OK. Maybe I do have pets because I have bantams and polish and they will live out there lives here. I won't get any more though...I'll try not to get any more...
Colorado
- Thread starter tsgreer
- Start date
Hola CO chicken peeps! Lots of interesting topics in this thread. Maggie,I know I am new to chicken keeping and all, but I have to agree with Wendell,on viewing the girls as livestock. We are of the mind set of raising chickens mostly for eggs. However if there is someone in the flock who is mean or another rooster then we have made up our minds that they will be culled and we will eat them. If we fall on hard times and push came to shove, we would eat them as well. If I think of them as pets we would be in trouble.just my two cents. Now ask me after we have culled our first bird if view points have changed.
Here are some pics of the gang free ranging, they have gotten their first taste of it this week. They love it! Also here are some updated shots of mystery black birds, their feather patterns are developing more and more.
- We believe that this one might be a double laced Barnevelder.
Here are some pics of the gang free ranging, they have gotten their first taste of it this week. They love it! Also here are some updated shots of mystery black birds, their feather patterns are developing more and more.
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Great discussions this week 
Nice pics COChix! No clue about your mystery chickens, I guess as long as they lay well and are easy keepers, it probably doesn't matter?
Maggiemo, Ashdoes and Wendell did such a good job of explaining his system I have precious little to add, except to say that I live with someone who treats every living being as a pet, and cannot wrap his head around processing any bird that has ever lived at our house, even though he logically understands all the reasons it is infinitely preferable to store-bought chicken. The older he gets, the more emotional attachment he develops to creatures in our world.
That being true, when a bird has to be culled, I try to sell or give to someone who will use it. I currently have a gorgeous but dreadfully cross-beaked Lavender Ameraucana cockerel who will ultimately have to be processed. I have tried to give him away for 2 months, and no takers, so he will go to the swap in Brighton this Sunday. I can't justify the care, food, and space he requires - he isn't able to mount a hen, so I know his genes have not been passed on, he is a very friendly bird who sometimes leaps into my arms when I'm bringing around their evening meal, but he serves no purpose. We already have a few that are pets, and I don't have room, time, or resources for another.
I've been spending quite a bit of time examining what I have and what I want to end up with as we tick off the days of summer. I think it's the time of year we all do that. Sometimes I decide to sell a bird because no matter how nice it is, I just don't care for the temperament - if I don't like living with it, there's no point having it. It is one of many reasons my flock is ever-evolving, as is true of many keepers. Even when I agree to take less than the actual value of the bird, which happens often, if it is going to a great home or a humane processor, and I no longer have to feed or care for it, it is sometimes the best I can achieve.
For some it may seem harsh to view a flock through the lens of effort and cost, and to those people I apologize if this conversation has offended you. For me, as others have stated, the birds are mainly livestock, save the few that are pets. A pullet/hen that lays poorly is no good to me as a layer nor as a breeder - I don't want to perpetuate poor production in any breed, and for a layer I'd be further ahead to keep extras I don't need in the breeding pen that are nonetheless nearly as good, in case something happens to the better ones. Anyone who's had chickens a bit of time knows, things happen.
Nice pics COChix! No clue about your mystery chickens, I guess as long as they lay well and are easy keepers, it probably doesn't matter?Maggiemo, Ashdoes and Wendell did such a good job of explaining his system I have precious little to add, except to say that I live with someone who treats every living being as a pet, and cannot wrap his head around processing any bird that has ever lived at our house, even though he logically understands all the reasons it is infinitely preferable to store-bought chicken. The older he gets, the more emotional attachment he develops to creatures in our world.
That being true, when a bird has to be culled, I try to sell or give to someone who will use it. I currently have a gorgeous but dreadfully cross-beaked Lavender Ameraucana cockerel who will ultimately have to be processed. I have tried to give him away for 2 months, and no takers, so he will go to the swap in Brighton this Sunday. I can't justify the care, food, and space he requires - he isn't able to mount a hen, so I know his genes have not been passed on, he is a very friendly bird who sometimes leaps into my arms when I'm bringing around their evening meal, but he serves no purpose. We already have a few that are pets, and I don't have room, time, or resources for another.
I've been spending quite a bit of time examining what I have and what I want to end up with as we tick off the days of summer. I think it's the time of year we all do that. Sometimes I decide to sell a bird because no matter how nice it is, I just don't care for the temperament - if I don't like living with it, there's no point having it. It is one of many reasons my flock is ever-evolving, as is true of many keepers. Even when I agree to take less than the actual value of the bird, which happens often, if it is going to a great home or a humane processor, and I no longer have to feed or care for it, it is sometimes the best I can achieve.
For some it may seem harsh to view a flock through the lens of effort and cost, and to those people I apologize if this conversation has offended you. For me, as others have stated, the birds are mainly livestock, save the few that are pets. A pullet/hen that lays poorly is no good to me as a layer nor as a breeder - I don't want to perpetuate poor production in any breed, and for a layer I'd be further ahead to keep extras I don't need in the breeding pen that are nonetheless nearly as good, in case something happens to the better ones. Anyone who's had chickens a bit of time knows, things happen.
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Thanks for your .02 cents Judi. My husband is English and he would call your husband a 'big girls blouse'.
I think anyone offended by this conversation isn't listening. We all anguish over doing the best we can. We just do it differently. I try (try) to think of my flock as one organism like my bee colonies. You can't just think of the queen, or workers, or just the honey at the end of the day. A weak chicken submits to disease or injury or reproductive problems, at least they do in my flock. I am just getting to the point of being able to recognize a couple of those problems. I want to get better at doing that. That is why I brought up this subject.
If someone wants to keep a bird a live at all costs, good for them. I'm won't.
I should add that if any of my 'pet' bantams or polish show any signs of laying problems, other than slowing down from old age. I will cull them. I have lost two birds to reproductive problems and watched them decline. I will cull any bird I have if I see signs of reproductive problems.
I haven't had a mean bird yet. Is that weird? I guess I would put them on time out and maybe rehome. It would depend in the individual situation.
Thanks everyone. Keep those comments coming.
mo
I think anyone offended by this conversation isn't listening. We all anguish over doing the best we can. We just do it differently. I try (try) to think of my flock as one organism like my bee colonies. You can't just think of the queen, or workers, or just the honey at the end of the day. A weak chicken submits to disease or injury or reproductive problems, at least they do in my flock. I am just getting to the point of being able to recognize a couple of those problems. I want to get better at doing that. That is why I brought up this subject.
If someone wants to keep a bird a live at all costs, good for them. I'm won't.
I should add that if any of my 'pet' bantams or polish show any signs of laying problems, other than slowing down from old age. I will cull them. I have lost two birds to reproductive problems and watched them decline. I will cull any bird I have if I see signs of reproductive problems.
I haven't had a mean bird yet. Is that weird? I guess I would put them on time out and maybe rehome. It would depend in the individual situation.
Thanks everyone. Keep those comments coming.
mo
I think your consideration of the flock as a whole is a great approach. I agree, once you've watched a few decline and realize they've suffered long before you spotted the signs, it gets easier to cull sooner rather than later. It's our responsibility to those in our care to prevent suffering as much as possible, especially when the outcome is inevitable, and most especially when you know once they reach a certain level of weakness they are as likely as not to be culled by their flockmates, who always, no matter what, will protect the wellbeing of the flock over that of a weak individual.
I would not say I've ever had a mean bird, not toward humans anyway, but I've had some with temperaments that just make me tired - I handle my birds a fair amount, and when every single encouter is met with "aagghhh!!! She's trying to kill me!!!" it gets old. If I didn't handle them much I would probably feel different. I find some are just more amenable than others, and those are the ones I prefer to keep. It may be related to the fact I'm not getting any younger, and am certainly not getting more agile LOL.
To each his and her own, as with many things in life. We all learn and evolve as we gain more time on the planet and more experience with our flocks. Having been without for 10 years before I came back to chicken keeping 2 years ago, I've found I regularly change things, depending on what I observe in the flock on a particular day, or over the course of a few days. When everything seems just right and I think, okay, now I can just keep this routine and I'm good! Something will change. A pullet starts looking not exactly right, the weather beats down on us with a vengeance, fertility or hatchability goes down, something. I try this, that, and the other thing, and when things look better again I know the next change is around the corner
I would not say I've ever had a mean bird, not toward humans anyway, but I've had some with temperaments that just make me tired - I handle my birds a fair amount, and when every single encouter is met with "aagghhh!!! She's trying to kill me!!!" it gets old. If I didn't handle them much I would probably feel different. I find some are just more amenable than others, and those are the ones I prefer to keep. It may be related to the fact I'm not getting any younger, and am certainly not getting more agile LOL.
To each his and her own, as with many things in life. We all learn and evolve as we gain more time on the planet and more experience with our flocks. Having been without for 10 years before I came back to chicken keeping 2 years ago, I've found I regularly change things, depending on what I observe in the flock on a particular day, or over the course of a few days. When everything seems just right and I think, okay, now I can just keep this routine and I'm good! Something will change. A pullet starts looking not exactly right, the weather beats down on us with a vengeance, fertility or hatchability goes down, something. I try this, that, and the other thing, and when things look better again I know the next change is around the corner
Can anyone help this person!!!
Mites - sorry, missed this one, thanks GrandmaBird - if you are okay with using chemicals I would go to the feed store and get two things, the concentrate you mix with water and either spray or dunk them all, and the powder to put in the coop, on the roosts, and even in the run after they go to bed if you have wood chips in the run. I believe the active ingredient in the concentrate is permethrin. I used it last year when I had a hen pretty badly infested, and had no problems afterward.
can DE be used for this? I don't know it was just a thought.
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