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

[Nancygardens]

Of topic a bit but you can increase font size on a p/c by pressing ctrl + with shift button.
Works for me. [Mods. can delete this post if needed.]

Chickens are fine today grand kids are clamoring to help feed them the scraps when
ever they are around. Checking on then when the hens have went to roost at night with a flash-light and that's fun for them!

 

[HiddenChicken]

Well, I have found this thread incredibly helpful, so far...butI'm only 20% of the way through all the posts after a week. It takes a LOOOOONG time to read through everything. And, therefore, a loooong time to find an answer to a (maybe) very pressing question. This thread really serves a purpose as a no-BS, down-to-the-point, OT-way kind of place to come for help. If people can't get help here, and don't have time to read the whole thread, they're left with the foo-foo, diaper/saddle/bra people to answer!

In other words, it would be a shame to see this thread go dormant, but if it has to, maybe someone (Bee?, Al?, any OT) would be willing to start a new thread called "Ask an OT"...as a place a newbie can go to for no-BS, quick-n-dirty OT help on an issue. :/ Whatcha think?

Signed,
A Newbie

 

[Loghousemom]

And I have another et of questions too! I've been waiting to ask as I have been working on some of the improvements suggested in my last post here and catching up on this thread, BK's other thread and starting the FF thread. Reworking the roosts are finished, and I think I finally have everything the mount the 2nd set of nest boxes...just need a second set of hands around to help hold it.....

I know the flock maintanence has been covered, but I am looking for something a bit more specific to where I am. I live in ND. The wether here is varying degrees of extreme. This past summer was terrible dry and hot with many days nearing 100. The winters temps are often 10-40 degrees. With the windchill it is not unheard of being -20 to -30. The summers are not always that hot, and winters are not always that cold. I was planning to let the hens hatch their own eggs if I get one that is broody to replace some that I have which I think may not produce enough to keep. I currently have 10 chickens. 1 rooster (I believe he is a buckeye) and 9 hens. (3 giant white Cochin, 1 buckeye, 1 welsummer... All bought as chicks in mid-may and 1 barred rock, 1 white leghorn, and 2 that are supposed to be Americanas) these hens I brought from my uncle and they are about 18 months. I have noticed a couple look as though they are in a molt. With these types of chickens do you think it would be appropriate to let them breed their own? I have noticed fertile eggs from them all with the exception of the leghorn. But I love her extra large eggs! If I let one brood, do I need a separate place for her? Can she stay in the coop with the rest? I have another shed that I think housed birds or rabbits once that could be repaired and put back in commission for that purpose, and it would have a run attached to the same section of run that we have now.

I am also one of those folks who researches and likes to plan before moving ahead, and so with the knowledge that I gained here that some of these older layers might not lay well next year, what is a good gameplan for directing this flock of mixed breeds? I do plan to cull the ones that don't do well next spring, and I have had my eye on one Cochin who sort of just does her own thing. I figure I need hearty birds that can withstand the weather changes. Any suggestions?


Thank you OTs for all of your helpful advice in this thread. I know my thoughts are scattered all over the map. That is what I get having a hubs who is Gone half the time and 3 kids under the age of 6!

I am so thankful for all the information you have given. I now understand that I can cull a chicken. I do not have to feel guilty (which is what most people have made me think I should feel by just mentioning the thought) I know there is a natural way to raise chickens, and that they do not need all the fancy pants things other chicken people around here tell me I need.

 

[Kansas Prairie]

National Geographics Magazine Photo, I think it was published in the 70's. I enjoy seeing real pictures like this. The fancy doll house coops just look pretend to me...

 

[HiddenChicken]

 National Geographics Magazine Photo, I think it was published in the 70's.    I enjoy seeing real pictures like this. The fancy doll house coops just look pretend to me...

I love this picture! I told my husband that's gonna be me someday...with my gun and my chickens, shouting, "Get off my land! And quit looking at my chickens!!"

 

[Kansas Prairie]

Thank you OTs for all of your helpful advice in this thread. I know my thoughts are scattered all over the map. That is what I get having a hubs who is Gone half the time and 3 kids under the age of 6!

Hat's off to you Loghousemom. You have the most important job anyone can be blessed with, raising children.

 

[Beekissed]

This is a pic of my mama taken yesterday! Of course she was in costume and failing a bit at looking as stern as she was supposed to look..but it's still cute.



What was that you asked? Predator control? We got it covered...

 

[HiddenChicken]

This is a pic of my mama taken yesterday!  Of course she was in costume and failing a bit at looking as stern as she was supposed to look..but it's still cute. 

THAT'S IT! That's me in a "few" years! .......

 

[Judy]

LOVE the old (and old looking) pics!

If I let one brood, do I need a separate place for her? Can she stay in the coop with the rest? I have another shed that I think housed birds or rabbits once that could be repaired and put back in commission for that purpose, and it would have a run attached to the same section of run that we have now.

I think most people recommend separating a broody, at least while she is setting on eggs and during the hatch. Other hens can lay in her nest or steal her eggs, she can steal others' eggs, she can return to the wrong nest, the eggs get jostled more, another hen can push her off her nest -- etc., etc. All she needs while setting is a small space to get off her nest and get a little exercise, maybe dust bathe, eat and drink of course, etc. I have done it both ways, lost some eggs, and did a lot of supervising. Now I separate during setting. Your Cochins, by the way, are probably your most likely broodies. You could always stick a Leghorn egg or two under your broody anyway, on the chance you're missing the bullseye.

I'm not familiar with most of your particular set of breeds -- but people let breeds mate other breeds and raise mutts all the time, including me.

I like to let mama and chicks in with the flock when the chicks are 2 or 3 days old, whenever they show signs of wanting to be with the others. A good mama will see to their needs and protect them. This way, when mama stops mothering (varies a lot, but probably averages around 5 weeks) the chicks are already integrated into the flock. Mine always kept to themselves for some time after that, but the hens didn't harass them, either. But a lot of people keep mama and chicks separate til mama rejects them. I've never had a roo or another hen do a chick any harm, but it can certainly happen -- and I've only raised 6 or 7 broods.

 

[Beekissed]

As for this thread...I sympathize, I really do. I understand what it's like to need to know the information but having that sneaking feeling that no one out there actually really knows the information but are just quoting something they read somewhere. In this world it's very difficult to find someone who actually has tried the information, applied it for years, tweaked it down to a science but are still tweaking daily and are willing to impart that level of tweakage to a wet behind the ears youngster. It's frustrating and feels like you will never get what you need.

But, this thread has become too unwieldy to use, as the OTs first predicted, and the information is getting repetitive and hard to monitor, then newbies come in to try to answer the questions for newbies and it all dissolves into the ridiculous. Blind leading the blind and how do you get all that back on the right path? I'll tell you how, because I've had to do it numerous times on this thread and it always turns out the same way...someone gets their nose out of joint or their toes stepped on and we have to have the same discussion~go back and read the first page, blah, blah, blah.

We are a little bored and a little jaded and I hope you all can sympathize with us a little on that one. It's like trying to teach a 21 year old about life...they know better than you, don't ya know, and you might THINK you know enough to advise us but we really know more than you because that old hen you told us to cull actually survived the extensive soaking and prodding to dislodge that egg and is hale and hardy in my yard as we speak so what about THAT, you ignorant old fart? That's the tone I detect now and, at that point, as with my own children, I throw up my hands and say, "You think you know it all? Have at it, son...learn the hard way." And you know? They DO. They need their own experience and hard knocks to get through their thick heads and grow up with their own knowledge. My sons now call me and ask for my advice...and now they actually TAKE the advice now and again. Big difference when they get out there and get knocked around and wake up one day realizing that Mom just might have a thing or two stored upstairs of use.

Sometimes the very best way to teach someone is to sit back and watch them fall because they refused the helping hand you had offered. The next time you offer, bet you they just might use it...who knows? Maybe not. It is a learning process but some of that learning, quite obviously, cannot be transferred and must actually be acquired knowledge from their own attempts to succeed. Maybe losing a few chickens, a butt load of money, or a loss of pride will soften the thick heads enough that some knowledge will creep in and make a home, who knows?

If the administrator is in agreement, and if enough people request it he just may be, this thread could become a "sticky" so that it won't get lost in the shuffle and newbies will still be able to find it and access it. Indexing such a huge amount of information is nigh impossible and would take so very long that one would need to get a paycheck at it to stay motivated.

That person just ain't me. I'm motivated by an eagerness to learn and accept a free gift and I see a serious lack of that on BYC as a whole, though a few are receptive and eager, the majority are "21 yr. old" newbies who know it all and must learn the hard way...and that's the best learned lessons in life anyway. Good for 'em and will sink in and last them longer than hand me down wisdom~that's how I got mine!

I learned from the OTs and made my own mistakes...but one thing I didn't ever do was look at Grandma and tell her that she doesn't know squat and that the lady down the street with 3 chickens knows more.

Al is working on figuring out a way to still help folks and I encourage any other OTs to pitch in and help but something needs to be done....I just don't know what. I'm fresh out of ideas of how to make this thread useful anymore. Maybe we could start an OT the Second Chapter for the more advanced chicken keepers that aren't newbies any longer but still need guidance along the way...I just don't know.