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

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

I think it has a great deal to do with the amount of range they have and the total space....easy to avoid birds if they need to do so. I only stock 30 birds to 1 acre and they are never confined to coop unless it's for training purposes or if the snow is too deep for them to want to range out. I don't have a run at all. The pop door is open 24/7 and I have multiple roosts set at different heights and angles. I have plenty of nesting boxes and outside nesting opportunities, multiple dusting areas, hay stacks and apple trees to get up into, etc.

My hens are much too busy shuffling for food in the orchard to give a second's thought to younger birds. The only time they come in contact with them is at the feeder or the roosts..and all my younger birds are smart enough to stay out of the older girls' way.

Maybe it is all about space, available food across a whole acre and hens/roos that are not bored, territorial, or stressed in any way. My chickens are quiet, my roosters don't crow a lot, I never see fighting amongst the hens or roos...I just don't seem to have the issues that others have. I don't have birds all jacked up on high pro feeds or fighting over "treats". I don't know what it is. Must have a Chic-topia, huh?

People have often laughed about my chickens after they drive by and see them roosting in the apple trees or on the swing in the orchard...and even on the sheep's back. I guess they've never seen chickens acting natural and relaxed before.

I really don't think it's all about space and available food. I have 20 chickens on 20 acres of both woods and food plots. There are lots of goodies for them to get. Grass hoppers, big ol' fat crickets, baby lizards, seed, frogs, lots of weeds, etc. Besides the chickens' feed troughs, there is a deer feeder they love to take corn and sweet feed from and a compost pile with occasional goodies. The chickens come back every night with full craws (spelling?). Even my best rooster is extremely territorial. If he hears one of the bantam roosters crow, he starts coming over the hills to teach them a lesson. Back when we had turkeys, the big rooster would fight with the tom through the fence.

I would love to have a non-territorial rooster but as of yet I haven't had the luck of getting one.

 

[fowlman01]

One of the things I have found/noticed through the years is this.......what happens in one place, with one breed or breeds of chickens may not happen the same way at another location......particularly if that location has different climate, feed, weather, etc. It also depends on the breed of the chicken. Other than the oriental breeds the breed of chickens that I had problems with hens killing babies from another hen, was barred Rocks. Some chickens just don't seem to care that much about territory etc..but some do. My experience has been that while chickens have many things in common... environment, feed, weather etc can change a flocks behaviour. When I post some of my info I will sometimes say that it works here with my environment and management, but it may not work at another location.

So.....even with the same flock density on free range etc the birds may act differently in another location if they were raised there and sometimes even if they were not raised there.

Walt

 

[Beekissed]

Definitely could be breed selection or just the natural process of culling for certain traits. Say that I cull a Wyandotte hen for her lack of superlative lay, the fact that she overeats, and has a crabby personality....could be that I just culled the one that would think nothing of killing a young chick.

Or if I only keep the quiet, more intelligent-seeming roosters, no matter the breed, then I may be eliminating the rooster that would be constantly on the fight.

If I cull the EE hen that is constantly broody but makes a poor mother, doesn't fit into the social structure of the flock(a loner), and has poor foraging skills thus is a hog at the feeder...I could be eliminating a hen that invites picking and harassment from other more well-adjusted hens.

I think a person has the ability to have just what they want in their flock, no matter the breed. I've always kept mixed flocks of various breeds down through the years and have, through the process of elimination, decided that some breeds do not fit my idea of a perfect flock. Then I take it even smaller and decide that some chickens of my various breeds simply do not fit into my idea of a perfect chicken.

Then I only keep acceptable offspring of these various breeds and mixes so that they too fit my idea of a perfect flock.

In the end I am left with healthy, highly productive, flighty but not mean, excellent foraging chickens that have great survival instincts, great social skills within the flock and who can live a long time while still being productive.

Some people do this with all their livestock until they are left with animals that are selected to be just what they want them to be.

For instance, I've read about people who keep their pigs on pasture and allow them to live there at all times, both sows and boars. The piglets are all born and raised right on pasture and they have a natural social structure that is more like it is in the wild.

These people have found that the sows don't crush their piglets during farrowing in the pasture setting(those that do are culled) and the boars don't kill the piglets when they are born(those that do are culled) and the boars don't constantly fight one another(those that do are culled). In the end they have enjoyed pigs raised as a large community, with several sows raising their piglets side by side, boars protective of the whole herd but not fighting over territory or sows, etc.

They had a picture in their minds of what they wanted for pigs raised in a healthier and more natural setting and they culled for those desirable traits. Now they don't have to be as vigilant in their culling practices because the resulting genetics have turned out pigs that thrive in that setting.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Ranging certainly makes a difference, breed of chicken too, individuals within that breed. I just got a new game hen. She is full on game with five chicks. I will not be putting her in the broody pen with 2 broodies and 25 new chicks, her kids are already real hunters...so in another day she'll go right outside. She's a beautiful hen and has a great calm look in her eye...all the other chickens have strolled by to make their acquaintance...pretty hard to keep a secret around these chickens. I did not quarenteen her...there is no way she has any disease...I know that. Chickens are much more a hobby for me, though some hobbies can go to extemes for sure...my birds are more like, well eating quail, I don,t weight them, but a tasty sausage stuffing will help fill any spaces! As for chickens in residential zones I've thought about bringing my mom some white splashes that look an awful lot like the doves that fill up her bird feeders, and some competition for those tasty squirrels crowding out the doves....I don't think the neighbors would notice....or even mind...she can say they just flew in one day, are they really chickens? I thought they were seagulls.! Sorry, I think I just fell off my rocker.

 

[HappyHenMama]

Quote: Hey now...I resemble that remark!

 

[stonykill]

In the end I am left with healthy, highly productive, flighty but not mean, excellent foraging chickens that have great survival instincts, great social skills within the flock and who can live a long time while still being productive.

to me this is what keeping chickens is about.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Well put.

 

[Beekissed]

to me this is what keeping chickens is about.

Wellllll....not necessarily. That's what keeping chickens is about at my house. Like Walt stated, it's different at everybody's house. I don't think it has anything to do with range or terrain very much but it does have a lot to do with flock focus.

Not everyone is focused on the same attributes that I am in a flock. Some are breeding for an SOP and developing a certain breed to look or perform a certain way, some are just breeding for sale or show, some are just running some chickens and don't have an exact focus other than having some eggs or meat.

I put a lot of focus into everything that I do that requires my time and effort....I don't like to waste either commodity as it's too precious in this world. When I want to raise a certain animal for food production I do a lot of research, then I decide exactly what I want from the breed that I have chosen, based on their certain breed attributes. I have to know that it is possible within the capabilities of that breed...I can't decide that I'm going to make Silkies into the best layers ever! I give myself the edge and choose breeds known for laying first...no need to try and redesign the wheel~ just take that wheel and make it a little faster or a little more durable.

I desire a flock that is productive, healthy and harmonious like the rest of my world....so I set out to make that happen. It takes determination and focus to get what you want....this is where the cold-hearted killer in me comes to fore. I WILL kill to get what I want in a flock...

I've done it before and I'll do it again and again until I get what I want....because if you don't have what you want from your flock, what the heck is this all about?

 

[stonykill]

Originally Posted by stonykill


to me this is what keeping chickens is about.

Wellllll....not necessarily. That's what keeping chickens is about at my house. Like Walt stated, it's different at everybody's house. I don't think it has anything to do with range or terrain very much but it does have a lot to do with flock focus.

Not everyone is focused on the same attributes that I am in a flock. Some are breeding for an SOP and developing a certain breed to look or perform a certain way, some are just breeding for sale or show, some are just running some chickens and don't have an exact focus other than having some eggs or meat.

I put a lot of focus into everything that I do that requires my time and effort....I don't like to waste either commodity as it's too precious in this world. When I want to raise a certain animal for food production I do a lot of research, then I decide exactly what I want from the breed that I have chosen, based on their certain breed attributes. I have to know that it is possible within the capabilities of that breed...I can't decide that I'm going to make Silkies into the best layers ever! I give myself the edge and choose breeds known for laying first...no need to try and redesign the wheel~ just take that wheel and make it a little faster or a little more durable.

I desire a flock that is productive, healthy and harmonious like the rest of my world....so I set out to make that happen. It takes determination and focus to get what you want....this is where the cold-hearted killer in me comes to fore. I WILL kill to get what I want in a flock...

I've done it before and I'll do it again and again until I get what I want....because if you don't have what you want from your flock, what the heck is this all about?

notice the "to me"?

. To me this is what keeping chickens is all about. My flock is more like yours than any of the other ot's. I don't care about SOP. I'm glad others do, but I don't care. I want many if not almost all of the same things you seem to shoot for in a flock. Hence my reply " to me this is what chicken keeping is about". It was all about me, no one else.

.

On a different subject quite while ago you asked about your book and humor. One of my favorite books was written quite a while ago by a man named George Grotz. His book is called "The furniture doctor". FILLED with great information and every bit of it accompanied with humor, humorous stories etc. It made what could be a snooze of a book into an all time favorite.

 

[Beekissed]

Yeah...I saw that "to me"

and I recognized we were in sync but I didn't want folks reading this to think that I , or you, for that matter, think that everyone's flock has to be just like ours. Not everyone wants what we want out of chickens~even though that always leaves me scratching my head and thinking, "Why the heck wouldn't someone want chickens that are calm, produce more, are always healthy, have good survival skills and make chicken raising so darn easy and profitable???"

I realize that many, many people don't really start out with a defined plan or clear picture of what they want from an animal....they just think they are cute, or they want them because their grandpa had them or people they know have some, they want to revive an old breed standard but don't have many plans past that, they want to make money off the sale of eggs, meat, chicks but don't care how they get there.

Within all those larger, less specific plans is the actual animal that you have to deal with and some don't factor in the smaller details that don't seem important until they have roosters killing other chickens, hens pecking all the feathers off a certain flock member, trouble integrating ages of birds, birds that don't go broody or they are too broody, have health issues, etc.

I'm hoping that the information that it is possible to have something better, beyond what people first planned or thought was possible if they only want to put in the extra wrench time to achieve it, is made available here.

Some people don't want to manipulate a certain breed too much because of breed standards and I realize that...take away the cockiness and irascibility of some breeds and you might as well turn a Jack Russell Terrier into a slow, stolid Newfie. Some people don't even want or care if their chickens are nice....they just really don't care and that's okay too.

But if they do, I'm here to say that the wheel is great...but if you add some grease on the axle and some new wheel bearings, you might just get a smoother ride.