The life of a chicken farmer

[hatch20]

Hi everyone I'm new to the forum and happy to be here everyone seems really nice! Now what I would like my thread to be about is tips and helpful talk to further the education and owner of there chickens. My name is James I'm from Lexington , Oklahoma and I've been raising chickens now for about 5 years all together. I've had everything from game hens to barred rocks to jersey Giants and now I have succor bantams. So am I a chicken guru? No! Far from it actually! I started out not know what to do with chickens but to throw them in the back yard and feed them. Well my negligence lead to them wandering of they were (game birds) but still the la k of love and affection was still far from there. Now am I saying go hug and kiss your chickens, put little clothes on them and spiffy them all up? The answer is no these are chickens and carry love and other stuff that you don't want . Enough on my rant lol. So here's my promise to the subscribers and daily reader along with the casual person needing help. I will post daily telling my new problem and how I fixed it along with commentary on what I think would be important to go along with the subject. I will try to include pictures because let's be honest pictures make the story better ! And at the end of the day I will put a daily tip at the bottom of the thread kind of factoid. Thanks guys and I hope to hear your feedback my thread is your thread !


Tip: you don't have to buy the expensive oyster shells at your local tsc! Just save your old eggs ( wash out the egg) and just crush it in there food ! It's important to crush in the food otherwise they will learn to eat there own eggs .

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[GhettoRoo]

Wellcome.
I need to buy oyster shells because I sell 90% of my eggs.
P.S. My chickens like to eat eggs if they are broken and they see a yolk. But if they dont see the ''inside of egg'' they dont give attention to egg on the floor.

 

[hatch20]

Thank you I'm glad to be here !

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[hatch20]

Wellcome.
I need to buy oyster shells because I sell 90% of my eggs.
P.S. My chickens like to eat eggs if they are broken and they see a yolk. But if they dont see the ''inside of egg'' they dont give attention to egg on the floor.

That is totally true with high egg production calls for a lot of calcium. And I've never noticed on the cracked eggs that's a really good tip ! Thanks for sharing

 

[hatch20]

Hi guys I'm not sure wether to start a new thread or to just do a daily post on the same some help plz ?

As for that said, today I had a very common problem that a lot of people have when they have chickens for awhile. HAWKS! I was lucky enough to walk outside to see them before any damage was done. For all that don't know haws/ owls/ crows and almost any other bird of prey eat chickens. They are viscous and can kill a flock within days and by the time you notice it's really hurt your production. Getting rid of haws is a very touchy problem. Check your local rules and regulations under the conservation of wildlife website or book to see if the birds are protected. If there not SHOOT them ! There is only one other way to protect them and that's to have a roof on your run which I recommend having anyway for weather. I know it sounds mean to shoot a innocent hawk or owl but from my experiences they won't leave until the seasons change. Sometimes warning shots at the bird works for a week or two. If anyone has any constructive criticism on wether to shoot or not to shoot I welcome the conversation or if any other ideas on how to keep the bombers away I would love to hear thanks

Tip: keeping the spur on your rooster trimmed will keep injury from happening to other Roos and maybe even yourself.

 

[GhettoRoo]

My security system is a several roosters. Hawk can only hit the hen on the floor and try to eat on the spot. Mby hawk can bring away under 3 pounds hens.
Roosters hearing hen screaming will always run after. And I thought 2 bad *** roosters with big spurs would get rid of a hawk.
So, Im not worrying about hawks, ofc I am, and I would like to see in LIVE how it happens, and how roosters would react.
If rooster live together with hens from young age, he is attracted to hens and the roosters on of main tasks is to defend a flock.

P.S, I love roosters. Im looking for they characters etc..

Probably gonna raise one Kulang-asil for free ranging guardian.

 

[hatch20]

Hi everyone !
Today I wanna talk about coops. The type of coop you choose isn't that bi of a deal. I know , "what " ? You ask it's really not, you can turn an old broken down shack into a nice home for them. With proper knowledge and most likely some learning of the hard way you can turn the most unsafe shack into the safest. Now before I go on telli you how to build your coop just know that there is thousands of ways to build a coop from small to giant, I myself have a medium size one that I converted with just some landscaping timbers and some old wood I found. Ok step 1 is crucial find a comfortable spot I recommend close to your house and to be half shades of some sorts. Step 2 if your making a run with the coop and are not intending to free range I would recommend digging 3-4 and pouring concrete where your going to put the run " just around the edges not a slab " you can also concrete the run in but it makes for hard job to demolish ok step 3 build the structure you want there are several websites that have plans or a much simpler way and more expensive is to just buy that step is more on you I personally recommend doing it yourself it's more gratifying. Step 4 have a shelter isn't enough if you have a spare window put it in havein a constant draft isn't always a good thing but having a hot box is really bad thing plus the added sunlight will be needed if you don't have electricity. Step 5 secure your facility chickens are escape artist and will act upon chance I recommend the small holeed chicken wire it prevents foxes mostly and raccoons from sticking there hands in and ripping your chicken out. Be sure to put a roof on your run as in the last post Hawks will attack. And finally step 6 make the chicken house yours spice it up make it one of a kind. I personally have take branches of trees and cut them to where I have a log cabin look to my house. Well guys that's it for now I'll be doing another post later today


Tip : if you hang your feeder it will be a lot less stress of cleaning it out

 

[hatch20]

My security system is a several roosters. Hawk can only hit the hen on the floor and try to eat on the spot. Mby hawk can bring away under 3 pounds hens.
Roosters hearing hen screaming will always run after. And I thought 2 bad *** roosters with big spurs would get rid of a hawk.
So, Im not worrying about hawks, ofc I am, and I would like to see in LIVE how it happens, and how roosters would react.
If rooster live together with hens from young age, he is attracted to hens and the roosters on of main tasks is to defend a flock.

P.S, I love roosters. Im looking for they characters etc..

Probably gonna raise one Kulang-asil for free ranging guardian.

thanks for sharing man that was a good tip ... Since you've had the rooster back there how many have you lost ?