Eastern Tennessee Thread

[luluann]

I have a question again. I have heard the hens that have reached a year and older are not good to have. But was told last night that there is nothing wrong with 1 a year or older. Which is right. Also where do you all by your chicken feed? I live 30 minutes from any Co op or anything in any direction

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

So, has anyone had any luck deterring rats with peppermint oil? I am going to go home and try it. It really is annoying to have rats and I keep killing them and they keep having babies and eating my chicken food- which by the way we put up every night. We now have some brave rats that come out in the day time to steal food. My friend suggested I get peppermint oil and put it in a spray bottle with water and spray it all over the barn. Apparently the rats cannot stand the way it makes their nose tickle and they will go away.
On another note.... I currently have white orpingtons, lavender orpingtons, a new line of barred rocks, icelandics, sfh's, and BLRW in incubator (give or take a few breeds) and just got GF choc wyandottes in the mail today along with silver penciled rocks from die fly in CA. whew!!! February is going to be a busy month for hatching. Hopefully they all do great.

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

I have a question again. I have heard the hens that have reached a year and older are not good to have. But was told last night that there is nothing wrong with 1 a year or older. Which is right. Also where do you all by your chicken feed? I live 30 minutes from any Co op or anything in any direction

Hens become more dependable when they are 1 year old. Usually they lay the most eggs during their 1st year (after they start laying) but, I have heard of hens that are 3 yrs old still laying almost daily. You would also want to consider the true coloring of hen doesn't show through until their first molt which is around 1 year.
We get our feed from Tractor Supply (purina.. but, only when we have plenty of purina reward coupons) and we get unmedicated chick feed at Tractor Supply (dumor) and we will go to the CO-OP to get chicken feed if we are out of purina coupons.

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

Has anyone had any results from breeding LF Orps with Bantam Orps?

 

[itsthelaw37801]

We discovered a guinea nest in the field next to the house this morning. I honestly didn't think this would happen until March because it was so cold. This explains my missing guinea. They nest and don't get up. They are prone to predators when nesting. So I assume something came out of the woods and grabbed her. No sign of her.

 

[itsthelaw37801]

Before you get guineas, you might go speak to your neighbors. Explain that they are going to rid the neighborhood of bugs and ticks. If they are down with it, go for it. If they hesitate, I wouldn't do it. They are more fun to watch than even the chickens. The man that we got our chicks from (they were two days old) lived in the city of Knoxville. The houses were tight. But all of his neighbors loved them because they took care of the bugs. We were kind of suprised to see him living right in the city. And he had a peacock too. He said the peacock was nosey. The peacock would fly up to the windows on the second floor and peek in at them. He said after all these years it still scared the doo out of him when he saw something watching him in the bedroom window.

 

[itsthelaw37801]

I will speak this about the guineas: I don't have a problem letting my chickens free range all day unsupervised with the guineas around. They will yell when hawks fly over or anything is around and alert the chickens to run.

 

[FeyRaine]

I'd like to learn more about them. I've got neighbors close enough they might complain. Is the noise really bad?

When I first got some I found them a little annoying, I tend to be noise sensitive for example I can't stand a tv running as "background noise" which many ppl apparently enjoy. Anyway, after awhile I found that I could tell the diff. sounds they make apart, they have one sound the hens make pretty often which means something like "all-good-here, you-ok?" so when I heard the flock moving in their circuit through the pastures making that sound it became pretty relaxing to me, and when I moved & could not keep them I really missed hearing that in the background. They also have distinct alarm calls, which they sound when anything startles them, which could be good or bad depending on how often you get visitors or if there are lots of stray dogs around you etc. They are GREAT at eating ticks, they actively hunt for ticks and I'm thinking of getting some myself this year even though I have chickens ducks & turkeys just b/c the ticks were SO bad last yr. after the mild winter I think it would be worth adding the specific tick-hunters just to help clear out our 30 acres of ticks.

I have a question...I have welsummers, Delawares, and Marans coming in may. Right now, they are all pullets. But, I am considering getting one rooster. Which one would you get...or should I not get one at all? I'm torn on the roosters. I love the look of them, and having one around. I am not planning on breeding for any breed right now. When I do, I will separate the breeding pair when the time comes. So, what do you all think? Rooster...no...? I am in it for the eggs right now...and beautiful healthy birds.

It partly depends on your land. We have a ton of preditors and I found that I really can't free range w/o at least one Rooster. The Rooster(s) keep watch for the hens and w/o a good Rooster I lost too many hens. If all you want are eggs & you don't free range then its very optional to have a Roo or not. I would add that a good Rooster will also help keep hen pecking order fights from escalating into anything serious, so a good Roo can mean an overall calmer flock of hens in my experience. Plus as you say, the Roos can add a lot of color and be pretty to watch. Just don't put a pen of them right under your bedroom window ;>

 

[tnchickenut]

I have a question...I have welsummers, Delawares, and Marans coming in may. Right now, they are all pullets. But, I am considering getting one rooster. Which one would you get...or should I not get one at all? I'm torn on the roosters. I love the look of them, and having one around. I am not planning on breeding for any breed right now. When I do, I will separate the breeding pair when the time comes. So, what do you all think? Rooster...no...? I am in it for the eggs right now...and beautiful healthy birds.

Promise I'm not being biased.... the welsummer roos I have had in the past from hatchery were mean... same with the Marans I had from hatchery and breeders..... the Delawares, I have had hundreds of roosters over the years of them and only one was mean ever, and I think he snapped for some reason. Sooooooo I say Delaware.

 

[tnchickenut]

I have a question again. I have heard the hens that have reached a year and older are not good to have. But was told last night that there is nothing wrong with 1 a year or older. Which is right. Also where do you all by your chicken feed? I live 30 minutes from any Co op or anything in any direction

I have chickens that are much older than that. They lay past a year, they lay past two years if they are healthy... they will lay past three or 4 years just fine IF they are healthy. The problem is alot of "old timers" who just throw out chickens or feed only corn.... ect ect. A good diet and a lack of parasites will get you a great start, but pretty much anything that upsets a hen (noise, itching, going without food or water for long periods of time, any illness at all) will slow or stop egg production. You fix these issues, and they will lay for years. Did you know that a pullet is born with all her eggs already in her? They have a set amount they have, and it takes much longer than a year to lay them.


Hope this helps.