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

[stonykill]

There are hawks all over the place here and a red tailed nest 200 yards from here. hawks are not a problem to me with adult birds. The most aggressive hawk I have here is a Coopers hawk and he is too small to take a grown chicken. Predators hunt based on experience, opportunity or lack of natural food sources. If these birds get hungry, they will try to take whatever they can. I have had great horned owls take full grown chickens, but not very often. They will take a cat too, so nothing is safe if they are hungry.

Bottom line is that it depends where you are and what kind of hawks you have in the area and what they are accustomed to hunting. Some people have a huge problem with hawks..I don't.

Walt

too small to take a chicken away, yes. BUT on a couple of occasions while I was not home I had small hawks kill a chicken and eat it right on the spot.

This year the hawks have been keeping their distance. 2 raven couples are in the yard often. I think that may be why

 

[fowlman01]

Thank you for this post Beekissed. I am not a newbie but would not consider myself an ole' timer either. I did not have the opportunity to be raised in the country, though I did get to visit the farm a few times. I also was not raised by a father who hunted. Additionally we were not allowed much by way of a pet growing up. However I have always liked animals and derived pleasure from being able to provide them a healthy existence. I also inately feel good about raising some of the vegetables I eat as well as some of the meat.

When my children were growing up I wanted to depart some experience of raising vegetables and animals for consuption. We lived in a sub-division neighborhood and had a garden in the front yard. My children were teased as being those people that had corn growing in the front yard, LOL. They did enjoy the squash, corn and other small crops we produced in our 9' x 30' garden. We also raised a few chickens and rabbits for consumption. These were small enough to raise in our environment and easy enough for me to slaughter and clean. One of my kids took to it like a duck to water. The other two will probably never raise any of their own food, but they had the opportunity to know what it was like.

It disturbs me today to see groups like PETA who twist the relationship between man and beast. We are deluged with pictures of dogs and cats as they try to shame us into adoption much like others do with the desperate children of the world. More and more societies view on animals is that they are no different that human beings. Sorry but they are different, that does not disolve us of our responsibility to be good stewards however. Many animals are rasied for the express purpose of consumption and if it is done right the animals has a relatively good existence while it grows and then is dispatched quickly and humanly. As you illuded the societal view is shifting and it is disturbing. Now the societal view is inflitrating our governments and ridiculous demands are being placed on the fine folks that feed this Nation. Those same demands will filter down to the backyard breeder as well. Thanks again, Mike

PETA does not want anyone to eat meat or to keep pets. To show what kind of folks these are......They have launched a porn site. Al probably has the address.

PETA confirmed the XXX site in a phone interview with The Huffington Post.
"We live in a 24 hour news cycle world and we learn the racy things we do are sometimes the most effective way that we can reach particular individuals," said PETA spokeswoman Lindsay Rajt.
Instead of focusing on anti-fur, the porn site will raise awareness of veganism, said Rajt. "We really want to grab people's attention, get them talking and to question the status quo and ultimately take action, because the best way we can help the greatest number of animals is simply by not eating them."
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Walt​

 

[fowlman01]

too small to take a chicken away, yes. BUT on a couple of occasions while I was not home I had small hawks kill a chicken and eat it right on the spot.

This year the hawks have been keeping their distance. 2 raven couples are in the yard often. I think that may be why

I just gave my experieince and stated that they may kill adult chickens in another location. Everyone likes crows and ravens, but here they will kill young birds....mine. I have more problems with my birds with crows than anything else.

Walt

 

[Beekissed]

I understand your position. I even envy you to an extent. I see the compassion in it. It's great that you, and lots of other people can do this. I bred and raised rabbits for 7 years until my buck was getting up in age enough that I wanted to give him a nice retirement. When we had rabbits that needed to be put down, that job fell to my husband. When my buck that I had raised from a tiny handful got a tumor, in stead of letting him suffer, again, the husband took care of it. Dogs or cats or other wildlife hit by a car or otherwise injured, he dispatches quickly and humanly. And I adore him more for taking care of those things for me. I know most of y'all see it as a sign of softness and weakness. That's your prerogative. I'm not there yet. I don't know that I ever will be. And that's my (or anyone else that can't stomach it) prerogative.

That is wonderful news, B2MR! Having a partner that understands the hard stuff and how to get it done is half the battle. In your case, it's the whole battle and that is definitely just as fine. Better, in fact....marriage is a partnership. The only reason that job fell to women in my family is that the smaller animals that were to be killed were considered "women's work" and the larger animals, men's work. Funny thing, though...when it came time to process both sets of animals, it was always "women's work".

That kind of mentality was rampant in our family but has become less so nowadays...I'm not sure whether to cheer it or mourn it, at this point.

By default then, the butchering of small farm animals became the women's responsibility here. Pretty soon it became a "men don't know how to do it anymore" thing and so it still remained in the women's skill set alone. Personally, I think it was just a way to get out of all the dirty work...and it worked..

The men knew that the women here would do it to provide food for their children, so they just used that to duck the responsibility.

That's not something of which I'm proud and, if I had a husband strong and wise, I would let him do the killing and I would do the softer side of life...as it should be. Don't envy me in the slightest...it is because I am without that I had to become more to make up for it. It's never as good and it's never the same as having a good partner in marriage.

Ideally, I think, it is good for both people in a marriage to learn all the things that make life go along, but if this is not possible, to be able to rely upon one another to handle these individual skill sets.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote:
At Crossroads Joint National a Slate turkey tom was disqualified for having a crooked breast. The owner found a new coop card and replaced it on the coop. Thus when the buyer acquired the tom, they had no way of knowing it was a cull. He thought it was funny to get one over on a backyarder.

We as breeders must hold ourselves accountable. We must have ethics. Selling culls as show birds to novices does not improve our Fancy. We must hold ourselves above and beyond reproach!

 

[Back2MyRoots]

That is wonderful news, B2MR! Having a partner that understands the hard stuff and how to get it done is half the battle. In your case, it's the whole battle and that is definitely just as fine. Better, in fact....marriage is a partnership. The only reason that job fell to women in my family is that the smaller animals that were to be killed were considered "women's work" and the larger animals, men's work. Funny thing, though...when it came time to process both sets of animals, it was always "women's work".

That kind of mentality was rampant in our family but has become less so nowadays...I'm not sure whether to cheer it or mourn it, at this point.

By default then, the butchering of small farm animals became the women's responsibility here. Pretty soon it became a "men don't know how to do it anymore" thing and so it still remained in the women's skill set alone. Personally, I think it was just a way to get out of all the dirty work...and it worked..

The men knew that the women here would do it to provide food for their children, so they just used that to duck the responsibility.

That's not something of which I'm proud and, if I had a husband strong and wise, I would let him do the killing and I would do the softer side of life...as it should be. Don't envy me in the slightest...it is because I am without that I had to become more to make up for it. It's never as good and it's never the same as having a good partner in marriage.

Ideally, I think, it is good for both people in a marriage to learn all the things that make life go along, but if this is not possible, to be able to rely upon one another to handle these individual skill sets.

My grand mother did the killing and dressing of their chickens (my mom said she never did and never would---of course she freaks out over a little poop---I'm not sure how she was raised by my grand mother and turned out to be such a priss!) I have this one memory from when I was a child, being chased by this mean old rooster one Sunday morning and my little 4-foot-11 MawMaw slinging him around her head and then scalding, dressing and cooking the bird. I couldn't have been more than 3 or 4. She was my hero that day! My PawPaw had his first stroke just a few years later and they let all the animals go, so there is so much that I forgot or just remember snippets of, but I remember her rescuing me from that roo!

I envy you because I envied her! She passed away this past February. Just before she passed, I'd told her I'd like to get chickens. She grinned and told me I'd be a good little flock-tender, but she bet I'd make Kevin (the hubby) do any of the killin! We bought our first 6 chicks 2 weeks later at the beginning of March. Believe me when I say I have come a long way in just a few months. I'm working on that back-bone of mine when if comes to the more practical side of keeping birds. And I do hope I get to the point where, if one of my fair feathered friends is in pain, I can put her down. Someone else said, and I fully agree, lingering is miserable. Not how I want to go and not how I want my pets to go either.

 

[Judy]

Just to remind anyone who doesn't recall, one of the BYC rules is

Quote:

 

[Back2MyRoots]

Exactly. All the way.. and the worship of animals is in all pagan religions. If we can get the populace to value animal life over humans, then we are half way to elevating animals to gods and sacrificing humans...which is already going on in the form of no-kill shelters and Humane Societies for animals and abortion clinics for babies.

The discussion of this organization is pretty much against the rules of the forum, so be aware that these posts will most likely be deleted soon.

Understood, did not mean to highjack.

 

[Beekissed]

My grand mother did the killing and dressing of their chickens (my mom said she never did and never would---of course she freaks out over a little poop---I'm not sure how she was raised by my grand mother and turned out to be such a priss!) I have this one memory from when I was a child, being chased by this mean old rooster one Sunday morning and my little 4-foot-11 MawMaw slinging him around her head and then scalding, dressing and cooking the bird. I couldn't have been more than 3 or 4. She was my hero that day! My PawPaw had his first stroke just a few years later and they let all the animals go, so there is so much that I forgot or just remember snippets of, but I remember her rescuing me from that roo!

I envy you because I envied her! She passed away this past February. Just before she passed, I'd told her I'd like to get chickens. She grinned and told me I'd be a good little flock-tender, but she bet I'd make Kevin (the hubby) do any of the killin! We bought our first 6 chicks 2 weeks later at the beginning of March. Believe me when I say I have come a long way in just a few months. I'm working on that back-bone of mine when if comes to the more practical side of keeping birds. And I do hope I get to the point where, if one of my fair feathered friends is in pain, I can put her down. Someone else said, and I fully agree, lingering is miserable. Not how I want to go and not how I want my pets to go either.

My granny did all the small farming also...and it always brings fond memories to me too.

I'd just watch your husband when he has to do it so that you can at least familiarize yourself with the process. This also helps you get over the wall in your mind about the whole squeamish-ness of it. Sort of like when you first become a parent and you are cleaning up all nature of bodily functions and thinking it's so gross....and pretty soon you are wiping your mouth on the same spit up rag that used to make you want to gag, or changing a poopy diaper in the booth of the restaurant in which you are eating(they didn't used to have those handy diapering stations that they have now)!

 

[JulieNKC]

That was a lot and I waited until this morning hoping you would answer it......lol. The only thing I can add is ...go to a show and do a dry run..check it out...talk to judges and exhibitors. Generally they are very happy to talk about their birds. Don't try too talk to them when they are putting their birds into the show or when they are taking them out as that is a time when they can make a mistake so they are not into talking. Snhows are an excellent place for beginners to acquire birds. Keep in mind that just cuz they are at a show does not make them anythjing special. Ask people for their opinions of the birds for sale. Not the people selling them, other exhibitors or better yet a judge who has finished his/her judging.

Walt

Thank you. I was planning on doing that. I've seen the show birds at the state fair and such, but never just been to a show or been there when they are actually judging. I wasn't sure if they would take the time and tell me what to look for without having a bird entered. There's a show in october, I hope to go and see what goes on and get some information then.

There are two threads, here on BYC, that I would recommend. It'll take a lot of reading, but a year in grad school requires a lot of reading tool LOL

The Heritage Large Fowl thread is very worthwhile reading. It's long, but it is filled with pages of priceless comments, photos and folks who really know their stuff. Keep track of the names mentioned and the breeds attached to those names. (sure, there is a lot of posting that clutters things up, but, oh well)

The second long running thread is The Heritage Rhode Island Red thread. Also worth the long weekend of reading it would take to catch up. It is chock full of solid conversation from some of the most knowledgeable folks you'll ever meet.

These two threads, along with Heritage New Hampshire thread, the Delaware thread and a few others, will jump start your knowledge base in a terrific way.

I have/want bantams. They won't kick me out over there will they?

I will go check those out. I sat and read this thread, I'm sure I can make my way through those.

Wow certainly an awefull lot to tell here, but basicly there are many things you need right off in order to be successful. One get rid of any hatchery birds for showing and exhibition purposes, they will add nothing and will drag your program down into deep despair. Start with the best you can get and afford, before that do your homework on the breed you select and there are some things to consider there as well. LF or bantam, choose a breed that you can handle as a keeper, not all birds are suited for everybody, and some show better than others. You must have your flock NPIP tested in order to show, go to as many shows as you can and learn from people, gather info and maybe even obtain some birds there. The whole showing thing can be and is expensive so if you are able fine if not forget about the whole thing, you can't show and a shoestring. Find someone you know and trust who shows and ask them if they wouldn't mind helping you get going. The joy of showing isn't always winning although that does help LOL, but it's in the learning, breeding, getting better, and accomplishing something. It can be quite daunting at first so maybe a few others can jump in here and offer their tips and experiences showing, I do show and have for a few years but it helps to get info from others sources as well.

I figured my hatchery birds wouldn't be great for showing. I just wanted to start with them to make sure they were the breed I wanted first.

I know what you mean about the birds available being mostly pet quality. If you want really good birds, you are going to (unless you are lucky and a person near you has exhibition birds) have to give up on the idea of getting what you need locally. I recommend getting either some broody hens or an incubator (personally I purchased three silkie hens) to hatch out eggs for you. Hatching eggs from exhibition birds are easier to find than the exhibition birds themselves and are easier to ship. If you look hard enough, you can get the best of the best by buying hatching eggs. In my opinion, you need to start by choosing a breed, contacting the best breeder you can find, and getting hatching eggs.

I like hatching, so hatching eggs are fine with me. I had silkies, but they irritated me. Which is why I started with hatchery chicks this time, lol. Didn't want to want them, get them, then end up not really liking them.

There are several of us on here that will try to assist a newbie in acquiring good stock. Just understand that most exhibition/heritage breeders have small flocks and a limited supply. We also DO NOT sex our chicks. Most do not sell quality birds to someone as a backyard layer. If you can't have roosters, a good breeder will pass you by. We are interested in creating new breeders. To become a breeder one must have both cockerels and pullets in a young flock. Thus its not that we do not want to learn to sex baby chicks, we have no need to learn. The cockerels are as important to us as the pullets. I will have to decide this week which Buff Orpington cockerel I keep and which I share with a friend. I do not want to ship my best bird, yet do not want to ship junk. Thankfully I have several to choose from. I have one that will be "culled". He is a Splash and I just do not care for him. He is from swap eggs and just does not suit me. Can't put my finger on it.


Definitely get a mentor. Preferably near you. We can all mentor you on line, but there is just something about having your mentor visit your farm and advise you in person.

NPIP is most important. each state administers it a little different. Learn more about the NPIP at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/poultry/

Thank you! I can't have a bunch of roosters, will 1-2 be enough? I don't plan on churning out a bunch of chicks, I was thinking I'd grow out and keep a new rooster one year, then new hens the next, switch in new ones from the same line when neccessary? Will I be able to have an ok line/show prospects with a couple trios as my main breeders?
I sent in the forms to be NPIP back in May,Missouri kind of sucks at getting back to you for it.