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

[Ridgerunner]

I have been using broodies to hatch and brood the birds. My observations lead me to believe that while this is not good for getting a lot of birds out, it is excellent for everything else. The obvious is that it is a lot less work, but the not so obvious is that the young develop a high degree of disease resistance and for some reason just seem to develop into superior birds in just about every way.

Walt

They are raised as chickens. They get exposed to everything from the start so their bodies can adjust. They get a truly balanced diet, not just the "required" nutrients from the feed but stuff from the dirt and dead vegetation, all those creepy crawlies, and everything else they eat. They also get a lot of exercise. I like my broodies and I like them raising the chicks with the flock.

 

[fowlman01]

They are raised as chickens. They get exposed to everything from the start so their bodies can adjust. They get a truly balanced diet, not just the "required" nutrients from the feed but stuff from the dirt and dead vegetation, all those creepy crawlies, and everything else they eat. They also get a lot of exercise. I like my broodies and I like them raising the chicks with the flock.

It makes me laugh when I see them trying to dust at a few days old. I feed pellets as I have found it cuts waste here. They are pretty good sized pellets and the brooding babies don't get anything different than the main flock. contrary to what I see posted on this site, the chicks do quite well with these giant pellets. The hens break some up and the babies just work on the rest until they can swallow them or part of them.

Contrary to some of my peers, I don't mix special feed or give my birds supplements. All the birds here eat the same with the exception of young that I brood and they get a chick feed with a coccidiostat for a couple weeks. Half of the birds here are waterfowl. Other than when I am conditioning white birds for a show or doing special matings these birds are all on the ground in natural settings. I have lots of chickens in the redwood trees at night.

The property is protected by six dogs and an electric fence. Hawks have never been a problem since I got rid of my pigeons and then it was only coopers hawks.

Walt

 

[loanwizard]

Quote:
Even though I currently have close to 300 chickens on my watch, 100 are Freedom Rangers that go to the butcher July 6th and 150 are Freedom Rangers that will go August 15th I believe.
They are my profit, and that was through dumb luck that I met a guy that plans to be the Joel Salatin of marketing for small farms. Currently I have about 35 layers. My intent is to have 50 layers and about 4 or 5 roosters next season and so to net 50 I have to incubate and hatch 100. I also have a few friends that will want flocks of anywhere from 25- 100 which is why I plan to incubate 500. Unless I have solid orders I won't hatch that many simply because that would be 16 hatches unless I spring for another incubator or two. Either too expensive or too much work lol!

I do enjoy watching my birds free range, lay eggs in the strangest places, chase or be chased by the cats and dogs, dust bathe, etc...

I also enjoy hatching mutts because quite honestly a Buff Orpington crossed with a Sex link/ Comet.... can be quite pretty. I have some whitish hens with brown mottling that I think are pretty.... Of course, Jeffrey Dahmers mother probably think HER son is cute too.

Shawn

 

[Mrs. K]

I have been raising chicks with a broody for the last 5 years. It is the only way to go, when I look back at the days and days spent in a brooder box, until they got big enough, standing in the dirty bedding, even though I changed it every day, no outside or limited stimulus, little exercise.

Then look at the chicks she hatched, plus some day old chicks that she agreed to raise. They are outside, climbing over sticks, flapping their little wings to make the step up, eating bugs, plus their feed. Running in for a quick warm up, following mama around. They just have to be healthier and stronger.

I have mine right in the flock, and while the flock walks off and leaves them, they are not the nightmare that you read when people try to add chicks to the flock.

I am a believer in a broody, and when I lost mine best one last year, I just prayed one of these would do it. A black astralorp did!

MrsK

 

[ajlynco]

I keep one and only one golf ball in each nest permanently. Since I've had some pullets start to lay as early as 16 weeks, I think 16 weeks is a good age to have them in there. Yours might not start to lay for another month or more or one might start tomorrow. Even if it is a month before they start, if you have a problem, you have time to react if you have them in early.
The kind of possible problem I'm thinking of is, if they scratch around in the nests and scratch the fake eggs or bedding out, they are telling you to raise the lip on the nest box. I don't see any benefit in trying to wait until the last second and try to outguess them.
Besides, I can't tell when the first of a bunch of pullets is ready to lay. You might get some clues, such as the comb and wattles turning red, but those things are just a clue, not a guarantee. They'll surprise you. I don't try to outguess them.
I've found snakes in the coop with golf balls inside them. They could not crush those golf balls and could not get back out the hole they came in. It's happened more than once. Unless they are under a broody I never leave eggs in the coop overnight. Those snakes had been visiting during the day and getting a few eggs. They came back at night and couldn't find any eggs so they ate some golf balls instead. To me, there is more than one reason to have fake eggs in the nest.

I agree Ridgerunner, I like being proactive and try to stay ahead of the game. OK, a couple of golf balls it is.

 

[al6517]

I have been raising chicks with a broody for the last 5 years. It is the only way to go, when I look back at the days and days spent in a brooder box, until they got big enough, standing in the dirty bedding, even though I changed it every day, no outside or limited stimulus, little exercise.

Then look at the chicks she hatched, plus some day old chicks that she agreed to raise. They are outside, climbing over sticks, flapping their little wings to make the step up, eating bugs, plus their feed. Running in for a quick warm up, following mama around. They just have to be healthier and stronger.

You make a very good point in regards to the over attention we pay to the chicks care, meaning all the fretting over heat/cold and feed and this & that. If you watch those broody long and hard enough you will learn one thing. Just how strong those little ones can be, I saw some day olds last week at a friends farm, they were hatched under a broody and they were doing as yours, running around being inquisitive, eating and pecking anything. They didn't have feather one and they seemed fine, I can't help but think how much better these birds will be as they grow, health wise and socialy too.

 

[chickletteSarge]

I don't have much experience compared to most of the posters here but, I have learned that my trying to take over mother natures role (as far as incubation goes)is a NO GO! The chicks I have raised in the past have always been hatched and raised naturally by their broody mother hen! I was 17 and I wanted to play and baby my favorite pair of the bunch. Yea they were taken by a possum or some other preditor and the rest of the clutch was safe away from harm with their mom! And now that I have a new flock of chickens...... my kids wanted to do as I did so long ago and they too have learned that we are no match for a broody mother! We go down the block to the guy with the fightin chickens (american games) and see how their broody hens protect the babies and how the stags keep watch over the flock. "Daddy I want one of them roosters so they can protect our babies!" So says my 4 yo! I laffed and told her the roosters we have will learn how to do their job as they grow up. And the pullets we have will also learn how to do their job in time as well. I just wanted to state my opinion that is all.

Thank you

 

[Robert Blosl]

I got a message from a lady who felt if I kept getting stressed out on this issue I would have a stroke or heart attack. She though me something I did not know was available and is the anwser to many of my questions. See this old tread she sent me. I will drop any unkind terms I have used on this thread and move on to another thread and let you folks get on to your historic old Thread which is a good one. It is strictly misinformation as you think you are getting one thing and you are shipped another. My tree surgeon who I hired a year ago to cut down two of my pine trees has somethng that looks like these Cherry Eggers . He says they are laying fools and they range all over his place. Thanks to the lady who saved me from a stroke. In regards to broody hens I have a stain of old Buff Brahma bantams from Ohio. They are my sitting hens which I put my Call Duck Eggs under. I have a White Rock Bantam and a Rhode Island Red bantam raising my chicks right now. The chicks seem to look better than the ones I brood myself when they grow to maturity. bob

This below tells me all that I need to know.

Reviving this dead thread... Cherry Eggers and RI Reds are THE EXACT SAME BIRD!!! I just placed an order with Cackle, ordered the CEggers and was disappointed to see them substituted for the RIReds. When I wrote Nancy told me they are the same, just regional differences as to what they are called. Who knew! well apparently Nancy did but...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/26336/what-is-a-cherry-egger/10#post_9142788

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Are we back on this again? I had to check to see if I accidentally landed in the wrong forum...seriously, I can see where you need to lighten up, my head hurts, I can just imagine yours.......where is bee, we need you back with some interesting topics.

 

[Beekissed]

Unfortunately there are only so many things to say about chickens....

How's this? ~I fed my CX on fermented feed this spring and I simply LOVED the absence of smell in the coop. No flies, no smell, decreased use of feed and increased overall health. I'm cleaning out the deep litter today~90 degrees here today~and there is still no smell in the bedding. I raised 50 CX for 11 wks on $168 of feed and free range(the last 3 wks they were penned in the coop and fed the fermented feed exclusively).

How's that for interesting?