that can tolerate the weather in the area that you live in.
A chicken can handle the cold, they don't need a light, they have a down coat on. they do best with out a draft.
your coop should have dry litter and lots of ventilation, and no drafts in winter.
your coop can be painted or not your choice.
your run and coop should be predator proof. with dogs or fence or both. or more
If a predator gets a chicken, I didn't predator proof well enough. my fault.
Dogs and cats have their jobs. nobody gets a free ride. cats are mousers and dogs chase predators.
store bought feed VS homemade feed. your preference.
know what you are feeding your chickens. and how to feed your chickens
manage your flock. watch for changes. keep records.
Cull is not the word for Kill
cull your flock as needed. weak birds will bring disease to your flock. Kill or donate your culls but don't waste them.
Prevention is the best medicine. always has been and always will be.

I am in chicken school each and every day as I manage my flock. I would rather learn from an OT than someone who has read it in a book. cause they have Lived it they have hands on experience.

I am truly grateful for this thread as it has truly enlightened me.

Thank you OT"s for sharing your life with me. I enjoyed it immensely.
Lisa
ps I learn something new everyday.
If you are an old timer and you see something out a line here please let me know.
I am always willing to learn.

 

[WI FarmChick]

I really don't know why they call them that. I think there was a style coop called "monitor house" before the half monitor house was used. It has been awhile since i read the 1910-1920 books about them. so forgive my memories. The monitor house was short on the north end and tall at the south end and this end always face south for the winter low sun to help heat the coop and the sun is always great for the chickens vitamin D you know. They both had no windows just hardware cloth and they adjusted the weather with framed canvas panels.
the half monitor house was short on north end and short on south end but tall in the middle to help with ventilation and also more sun durring the winter months. and also hardware cloth and framed canvas panels controlled the weather. the canvas panels were used only when the weather was at its worst. I am building an updated version of this half monitor house. mine will have adjustable windows. i have 40 chicks that are 6 weeks old. I didn't build my coop first. I got chicks first.

We are close thou still have a couple weeks before they out grow their temp coop.

I've learned a lot from it too...and am still learning! Never heard of a half-monitor coop before....I've seen them in pics but didn't know what they were called and still don't know why they are called that~maybe you could explain?

I know, for my part, the basics of chicken husbandry are pretty much plain and don't require much elaboration...and they have certainly been elaborated upon during the course of this thread!

You know...not much new under the sun, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Every day I'm learning new things about an old subject but it really can't be considered OT advice if it's new stuff....like using poultry nipples for watering~where have they been all my life??? LOVE them!

And fermenting feeds for improved health and more feed efficiency~that's an old one that I am just now implementing and should have been doing all along but just never really thought to look into it.

Electric poultry netting....lovely stuff if you don't have a perimeter fence around your chicken space and I don't know why more folks don't use them if they don't have a dog and they want to free range. Not old timer kinda stuff but still great things to try in today's world of chickening, especially with folks doing it in the suburbs.

I love this thread because it has a lot of practical solutions to the same old problems...that's the OT thread, in a nutshell.

 

[Beekissed]

Excellent summary, far as I can see!

I have a feeling you will be an OT well before your time, WI FC....

 

[WI FarmChick]

I've learned a lot from it too...and am still learning! Never heard of a half-monitor coop before....I've seen them in pics but didn't know what they were called and still don't know why they are called that~maybe you could explain?

I know, for my part, the basics of chicken husbandry are pretty much plain and don't require much elaboration...and they have certainly been elaborated upon during the course of this thread!

You know...not much new under the sun, yadda, yadda, yadda. I know keep it simple. I am the one that makes it difficult not the chickens.

Every day I'm learning new things about an old subject but it really can't be considered OT advice if it's new stuff....like using poultry nipples for watering~where have they been all my life??? LOVE them! I am wanting to try those or the cups.

And fermenting feeds for improved health and more feed efficiency~that's an old one that I am just now implementing and should have been doing all along but just never really thought to look into it.routing oats for I have been sprouting oats thru their first 6 weeks. now it is nice out and the grass is growing well.

Electric poultry netting....lovely stuff if you don't have a perimeter fence around your chicken space and I don't know why more folks don't use them if they don't have a dog and they want to free range. Not old timer kinda stuff but still great things to try in today's world of chickening, especially with folks doing it in the suburbs.I haven't used it sounds great. might have to give it a try.

I love this thread because it has a lot of practical solutions to the same old problems...that's the OT thread, in a nutshell.

 

[Dead Rabbit]

i cant remeber if i ever chimed in on fermenting oats.............i used to do it some yrs back. but i found ferementing them would cause the birds to have alot of loose droppings. so after using this method for a long time, i just went to soaking oats but not to the point of fermentation. soaking will really soften the hull and the germ, and the birds love them. makes them more digestable. whereas fermenting will turn the germ to mush, smell extremely bad, and the birds love them too.

if you study droppings from a bird that is fed whole oats in their dry form, you'll find alot of undigested hulls. and they are more apt to pass over eating the oats if they are not soaked. oats is about the best whole grain to feed a chicken IMO.

 

[Beekissed]

Yes...from what I've studied on the subject, there is a point in the fermentation process that one doesn't want to pass...they recommend soaking grains for 8-15 hours at temps of 72F to achieve the initial formation of lactibacillus but no more than that as the bad pathogens could start forming in the mixture also after that point. I'll be sure and monitor fecal consistency to see if I can get it just right for increased feed efficacy but not for creating loose bowels.

 

[Kassaundra]

I don't usually post on this thread, not being an old timer, but I also ferment oats for my chickens. I have been feeding fermented oats regularly for over 6 months and my girls do not have loose stools at all. I use a 5 gallon bucket and feed a scoop out of it each day for about 2 weeks, when I add more water and oats to what is left. I thought to whole point was it was a live food like yogurt and if you started over every time you would loose your good live culture you have been growing. My chickens are healthy and love the oats this way, but I will check out what you have brought up, it could be I've gotten by b/c it has been winter, and maybe I need to change how I do things for summer. I don't want to poison my chickens, but don't want to needlessly loose the good bacteria I've been growing.

 

[Dead Rabbit]

on the other hand...alot more knowledgeable men than me have fed fermented oats for decades and decades and swear by them. there are even recipes out there that for fermenting oats that are quite elaborate. and the ingrediants do seem to have much good health benefits to them. i.e. vinegar, cinniamon, vit/elec. mixtures, other proabotics. and i fed this way for a long time. you can soak the oats for weeks and as long as they stay submerged, they will not rot. just stirr them occasionally.
i used to put a heat lamp over my bucket of oats so it wouldnt freeze in the wintertime. i know of others that fill 32 gall. plastic trashcans full of soaked oats and wrap it in heat tape. gets them to cook faster.
i never ever saw any bad effects from fermenting oats, except the loose droppings. im a student of MIKE STRECKER's book. and he couldnt find any benefits of soaked oats or grains to make it worth the effort. it was his writings that got me to looking at the droppings closer. there is alot to be learned by looking at chicken manure. but as mentioned, many swear by them old stinking fermenting oats.

if anyone does chose to ferment them, let them soak till they stink bad, and the white foam continually forms on top. with occasional bubbles. thats when they are ready to feed. the fowl LOVE them this way.

 

[Dead Rabbit]

you wont poison them. feeding this way. and your doing right. if you choose to feed this way, keep re-using the same water, ill find a good recipe and list it here for any that want to try it. just dont stir it with your hand. the smell will stay on you and you cant get it off. use a stirring stick or paddle of some sort.