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

[Robert Blosl]

In regards to the barred rocks or say my white rocks laying over two hundred eggs per year I doubt it. My white rocks when I had them going strong about eight years ago where up to say 200 egg level. But again I had a female that weighed one pound over standard weight about nine pound on average. The males where about ten pounds.

These chickens are right down the middle a dual purpose large fowl Standard Chicken. They are not in the same class as Mediterranean which are the egg layers.

Dual purpose is much like a short horn cow. She is a classic dual purpose cow. She has good meat to eat, some milk for the family and she is pretty to look at and if she is registered and has good type can be shown and win trophy's with the heard.

Guernsey are more of the milk producers but have some good flesh on them and if the caves are crossed to a Her ford Bull you got a good calf to put in the freezer some day.

When people want to make money off of eggs in the brown egg color type egg you dont want Standard Breed Chickens. You make more money with the commerical type.

Some homesteaders or back yarders are interested in the old fashion type Standard Breed Chicken wanting to help preserve the breeds from going extinct. However, the gene pools of so many breeds that they want to take on are at the bottom of the bucket for performance. Maybe in the old days they did well but today who has such breeds have left them go to such a level most people will be disappointed in them. Some of the males are so run down they dont even have fully furnished tails. Many of the barred rocks I have seen in the past year the males are a major disappointment.

I am just happy with a large fowl that lays 190 eggs per year, has good flesh to eat and if I go to a Poultry Show have a shot of winning a trophy for Champion American or Champion Large Fowl of the show. That is what they where invented to do. Laying lots of eggs like the Short Horn Cattle not in the same class. By the way the number of people interested in Standard Breed Fowl or what I called Heritage is maybe one percent in the county. The sad part is for every person that take on a rare breed they last about three years at the most. To get one person to stick with a rare breed for ten years is about one in 300 people who tried. That is not a new fact its been like that for fifty years. Its hard to breed these kind of birds and most people want to cross strains and when they do they go back wards. Thank god you guys have hatchery's that you can order chickens from. They do their best to provide a good laying chicken. bob

 

[Fred's Hens]

Bob, thanks so much. Your last post confirms that we'll very likely continue doing what we have done. Essentially have two flocks. One for production and one for value. Best regards.

 

[Zany Chick]

I'm a newcomer. I have hatchery stock. My RIR are small compared to the Buff Orpington's I have and the Golden Comet that was given to me (a sex link I think). That being said, they are the flightiest birds I have, don't know if it is the size or personality, but they were the first escaping the brooder and perching on the side when I was tending to them. I am very thankful I don't have a RIR rooster. I appear to have 2 BO roosters and I have 2 that are being very slow to mature, not sure what they will be. They are almost as small as the RIR and have have small combs with no color yet.

(Yes, I'm the stupid one who bought the chicks before I had the coop, they finally at just under 8 weeks spent the first night in their coop, thank goodness!)

Anyway, I ended up with breeds I didn't plan on for my "ideal" little flock. I like the personalities of the the BO and the GC. One of the BO pullets is the head of the flock, rooster backs down every time. Leave it to Zany Chick to have a Zany flock.

I've wanted chickens forever. I am currently disabled and unable to work (I'm a registered nurse). My chickens are my hobby/therapy or maybe therapy/hobby. We will see how much I am still loving it when I have to trek out there in below freezing weather and deal with frozen water. Possibly even snow, though we had barely enough to call it winter last year, kids had no snow days for the first time in as long back as I can remember.

Anyway, I consider these my "practice" birds. Plan to keep them while they lay well and if all is going well then maybe think about breeding stock over hatchery. I have to admit the Black Java has piqued my interest, but appears difficult (and probably expensive) to obtain.

My coop is a little "froofy" because I designed it before finding this thread, they will have over 200 ft of run space and if I can get over the OCD they will be able to free range when I'm around in the day, likely with me and a stick acting as LGD, since that isn't really an option for us.

One question, is there a way to tell who is laying? I'm guessing I will be able to tell which breed my eggs are coming from and if the Golden Comets are the possible jumbos that I will know which are hers.

Thanks for all of the sage advice. I think I'm up to about page 40 along with reading the current posts.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Golden Comets, aka sex links are very often a Hubbard commercial brown laying birds that hatcheries sell. They are known for laying HUGE brown eggs their pullet year. I'd bet those jumbo eggs are her's. If you only have 10 birds, you might to consider "charting" them. Grab a cup of coffee and a take ring side seat and watch the nests, if your arrangement allows for viewing. You'll get better at the egg ID process and also at assigning it to specific kinds of birds you have, and possibly, based on time of day and which nest used, which specific bird laid it.

 

[bruceh]

well today was a bad day. i went to check my new freedom rangers this morning. found 3 dead. i think they drowned . boy was i ******. we had a big rain storm come up. i got home late and could not put them in their coop. they all had full crops and were the biggest of the bunch. strong and healthy. just wanted to share. well i guess it happens.
thanks.
bruce

 

[Robert Blosl]

Anyway, I consider these my "practice" birds. Plan to keep them while they lay well and if all is going well then maybe think about breeding stock over hatchery. I have to admit the Black Java has piqued my interest, but appears difficult (and probably expensive) to obtain

I have a lady in Texas who has one of the top strains of Black Java's and is the secetary of the Java club. I am sure she would help you nest spring get some eggs or chicks . She bends over to promote this great chicken and help new folks get started. They are rare but it a up and coming old breed getting popular again. By the way I am a nurse worked three evening in a row. Off today then work two more. Retired and enjoying it and the chickens. bob

 

[HappyHenMama]

I do not like RIR at all so my answer may be somewhat biased. I've found them to be "cut-throat" chickens in the chicken world. They are hard on new chickens, weaker chickens and the roosters are nasty, mean, creatures. Now for the positives: they are extremely good layers, good foragers and are generally hardy. You can mix breeds if you want to but be careful about what breed you choose because you'll need to pick something that can measure up to their tenacity. Breeds I've found to be equally tenacious from experience: Blue andalusians, New Hampshire Reds, Silver Spangled Hamburgs, Production Reds. I'm sure there are many more, these are just the ones I've had some experience with. I prefer more easy going hens like wyandottes, speckled sussex, buff orpingtons.

My three month old Production Reds are pretty mean and I recently added 2 two month old Buff Orps to the coop with them. The BO's have integrated OK especially since I introduced my Rooster to the coop. He has taken the BO's under his wing and seems to think they are his babies. Anyway, I'm wondering if the Reds could end up being a problem later on. I can't stand having bully's in my flock. I had a Barred Rock that was a terrible bully to my little Bantam Hen and the Rock eventually had to go. Is that what I'm looking at with these Reds as well???

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

I bought 6 pullets from TSC, They are now 11 wks old and very sweet. They are in the big coop now and when I go in and sit down they all huddle around me like I'm ma ma. LOL I guess it depends from which hatchery they came from. Good luck with yours.

 

[Back2MyRoots]

I had no idea what "red sex link" really meant, so I know even less about my birds than I thought! (lol) I must say, whatever/where ever my ladies came from, with the exception of one, they have to be the most tame chickens ever! They follow me around and perch on my sholder or in my lap constantly. (Is that even normal?!?) I suppose, as Zany says, these are my practice birds. I may end up trading them all off before all is said and done. Things seem to be going well for now. However, even though they are almost 11 weeks old and getting HUGE, I expect them to start dieing off any day! I convince myself on a daly basis that I am probably doing something wrong with them!

 

[MagicChicken]

Anyway, I consider these my "practice" birds. Plan to keep them while they lay well and if all is going well then maybe think about breeding stock over hatchery. I have to admit the Black Java has piqued my interest, but appears difficult (and probably expensive) to obtain

I have a lady in Texas who has one of the top strains of Black Java's and is the secetary of the Java club. I am sure she would help you nest spring get some eggs or chicks . She bends over to promote this great chicken and help new folks get started. They are rare but it a up and coming old breed getting popular again. By the way I am a nurse worked three evening in a row. Off today then work two more. Retired and enjoying it and the chickens. bob

Bob, where in Texas is the woman with the Black Javas located? Would birds in her area do well in southern Arizona? I'm interested in heritage breeds and fell in love with black javas at a recent show. Don't know who the exhibitor was. I'm in my first year of chicken-keeping. Want to make sure I can keep my hatchery birds happy and healthy before taking on a heritage breed. By next year I may be ready for a heritage trio. Besides black javas I'm also looking at standard rhode island reds, and those lovely barred rocks that Kathyinmo has. Wondering which breed/line might do best in the Tucson area, and how to get them here without shipping them. We got up to 109 at my place yesterday, which is hot for June 1 but a standard temperature for later in the summer. We usually get to 115+ for several days during the summer, and hover between 105 and 110 for weeks at a time. It doesn't cool off much at night. I want birds that can handle the heat. So far the production reds and hatchery barred rock are doing okay. They're panting, but so are most of the wild birds. No one seems particularly stressed.

Another consideration is that I can't really free range here. Too many loose dogs. I let the hatchery birds out sometimes while I'm in the yard, but it's not every day and it's only for an hour or so at a time. Whatever heritage breed I wind up with has to be able to tolerate confinement. Which isn't so bad - there's shade in the coop/run, and there's not much shade or forage elsewhere. I'm open to suggestions on heritage breeds - and lines - for my climate and limited opportunities for free-ranging.