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

[Pullet Surprise]

i am chiming in late here. are you folks telling me there is a tv show about chickens and some person hugged a chicken.on the internet/ what the h---ll is wrong here. it is a chicken. plain a simple. chickens are kinda like a pigs with feathers. think about it. they will eat just about anything dead or alive. they walk, sleep in and eat their own crap. you mean to tell me there are people who hug chickens and make tv shows about them. sorry folks to me that is just beyond my comprehension. no i don't get it and i don;t want to get it. i feel it promotes a fad of chickening . i will bet when the fad dies there will be more homes needed for chickens via craigslist then people wanting them. thus creating the spreading of diseases. this in return will set more laws into place about where and how chickens are kept. zoning laws are getting tougher and tougher as it is with out this stupidity.

okay, i am off my rant.


bruce h ,

Absolutely! Like every other fad....only it's kinda hard to put chickens on a shelf after you get tired of playing with them. Guess that's why there are so many dogs in animal shelters etc. Commitment is something that seems to be lacking these days.

 

[armorfirelady]

i am chiming in late here. are you folks telling me there is a tv show about chickens and some person hugged a chicken.on the internet/ what the h---ll is wrong here. it is a chicken. plain a simple. chickens are kinda like a pigs with feathers. think about it. they will eat just about anything dead or alive. they walk, sleep in and eat their own crap. you mean to tell me there are people who hug chickens and make tv shows about them. sorry folks to me that is just beyond my comprehension. no i don't get it and i don;t want to get it. i feel it promotes a fad of chickening . i will bet when the fad dies there will be more homes needed for chickens via craigslist then people wanting them. thus creating the spreading of diseases. this in return will set more laws into place about where and how chickens are kept. zoning laws are getting tougher and tougher as it is with out this stupidity.

okay, i am off my rant.


bruce h ,

Bruce I sure hope your cross beaked chicken hear you say that......she would be very upset

 

[galanie]

Chiming in late on the GMO corn thing. I got some organic non-gmo corn for myself. It is dry "dent corn." Mine won't eat the corn in regular scratch either. Threw a few grains of the nonGMO at them... gobbled it right up. Cracked some and gave them more.. they turned their noses up at it. LOL. I guess it just looked like the "bad stuff" so they didn't bother.

Incidentally, I was at the store yesterday and the wild bird food was cheaper than the scratch I got at the feed store last week. Yep, got them a bag.

 

[Beekissed]

Oh wow, I missed a few days and you all pile 200 posts on me?

Just want to add my own post to the pile!! I feel left out!

Cute Puppy. Keep your family safe against the Big Cat. Call a trapper if it's Illegal to shoot it... or employ the OTS Advise SSS.
Poor chicken...Smart Hawk. Was that a mini fuzzy rooster chasing that cat???? Isn't the "dancing" bad rooster behavior? Hug a chicken over the internet?!?

whatever gives you, your 5 minutes of fame I guess.

Beekissed; Since you live too far away from me, I'd like to let you know that, if I lived close to you, I would STEAL your chickens.

They just seem so ... Nature Savvy.They got those "street smarts" You've used the axe on the right ones.

So I'll do the next best thing... Do You sell fertile eggs from your flock?


My dumbdumbs kept eating and cooing while they "foraged" on wednesday (I think) There was a hawk flying above I had to run to the backyard and shoo 'em in the coop. He's been eyeing them for a-while but it's the first time he has been THAT close. I see him when I go on walks. He usually eats the morning doves 'round here.
Would the Ospreys eat chickens too? I know they like fish... but they are a Hawk. hmmm Ill have to look that up. I have a lot of those around where I live.

Hello Everyone!!

No, I don't sell fertile eggs and am even now awaiting the return to normal lay...if it ever happens after the shock to their systems from poor management(long story). But I think they are really savvy and wary and am glad for it...until I have to catch them, even off the roost. Then it's like a chicken rodeo and squawking loud enough to bring every predator for miles around.

To them, everyone and everything is a predator~and they've never been "preyed" upon. Go figure...guess that's why. They don't walk calmly through open spaces....they run and flap to the other side. Unless they are grazing in the clover, they don't linger in the open spaces. For old folks, they sure are quick of foot and are the devil to catch and hold.

No chicken petting or hugging here...might take some hide off me for my efforts. As Al would say, "They WILL poke yer eye out!"

 

[maidenwolfx80]

For the first time I have been seeing a red tailed hawk,, maybe more than one, circling the area. My turkeys will see it and sound the alarm and the chickens run for cover while the turkeys stand out in the yard still as can be with their heads turned towards the sky until the threat is gone. That darn thing has been back every day and I am afraid he is looking for an opportunity to strike. My gpa shot one down one time when I was growing up, it swooped down and snatched a hen out of the yard and he shot the bird down and saved his hen, glad he is a good shot huh? I do not want an attack, does anyonehave any advice on how to keep them away or deter them?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Never did....around here they just call it The Almanac, 'cause everyone is an old farmer.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Info on Just One Bite bars and where to find them (also a coupon to print out) http://www.farnamhorse.com/product.php?type=HORSE&mainkey=200005&pid=100442&key=300002 I agree with beekissed, JOB is fantastic. Some people say JOB is more attractive to rodents than Tomcat (thus more effective), all I can tell you is that JOB is appropriately named and really works.

Okay since I've never used poison I actually bought a humane release mouse trap for the house[go ahead and laugh ya'll] Since I have put this Tom Cat out is it going to draw the mice into the coops? I haven't actually seen any evidence of them being inside but yesterday I was sitting and watching the flock and saw a vole in broad daylight scampering around eating dropped feed off the ground.

 

[Kansas Prairie]

It's 23 degrees here in SW Kansas, feels like we got our hard freeze. This should help with my family's allergies.
Beautiful sunrise this morning. I'm headed out to see how my animals are this morning.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Danny color is called Pie Bald, don't ask me why. I also have a Chocolate Dapple.

 

[galanie]

Info on Just One Bite bars and where to find them (also a coupon to print out) 

Okay since I've never used poison I actually bought a humane release mouse trap for the house[go ahead and laugh ya'll] Since I have put this Tom Cat out is it going to draw the mice into the coops? I haven't actually seen any evidence of them being inside but yesterday I was sitting and watching the flock and saw a vole in broad daylight scampering around eating dropped feed off the ground. 

I accidentally found a great mouse trap for the house. A 5 gallon bucket of water. But you have to be sure the toilet seats are all down lol. Thought I had a mouse a couple years ago. Turns out I had three. When they say you never just have one mouse, they're right.