Homesteaders

[vmlocks]

The big payoff with chickens comes in many forms.   If you can create a free range system you can get by very cheaply on feed for three seasons of the year, while still getting eggs.  Then you are feeding hens through the winter but not getting your full egg count, but if you've been savvy about hatching chicks in the spring and are culling your flock each year, you'll have meat to eat in the winter months instead of the eggs.   Meanwhile, the free ranging is improving their own pasture, removing bugs and pests from your garden surroundings, and~if you use free leaves in your coop to promote a composting deep litter system~you've got finished compost by winter's end to place directly on your garden.  More compost equals better plant nutrition and better crop yields.  Feeding the veggie and fruit scraps back to the chickens and any garden wastes right back to the coop composting system and you've got no food wastes at all.  

Another way to get even cheaper on chickens is to ferment your feed.  This gets you to feeding almost half what you would normally feed, creates a more pleasant coop environment, healthier chickens, and the eggs and meat taste 100% better than they did if you were not fermenting and free ranging. 

All these things gets you to a place where chickens start to pay for themselves in multiple ways and replicating themselves each year so you won't need to buy more stock.  If you cull for laying, you will only be feeding the hard working hens of the flock and the rest become food for the family.  Breed your best layers and you are finally getting all you can get from a chicken flock.  What you invested initially suddenly becomes a pittance when you consider how well and how long this investment pays off as the years go by. 

Unfortunately we are in the city and cannot free range. We are toying with deep litter. Wife is kinda having a hard time with the thought. Hurts me some as I have been using grass clippings and leaves as free mulch in landscaped areas to decrease mowing. We have thick straw down this year and I think she is coming around. We have tried to keep the flock small so that they are getting a "fair" amount of sq ft per bird.

We have been trading trying to cull out aggression and non layers but it seems that we just made a bad trade and picked up one who isn't laying but gave up what looks like two that started laying after they were gone.

Can you tell me more about fermenting food? Are you speaking about fodder?

 

[duluthralphie]

Had not been giving more light as we truly thought that the natural cycle would be better. Can you go into more depth?

Chickens need a certain amount of light to trigger their hormones to produce eggs. I think it is around 14 hours.

Some take more some less. I let mine rest every year without light. I have no idea if that is a good idea. It saves on my feed bill in the winter. (some). I free range year round but fodder is scarce in the dead of winter up here in the hinterlands.

That said I have some CLB's I sell chicks this time of year and need their eggs, so I have them on artificial light. I have it on a timer that comes on at 3:30 am. I get 6-7 eggs a day from my 7 hens. If you add light do not expect eggs right away. Most take 2 weeks to get eggs after adding light. I added light to my Speckled Sussex, ( I am ready to hatch them now) about 3 weeks ago. I have 2 breeders of them, I got 1 egg last 2 days, they are slower to respond.

Also you did not mention the age of the hens you got in the trade. That can make a difference as can the breed you got. All chickens are not created equal when it comes to laying abilities.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Chickens need a certain amount of light to trigger their hormones to produce eggs. I think it is around 14 hours.

Some take more some less.   I let mine rest every year without light. I have no idea if that is a good idea. It saves on my feed bill in the winter. (some). I free range year round but fodder is scarce in the dead of winter up here in the hinterlands.

That said I have some CLB's I sell chicks this time of year and need their eggs, so I have them on artificial light.  I have it on a timer that comes on at 3:30 am. I get 6-7 eggs a day from my 7 hens.  If you add light do not expect eggs right away. Most take 2 weeks to get eggs after adding light.  I added light to my Speckled Sussex, ( I am ready to hatch them now) about 3 weeks ago.  I have 2 breeders of them, I got 1 egg last 2 days, they are slower to respond.

Also you did not mention the age of the hens you got in the trade. That can make a difference as can the breed you got. All chickens are not created equal when it comes to laying abilities.

Yes age and breed are big determinates

 

[Beekissed]

Unfortunately we are in the city and cannot free range. We are toying with deep litter. Wife is kinda having a hard time with the thought. Hurts me some as I have been using grass clippings and leaves as free mulch in landscaped areas to decrease mowing. We have thick straw down this year and I think she is coming around. We have tried to keep the flock small so that they are getting a "fair" amount of sq ft per bird.

We have been trading trying to cull out aggression and non layers but it seems that we just made a bad trade and picked up one who isn't laying but gave up what looks like two that started laying after they were gone.

Can you tell me more about fermenting food? Are you speaking about fodder?

Nope...fermented chicken feed, just like you buy in the bag but fermented. Here's a link that will answer all your questions on it: https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

As for free ranging, if you have a yard and landscaping, you have some free range opportunities, you just have to gear them towards chickens instead of towards looking pretty. You can construct some grow frames from reclaimed materials like old pallets to provide grazing opportunities that cannot be destroyed by scratching.....



You can do vertical gardens with pallets that will provide the same opportunities and take up less space...







In fact, instead of wasting your time on landscaping at all, you could turn your whole yard into a Back to Eden garden to grow food for yourself and the chickens, fencing off some areas for just your family and other areas with grow frames the chickens cannot scratch through and provide a tremendous amount of their food and yours just by changing your idea about what a yard should look like.

I'll agree that you won't gain much on eggs if just able to have a few chickens, so you might want to switch to rabbits instead....they provide soooooooo much more for the space and eat less while doing so. Their poop is valuable for the garden and can placed right on there and they can produce so much more food than can chickens in a small area.

If still wanting to have chickens instead of rabbits, the ideas put forth in this post can make their life~and yours~a whole lot better than "fair square footage". They are animals with a life and needs, so providing them the best habitat you can would be a good idea for all concerned. You'll get a better tasting product, it won't cost you as much to produce and your birds will be more content in a small area. The deep litter is a huge part of that as well, as that can be applied right on the garden and grow frames after composting in the coop all year and it will be healthier for your chickens~not to mention it's free if you gather leaves, cut down on the smell and flies, and will provide an additional food source for the chickens also....DL attracts worms and bugs they can eat.


If you use fermented feed it will also reduce the smell in your coop and the poop composts quicker. You'll lose less to rodents and even attract less rodents.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

I do not do this, we live on a farmstead, but if I lived in town.

This is what I would build. You see them built around and even through a garden. Give your birds lots of space, and food in a small environment. And no worries about predators or annoying neighbors.

 

[MoonShadows]

Here's a variation on that idea. I found this in Mother Earth a while back and bookmarked it for a "future project".

http://www.motherearthnews.com/home...re-fertilizer-zm0z13amzkon.aspx#axzz2cmrqrB2L

 

[Loc20chick]

The big payoff with chickens comes in many forms. If you can create a free range system you can get by very cheaply on feed for three seasons of the year, while still getting eggs. Then you are feeding hens through the winter but not getting your full egg count, but if you've been savvy about hatching chicks in the spring and are culling your flock each year, you'll have meat to eat in the winter months instead of the eggs. Meanwhile, the free ranging is improving their own pasture, removing bugs and pests from your garden surroundings, and~if you use free leaves in your coop to promote a composting deep litter system~you've got finished compost by winter's end to place directly on your garden. More compost equals better plant nutrition and better crop yields. Feeding the veggie and fruit scraps back to the chickens and any garden wastes right back to the coop composting system and you've got no food wastes at all.

Another way to get even cheaper on chickens is to ferment your feed. This gets you to feeding almost half what you would normally feed, creates a more pleasant coop environment, healthier chickens, and the eggs and meat taste 100% better than they did if you were not fermenting and free ranging.

All these things gets you to a place where chickens start to pay for themselves in multiple ways and replicating themselves each year so you won't need to buy more stock. If you cull for laying, you will only be feeding the hard working hens of the flock and the rest become food for the family. Breed your best layers and you are finally getting all you can get from a chicken flock. What you invested initially suddenly becomes a pittance when you consider how well and how long this investment pays off as the years go by.

Well said!!

moving the chickens around will definitely put a kink in their laying habits as it is stressful for them. Give them time to get settled in and get their cycle back in line. Also, are you giving any supplemental light? that will help too.

X2 on moving the chickens around.

@vmlocks give your chickens time to start laying, every time you introduce a new face they need time to get used to the new change. my first year I had the sex links and they are good layers. Older hens will lay less

 

[vmlocks]

@duluthralphie all hens are older and I expect less production but was hoping for something. Sex links are over 1yr old, Silkie is just under a year, Orpington is unknown, and the Easter egger is roughly 3yrs (but at least she gave up one, yay!

victor and mother tucker

 

[KlopKlop]

Had anyone here started strawberries from seed? Or have recommendations of a good hardy variety? I am in 4b

 

[vmlocks]

@Beekissed great article on FF I think I will start a batch tonight. For our feed we are mixing laying formula with whole corn kernels. @Tiktok mentions fermenting what you are feeding. Do you know if the process would work with full kernels?

We are looking at our garden beds and are going to construct them to the dimensions of our tractor so the girls can help during the winter. They would completely free range if we could let them but city says they have to be in cage. I hope we don't disturb laying too much by rotating 2 at a time to spend the day in the tractor????