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

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

Thanks for the info about brother to sister matings everyone. I'm going to keep the pullet and cockerel for now and see what happens later. It's good to know that they won't make six legged deformed chicks.

 

[loanwizard]

Bruce, I raise Freedom Rangers and I raised the last batch to 11 weeks on 2 weeks of chick starter and then 16% Hog feed. Just took them to the processor last night. Best batch I have raised to date. I keep them pastured in 1 160' electric net, moved once.

Next batch may get moved 2 or 3 times (3-4 spots)

I also hatch eggs. I have no idea if they are brother and sister, but I have (had) 5 roosters to 25 hens, so I am quite certain there is some brother sister stuff going on, and haven't had an issue. They grow, eat and lay. Look good as well.

 

[galanie]

Boy can I identify with that!  Since my son left home and my husband died, and I must do all things necessary to keep this place running (BTW - I wouldn't trade a minute of it!) I have re-purposed my husband's golf cart.  A bale of  hay/straw is easily transported to "the back 40" and that 50# bag of feed is first poured into 2 plastic totes so I only have to lift 25# at time.  I'm not near 74, but being a bone cancer survivor, my bones are weak and brittle, so I have to find ways around certain  problems. I really should give up the horses and milk goats, but, since they "produce oxygen," I'm afraid there won't be enough air! LOL 

My son races cars on circle dirt tracks around this area...has a ball.  Grandson will start, I am sure, as soon as he can!  Good on you! 

My mother, rest her soul, always told me, "Women can do anything a man can. We just don't have the brawn and have to use our brains instead."

Edit: No, I don't mean to start a whole thing on women being smarter. I'm not saying that LOL. Just that if you know your limitations you can work around them. I think that was Walt's complaint, that he's used to doing things a certain way and now it's just not as easy as it once was.

 

[canesisters]

My mother, rest her soul, always told me, "Women can do anything a man can. We just don't have the brawn and have to use our brains instead."
Edit: No, I don't mean to start a whole thing on women being smarter. I'm not saying that LOL. Just that if you know your limitations you can work around them. I think that was Walt's complaint, that he's used to doing things a certain way and now it's just not as easy as it once was.

I agree. When my husband was alive, things like moving heavy loads was no big deal. Now I have to find ways to to the same work in ways that I can manage myself.
But then again - that's what the men are doing isn't it? Simply finding ways to manage whatever the work is?

 

[Beekissed]

Nice to see somebody who knows who "treats" are really for.

Yep....I find BOSS to be a worthy supplement to winter feeds for variety of texture and fats, but it is not a good main supplement or main staple of any chicken's diet. Just as a working toy most of the time. A person's got to be objective about their husbandry practices....BOSS is great as a simple variety of feed but it was never meant to be a staple portion of any chicken's diet. In a natural setting you will rarely see a chicken relying heavily on seeds of any kind unless other types of protein cannot be foraged. Set a dish of BOSS down on one end of a coop and set a dish of something like earth worms, crickets or meal worms at the other and see where the chickens go first and where they stay until the proffered foods are gone.

 

[Back2MyRoots]

I got 15 one-day-old RIR chicks at an auction last week. 14 of them are growing and thriving---they have almost doubled in size! But one of them doesn't seem to have grown any. It has gotten a few little feathers on its wings(not as many as the others have), but it is litterally half the size of the others. It is eatting and drinking some, maybe not as much as the others. It has had pastey butt for the last several days. I clean it up, but by the next day, its all matted up again. A friend suggested that I move it into another brooder by itself, so I did. But really, its been with the others for a week. If he is sick, aren't the others already exposed? Is there anything else I can do to help it gain weight?

Also, I bought 4 8-week-old pullets at the same auction. They haven't been anywhere near the babies or my other hens. (I am a huge believer in quarentine with all my pets.) I didn't notice when I bid on them, but when we got them home we noticed that they are super skinny. They just seem to have no muscle mass at all. We have had them for a week and they still eat like they haven't ever seen food before. I'm feeding them starter/grower with some BOSS and chick treat mixed in. I throw them fruit scraps once a day too. (I've been canning and I have lots to go around.) They have maybe gained a little weight, but is there anyting I can do to help them along?

As always, I appreciate the help. I so wish I knew more about chickens.

Then maybe I wouldn't feel so over-my-head EVERY DAY!

 

[thedragonlady]

I got 15 one-day-old RIR chicks at an auction last week. 14 of them are growing and thriving---they have almost doubled in size! But one of them doesn't seem to have grown any. It has gotten a few little feathers on its wings(not as many as the others have), but it is litterally half the size of the others. It is eatting and drinking some, maybe not as much as the others. It has had pastey butt for the last several days. I clean it up, but by the next day, its all matted up again. A friend suggested that I move it into another brooder by itself, so I did. But really, its been with the others for a week. If he is sick, aren't the others already exposed? Is there anything else I can do to help it gain weight?

Also, I bought 4 8-week-old pullets at the same auction. They haven't been anywhere near the babies or my other hens. (I am a huge believer in quarentine with all my pets.) I didn't notice when I bid on them, but when we got them home we noticed that they are super skinny. They just seem to have no muscle mass at all. We have had them for a week and they still eat like they haven't ever seen food before. I'm feeding them starter/grower with some BOSS and chick treat mixed in. I throw them fruit scraps once a day too. (I've been canning and I have lots to go around.) They have maybe gained a little weight, but is there anyting I can do to help them along?

As always, I appreciate the help. I so wish I knew more about chickens.

Then maybe I wouldn't feel so over-my-head EVERY DAY!

Worm those older pullets ASAP !! Either add Amprolium to their water, or feed Medicated starter also. Then worm the babies with piperizine at 3 weeks, and again at 5 weeks. I would feed those chicks medicated feed starter too, at least until 8 weeks old. All of them are probably wormy, and have been exposed to coccidia.

 

[Kassaundra]

Thanks for the info about brother to sister matings everyone. I'm going to keep the pullet and cockerel for now and see what happens later. It's good to know that they won't make six legged deformed chicks.

If you figure out the breeding combo to make a 6 legged chicken my husband would like to know, that's his favorite part of the bird. lol

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

If you figure out the breeding combo to make a 6 legged chicken my husband would like to know, that's his favorite part of the bird. lol

 

[Beekissed]

Worm those older pullets ASAP !! Either add Amprolium to their water, or feed Medicated starter also. Then worm the babies with piperizine at 3 weeks, and again at 5 weeks. I would feed those chicks medicated feed starter too, at least until 8 weeks old. All of them are probably wormy, and have been exposed to coccidia.

Identify years of experience? Please?

This is a non-alarmist, don't scare the newbie type thread so we usually don't post how they MUST do anything ASAP!!!!!!! Chickens are chickens and time isn't really of the essence....a slow, deliberate approach is more advisable with some rational thought and action which usually yields a more satisfactory and long term result.