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

[smyers32]

Looks like winter has joined us here in the midwest. Beautiful day thru the windows, but man that wind is vicious! All my family is in northern Virginia, so I'm pullin' for everybody out east. Batten down the hatches! Hope everyone comes thru it ok.
I want to thank Bee and Bruceh for patiently answering a million questions for me, only have about a half million more. I cleaned out my dad's wood stove for him today.

The chickens and I should be mite free. They certainly aren't lacking in energy, every one of them put up a helluva fight! The dogs are lobbying to make every day "Torture the Chickens" day, they said it was the best show they've ever seen.
I gave everyone a top to bottom inspection, noticed these little black specks on Mr. Nixon's comb. They mostly come off when I scrape a finger over them. I'm thinking nothing to worry about, but please correct me if I'm wrong.


I figured Bee would probably just slap some nustock on it and call it good.

But I haven't been able to find any around here and I'm really not interested in having to order it online. I did get some Cut-Heal ointment to put on one hen's legs. She was the worst looking one of the bunch, and has made huge progress. But I noticed a couple weeks ago that her legs were all scaley and gross looking just above her feet. I put some of this on her and it seems to have helped a lot. I reapplied today after dusting and slapped some on the roo comb as well. I figure if it's a skin malady, the tea tree oil will do wonders. The ingredients of my ointment: Crude fish oil, raw linseed oil, tea tree oil and balsam of fir, fumed silica and propylene glycol.
So now, I guess I'm just gonna give it a couple weeks w/ the FF and see how they look.
One question though, can/should I add the BOSS to the FF or feed it seperate? The eat some when I just throw it down, but they really aren't crazy for it. It eventually all gets picked up. But I'm thinking calf manna may be the way to go. I was just trying to avoid the extra cost.
Anyway, thanks again so much for all your generosity of time and knowledge.

 

[Beekissed]

They don't go crazy for BOSS????

My chickens would kill their grandma and sell her kidneys to get a hit of BOSS....

Yes, you can place it right in the FF...it's the first thing that gets picked out of mine, then the larger cut grains and, last, the finer mash.

I've seen a few of those black speckles on a comb or two once or twice down through the years but never paid it any mind...it goes away shortly. I just took it as a fungal/mold like you'd see on anything outside in the rain all the time and it never sticks around, so I never give it a second's thought.

Amazon is the cheapest place for Nustock....I LOVE Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...r=8-1&keywords=nustock+ointment&condition=new I also found cheap sulfur powder on Amazon with which to make my own Nustock. No more finding and paying for a 12 oz. tube...I'm going to make myself a big ol' bunch of it. Cheap and effective stuff after you get to making your own.



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That's my kind of dogs!! My silly old Jake gets all worried and starts whining and prancing around trying to get me to stop making his chickens yell....he likes a quiet flock and will even intervene between roosters that are getting ready to fight. He's such a mothering, worrier type dog....I call him a sissy, right to his face.

 

[loanwizard]

Hey all,

As the storm of the century makes landfall, I wish everyone in harms way safety.

That said, I have noticed that this thread is nearly 1000 pages long. I have been skipping pages to keep up and wish to share a thought or two on that subject.

Seems, this has turned into quite a social gathering. Not that I don't like it that way, and not that I am not guilty of posting totally non relevant stuff in an attempt to be funny, but, especially with the Main OT in all probability going to lose power for some time, I would ask that several of the OT's and especially those of us that are not OT's but have learned their wisdom, or attempted to, and any other person that is not a backyarder still sorting out information and making decisions whether said information is good useful information or fluff, to help keep this thread headed in the right direction, and limit our socialization.

I suppose I ought to start my own word document as this thing is looooooonnnnnggggg!

Anyhow, not trying to tell anyone what to do, but we are all here for the same purpose aren't we.

Stay safe people!

Shawn

 

[capayvalleychick]

Questions for those who have decided to breed a specific breed to APA standard while trying to maintain adequate productivity:

How many birds did you start with? How many lines if more than a pair?

Do you always winter over only a certain number, or do you decide how many to winter over based on the overall quality of the year's chicks?

Do you prefer broody-hatched even if you have to use another hen to brood? Do you keep 2nd tier quality hens long enough to know whether they will brood their own eggs (and possibly others)? Is brooding a goal for most breeds or only certain ones? Or do you prefer to use an incubator to keep the top tier hens laying and always eliminate the rest from the program?

How many years would a very good rooster and hen be useful in your breeding program?

Did you sit down and crunch numbers before deciding to start, to set financial goals in terms of the birds covering the expense of the program at or by a specific point in the future? Or is it like breeding pets where the money is considered spent and largely unrecoverable? Since this is livestock, I realize those bred strictly for production would have financial goals, but wondered about those striving for the SOP.

Appreciate any and all wisdom you have to share.

Judi

I'm glad that you got some good answers to your questions. I recently started breeding to the SOP, after making many mistakes along the way. Not sure if I can be of any help.

I started out with a couple feed store chickens in the suburbs, in the mid 90's. Bought a ranch in '99, so I finally had a larger flock of mixed chickens. These were my most productive as far as eggs & reproducing themselves but no good for meat. Got my first purebred, heritage breed chickens in '05. I was only keeping one rooster at this point, with 6-12 hens. I expected them to go broody like the mutts and they didn't. I prefer having broody hens over incubating, so that is a long range goal. I can't get enough chicks hatched to make improvements in my strain, so I have to rely on incubators, right now.
I didn't think the APA Standard was important back then. I bought chickens from multiple sources, added a second cockerel. I didn't cull, except for extra roosters. These were ok for meat but definitely needed improvement in size, weight etc. A year ago, I bought the SOP and realized that following it and breeding to exhibition standards would enhance the meat characteristics of my birds. I'm not going to keep buying more birds from outside sources, instead work on developing my own strain, using the SOP and advice from the masters who have had success. I do cull now. I'm keeping multiple cockerels and fewer (better) hens. I'm trying to get down to a dozen hens for the winter, instead of 20-50. I do sell grass pastured eating eggs, as a way to make a little income, so I also need to keep enough hens to supply my customers with eggs.
I do have a problem that the few hens that are the ones who go broody are the ones with defects. They seem to sneak their own eggs into the *surrogate* eggs. This year, I'm culling the ones with bad defects, even if they go broody. This is hard for me because I love a good broody hen.
My hens last for many years but my cock birds don't, for some reason. They die from the heat or stop being fertile. I don't know if this is normal.

I am horrible about budgeting or crunching numbers. I put my breeding goals and the preservation of all the rare and endangered breeds of livestock & poultry above everything else. I'm definitely spending more than I'm making. We are really struggling financially right now and my husband blames it on my animals. I'm going to have to get creative and more practical in terms of making my projects more sustainable.

 

[Gargoyle]

I've seen a few of those black speckles on a comb or two once or twice down through the years but never paid it any mind...it goes away shortly. I just took it as a fungal/mold like you'd see on anything outside in the rain all the time and it never sticks around, so I never give it a second's thought.

My roos have always gotten some of those spots, they clear up after a little while. I thought maybe they came from pecking. I never did anything about them, they never spread or grew.

This 5-1/2 month old some of those spots a month ago. When he was a bit younger the big hens would peck at him from time to time. Now he's too tall, they can't reach up that high.

 

[Beekissed]

Hello Judi,


I approach chicken farming as a food expense. I raise dual birds. If a dozen of eggs cost me more in feed than buying them in the store I am doing something wrong. My other expenses, like electricity, fencing, maintenance, equipment costs need to be covered by the chicken we eat and sell. I keep expense records of all purchases and log them. I have a yearly projected budget for expenses that I try really hard to keep to. If I am short because of feed price cost increase I do another hatch out and sell birds at the end of the year fair. I have a plan/and back up plan and I stick to my plan.

I do not always have a specific number for wintering. I cull out the old, non productive, injured, cockerels, and irritating (flock stupid) as soon as possible. I do not cull questionable until full spring. Sometimes birds need a longer rest and some pullets are sexually slow developers. Some of my best and longest eggers have taken a bit longer. As a matter of fact I have a 6 year old hen I should cull. She lays an egg a day. She molted out last year and never regained her feathering. She is in constant quill. I know I have to cull her soon. Does it make sense to winter her and feed her only to cull her in spring? I have never kept one of her offspring, yet she is a great egg producer. A bird that has been such a great producer you simply hate to make those types of decisions. I tell myself, she lays an egg a day, it makes no sense to cull her, yet, I see her and know she has given me good years of eggs, and no chicks worth keeping and I am grateful for the 6 years and its time. I know I am going to cull her, I just fight it. I have wintered 6 hens and I have wintered 30. This year I will have my trio of Orps, 6 layers, 4 pullets, one roo, 2 hen Muscovy's, and one drake. At this moment I have over 60 birds. 20 of birds are freezer bound. 10 are holiday gifts, and the rest are for the market.

My Orps are the only birds that I breed to standard. They are for show and 4H. They taste good too if they are non producers, bad foragers, or simply don't look stunning. They are good egg producers and meat birds. If not, they are pot bound. They are chickens, I treat them like chickens. They earn their keep one way or another.I have a Trio and keep the original Trio. I have not decided or made next years plan for expansion for housing for the Orpingtons. I will not keep more until I have the housing, and resources to do so. I will hatch out a spring batch and make further plans after the hatch out. I control all of my hatch outs, be it with a hen or the bator, or a combination.

My chickens are NOT my pets. I understand the need for someone to have a chicken for a pet. They are lovely creatures and I spend hours with them everyday. I am not as reluctant to sell a chick for a pet, although that took me a long time to get used to. I thought people were crazy to want a chicken for a pet. Now I just ask tons of questions to make sure the person has knowledge. Funny thing is I have less problems selling my chickens to the snake man. He buys a chicken from me every few months. I know my chicken is going for feed, not kept in a rabbit hutch in the back yard, or worse yet in the house or basement.

The new generation is going to keep chickens. They are smart and economy savoy. They know what a budget is.They love to work and have great work ethics. The future of chickens is in good hands.My grandchildren will make great chicken farmers.

Love this post as well!

 

[caj1985]

"Yes, we've already learned that lesson the hard way. We've spent over a thousand dollars (my hub calls her our milion dollar chicken) on our Rhode Island White (or RIR/Leghorn mix, not sure yet).
She had all sorts of infections from the feed store, thankfully I took her to the vet the first day we got her so she was never around the rest of our chickens. She miraculously lived through the horrible ordeal of us having to tube feed her, 3 procedures on her sinus cavities, pox, and she was barely even skin and bones when we got her and could barely hold her head up by the next day. She's gettin' fat & sassy now, as that was back in early July.
Ours are free range too, also protected by a very dutiful jack russel terrier and shitzu...lol. Our backyard is completely fenced and the chickens think the dogs are part of their flock...lol."


This is a quote from another thread on here. AAAAAHHHHHH!!! I can not imagine.

 

[Beekissed]

And the vet sings as he drives to the bank to deposit his money, all the while gloating to himself, "A fool and her money is MY kind of woman!"

 

[Gargoyle]

This is a quote from another thread on here. AAAAAHHHHHH!!! I can not imagine.

Keep in mind, the pet care industry in the US is Enormous. The amount of money spent every year on pets is more than the amount spent on music, movies and video games combined. Massive.

If you want to know how crazy people are, just consider Nuticles.

Neuticles are polypropylene balls surgically placed into the scrotum of neutered dogs to give them the appearance of an "un-altered state." It helps them to adjust phychologically to the ego busting trauma of losing their manhood. Over half a million of these have been sold and implanted.

From their website:
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(edited to fix spelling)

 

[Miss Lydia]

My roos have always gotten some of those spots, they clear up after a little while. I thought maybe they came from pecking. I never did anything about them, they never spread or grew.

This 5-1/2 month old some of those spots a month ago. When he was a bit younger the big hens would peck at him from time to time. Now he's too tall, they can't reach up that high.

He sure is pretty!