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

[Nomibear]

Just looked these three breeds up.  The Buff Leghorns and BL Bantams are very pretty birds.  The Cubalayas are beautifully colored, and their prolific tails are a sight to behold, but those Naked Necks are the ugliest things I've seen in a while!  I guess they must be "an acquired taste."  Ha! Ha!  At least the axe has a clear target, and there are fewer feathers to pluck...sorry Sam.

Brie

I ordered Buff leghorn Pullets from Ideal for my laying flock. Really just because I liked the look of them. Now that I know more about them, I wish they had slipped me a Roo... Although I would kind of like a Roo with better breeding, so that if we decided to get into showing or 4H or something. We would already have that leg up.
I Love my BL's!

 

[loanwizard]

Quote:

Looks like a cross between a Buff Orpington and a Turkey Vulture!

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Small bird, naked skin, not known for exceptional laying...or so I hear. What say you, folks? Good laying qualities or great laying qualities?

We only have large fowl naked necks, Turkens, whatever they are called. I'm not a bantam person, but they seem to be pretty good layers of large eggs and are fair meat birds. Easy to pluck anyway. lol

I'll admit, I hate them. They are soooo ugly. I received them as a prank in a order of hatching eggs a year or so ago, would never have bought them myself. But my son just loves them, so I let him keep a few around just for kicks and giggles.

The thing I love about them is stand one beside any other chicken on the place and it makes the other bird look soooo good.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

BJ should work hard at breeding them and show them often. If they start winning at the shows, his egg sales may well pay for their feed plus more.

 

[Nomibear]

Bruceh:  Goals?  Well, we wanted to slow our hectic lives down and raise our own kids instead of them going to daycare or babysitters after school every day while we continued to toil away at never-ending jobs.
I love your goals! Are you'll going to work the farm only? Or are you'll keeping your former jobs? Sounds like a huge adjustment either way for your whole family.

 We want to instill a sense of responsibility to themselves, their family, their community, and feel that a family project helps us do that.  We decided on raising and showing chickens.  Each child has chosen a breed (or two) of chicken that they like, and we have helped them read all about them and discussed the pros and cons with them, and let them choose.  Samantha, of course, is going strictly by looks and color (Mille Fleur d'Uccles and Golden Seabrites - bantams).  She's 6, so the bantam size is good for her.  BJ, though, is striving to get his grandmother's Dominiques back and continue with her heritage breed.  He was so serious about this, that we contacted the man in Texarkanna who took her hens,  and he has agreed to sell them back to us as well as a good, show quality rooster.  We will meet halfway weekend after next.  BJ will represent the 5th generation for these chickens!
That's absolutely precious, that BJ is so passionate about keeping his grandma's chickens in the family 5 Generations of keeping these chickens is really something to be proud of!

Bryan and I showed rabbits before the kids came, and we enjoyed it very much.  But I refused to have even a dog in the city.  I just think they need at least as much attention as your kids, and when the kids came, there was no time left to dedicate to a pet.  And so,  we have moved to Kermit, with all this space, and will try to produce a garden, sell a few eggs, pick up the goat milk business again (Bryan grew up with milk goats, so it's old hat to him.), and try to make our lives efficient and purposeful.  Our family activities will be the chickens, and we feel that showing them will help unify our family, instill responsibility in our kids, as well as being just downright FUN!

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

I ordered Buff leghorn Pullets from Ideal for my laying flock. Really just because I liked the look of them. Now that I know more about them, I wish they had slipped me a Roo... Although I would kind of like a Roo with better breeding, so that if we decided to get into showing or 4H or something. We would already have that leg up.
I Love my BL's!

You should check out the Buff Leghorn thread at https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/295163/breeding-buff-leghorns

If I had a flock of Buff Leghorn pullets I would want a cockerel from Dan Honour. He posts often on that thread.

 

[loanwizard]

Here is the barn stall coop partially redone to Bee specs. and recommendations.



Yes I know.... ladder roosts. I had them, they will be used. Not wasting money building new although I spose I coulda torn em apart.

Old Skid as ladder to roost bars.

Yes, some old 2x4's they roost on as well.




Nipple waterer, feed can, and feeder in roost area.
Yes, she will be culled as soon as pullets start laying full force, although I am wondering about Captain. She is part of his harem and 3 out of 4 of his are barebacked. 1 is not cause she went broody. That said, his spurs ain't that sharp. Note, the cover on the feeder. Noticed a drop in waste or an increased time before empty.

Pop door to the laying area.
Pop door to the outside besides stall doors. Let them out for a couple hours last night.








Chicken wire over the top although not escape nor predator proof.

Escape artists with a rabbit.

Laying boxes

More laying boxes. I think I have 24 for 80 adult birds.... Still have a few laying in other corners of the barn.
Need to do a little repair on the right bottom side. Kid had the drill.

 

[loanwizard]

Yes it is crowded, but normally with the doors to the 75' barn open, they never seem crowded, even at night.

 

[galefrances]

I've got a question regarding ventilation. I know I should be asking in the coop thread, but I'd like an answer from those that I know really know what they're talking about. I've got some pictures from when the coop was first being modified. (not built because we took a shed and converted it) Anyway, I'll try to use pics that will give you the best idea of what we have to work with. The first pic shows a window facing the east. There is another window directly opposite which gives good cross ventilation. I'm not sure if you can see, but directly above the double door there is a vent grill which faces south. There is another vent directly across from that one. I think you can see it in the second pic from the interior. (before we put the pullets in) It's above the roosts (yes Bee I know, the hated ladder roosts- the actual ladder doesn't belong in there)

Anyway, my question is "How can I add more ventilation, because I'm assuming it's not enough?" There is a 3-4 in. soffit ( I believe that's what it's called) that I'd like to open up and air staple a piece of hardware cloth to keep any predators out. My husband feels this will allow rain or snow to blow in to the coop as we get a lot of wind here. Or we could get someone in to install roof vents. I don't see where we have room to add more windows. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I could post better pictures if needed.Thank you. Addendum: Well, I can forget about the soffit vent, at least on the west side of the coop. My husband, his brother, and our son-in-law are out there putting a roof on the run and they informed me that they can't get access to the soffit on that side because they blocked it with the roof panels. So, unless I can vent just the one side, I can forget about it. Ugh.

 

[Zanna]

Anyone feed whole dried spring planted peas? Everything I can find to read says to crack them for chickens but not why. I have a large, motorized crimper cracker so I can do it but it would sure be easier to feed whole! I feed whole corn in the winter and crack it in the summer, not sure why, read somewhere that was best and it stuck. Always feed wheat whole. The peas are larger than the wheat but smaller than whole corn kernels.