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

[Lil'ChickFarm]

I haven't been on the forum for a long time. I just read 20 pages of this thread and it is very good.
I grew up with my grampa's farm and we had chickens at our house for a while.
I never had them again until last year and I am 57.
I truly love having chickens. Mine free range. I love silkies and someone stated in the beginning that some don't consider this a chicken, but mine are, lol. They lay eggs and romp with everyone else. They are cute to look at though.
I will try to read more here and learn from every one, but as I was reading I thought of one thing. I am a mom to nine children, four by birth and five adopted. I think as parents we all have different theories on what works to raise kids and what will be successful. That is always going to be, as we are all different.
Some of my children have special needs and I have had to work different with different kids.
I think that the farming world is the same whether you are an old timer, or a newbie.
I read that some people like to clean their coops regular and some use the deep litter method. I did the latter. I think though if I was as healthy as I used to be, I would be more OCD about it all, lol.
I celebrate our differences and I have learned alot from this thread.
I have gone through a learning the hard way experience that I described in this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...arded-buff-silkie-you-wont-believe-this-story
I would much rather learn something before I have to experience it and the pain of it. So today I have spent some time learning here. I know that chickens are edible in the animal kingdom and I eat chickens and have slaughtered them too.
I still very much love my chickens as pets of sorts on the farm. So learning to prevent tragedies is my thing right now. Thanks to all that have shared their expertise here. I love all animals and that is why I am doing this.

 

[1hotmoma]

That is precisely why I started this thread. I finally had reached my BS limit and, in a fit of pique, decided to let it all hang out in a thread about things you won't find in all the cute little books with glossy pics of chickens in them.

I am writing a book this winter about just such things as this, so this thread is a little preview of the kind of tips, advice, and info that you will find in my book...good, old-fashioned, no nonsense things that your grandma knew and probably told you. The book will talk about making do in a poor economy and how to do it with grace, raising your own foods~animal and vegetable, etc. And guess what? It won't have one line about the pH of the soil, how much Wazine to give a chicken, how to clip coupons or how to create a gas chamber in a tupperware bowl to kill a chick.

It will be called What Mama Told Me...I'm working on the webpage now that will discuss the book and display excerpts, pics of our homesteading days, how to skin a deer, process a chicken, etc. I'll post a link in my siggy line when the website is up and running.

I am so excited for this book. It will be a must get for me. I have been making some progress in reading the pages here and have to admit something. I have hatched a few chicks this week. Only about 12 hours old I took them out of the incubator and put them outside with my 2 week old chicks. the bigger ones help to keep them warm at night. They are all doing fine. At first I did worry about them keeping warm enough at night and I did check on them. The are doing fine. It might not be the right thing but it works for me.

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

About spurs again: I carried my two Silkie boys to their tractor today and noticed some blood on my shirt. A close look proved Beckett was leaving spots of blood in the grass. His left spur was gone and he was bleeding a lot. Beckett did NOT enjoy being cradled like a baby, but I applied pressure to the spur location until the paper towel wasn't so soaked. I then rubbed diaper cream on the leg. I used a fresh paper towel and held Beckett still a bit longer. By the time I carried him back outside to his brother, the bleeding had stopped.

Beckett had been "tusselling" with Brother Beuller and then my daughter pulled him out of the dog kennel against his will. Some where the spur came off. They are about to turn two years and their spurs are short compared to the LF boys their age.

Diaper cream promotes healing (zinc oxide), covers the wound with "white", and tastes downright NASTY. I keep diaper cream handy for any chicken bleeding emergency.

Hope this helps someone. I'm from a long line of farmers that always had chickens, but only at year three of THIS round of chicken keeping in my adult life.

 

[CSisley]

About spurs again: I carried my two Silkie boys to their tractor today and noticed some blood on my shirt. A close look proved Beckett was leaving spots of blood in the grass. His left spur was gone and he was bleeding a lot. Beckett did NOT enjoy being cradled like a baby, but I applied pressure to the spur location until the paper towel wasn't so soaked. I then rubbed diaper cream on the leg. I used a fresh paper towel and held Beckett still a bit longer. By the time I carried him back outside to his brother, the bleeding had stopped.
Beckett had been "tusselling" with Brother Beuller and then my daughter pulled him out of the dog kennel against his will. Some where the spur came off. They are about to turn two years and their spurs are short compared to the LF boys their age.
Diaper cream promotes healing (zinc oxide), covers the wound with "white", and tastes downright NASTY. I keep diaper cream handy for any chicken bleeding emergency.
Hope this helps someone. I'm from a long line of farmers that always had chickens, but only at year three of THIS round of chicken keeping in my adult life.

Very interesting; I'll have to add diaper cream to my list of chicken remedies. Thanks!

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

So, I found the utube video and since it was short, about 2 miliseconds, it loaded quick. Forget the potatoes thing, pliers or just your fingers...turns out my roos are either too young or recently did shed, whatever, their spurs are short and actually blunt compared to the toenails...which I just blunted with an Emory board. Have to wait to see if it makes any difference..the feathers could just be from old damage and take a long time to grow. Thanks for the helpful advise...I've been reading this thread and others but didn't see any practical knowledge about it...but it looks like the toenails were the culprit.

 

[Ivywoods]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Beekissed

That is precisely why I started this thread. I finally had reached my BS limit and, in a fit of pique, decided to let it all hang out in a thread about things you won't find in all the cute little books with glossy pics of chickens in them.

I am writing a book this winter about just such things as this, so this thread is a little preview of the kind of tips, advice, and info that you will find in my book...good, old-fashioned, no nonsense things that your grandma knew and probably told you. The book will talk about making do in a poor economy and how to do it with grace, raising your own foods~animal and vegetable, etc. And guess what? It won't have one line about the pH of the soil, how much Wazine to give a chicken, how to clip coupons or how to create a gas chamber in a tupperware bowl to kill a chick.

It will be called What Mama Told Me...I'm working on the webpage now that will discuss the book and display excerpts, pics of our homesteading days, how to skin a deer, process a chicken, etc. I'll post a link in my siggy line when the website is up and running.

______________________________________________________________________________________________
Well, whaddayaknow! A woman after my own heart.

Wasn't it Hank Williams Jr. that wrote the song with, "...and I can skin a buck, run a trot line and a country boy can survive..."

Hey! What about us country GIRLS? I can hunt 'em, gut 'em, skin 'em, process 'em, and cook 'em up so they taste GOOD. I can catch 'em, clean 'em, filet 'em and cook up a big fish fry.


....but I can't PLUCK a chicken.

We used to do 50 to 100 at a time and I was the scalder and plucker. Memories of that smell still make me gag! I'll butcher the pig, the steer, the deer, cook 'em up for ya, but PLEASE... Someone pluck that chicken for me!

 

[al6517]

Quote:

Hey G.......... your right I forgot to mention the stub still remains & is softer and will grow out again, LOL I am a contractor so my hands are just like pliers. The whole Potato thing is a BYC gimmick thing for those who don't have a clue and don't want one, invented no doubt by a pet chicken person also without a clue, birds of a feather kinda thing LOL. Just sayin is all.

 

[Clay Mudd]

Hey G.......... your right I forgot to mention the stub still remains & is softer and will grow out again, LOL I am a contractor so my hands are just like pliers. The whole Potato thing is a BYC gimmick thing for those who don't have a clue and don't want one, invented no doubt by a pet chicken person also without a clue, birds of a feather kinda thing LOL. Just sayin is all.

I would lambaste you for being mean to pet chicken folks, but my rooster is crowing for another margarita.

 

[Clay Mudd]

Here's a breeding question, O ancient Ones:

The web wisdom seems tobe that you shouldn't use an especially large chicken to breed from, as the really big ones are likely to have health problems of some kind. Any experience with this? I have a BR rooster that we've been starting to refer to as "the turkey", and I need to decide his future pretty soon.

 

[Zany Chick]

I would lambaste you for being mean to pet chicken folks, but my rooster is crowing for another margarita.