The road less traveled...back to good health! They have lice, mites, scale mites, worms, anemia, gl

[Mountain Momma]

Keep 'em coming! I'm really getting an idea of why folks are getting into chickens and I have also learned a few things about you all that I didn't know and it can help me proceed with advice on breeds and methods.

Well, independant in the food catagory is meaningful to me because of the way food is being handled at every stage in our society. From GMO to profit to failures in regulation and unethical regulators. I just got mad about it and felt like Americans (loosely defined as people who live in this Country) were being treated like experiments. The food in this Country may get fixed at some point but my kids are little now and they deserve healthy food while they are developing. I made a bucket load of changes in my life in 2012. I quit a 16 year extremely stressful career, downshifted our lifestyle and finally had some time and mental energy to think and food was one of the first issues that came up and caught my attention. Now, almost a year into my reinvented life I have 25 chickens, a Greenhouse, a steer at a friends house, and I know my kids' teachers personally. It is important to me to do the chickens as well as possible, I feel like passing this abilility on to the next generation is more than valuable and passing on the knowledge of how to feed yourself well over time has been a human inheritance that is getting squandered.
It may become more important as times change or it may not but to me it is essential to stay close to the ground we came from. You can always trust yourself, you cannot always trust the manufacturing elements.
L

 

[Pullet Surprise]

I got into chickens first for eggs and poo for the garden. As always, things change, or grow. So I am now looking at eggs, poo and a bit of meat...like extra roos, unthrifty hens...(but most likely NOT with this first bunch).

O.K. I take that back....I have one that if she isn't a FANTASTIC layer this spring...she's on my hit list. Pain in the arse DOM....slower than snail snot unless you need to catch her, always gets left behind and is entirely in her own world.

 

[aoxa]

Aoxa, Bee you guys are killing me.   My friend just took me on an all day hit every Goodwill in 30 miles trip.  We left at noon and got back at 8:30.  Had an absolute blast it was 50% day and my friend has a valued customer card for another 20% and then a bonus 10% for using it this we.  I havent laughed so hard in a long time. 

Please tell me you are exaggerating about the lazy footie thingie. 
I know you are making that **** up! 
With your beautiful chickens and yard and stuff...
You are pulling our legs!
L

I just love reading your posts!

I wasn't pulling any legs. Google that up

 

[aoxa]

Yes...that is often the way.  I love all the beautiful and cute things that one can buy but in the back of jmy mind I'm thinking, "I'd like to have one but who could pay that price?"...all the while knowing that there are many, many who can and will pay that price.  That's what makes the economic world go 'round and 'round. 

I'm just a tightwad by nature and by necessity. 

 

Paint your own THat's what I do!

Found the cutest cheap ornaments to make all crafty this Christmas.

Use up those burnt lightbulbs! You can even make them into chickens...

My family has this tradition where every Friday we get together and do a Christmas craft. Week before we did mason jar candles.

We picked everything we needed in the yard except the cranberries. The floating candles were 10 for a dollar at the dollar store

 

[Mountain Momma]

Paint your own

THat's what I do!
Found the cutest cheap ornaments to make all crafty this Christmas.

Use up those burnt lightbulbs! You can even make them into chickens...

Now I love these. A set of 6 them for 12.95 and have a few say Bee and a few say Happy would be very cute on the tree.

 

[Beekissed]

Y'all don't forget to go on over to the OT to take the quiz! I see many of you there already...the rest of you really need to at least visit to see the results so that everyone can learn from this never before done valuable learning session. I am watching it myself! Never know what I'm gonna learn.

 

[aoxa]

Tell ME why most of you are getting into keeping chickens and I can tell you the right breeds for the needs expressed, in regards to eggs and meat.  For ornamental/bantam/game bird breeds that people get as pets or to preserve the breed, I can't really relate to that.  All my breed knowledge is based around plain ol' working breeds that produce eggs, eggs and meat or just meat. 

 

If anyone wants to confine birds to a run and just have pets for looks.. Silkies are the way to go. They do not seem to enjoy the space like dual purpose birds do.

Though I know Bee does not think of silkies as chickens, but that's just my two cents.

 

[Mountain Momma]

If anyone wants to confine birds to a run and just have pets for looks.. Silkies are the way to go. They do not seem to enjoy the space like dual purpose birds do.
Though I know Bee does not think of silkies as chickens, but that's just my two cents.

Gee wiz I thought these were Christmas ornaments...These are silkies? And you dont need to put them in a large run?

 

[aoxa]

If anyone wants to confine birds to a run and just have pets for looks.. Silkies are the way to go. They do not seem to enjoy the space like dual purpose birds do.

Though I know Bee does not think of silkies as chickens, but that's just my two cents.

Gee wiz I thought these were Christmas ornaments...These are silkies?  And you dont need to put them in a large run?

Silkies need a nice size run, but tend to not venture far unless they can see really well. Mine never go more than 10 feet from the barn. I don't mind. I just love the breed, and they are very popular birds to sell. They help pay for feed for the layers just in chick/bird sales

And I find my silkies have the highest rate of fertility out of all my breeds. Almost every single egg hatches.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

Here's questions that must always be asked at this point.

• How long will your chickens produce eggs and, when they are through doing this, what will you do with the chicken?
• If you plan to have them "retire" gently at your place, eventually none will be laying but your flock will keep growing exponentially if you keep hatching younger birds to bear the weight of egg laying~do you feel that the level of self-sufficiency you are trying to obtain will be supported by financing the feeding of numerous non-producing stock? In other words, do you feel that you can ever reach any level of self-sufficiency while feeding that many pets?
• Dying of old age is not romantic and is most often preceded by illness and infirmity~what will you do for these birds at that time or, better yet, how will you prevent them going into that stage of their lives in order to prevent suffering?
• There will come a time when a chicken is showing signs of going into decline but are not yet unhealthy~will you cull them before they reach the stage of suffering and then just throw away the meat? Or will you let them go all the way into illness before you will kill them and then waste the meat?

All excellent questions that - unfortunately - those going into chicken keeping don't ask themselves BEFORE the chickens are in the coop. Myself included.

I know now I picked the wrong breed for long term egg production. I chose sex links because my research said they'd lay large eggs consistently, were friendly, and weren't overly noisy. My area just passed the ordinance allowing chickens so I was trying to introduce chickens to our neighborhood as quietly as possible. Now I know that they'll lay well for a few years and then burn out and I'll have to replenish with new chickens to have consistent egg production.

I don't mind the culling and have had to do it with a sick bird already. Would not have eaten her as didn't have a clue as to what happened to her. Sadly, she was wasted. No, you certainly can't reach any level of financial self-sufficiency while feeding non-producing chickens. That makes them pets and not livestock and that wasn't my original intent.

I've come to the realization that these girls will need to go to the stew pot in about two years. And I need to reconsider the breeds I choose - and add a roo - so that I can replenish my laying flock from within itself. No, I don't want these girls to waste away from old age and illness and not be able to utilize them. That seems a sin after all they've already provided to us.

I'm pretty much a realist and was raised in a farming community. While meat wasn't on my original list of why I got into chickens, I think it's the next logical step and is certainly where I'm headed.