Michigan

[swampducks]

We eat our chickens. In fact we sent the whole lot of them to freezer camp last fall because they stopped laying though the youngest group were barely two years old, if that, and the fox was having too many free lunches! Hoping the better fence will be in before they new ones are old enough to go in the coop, assuming I can get DH to drop his projects for one day or two of fence installation. (He seems to be against the whole thing. grrr)

Anyone have any idea why my SLW's refused laying in their second year of existence? They got winter off hardly laid a thing all spring and then just stopped. The other birds were all 3 years or older. Plenty of calcium, plenty of greens, free ranging. Fox attack trauma? Can't think of anything else they all seemed very healthy. Very frustrating, it was.

 

[Opa]

I just got back from grocery shopping for us and the chickens. Went to TSC and was very impressed with how they have their chicks presented. In years past they have had them in stock tanks and anyone and everyone had access to. I've seen little kids take birds from the straight run tank and when their parents told them to put them back it went into the closest tank.

This year they have them enclosed in a dog run. You can see them fine but you have to get a salesperson to get them out. What I didn't like was no breed separation. There was a corporate printed sign that said "Red Pullets" and then a list of several breeds they may be. Since I want the breed I want, not being tempted while in TSC was quite easy.

With the sun trying to shine, and the wind not blowing I think I will attempt to finish pruning the trees today. Wednesday is looking like a good day to get the oil spray on them. My orchard used to produce more apples than we could use. I'd press a 100 gallons of cider, slice a bunch for the freezer, dehydrate some, make about 30 quarts of applesauce, and still have lots of windfalls to feed the deer. I should have started several years ago cutting them down and replacing them.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Quote:Originally Posted by chicken grandma That is why I love chickens. They are so innocent in their badness.
Not mine! they know exactly what they're doing.....

Quote:Originally Posted by Opa Opa, i just go to my profile and under that is all the threads that i talk to, and if you click on your MI one, it will bring you to where you left off reading.
I've seen little kids take birds from the straight run tank and when their parents told them to put them back it went into the closest tank.
Ya, we bought a sorted bunch of RIR when we first started, and ended up with 2 roos and 3 hens! Was so mad, but they just said, oops. Ours has the fencing now too. I think it should've been done sooner anyway, now that i know about diseases... (for you math sticklers, the 6th chick was my EE roo, which i bought on purpose. The one-eye + chest sticking + all alone watching the huddled group of chicks that looked different gave him away.

 

[chicken grandma]

Fuzzy - you and I might be related. I would have bought the little EE also!

 

[fuzzybutt love]

OK, all you McGuyver fans, thought you would find this interesting:
While brooding on her nest, an endangered (can' remember what kind) bird accidentally cracked one of her eggs. the workers quickly went to work, "fixing the egg with tape and glue". The egg stabalized, and the chick hatched out fine....
So they didn't specify what kinds of tape and glue, but i'm thinking medical tape and elmers? I searched it on here and some have tried melted wax too, although i would worry about the heat...?
Just thought that was kinda neat!

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Quote:Originally Posted by chicken grandma Fuzzy - you and I might be related. I would have bought the little EE also!
I couldn't resist the little 2 incher giving me the stink eye! I figured he would be a great flock protecter. He grew up to be the black and white roo that i pictured singing to my little banty when she was laying her first egg!

 

[chicken grandma]

So Chicken Grandma what you are saying is you don't eat your chickens? Right? I don't want to eat my chickens just the eggs the family think I am nuts


Kimmie

Kimmie, I have never eaten one of my own chickens. They are pets. Ours have lived to be as old as 7 years and she was still laying- RIR. We try not to even euthanize them unless it is necessary. Mostly we let them live and die naturally. Our family eats chickens and we would love to buy free range chickens but I don't have a source for that. I don't think it is cruel at all to give them a good life and then eat them. I would like to see farm animals raised on pasture, treated humanely and killed humanely. My dad was a farmer in Rockford when it was a 'cow town'. He took me to the slaughter house when I was 10 years old. I had no problem with it because the beef cattle that we watched be slaughtered were calm and did not suffer. Hawaii does a GREAT JOB with their meat animals. I would rather eat local meat in Hawaii than anywhere. First of all they grass feed them. Second of all they believe the meat is best if the animals is calm when slaughtered - less adrenalin in the meat for us to ingest. So they are very kind in transporting and slaughtering the animals. Thirdly, Hawaiians have less disease than we do because they are so isolated and they CONTROL the movement of plants and animals into Hawaii. So they have less disease in the animals and don't have to give antibiotics as much as we do on the mainland. The fish farms off the coast of Hawaii are a mess. Hopefully that won't be there when I go back. The fish are in a netted area and food is dumped in to them. Lots of poop in the water and sharks lurking - not pretty. Better to buy and eat wild caught.

 

[chicken grandma]

Quote:Originally Posted by chicken grandma Fuzzy - you and I might be related. I would have bought the little EE also!
I couldn't resist the little 2 incher giving me the stink eye! I figured he would be a great flock protecter. He grew up to be the black and white roo that i pictured singing to my little banty when she was laying her first egg!

He was beautiful! Funny how when you do a kind thing that kind thing comes right back around to bless you!

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Ok, normally i ignore the ads that pop up when i sign in, but when i logged in and as i hit my profile button, my eyes went up just in time to see the ad "we have chocolate orpingtons"..... and now i can't get back to it. I keep logging out and in trying to get it to pop up, but i get burke and happy hens, everything BUT. Chocolate orpingtons are super rare in the US, i saw a breeding trio go on here for over $1000 ! They say once they are more common the price will go down. True chocolates breed true like lavendars!

And yes, on the breeding thread i just HAD to ask "is there a choc bird who lays a choc egg?" So one of the breeders said she'd do it!

But that was before i saw what the prices of the birds were..... :O

 

[chicken grandma]

Quote:
Swampducks - as you can tell I am a lady who spoils everything that does not run away. I have had the best luck with egg production. I honestly think that it is because I kept some heat on the chickens in the Winter, fed the best feed I could buy, kept them fenced with a 6ft privacy fence so they cannot see dogs, cars or anything that would stress them out. I separate birds that are picking on each other because that stresses the whole flock. I free ranged daily with human supervision (either kids playing in the yard or me gardening). In Hawaii a lady showed me how to feed left over cooked fish to the chickens. The Omega 3 oils are FANTASTIC for egg laying. We eat fish a couple times a week and I am sure to give the scraps of fish, even the skin to the chickens. We also have an attitude of gratitude toward our chickens. We hold them, pet them and thank them for the eggs. (Hey our friends in Hawaii make offerings to the volcano and land also...)
We have never used a nest box. We let the hens make their own nests where ever they want to. We provide oyster shell from the pet store and very very clean water - I filter it through a Brita Filter because I cannot stand the chlorine taste of water. Anyhow - with all that spoiling - our laying age hens lay almost every day and we have had a mix of bantams and full size birds and breeds. Hope something in what we do will help you!