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

[NYREDS]

LOL I really just want the opportunity to be stupid with $$ if I won the lottery, just the opportunity to see if the rumors are true. Money might not buy happiness but I want to try it LOL.

It's a risk I'd be willing to take as well.

 

[Mountain Momma]

my wife and I have talked about this. We occasionally play the powerball. If we win (yeah right like that'll happen) all we want is to have a new small off the grid home. We have land already, just a crap house. She says I should get a new truck. I like my 22 year old truck. Maybe a tractor to make chores easier. A small one. I want little. Piece of mind is good. I'd like that

Well if your Avatar pic is in your house I find it over the top charming and simple in a brain freedom kinda way. I would love to be able to decorate like that. I lack the skills.

 

[Beekissed]

Well, I need to get good at being poor. Is fermentation difficult? I also will not be taking chickens to a vet. I dont know about culling yet. My DH wanted to know what I did with the murdered chicken and I had just bagged it and put it in the garbage. He said he would have cleaned it to eat. She was a leghorn and smallish and it didnt even occur to me to make the most of the situation. Now I had no problem spurring the family into eating the goose...We are that typical family on the fringe between "chicken people are crazier than most so dont tell our friends we have chickens" and "trying to become a little more self sufficient." A couple years ago I was recognized by the Starbucks barista at three locations. Now I water down the folgers, the shampoo and hide the conditioner. I am all ears for your tips of the trade.

Are you sure you wanna go there?

It's a long and bumpy road in a truck with bad shocks and springs.

No fermentation is not a bit difficult. Here's a good thread on the whole process:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds

Saves money on feed, makes your birds healthier, improves laying.....three birds with one stone. Can't beat that with a stick!

Next time you kill a skinny bird, just don't bother trying to gut it or pluck it....just slit the skin up the breast, remove the breast filets, shuck down it's drawers and remove the thighs and legs...throw the rest to the dog. Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy.

Make your own laundry soap...been doing it for around 7 years now and it costs me about $.02 per load of laundry.

Shampoo is still pretty cheap but you can rinse with ACV...makes your hair soft, silky and very, very clean. Don't get it in your eyes.

Feed once a day in the evening, cover your trough feeder with wire so there is no flicking, only feed enough that they will clean up in one setting...leaves less for the mice to carry away. Free range all day...make it happen, it's worth it. Use your family dog for chicken protection..make him work for his food. Chicken killer? Train him...it's that worth it.

Everyone that doesn't lay an egg each day in peak laying season gets chopped. Encourage broodies, hatch your own hen replacements.

There...that oughta get you started. There could be about 10 pages long of all the things I do to save money and be good at being poor, so that might have to wait for another thread. One thing to know...I have never clipped a coupon in my life. Coupons are for amateurs.

 

[Mountain Momma]

I went to the feed store today & bought 50# of layer pellets & scratch because I know the prices are going to go sky high. Tho apparently prices are lower here. I only spent $34 for both bags & 2 chewie bones for the dogs. Im just going to store it for the winter......using FF will make it last a loooong time

was it 50lb each or 50lb total? Im thinkin if it was each you could ship it to WV and Colorado and still make 10.00 per bag! Now that I know its more in WV I might store some too. Crazy. (not you, the situation)

 

[Mountain Momma]

Are you sure you wanna go there?

It's a long and bumpy road in a truck with bad shocks and springs.

No fermentation is not a bit difficult. Here's a good thread on the whole process:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds

Saves money on feed, makes your birds healthier, improves laying.....three birds with one stone. Can't beat that with a stick!

Next time you kill a skinny bird, just don't bother trying to gut it or pluck it....just slit the skin up the breast, remove the breast filets, shuck down it's drawers and remove the thighs and legs...throw the rest to the dog. Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy.

Make your own laundry soap...been doing it for around 7 years now and it costs me about $.02 per load of laundry.

Shampoo is still pretty cheap but you can rinse with ACV...makes your hair soft, silky and very, very clean. Don't get it in your eyes.

Feed once a day in the evening, cover your trough feeder with wire so there is no flicking, only feed enough that they will clean up in one setting...leaves less for the mice to carry away. Free range all day...make it happen, it's worth it. Use your family dog for chicken protection..make him work for his food. Chicken killer? Train him...it's that worth it.

Everyone that doesn't lay an egg each day in peak laying season gets chopped. Encourage broodies, hatch your own hen replacements.

There...that oughta get you started. There could be about 10 pages long of all the things I do to save money and be good at being poor, so that might have to wait for another thread. One thing to know...I have never clipped a coupon in my life. Coupons are for amateurs.

laughing. I never clipped a coupon in my life till the last 6 months. Bumpy ride, no shocks, dirt road? I used to do that for fun but that **** Jeep only got 16 mpg and the pmnt, insurance et al was outrageous. Now I just remind the kids of the roads we used to crawling around on...and how daddy would walk beside us cause he was terrified. lol. I'm printing your response. I will be going over it with the fam in the AM. My dogs are cowards -terrified of everything. They dont bother the chickens ever. My feral cat actually guards them and fights foxes to keep them away. She is a 50.00 cat. As in I wouldnt sell her for 50.00 dollars. Im going to see what I can figure out on the fermentation and maybe close off half the front yard and see what happens. Ive got friends bringing me their scraps all the time already for those chickens. Somethin has to give. I told the feed guy his chicken customers were gonna eat their chickens and stop buying feed. He looked at me like I was some kind of monster. He is really funny. I go there just to shock him. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Beekissed]

That can be our next OT question...seems pertinent to the present feed pricing: What do you do to cut cost in your flock management?

 

[Gargoyle]

I used to be able to go up to the vegetable guys in the local supermarket, while they were stripping leaves and culling ugly veggies from the display and ask for the scraps for my chicks- they'd usually give me a large box, maybe 10 or 20 pounds worth. After about a year the store instituted a policy stopping that (it turns out a few other chicken people were doing the same). Now they sell boxes of day old veggies for $2.50 to $3.50. At first those boxes were mixed, (and cost less) but now they'll put all the eggplants in one box, all the radishes in another, so it's not worth getting. Still, occasionally I get lucky- a few weeks ago I got about 15 lbs of grapes for $1.99.

Other local supermarkets have policies against giving anything away, and they no longer throw the stuff in accessible dumpsters- they have big compactors out back.

Perhaps if you talk to a small local grocery store (not big corporate chains) you can convince them to give you a box of scrap once a week... they just throw the stuff out.

 

[Mountain Momma]

That can be our next OT question...seems pertinent to the present feed pricing: What do you do to cut cost in your flock management?

yep. I whole heartedly agree.

I read up on the ferment sector site. Seems simple. Almost easy. DH said it sounds like cheap wine. He also said it might be cheaper and easier to give each bird their own head of lettuce every day. LOL. He is a riot....until he is not a riot, that is.

I love that little curvy coop. Did you make it all on your own? It looks very fresh and modern. I love the size too. I was thinking it would make a great tractor type thing in the spring to move around the yard so the chicks can get some safe free range time in.

I Will need another 5 gal bucket and I'm ready to go ferment some stuff.
Two questions though,

1.) 3/32 holes...is that like a sunflower seed size, a pea size, a northern bean size? smaller? My bits are in the tackle box I keep in the coop and I have no idea what their measurements are.
2.) If I refridgerated the mother lode ACV is it still active? (Braggs up in my case)

Bonus Question:

The coop has been hovering around 30 to 40 degrees all weekend. Will I need to keep the ferment in the house or is this kind of cold temp okay for the process?

Thanks for all the great help and sweet attitude. I really am gaining info. I tend not to overthink and just go with my gut but when it comes to an animal I am resposible for I want to be onthe safer side. I was also wondering are you making them butter milk? buying it? My grand pa drank buttermilk every day of his life. Its been a long time since I even heard it talked about.

 

[Mountain Momma]

That can be our next OT question...seems pertinent to the present feed pricing: What do you do to cut cost in your flock management?

 

[Beekissed]

I used to be able to go up to the vegetable guys in the local supermarket, while they were stripping leaves and culling ugly veggies from the display and ask for the scraps for my chicks- they'd usually give me a large box, maybe 10 or 20 pounds worth. After about a year the store instituted a policy stopping that (it turns out a few other chicken people were doing the same). Now they sell boxes of day old veggies for $2.50 to $3.50. At first those boxes were mixed, (and cost less) but now they'll put all the eggplants in one box, all the radishes in another, so it's not worth getting. Still, occasionally I get lucky- a few weeks ago I got about 15 lbs of grapes for $1.99.

Other local supermarkets have policies against giving anything away, and they no longer throw the stuff in accessible dumpsters- they have big compactors out back.

Perhaps if you talk to a small local grocery store (not big corporate chains) you can convince them to give you a box of scrap once a week... they just throw the stuff out.

Check with all the people you know who decorate with pumpkins around this time of the year...this is a cheap way to get some good nutrition and a great antihelmintic for the chooks. Best if fed around Jan. or Feb. when they are really wanting fresher foods and best if let to ferment...they will eat them like sharks eating chum if you let it ferment. The fermenting converts the starch to sugar and increases the energy they will get from it.

yep. I whole heartedly agree.

I read up on the ferment sector site. Seems simple. Almost easy. DH said it sounds like cheap wine. He also said it might be cheaper and easier to give each bird their own head of lettuce every day. LOL. He is a riot....until he is not a riot, that is.

I love that little curvy coop. Did you make it all on your own? Yes. It looks very fresh and modern. I love the size too. I was thinking it would make a great tractor type thing in the spring to move around the yard so the chicks can get some safe free range time in.

I Will need another 5 gal bucket and I'm ready to go ferment some stuff.
Two questions though,

1.) 3/32 holes...is that like a sunflower seed size, a pea size, a northern bean size? smaller? My bits are in the tackle box I keep in the coop and I have no idea what their measurements are. Look at the holes in a standard collander...that's the size.
2.) If I refridgerated the mother lode ACV is it still active? (Braggs up in my case) Should be but all you can do is try it and see.

Bonus Question:

The coop has been hovering around 30 to 40 degrees all weekend. Will I need to keep the ferment in the house or is this kind of cold temp okay for the process? Might want to start it in the house and just dip from it each feeding, then bring your fresh feed back to replenish your feed mix.

Thanks for all the great help and sweet attitude. I really am gaining info. I tend not to overthink and just go with my gut but when it comes to an animal I am resposible for I want to be onthe safer side. I was also wondering are you making them butter milk? buying it? I bought it and that was just for the chicks until my ferment got to cooking. My grand pa drank buttermilk every day of his life. Its been a long time since I even heard it talked about. I love buttermilk and could drink a gallon of it every day...but can't find any good buttermilk anymore. Like most things of that nature, people have forgotten how to make it properly. My granny used to salt and pepper hers and crumble corn bread into it...then eat it with a spoon. I like mine with just salt~no cornbread~ and I also eat mine with a spoon.