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

[bruceh]

a little humor here. i raise my chicken for meat and eggs. so i understand pullets, cockerel , and hens, so a few pages back people were discussing old hems and young chicks etc. a comment was made only on byc you can talk like that and people know that your talking about chickens and not humans . so i do concessions for a living. i could not help looking at people and thinking about chickens. example a redhead is rhode island red. a pregnant woman is a started pullet,.a woman with 1 child was 1st year pullet, the people with dyed hair and wild color clothes became easter eggers, and of course the larger people with the huge beer gut dressed in a size med shirt became cornish rocks. my crew thought i was totally insane. until they started using the lingo.
it was good to pass the time.

 

[fowlman01]

There are very few here too. This is why I was taking my house birds to the first one, I didn't know of any that were closer or well, any. Then my beloved girl (cockatiel) got harmed by a dog and I had to take her somewhere closer ASAP and found these others. WOW what a difference. Sometimes I guess a search doesn't bring up something then later it does. Don't know. Just know I'm happy as can be with this group of vets (they have at least 4 Avian vets there!) and one in particular. Knowledgable and not super expensive. In fact, when she eventually expired on my way to the vet, she spent a lot of time with me, even answered a lot of chicken questions, and the charge for the visit? Nothing.
PS - the death could not be helped. Wasn't the vet's fault. I know I"m raving how good she is and the bird died, but the vet couldn't do a thing about it.

There are a few good ones here, but most don't know anything about birds of any kind.

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

a little humor here. i raise my chicken for meat and eggs. so i understand pullets, cockerel , and hens, so a few pages back people were discussing old hems and young chicks etc. a comment was made only on byc you can talk like that and people know that your talking about chickens and not humans . so i do concessions for a living. i could not help looking at people and thinking about chickens. example a redhead is rhode island red. a pregnant woman is a started pullet,.a woman with 1 child was 1st year pullet, the people with dyed hair and wild color clothes became easter eggers, and of course the larger people with the huge beer gut dressed in a size med shirt became cornish rocks. my crew thought i was totally insane. until they started using the lingo.
it was good to pass the time.

I don't do the visual like that, but there are some personality traits that seem to be common to humans and chickens.

Walt

 

[Leahs Mom]

Do ticks get on chickens? (Bad tick year, you know, due to mild winter.)

 

[al6517]

Well then your on the right track and a good starting direction at that, good for you. just try to stay the course and don't sweat the small stuff. Folk make entirely to much of the whole processing thing which certainly adds to newby anxiety and fear, don't listen to them......... listen to those who know and can help you handle that part, not the ones who just want to freak you out and pray on your emotions. You have the will, then we can help, easy peezy.

 

[hecatesmoon]

Here is my stab at 5.


1. Chickens do not need treats or warm mushy human food, served to them.


2. Chickens brains are not wired like a humans, they don't think about..... Gee that rooster sure is being mean to me. and they are not emotional like most prefer to think they are.


3. Chickens do not require names to survive, or diapers, or aprons.


4. News flash.......... chickens actually do much better outside not in the house lounging on your sofa leaving you a smelly little gift and scratching in the carpet for bug's.


5. Holding a chicken to your face WILL !!! get yer eye poked out.

. I just figured out number five today! I have a little barred rock that I let ride my shoulder when I would go to look for eggs. I stopped doing it, because I knew it was a bad idea to get attached. My little rock hasn't forgotten though. I was crouched down and it hopped on my back, then to my shoulder, and I happened to turn and that fluffy little sucker nailed me right in the eye! Hours later my eye hurts and the vision is blurry, but I still managed to keep my eye and avoid a doctor. Learning. Heh

 

[tizzielou99]

You just don't know how much I appreciate this forum. I am one to read, read, read but it is so very overwhelming! I feel a sense of relief. I knew Chickens could not be "that" hard to care for but all the books, info I have read on the Internet had me sweat-in bullets! I unfortunately have gotten attached to my chickens 3 in particular so hopefully they will not be the ones I learn my lesson on. I can't help it. I really love animals. I love the comments of where to raise them. I had them in my bathroom in a big tub for 5-6 weeks and oh my gosh it was ridiculous!! They will be growing outside from now on.

What are your suggestions for food? Bedding? scraps and snacks??

Thanks!!

 

[red46]

I'm an old timer but haven't had the opportunity to keep chickens for years on end. I have had my experiences in the past, though. I have chicken stories you probably wouldn't believe but all true.

This I learned with a flock of 200 laying hens, half White Rocks and half Black. Oh those black ones were beautiful. It just happened that when we started out with our babies, I didn't have a brooder set up so we built a little temporary pen in the back yard, with cardboard boxes and hanging light bulbs so they could cluster under the lights.

Every day, I spent time sitting on the ground, in their little pen and letting them crawl all over me. I realize now that just doing that, I created a bond between myself and them that produced something a lot more than just a bunch of laying hens. Later on, when they started laying, I helped them crow about it by showing off their eggs to the other 'ladies' and lavished the hen with praise. I even asked if 'I can have this'.

While this all sounds romantic, I also created a problem because not only did the girls lay bigger and bigger eggs, trying to outdo each other, they also didn't want anything to do with the henhouse. They wanted to lay those eggs on my lap, if they could. I found eggs in places, you'd never imagine, as they kept trying to give me their gifts.

These girls had the run of a whole farm, if they wanted, but they preferred to be near me and around the house. The closest thing to a fight breaking out was me trying to keep them off the porch swing. That's where they ALL wanted to take their afternoon nap. I was forever sitting on the porch swing, going through mail and doing a lot of writing and they would come, one at a time and perch on the back of it. When I stood up, they got dumped and had a fit. If I wasn't there, they still wanted that swing but it would only hold 3 before it tipped backward and dumped them all. There was always that 4th one that tried it and started a howl on the front porch. Problem was their poop and I was forever sweeping the porch and threatening their lives if they didn't stay off it. (oh that worked....yeah right)

I never had a sick bird, never saw a pecked back and never once witnessed an all out fight. Those were some happy, healthy birds and the only thing I can attribute it to was my attitude toward them. They were my children. I made sure they got their meds and kept the water fresh and clean. Feed happened in the morning when I let them out of the coop (I had them trained and they went in every night at dusk). Aside from the morning feeding, they got their meals on their own. Lots of bugs and leftovers from the table.

A neighbor, down the road, an old timer, dropped by one day to see the birds. He asked what breed they were and I told him and he said, "Ain't no way, those are Rocks. They're too big!" It seemed my girls were twice as big and fat as they should have been and boy did they lay those eggs.

Our yard was one noisy place with chickens running all over the place. If I happened to run to the store and back, they all chased the car and hovered around like puppies.

What did I learn from that experience? Happy chickens are healthy chickens.

 

[Helga777]

Why can't you use the galvanized water dispenser with ACV?

 

[chickentrot]

My dad said if I were into chickens anymore than I am now, I'd crow . I got it from him who raised them commercially for 45 years. I'll probably always have them.