***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[MrsDickey]

Good!!! We are not experienced enough for all of that lol. We do live on 48 acres that's all family (except the guy next door who bought 1 single acre and a house that was owned by my cousin but was foreclosed by the bank and I honestly don't care if my animals annoy him lol) so we have the space no real neighbors to be concerned with and my "boys" coop is just about done! Next will be the Banty coop!!

 

[ashtree]

Quote:
You have no idea how thrilled I am that you've moved away from store-bought chicken. I used to buy chicken at my local butcher (I NEVER buy meat at chain grocery stores!), because I believed they were locally raised, based on info I had gotten from them a year or two ago. I asked them again a couple of months back and they told me they got them from Tyson. I was sick over it. I can't believe I've been giving Tyson my money for them to be so cruel and inhumane. I get terribly attached to my birds, so I've now started putting all my roos into their own pen once I find out they're boys. I don't coddle that pen, I don't pet them, I don't give them names... because I know if I do, I won't be able to let them go. I still need to find somebody who wants this rooster I have that I thought was a girl, because no way will I ever be able to eat him. If somebody else wants to butcher him humanely and have him for dinner, I won't argue with it, but I can't do it myself.

This is a great plan and one I want to use. I am discovering I have ALOT more silkie cockerels than I thought. It's not going to be easy but I can't have so many boys and some are too young to caponize and I still haven't learned how to anyway. From here on out we aren't naming chicks right away. I think a bachelor pad is out of the question right now because of proximity to neighbors. But I think Arlo is becoming more accepting. He does not like the idea that too many boys can hurt the girls. It's so sad though to figure out his favorite chicken is a roo. How that slipped by me I don't know. But sure enough our little partridge silkie has sizeable wattles and looks to be developing streamers. uhhhh. We are gonna have to get thick skin if we want to raise silkies. Of course I'm going to try to find a way to keep this boy.

 

[miohippus]

I wanted a mini coup to go in my bantam pen to protect them from predators that might try to grab them threw the fencing, my Dh wants to make it out of this stock tank i was a little worried it might get too hot but he said he didn't think they would, they will not be in it a lot just at night time to keep them safe from predators what do you think?


He is going to put some tin on the front and some dowel rod inside for perching i was thinking we would need some kind of vent holes or something idk. It will be inside this run.

 

[Kassaundra]

My opinion is absolutely will need venting of some kind, and even so I believe it will be way to hot even at night for them.

 

[miohippus]

My opinion is absolutely will need venting of some kind, and even so I believe it will be way to hot even at night for them.

maybe if we covered the top half with hardware cloth and then put some tin on the bottom half for a doorway? that way it would be mostly open.

 

[SharkmanDan]

Sharkman, don't feel bad about not being familiar w/ caponizing, most even longer time chicken owners aren't familiar w/ it.  If you are ordering "meat birds" or Cornish X's you do not need to caponize at all they will be processed to freezer camp way earlier then any male testosterone breaks out.  Caponizing is for keeping dual purpose over 6 months close to a year, so they get fatter, stay tender and don't have bad boy traits (mounting, fighting, crowing)

Kassaundra,
Thanks for the encouragement. But, I was considering keeping them longer than that period. My thought was to buy 100 of them, let them grow out, healthy and happy, to "freezer camp" sized. Then begin harvesting them, only for personal, and close relative/friend consumption. I really had more of the idea of fresh, rather than frozen. Since that likely includes only my wife and I, my sister and her husband, then my niece, her husband and baby, and two close friends, with their two girls, I am not so certain how fast we'll go through them. My thinking is, that having too many, is better than too few. After seeing what we saw, with that poor bird, at the breeder's house, a couple of days ago, I don't ever want another "Tyson Chicken" on my table. Now, I know, I'll likely have to still buy some, in the mean time, because this is a process, where I might start "harvesting" my meat birds, late next spring, early summer.
I'm not anti Tyson, I simply don't want to give my financial support, to something I consider cruel. I'm no vegan. I'm not animal rights whacko. I believe there's a place for all of God's creatures, and usually, that's on the table with potatoes and gravy. Right now, our layers, are pets, who happen to leave us beautiful little presents, every day, and we could never consider using them for meat.
I think that until I get a bit more comfortable, and maybe impose on you, or someone, to teach me how to caponize, I'll just stick to the female birds, for now.
I've learned so much here, but my builder skills, still need a bit of honing. And money is very tight. Heck, it's going to be a few months, until I can afford to build the coop and pen, for them. So, I'm thinking of starting the build, over the winter, and getting started raising, as soon into the 2015 hatching season, as possible.

 

[ashtree]

Kassaundra,
Thanks for the encouragement. But, I was considering keeping them longer than that period. My thought was to buy 100 of them, let them grow out, healthy and happy, to "freezer camp" sized. Then begin harvesting them, only for personal, and close relative/friend consumption. I really had more of the idea of fresh, rather than frozen. Since that likely includes only my wife and I, my sister and her husband, then my niece, her husband and baby, and two close friends, with their two girls, I am not so certain how fast we'll go through them. My thinking is, that having too many, is better than too few. After seeing what we saw, with that poor bird, at the breeder's house, a couple of days ago, I don't ever want another "Tyson Chicken" on my table. Now, I know, I'll likely have to still buy some, in the mean time, because this is a process, where I might start "harvesting" my meat birds, late next spring, early summer.
I'm not anti Tyson, I simply don't want to give my financial support, to something I consider cruel. I'm no vegan. I'm not animal rights whacko. I believe there's a place for all of God's creatures, and usually, that's on the table with potatoes and gravy. Right now, our layers, are pets, who happen to leave us beautiful little presents, every day, and we could never consider using them for meat.
I think that until I get a bit more comfortable, and maybe impose on you, or someone, to teach me how to caponize, I'll just stick to the female birds, for now.
I've learned so much here, but my builder skills, still need a bit of honing. And money is very tight. Heck, it's going to be a few months, until I can afford to build the coop and pen, for them. So, I'm thinking of starting the build, over the winter, and getting started raising, as soon into the 2015 hatching season, as possible.

I'm no meat bird expert but its my understanding that most of the time meat breeds will not live long on their own anyway. And folks that have tried go raise them beyond when you're expected to process (what is it like 12 weeks?) go to great measures to keep them alive. A dual purpose bird may be a better option. Again I'm no expert but my husband has been looking into this.

Also there used to be a chicken farmer on the coop that utilized Joel Salatins methods. We loved his chickens. Very good meat, it was pricey but well worth it. I'll try to look up the producers info..... I really wish I could remember. I don't even know if he's still selling. Since we're not working the farmers markets anymore we haven't been eating much chicken at all.

 

[artsyrobin]

the problem with meat birds is they are bred to grow fast and die young. Yes, with special care they can last longer, but they need to be able to forage for food, otherwise they will sit and do nothing but eat and their heart will give out- its a very sad situation, so getting them moving is critical if you plan on letting them be 'normal' chickens

 

[Sagetown]

I wanted a mini coup to go in my bantam pen to protect them from predators that might try to grab them threw the fencing, my Dh wants to make it out of this stock tank i was a little worried it might get too hot but he said he didn't think they would, they will not be in it a lot just at night time to keep them safe from predators what do you think?


He is going to put some tin on the front and some dowel rod inside for perching i was thinking we would need some kind of vent holes or something idk. It will be inside this run.

I use a 5' stock tank like yours. I used a sawsall to cut out a door. drilled a few holes on opposite sides to allow air circulation, and topped it with 1" x 1/2" Rabbit Wire. In the Rabbit Wire, I cut a couple of holes just big enough to fit a socket for a 250 Watt Heating Lamp in each hole, then laced zip ties to hold the lights in place. Cover the bottom with 2" to 3" of PINE SHAVINGS [ do not use CEDAR ] . I purchased a handy little variable light dimmer from Home Depot (nobody else had a black one like this) to adjust the amount of output from the lamps. Slapped a cheap Wal-Mart magnetic LED Thermometer / Humidity gauge on the inside of the tub so I could keep track of the environment. The chicks do very well in it. 25 Bantams out grow it in 3 weeks.

 

[miohippus]

I use a 5' stock tank like yours. I used a sawsall to cut out a door. drilled a few holes on opposite sides to allow air circulation, and topped it with 1" x 1/2" Rabbit Wire. In the Rabbit Wire, I cut a couple of holes just big enough to fit a socket for a 250 Watt Heating Lamp in each hole, then laced zip ties to hold the lights in place. Cover the bottom with 2" to 3" of PINE SHAVINGS [ do not use CEDAR ] . I purchased a handy little variable light dimmer from Home Depot (nobody else had a black one like this) to adjust the amount of output from the lamps. Slapped a cheap Wal-Mart magnetic LED Thermometer / Humidity gauge on the inside of the tub so I could keep track of the environment. The chicks do very well in it. 25 Bantams out grow it in 3 weeks.

yes,I have seen brooders like that but we need a small coup for 7 adult bantams.
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