The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[TeaChick]

I have never culled one of my hens (yet) but I have learned the crock pot is a sure way to make anything tender. Throw it in with some water or chicken broth, some herbs & veggies for 8 hours & I am guessing the meat will just fall off.

I agree with this; very simple. My style of cooking. The things I suggested are things DH cooks or I need a recipe for.

 

[TeaChick]

but what breeds were they? there are a number of breeds that actually HAVE extra toes, and are supposed to. Silkies are the most common of them. also sultan, dorking, faverolles all have 5 toes as well.

here's one of my Dorkings as an example...

Thanks for this info. I didn't realize that some of them are supposed to have "extra" toes.

 

[TeaChick]

Depends on your tastes. I figure anything over 14 weeks will be tough if baked since I did my first at 16 weeks and they were all tough.

I use my meat kings for baking and my cockerels/old layers for slow cooking (or soup).

I rotisserie my meaties as well

Speaking of meaties.. I told you my one was laying that is 19 weeks. I tried to take some pictures of her for you all to see, but it was snowing so they are all inside. I did get a really crappy picture of my molting frizzle mating her.


He couldn't finish LOL
She is too big and he is too small. He's a tad bigger than a silkie, and he stood on her afterwards for a good 2 minutes just chilling. We call it pillow talk

Pillow talk

 

[delisha]

Some chickens are never fertile..just like humans. Some hens never lay an egg and some males never produce sperm. They all slow production as they age. Some are bred to have high production the first full year and drastically drop production or stop after. Heritage breeds are bred to have longer production with less eggs per year and need to be replaced 4-6 years.
Infertility in males increase starting on year two. Some will stay fertile enough for many many years for a small flock. I need 100% fertility so I opt to butcher on year two if I start getting some infertile eggs. If they stay 100% fertile..the male stays. I use only one rooster for a small group of hens.

My birds are not my pets, they are my food. Raising chickens is economical and healthy if you have a plan and stick to the plan. I have an average of 12-15 laying hens a year. I also have 10 additional POLs, chicks, and cockerels for replacements if needed. I need a minimum of 3600 eggs a year. Out of those eggs I need 3000 for eating and selling. 300-400 are for hatching. I eat over 100 chickens a year. I replace older hens and raise show stock with the rest, I keep the best and sell the rest. That does not leave room for an infertile male or a non producing hen. They are replaced or they would become a financial drain.

 

[TeaChick]

Chicken do not like change..they will be fine and as soon as they relax in the the new place and understand it is home they will get back to laying...It can take a month or more for some chickens. It is a defense. Thanks! I'll give them longer then; I've only been giving them a week or so to adjust to changes, but I'll start giving them a month.

Post some pictures of your set up and I might be able to give you more information..what type of nest boxes do you use?..how far are they off the ground?
Here's the nesting corner:

bottom level (on the ground) _______ top level (they like this one) ______ the whole corner (yes, that's cord holding that piece of wood in place)

___________

outside: that pallet is now the nesting corner _ inside: those are roosts, it's made of pallets, so that's how tall it is; the feeder and waterer are just below and to the right of the field of view


No need to incorporate chicks. Let the hens hatch in the coop with all the rest of the birds..the baby's will have *flock* immunities and be part of the family.
I appreciate the advice of someone who's had chickens way longer than I have (I started this spring).
I have read a lot about broodies being pecked off their nests, eggs being eaten (I don't have any egg eaters; I had an egg bread in the coop once and no one ate it), and hens being pecked to death b/c the won't get off the nest. Are these stories rarities? I'd be truly concerned for my broody and wouldn't sleep for the entire three weeks. Plus, I have my a brooder and my original coop where I could put up to four broody hens at a time away from the flock and predators, etc. (My hen house is very secure from predators, BTW.)

All chickens stop laying when they are broody and during moult.
I don't think mine are moulting. I'm not finding more feathers than usual; wait a minute, yes, I am; I have been finding a slightly increased number of feathers, but it doesn't seem like a major increase and nobody looks like their feathers are thin at all.

Father daughter and son mother breedings are good. Chickens are not the same as humans. Roosters are good to use for a few years. They start loose fertility after two years and it drops yearly after that. I replace roosters at two years and have coq au vin. Here is a good recipe.
Thanks for the advice... (I think I'll do something like that; when do roosters become fertile, so I know at what age their fertility begins to decline?)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/coq-au-vin-recipe/index.html
... and for the recipe; DH will appreciate it. (I don't cook and he's teaching DD.) =)

Chickens do not have the same makeup in breeding that other animals have. If the birds carry the 5 toe gene, they could get it..not because of a birth defect of close breeding. Some genes need both parents to carry a copy for it to be generated and some only need one copy. Like combs for instance. If one parent is pea and one is straight, the chicks will carry both genes. They might all have straight combs, but carry the pea gene. It works the same for toes.
Thanks for the info! I'll check out the breeds I have and see what kinds of recessive genes I'm looking for in chicks. And I'll avoid breeding within the same generation of the same "family".

 

[TeaChick]

I've read ACV in the drinking water produces more females ...

Interesting. I'll have to try that in the spring. ;-)

 

[Leahs Mom]

On Labor day weekend my broody hatched 3 from my flock. 2 are SFH/BA cross; 1 SFH. Right now it still looks like all 3 are female although one is of the mixes is larger and I still question that one.

When folks talk about ACV and sex of eggs, I've always wondered (first if it's true) if it is because of more acid in the diet. If that is "really" true, it would stand to reason that LACTO-FERMENTED feed (not alcohol ferment) may also create the same environment due to the acid (lactic acid).

Something interesting to ponder.

 

[TeaChick]

Some chickens are never fertile..just like humans. Some hens never lay an egg and some males never produce sperm. They all slow production as they age. Some are bred to have high production the first full year and drastically drop production or stop after. Heritage breeds are bred to have longer production with less eggs per year and need to be replaced 4-6 years.
Infertility in males increase starting on year two. Some will stay fertile enough for many many years for a small flock. I need 100% fertility so I opt to butcher on year two if I start getting some infertile eggs. If they stay 100% fertile..the male stays. I use only one rooster for a small group of hens.

My birds are not my pets, they are my food. Raising chickens is economical and healthy if you have a plan and stick to the plan. I have an average of 12-15 laying hens a year. I also have 10 additional POLs, chicks, and cockerels for replacements if needed. I need a minimum of 3600 eggs a year. Out of those eggs I need 3000 for eating and selling. 300-400 are for hatching. I eat over 100 chickens a year. I replace older hens and raise show stock with the rest, I keep the best and sell the rest. That does not leave room for an infertile male or a non producing hen. They are replaced or they would become a financial drain.

I'm going to change my siggie so I don't have to keep typing this, but.....
I have three leghorns (which I assume are those production breeds you're talking about laying for a year and then not laying anymore after that)
four gold Comets (I'll have to look up how long they produce/live)
a Jersey Giant (my brood hen; I'll keep her as long as she broods for me)
and a Bantam Cochin frizzle (we didn't get her on purpose, I'll sell her offspring and keep one when she gets old and sell their offspring, and she's my pet, so she'll just be buried in the backyard when she dies of, hopefully, old age).
The rest of my chickens either lay eggs, fertilize eggs, or become dinner.

Thank you for sharing your chicken breeding/raising philosophy with me. I think we see eye-to-eye, at least in general terms. (Please don't get hung up on the fact that one of my hens is a pet, b/c we would never have deliberately bought a pet chicken.)

How small is a small flock of hens?
I have two roosters b/c I free range; if I penned them, I'd split the flock in two.

 

[TeaChick]

On Labor day weekend my broody hatched 3 from my flock. 2 are SFH/BA cross; 1 SFH. Right now it still looks like all 3 are female although one is of the mixes is larger and I still question that one.

When folks talk about ACV and sex of eggs, I've always wondered (first if it's true) if it is because of more acid in the diet. If that is "really" true, it would stand to reason that LACTO-FERMENTED (not alcohol ferment) may also create the same environment due to the acid (lactic acid).

Something interesting to ponder.

I'm new to chickens, but I know a little about human biology and you are right about the acid (in the case of humans), the male sperm have a harder time surviving in a more acidic environment in the mother-to-be's body.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I say - no need apologize (or be embarassed) if you have a pet chicken. If that's why you have chickens (or even just one of them is a pet), that's your choice!

And you still want to raise them as naturally as possible