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

[Fred's Hens]

That makes sense. It's my bad really for assuming that cull means kill.

Language, It's a funny thing. Not a problem.

If you keep birds long enough, you too may come to the place where I am. I'm a curmudgeon. I know what I like in a bird. I know exactly what traits I'm looking for and I no longer "settle", if that makes sense. I've got a hen who I bred, three generations down, from hatchery, commercial stock, even. She's very special to me. I've got my eye on a couple of my heritage Barred Rock pullets. I'm looking. Got a feeling some of them are gonna make the grade.

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

Language, It's a funny thing. Not a problem.

If you keep birds long enough, you too may come to the place where I am. I'm a curmudgeon. I know what I like in a bird. I know exactly what traits I'm looking for and I no longer "settle", if that makes sense. I've got a hen who I bred, three generations down, from hatchery, commercial stock, even. She's very special to me. I've got my eye on a couple of my heritage Barred Rock pullets. I'm looking. Got a feeling some of them are gonna make the grade.

I respect you for the place you are at. You've found what works for you, that's great, and I hope to someday be at that point. I'm not quite there yet and am still trying to find the traits that work for me. The red sex links and easter eggers are not what I want to keep and I'll never get another. They don't have the steadiness that I want in my birds. The production red is the closest I've got to what I want from a layer. I'm learning, it just takes a while.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm like Fred...I no longer settle. I know exactly what I want and I can pretty tell in one season if a particular bird is going to be heading in that direction. Sometimes it takes me a little longer but I still am pretty particular about what I feed and waste my time upon.

In my flock, cull definitely means to kill. I kill, I eat. I don't keep more than 30 birds in my laying flocks so I never really have enough of an excess to sell or give away...when I cull, it is usually once a year unless there is an immediate problem that needs killing right then and there.

I depend on that cull/kill to keep extra meat in the freezer/jar and, when the flock is pretty much perfect for awhile, I'll get some meaty birds to fill out the freezer instead.

 

[canesisters]

HOLEY MOLEY!

164 new posts since Friday afternoon!
I am NOT going to be able to keep up with you OT's!

 

[thedragonlady]

My mistake here is that I use the word "cull" as in remove from the flock. I don't "kill off most of my flock" to get what I want in future generations. They are healthy, fine birds and they get sold. Bills have to be paid. I'd not sell a sick, weak or broken down bird, but I certainly sell off much of the flock over a three year period.

For me to keep a bird over winter, a very high degree of importance, given where I live, they have to be worth something. I run over 40 pullets/hens through here each year, and not all make the grade. Hatchery or heritage. I am old and I now am at the place in life where a hen who lives with me for a long time is a very special hen with traits that please me. The rest get sold off.

Well said!

 

[fowlman01]

You guys are finished with the rooster stories, but this is a good one. A family that lived down the street raised game birds. They moved and left an old english type hen behind that decided it would move into my front yard.. I didn't care as it was only one chicken and it laid it's eggs in places that I could find and it fed itself and drank from the dog bowls. Low maintenance and it was a pretty bird..so I let it do her thing. A rooster from the main flock spotted her and flew over the fence to the front yard. I watched him put out his wings and race toward her with the intent of mating.....no fore play dance etc...aggressive mating. (he was a bad boy and I should have scolded him) The hen paid no attention to him and kept eating bugs.........until right before he was ready to do the deed and she turned around and beat the snot out of him. I mean heavy duty beat down......kicked him backwards and he made a full 360 in the air and hit the ground running for the back yard with her nailing him every 5 feet or so. I guess I should have put her in chicken prison, but it was so funny I gave her a free pass. BTW: the rooster lost a lot of feathers from his head......what should I have done??

I have just returned from a BYC chicken party here in these parts and one of the ladies said I am being kind of mean on this thread..........wish I could be sensitive like Al. I'll work on it....but I ain't playing dress up with my chickens Al.

Walt

 

[Beekissed]

Laughing on all counts...about the roo and about your meanness on this thread. I'm sure you weren't singled out but was part of the whole mean bunch of us. If I catch you and Al playin' Barbie dress up with yer flock, I'm outta here!!!

PS: I'd keep that hen! She sounds like a winner, even though she isn't my breed of choice.

 

[fowlman01]

Laughing on all counts...about the roo and about your meanness on this thread. I'm sure you weren't singled out but was part of the whole mean bunch of us. If I catch you and Al playin' Barbie dress up with yer flock, I'm outta here!!!

PS: I'd keep that hen! She sounds like a winner, even though she isn't my breed of choice.

That was one that I wish I had a movie of...... She was quite content to live her long life as a spinster. She had super survival skills and had no problem with us or our dogs.

I was singled out...they thought I was a nice guy. I didn't change, they just had not seen me be a meany pants before. Actually I am pretty mellow now in my old age.

Walt

 

[galanie]

You guys are finished with the rooster stories, but this is a good one. A family that lived down the street raised game birds. They moved and left an old english type hen behind that decided it would move into my front yard.. I didn't care as it was only one chicken and it laid it's eggs in places that I could find and it fed itself and drank from the dog bowls. Low maintenance and it was a pretty bird..so I let it do her thing. A rooster from the main flock spotted her and flew over the fence to the front yard. I watched him put out his wings and race toward her with the intent of mating.....no fore play dance etc...aggressive mating. (he was a bad boy and I should have scolded him) The hen paid no attention to him and kept eating bugs.........until right before he was ready to do the deed and she turned around and beat the snot out of him. I mean heavy duty beat down......kicked him backwards and he made a full 360 in the air and hit the ground running for the back yard with her nailing him every 5 feet or so. I guess I should have put her in chicken prison, but it was so funny I gave her a free pass. BTW: the rooster lost a lot of feathers from his head......what should I have done??

I have just returned from a BYC chicken party here in these parts and one of the ladies said I am being kind of mean on this thread..........wish I could be sensitive like Al. I'll work on it....but I ain't playing dress up with my chickens Al.

Wal

I'd have moved that girl in and given her a place of Honor!

 

[Fred's Hens]

I've enjoyed the parody enormously. If we released the evil twin who lives in each of us, we could probably do it for pages and pages and pages, but........

Since this is a website created for backyard/pet chicken keepers, there's not much sense in tilting at windmills, I guess. Walt, Al, Bee, et al, I completely share your frustration with all the "stuff" here, but I try to just meet people where they are, I guess, but mostly I avoid, dodge, and ignore an awful lot. (If anything has Silky/Frizzle mentioned, I'm gone.) LOL (Everyone knows how vicious a Frizzle roo can be if they go aggressive. Pretty scary, I tell ya).

I also took three or four days off the forum this week. Gotta do that about every other week, LOL. It is what it is.