Consolidated Kansas

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye, that is wonderful news about your DH's job and that you might be able to stay after all!!!

Regarding life expectancy, my understanding is that a chicken *can* live up to about 12-15 years of age. That said, they rarely do, due to predation, illness etc. As with dogs, size counts too. SpeckledHen lost her big 'ol roo last week, who was 6 years old and she said that was a long life for a boy of his size. I have heard of people on the forum with 6-year-old hens that are still laying the occasional egg.

Depending on breed, they do get burned out faster. The production egg layers like Red Sexlinks and Barred Rocks, will lay like crazy for their first season or two and then the lay rate drops drastically. This is the point where most people get rid of them. I did have a BR in her third season who was still laying pretty well though. The heritage breeds, that often don't churn out the eggs at the rate of the production egg layers (maybe 3 per week rather than 6), will lay for a lot longer. No doubt the anecdotal stories of 6-year-old hens that are still laying, are heritage birds that never laid that prolifically even when they were younger.

I suspect that the high lay rate of the production layers does also shorten their lives though. Reproduction takes its toll on the body and egg-laying is of course a feature of reproduction, even when no rooster is around. So it makes sense that a hen who is putting all of that energy into laying an egg-a-day is also aging faster than one whose body is able to recuperate a little more in between eggs.

Just my thoughts....

That would sure make a lot of sense! Thank you so much for your thoughts on this! I bet you are right about the larger birds/production egg layers. My barred rocks are BEASTS when it comes to laying-- every single day-- even thru this insane heat. They just never miss. That will be sad when they go. I'll have to get more BR's again for sure when these guys die. I love that they lay a nice dark brown egg with good size to them and that they are daily. Great layers... just not nice to my Polish. Ah well, thank goodness for pinless peepers for the meanies. I hate to sound mean... but it's kind of nice that if they are done laying, they are at the end of their life expectancy. I already have a horse that is a welfare case! I don't need more animals not doing their jobs! LOL

Sad about Speckled Hen's rooster. She sure loves her birds.

 

[chicken danz]

My internet is down and has been a good deal of the weekend. I am so sick of this. I wish we had other options. It just keeps getting worse. It used to be great before verizon took over for Altell. Same with our cell phones.
So I am typing blind without reading anything anyone might have posted. It's already hot and muggy out this morning. I was doing my morning( in the house) feeding.My peachick woke me up at 7:00 this morning. He was making non-stop noise. The chicks I put in with were scared of him and he was lonely. I cleaned out his bin, removed those chicks, and put a couple of the lemon cuckoos that I moved outside back in with him. Now he is perfectly happy. He has his buddies. The chicks didn't seem to mind although I think they were loving being able to be outside and run around in the pen.
Last night I couldn't get the young birds out there in the house. They all wanted to cower in the corner of the pen. So I finally put a florescent light bulk in a clamp on light in the chicken house and set them in one by one. Light was the equalizer. They all stayed in then. I guess I'll just use that for a week or so and then remove it and see if they will learn to sleep inside.
My heat exhausted hen is just sitting there. She won't eat or drink. If I dip her beak she swallows but she won't do it on her own. And after I dip it a couple times she quits swallowing.The lights are on but nobody's home. I'll treat her but if she won't eat and drink she won't live. It's too bad.
Hawkeye that would be great news if you got to stay in Wichita. I can't imagine you wanting to sell your house though unless the distance wasn't convenient for your DH to get to work. You've put so much work into your place there with your chicken house, horse barn and all those trees. I guess if you could find a bigger house with all you needed as well it would be fun to move and start a new adventure.
I had another dozen or so Sussex chicks hatch out this morning. There's also a few mixed Orpington chicks in there too. I don't know what I will do with those. Technically they would make good layers but I am wanting to keep pure bred stock around here, other than the red star/brahma mixed chicks. Maybe I can sell some soon since people are gearing up for fall chicks again.

 

[chicken danz]

Back up for a minute. David do you have a rooster? If so that could very well be rooster damage. Also age might be a factor. How old are they? If over a year old they could be moulting. I've got lots of bare butts around here. If they don't have wounds they could be just fine. Also you might have mites and not know it. I looked and looked and couldn't find any on mine regardless. But a topical treatment of ivermetin and they started feathering back in. So there must have been something going on. Also the heat could affect feathering loss.

 

[HEChicken]

Danz, I do hope your hen makes it. In the past when I've seen a chicken acting that way - inward, non-responsive - it has pretty much been all over, but I recently had one that recovered so I'll give you a little hope that she will make it. When I interrupted the fox that second day, my Cuckoo Marans came running across the yard towards me. There was no sign of injury although her feathers looked ruffled. In any case, my focus was on getting rid of the problem so I didn't have time to examine her. After the fox had been dispatched, I went looking and found her already starting to withdraw. I picked her up and examined her and that is when I discovered the 4 bite wounds on her back. I put Neosporin into the wounds and put her back with the others. My feelings regarding segregation are that when a bird is infections, segregation is important so they don't spread the infection or if they have an injury that will be pecked by the others, they should be segregated, but in this case she wasn't infectious and her wounds weren't visible unless you spread the feathers so I didn't think the others would mess with her. So, I decided she'd probably be happier with others of her kind than add to the stress of the attack by moving her into a strange environment (inside the house) and away from her flockmates.

Next morning she was still with me but was completely withdrawn by then. She wouldn't even move out of the sun to stand in the shade. I moved her around all day to make sure she didn't overheat, and I set her next to the water and food bowls so she could eat and drink. Each night I lifted her onto the roost and woke up early so I could lift her down again next morning. I figured she was probably in pain from her injuries and getting off and on the roost was probably more than she could take.

Three days went by like this. I didn't see her eat or drink in spite of my best efforts, and I just knew I was losing her. She wasn't showing any signs of snapping out of it either. So I decided to get her an egg, but wasn't sure how I was going to make sure she had access to it without it being eaten by the others first. I got really lucky that by the time I got back with the egg, she was in the coop and only one other hen was with her. I shut the auto door and that gave her an opportunity to take her time to eat. I cracked the egg into a bowl and saw her look towards the bowl with interest - the first interest she had shown in anything in 3 days. She slowly walked over, dipped her beak and started to eat. She didn't eat much but that she ate at all gave me the first ray of hope that she would make it. After that she slowly picked up eating and drinking and a few weeks later started to lay again. I incubated one of her eggs and now have a little chick who is 3 weeks old tomorrow. Tips (named by DD) was the first to hatch and has been an ornery little booger ever since

A few more of her eggs are in my incubator right now and there is movement in all of them.

Since this all happened I have noticed a change in her. She was an aloof hen before, but since this happened she has become very friendly, approaching me when I go out to the coop and often walking between my legs, letting her feathers brush against them on the way through. I don't pretend to know what a chicken "thinks" but it really does feel that she understands how much I tried to help her.

Anyway, hopefully your hen will recover too. It sounds like you are doing all the right things, making sure she stays hydrated. Perhaps some probiotics in the water so she gets a little boost in the few sips she has? Ultimately time is the great healer when stress is involved and I hope she hangs in there long enough to let time do its thing.

 

[chicken danz]

Medawinks, I sent you a PM yesterday. Let me know what you think.
Thanks HeChicken for the encouragement. I'm not sure what to do about this girl. I keep putting effort into nursing chickens back to health and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But I have to try. It does get discouraging though when you spend weeks of dropper feeding only to have them die any way.
I need to get out and get some things done but not looking forward to the heat and humidity.

 

[chicken danz]

The hen died later this morning. I took her out to see the other hens I got her with and she had her fit and died. She is on the stove now and my dogs are going to have a nice broth and chicken pieces on their dinner. She had some levidity from not moving around so I didn't want to eat her myself. Sad, this one had an egg starting to form.

 

[JosieChick]

I went to see the BirdMan today and now have a pair of Royal Palm Turkeys - I am so excited for them to get settled in here. So far, they seem to be doing fine and adapting to their new environs. I am enjoying the sounds they make! The jake is a little younger than the hen and sadly, had his beak trimmed. I'm sure he will catch up with her in size in no time.

Congrats on the RPs. Mine are not growing nearly as fast as I had expected....

Step away from the chick bin. Keep hands and feet clear.

I have to keep reminding myself how much work chicks are. I told my DH yesterday that in the spring I want to get 3 or 4 chicks, and that a couple of our older girls aren't looking too good. He was more concerned about the 2 hens that are failing than he was about my having more chickens. He is definitely a keeper.

Sharol

That is cute, he is a keeper!

I've been hatching some again. Not intentionally for the most part. Is it ever intentional?? Anyway I ordered some more eggs yesterday but they are being shipped so who knows how that will turn out. Ultimately I just want a few more Lemon cuckoo and lavender girls to make it worthwhile to give them an area of their own. I just don't like to have birds confined to pens.
Another busy day here. I've got to run to a town about an hour away and pick up some pullets. I'm getting a few more redstars from a guy who decided to go with strictly bantams. Since I have a few missing I can use some replacements. They aren't quite old enough to lay but will be soon. I have all these eggs in the incubator as well for the redstar/brahma mixes. With that many hens I should have plenty of eggs in the future that I can let the breeders just be breeders.
I need to complete cleaning out and disinfecting the brooder house. Those people never showed or called yesterday. I had specific plans on where to put what but until they come get their birds I can't make it happen. Grrrr!
Then after I get back today I have someone coming to pick up a rooster. Add 10 birds, substract one bird = downsizing!

Only in m world!!

Hahaha! I think hatching eggs is always intentional if you put them in the bator!

Tweety, yes that was your friend. She just left. I gave her a couple of sussex chicks to take home because they thought the sussex were really pretty. Good business practice. She said if they grew up and were as pretty as mine she'd send people my way.
I had just an awful afternoon. I drove an hour each way to pick up 10 pullets. The AC quit cooling in my car on the way home. I got home with 4 dead ones and a 5th I am still trying to get to recover. It wasn't a good chicken buy with losses like that!!! I rushed in and butchered the 4 that died. They are young so there isn't much to them but at least they will make good soup stock or something. I do hope this other one recovers. She is sitting on a vent on the floor enjoying the AC. I do hope the others all do okay. You never know they long term effects of the heat.
Pretty heartbreaking.
Hawkeye I do know where my old friend is, I just thought Cherwill might know her since it isn't a huge city. I never did find the photo of that one picture I painted for my sister by the way.

Oh how sad, that is such a bummer, it has been so hot out the last few days.

I just moved my lemon cuckoos that were in with my peachick out to the chicken house with the lavenders . I put my little albino turkey in with the peachick but she wasn't happy. So she went back out the the chicken house. I just moved some younger lavenders over to the peachick and (s)he seems happy again. The peachick was yelling. It hated being alone. Sure wish I'd get those other two so it could have some real buddies.

That pea chick is spoiled! Hope it likes its new pea friends!

Need some advice. My SLW has had a chunk of her feathers pulled out by some of the other birds. She now has a bare patch on her back about 1" in diameter that looks "raw" but not "bleeding". I don't see any signs of mites or other pests. I also have a BLRW that is being picked on too, but not nearly as bad. Is this normal? What do I treat it with or should I just leave it alone?

Are they younger than the other birds? Sometimes the younger or lowest on the pecking order get picked on. Make sure you separate the injured so they don't get picked worse. Blu kote is good to use to cover up any red raw flesh (chickens can't help but pick at a bloody wound)

The hen died later this morning. I took her out to see the other hens I got her with and she had her fit and died. She is on the stove now and my dogs are going to have a nice broth and chicken pieces on their dinner. She had some levidity from not moving around so I didn't want to eat her myself. Sad, this one had an egg starting to form.

Bummer, that is too bad. Sorry she didn't make it. You feed the dogs chicken? I have read mixed info on feeding LGDs the flesh of those they protect. Some people say it doesn't make any difference and some have said it creates a taste for it? They don't ever get raw chicken do they? Maybe that is the difference...


Hawkeye- So glad you get to stick around!


Hi to everyone else! I have been out of the loop for a bit so sorry if I missed anyone. Lucie is doing really well with her new family. The kids love her to pieces and the neighbors dogs love her too. It is a perfect set up for her because the neighbors board horses and they are right next to the peoples driveway so she can go hang out with them when the boys are in school. Last I heard the two youngest were having a hard time sharing her! I am sad she is gone but I have also had a ton of birds get loose the last few days and it is nice to not have a panic attack that they are injured or killed. Instead they are just wandering around wondering how they wound up on the wrong side of the fence!

Danz- Seramas are doing well. The little hen has been a good mom to her brood and I stuck the eggs in the bator and candled them last night and several of them had movement. I don't know how far along they are but nobody has pipped their air cell so I guess I will just keep an eye on them and crank up the humidity when they are getting ready to hatch.

 

[chicken danz]

Josie, Glad to hear the Seramas are doing good. I've had a couple people ask me about them the last couple days. Figures. I told them if they were sure they wanted some I'd give you their contact information. These people I got the pullets from are going strictly to bantams. They could potentially be interested in some some day. They have a whole bunch of little roos they need to move before they get anything else though.
Yep I feed the dogs chicken, but it is always cooked. They won't eat raw chicken or any part of it. They just walk away from it. (Probably thinking, "If Mom sees me eat this she is gonna whoop my ....!"
My daughter buys her dogs chicken leg quarters and feeds them raw to her dogs. Supposedly they have one of the highest sources of glucosomine in them and the bones turn glutenous instead of being dangerous to them. She says the dogs don't associate the feathered animals to the dressed one. Apparently it works for her cause her chickens and her dogs hang out together.
I often cook chicken and make broth with the bones and serve that with rice and veggies to the dogs for a special treat. Especially when it is cold outside. It's their favorite meal by far.
It is so miserably hot out there today. I keep thinking I'll tackle the brooder until I get out there and start sweating. Sure hope the cool front moves in!

 

[Deerfield Acres]

I've missed everyone. Just would like to say valuable lesson learned and hope everyone is surviving the heat okay. Danz, so sorry to hear about your nightmare.

Congrats on your new turkey HEChicken!

With this heat I have 10 chicks back in the craft room in the A/C, just after working very hard to clean it all up and make it usable for its intended purpose. They aren't taking up much space, though, and haven't made much of a dust storm, yet. As soon as it cools off again they'll go back to their new brooder in the unfinished part. For those of you who saw the original brooder, DH cut it in half and made two separate brooders for me. Each will accommodate 125 chicks, if necessary. Right now the chicks are in a big black tub thing I got from Atwoods and are very content to be out of the heat.

I bought an EcoGlow 50 to use in place of the heatlamps. Thanks Hawkeye for the suggestion so I wouldn't have to worry about fire. You may not even remember suggesting it to me, but I kept it on the back burner until I felt I could more easily afford it. I am so glad I got that thing. It works great and the worry over breaking glass or fire is gone.

The next thing on my agenda is a wide impedance energizer for my electric fence. I bought a solar energizer for my fence but it is a low impedance energizer which I've learned, to my dismay, doesn't work that well on dry grass. We've had to "water the electric fence" to keep it working correctly. Really, we're watering the grass under the electric fence and out about 2 to 3 feet. Then, of course, it has to be mowed so as not to draw down the charge too much. A wide impedance energizer will cause a stronger shock on dry grass. I just can't see us out there in the dead of winter watering the fence, you know? We still hear coyotes at night and now we've attracted owls. No more losses though, since I made the mistakes of connecting too many sections of fence and letting the birds stay out at night.

I'm really concerned about protecting against mice this winter. I'm afraid if I poison the mice, then they'll get sluggish and the chickens will eat them and get sick too. Does that happen?

Sure hope it cools down sooner rather than later.

 

[chicken danz]

Nope Karen that doesn't happen. The dosage that a mouse will eat is so small it will have no affect on chickens or dogs or cats. The mouse gets thirsty and runs for water and it's kind of like drinking the poison koolaid. The chemical reaction happens and it's all over.Now if your chickens eat it directly that is an entirely different story. I often put my mouse poison in old coffee cans with a maybe 1 inch square hole cut in the lid. You can set it under pens sideways or even top down on the ground and the mice will find it and eat it. Also old gatoraide bottles and such work well with a small hole cut in one side. I've even bought the throw away sealable food containers and cut a hole in them for low places.
I also read about Water bucket traps or plaster of paris with cocoa mix mixed in the dry powder. But you have to be careful your chickens can't get to those either. I'm thinking the best thing for me to do is just invent a trap to catch all of those little burgers, contain them and let them breed. Free chicken feed! Take the little pink babies that can't run yet and give them as chicken treats!!

I still think I could invent my own ecoglow heater if I could just find a heat source that worked on a lower wattage. One of these days I'll have it figured out.