The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Wow, took over an hour to catch up 400+ posts. My work schedule has me VERY busy. I picked up a mating pair of Buff Silkies last week to help a friend financially downsize her flock. Have one of their eggs under a broody with a bunch of other bantam Salmon Faverolles and Light Brown Leghorn eggs. I have some smut to breed out in the Buff, but have the time and space to work with it. Also got a Blue Grey Silkie(Genetically Blue, colored Grey and was told the color should be called Blue Grey by Sonoran Silkies), it is the product of my Buff cock over a Splash hen. Not sure on what is going to happen with this one. I may try and produce this color in my yard since I have the BBS to work with, then see what comes out with breeding the Blue Grey together and see if it breeds true or not. Finally ate our last "Frankenchicken". Prolly not going to do Cornish X again. I am thinking of Dark Cornish or Favorolles for my meat birds. I have access to both within 10 minutes of my home. So in the BBS and pet Silkie pen I have 3 Blue cockerels ages 5-9months(penned together separate) and Special Needs Porcelain cockerel with my PQ Buff/Lav Split pullet, a Black pullet, Light Blue pullet, and Dark Blue pullet ages 4-9months(penned together in the larger section of the Silkie pen). The Buffs and Blue Grey I got last weekend are in a quarantine pen and they are inside the tractor. I have about 20' buffer zone around the tractor, not the greatest quarantine, but it is the best I can do with what I have. Gonna be getting 3 Blue Marans chicks next weekend to grow out and put with my Wheaten Marans cockerel, gonna work on Blue Wheaten Marans. I will be processing 2 OE cockerels and a Fav cockerel once they are a good eating weight. Other than that just waiting on my original girls to start molting and the juvies to start laying. Crazy life on this mini farm.

Sounds like you have a large variety of chickens. I'm curious, why are you not planning on having Cornish X again? We're thinking of getting some meat birds and have never done it before, so I'd like any opinions anyone has. Thanks!

Aoxa is correct, you can't beat the feed conversion. But, it is so unnatural to have a full size chicken that is peeping. And we had them in with the layers once they were about 4weeks old and they really stunk up the coop and pen. Even on FF their poop stinks. And they poop A LOT. We would rather go with a big body slower growing meat bird like Fav's or D Cornish. And we only process one at a time when we want to eat chicken. We don't have a chest freezer yet.

 

[RedRidge]

Aoxa is correct, you can't beat the feed conversion. But, it is so unnatural to have a full size chicken that is peeping. And we had them in with the layers once they were about 4weeks old and they really stunk up the coop and pen. Even on FF their poop stinks. And they poop A LOT. We would rather go with a big body slower growing meat bird like Fav's or D Cornish. And we only process one at a time when we want to eat chicken. We don't have a chest freezer yet.

I have raised Cornish X... they taste great and do have good feed conversion, but... they are not sustainable... therefore we searched for other options for years.
Until recently we've been disappointed in those other options until we found some truly dual purpose HRIR.
Love em!!! For foraging ability, meat, and eggs... not to mention the sustainability factor and their gentle dispositions.

Here's a 10 week old who already almost as large as my production adults...

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Aoxa is correct, you can't beat the feed conversion. But, it is so unnatural to have a full size chicken that is peeping. And we had them in with the layers once they were about 4weeks old and they really stunk up the coop and pen. Even on FF their poop stinks. And they poop A LOT. We would rather go with a big body slower growing meat bird like Fav's or D Cornish. And we only process one at a time when we want to eat chicken. We don't have a chest freezer yet.

I have raised Cornish X... they taste great and do have good feed conversion, but... they are not sustainable... therefore we searched for other options for years. Until recently we've been disappointed in those other options until we found some truly dual purpose HRIR. Love em!!! For foraging ability, meat, and eggs... not to mention the sustainability factor and their gentle dispositions. Here's a 10 week old who already almost as large as my production adults...

But from what everyone says about the HRIR, is that they eat a TON. I do like their size, but feed conversion is horrible.

 

[RedRidge]

But from what everyone says about the HRIR, is that they eat a TON. I do like their size, but feed conversion is horrible.

If you confine them maybe... mine free range - rotationally...
We have plenty of acreage, so between forage, bugs, and our year round climate we are set except for about 60-90 days each winter.
They have turned out to be the ideal bird for us.
They have coop access at night (which is when I snapped this pic at dusk last night), but I don't even have to close the coop doors due to the maremma.
We have heavy predation... that's the biggest problem... so we use Italian Maremma as guardians for all of our livestock... several of them.

 

[NanaLynn]

I guess we'll wait it out a little longer before we get meat birds. I'd like for them to go in with the layers too, if at all possible. It's interesting to see and hear what others have experienced with having meat birds.

The chicken pictures from everyone are great! Love the mother hen and baby chicks the best. All of you have such pretty birds!

My husband likes to fuss about my chickens here and there. Although, yesterday he was cutting the grass with the bagger on the mower and then dumping it in their free range area and watching them enjoy it. He was telling me all about it too and was pretty excited. He also keeps using a few choice words about the dog that took out 13 of our chickens a few weeks ago. He really enjoys them a lot, but just doesn't want to admit it.

 

[Kassaundra]

could the mystery chicks be Aseels?

That is what I was thinking.

 

[camilleathome]

Hubby has been keeping things from me. Apparently There is one HRIR missing presumed dead and he found the corpse of another HRIR at the back of the barn. He thinks that a hawk got it . I know it comes with free ranging but it still makes me sad.

 

[Alibabe]

Hubby has been keeping things from me. Apparently There is one HRIR missing presumed dead and he found the corpse of another HRIR at the back of the barn. He thinks that a hawk got it . I know it comes with free ranging but it still makes me sad.

So sorry for your loss.

 

[camilleathome]

So sorry for your loss.

I still need to figure out what to do about a fox that comes around our farm every evening. Im worried he will get the chickens on of these days. I dont have a gun so wondering how else I could trap him

 

[Eggcessive]

But from what everyone says about the HRIR, is that they eat a TON. I do like their size, but feed conversion is horrible.

I have had 30 or so different breeds, and although my HRIR are only 14 weeks old, they don't eat any more than other teenager chicks. My German New Hamps (same age) out-eat them and tower over them.