Quote:
I have four little hens and they seem fine. Of course, I haven't checked today! How old are yours?
Did you know you can tell if a hen is laying or not by feeling their pelvic bones? I had no idea! And if they're too fat.
The one piece of advice he kept repeating over and over was this: You will always have in your flock what you tolerate. Mean roosters, non-laying hens (both of which he says are genetic), poor combs, etc. If you keep it, you'll always have it. I thought that was interesting and an eye opener. I think I have a lot of non-laying hens. He said don't keep consumers that are not producers!
Welcome to the wild world of chicken handling, Susanne. Sounds like you learned a lot of useful info.
Most folks do not understand why I pick up every chicken at least once a month and go over it. I am not a teacher so I have a hard time explaining what is in my head. I weigh every chicken every month, I feel it all over for many things and look it over and record that I have been over this bird. I don't need to record it if I take it out though but I can look back in my notes to see what has been happening with it. Record keeping is a huge bonus to a farm. I am amazed at the folks that admit they do not keep detailed notes on their flocks or birds.
Yes, I have "free loaders" but they are pets that have provided me with years of service and are allowed to stay for my enjoyment of a pet but I still limit myself. Or try to.
The biggest thing I read on all my chicken forums is folks that have too many roosters. I say ti as nicely as possible. You will always have problems if you keep them. Roosters are here for eating. I always wondered why God gave us so many when we didn't need them. The answer is food. High protein, life sustaining food. The downfall of many farms is not using what God gives for living. But as I say this, I must admit, I have eaten very few of my hens.
As DH says "There are 2 kinds of chickens in this world. The kind that makes us breakfast and the kind that makes us dinner." Although he is the first to help me add to my breeding flock of bantams that I sell eggs from for hatching so he is missing another kind of chciken there, the kind that makes money.
My systems are not perfect but they work okay for me. I am always looking for a way to improve all that I do though!
We talked a lot about processing yesterday. He kept calling them carcasses (alive or not). I politely asked if we could maybe say body or something like that. Carcass just has a nasty sound to it. I realized yesterday that we really need to think about eating our roosters instead of giving them away. It's good food and I need to just be okay with it. But I still don't want to do it myself!
