THEY HAVE SHIPPED!

[stasichick]

I know rats can be a problem, but I think its a less common problem with having chickens than non chicken people know about. Everybody I talked to about wanting to get them always said you get rats, and that was actually the reason it took me so long to get them. My mom didn't want us getting rats. So after I did some research I presented her with the findings on rats and chickens and if I remember correctly it usually isnt very likely you get rats as long as you follow some basic rules. I know when I talked with my aunt, who has chickens, she never mentioned anything about rats.

And it is almost time to need to order more. I need to make renovations to my coop first and then its a couple ducks for me next year.

Oh wow! ducks that sounds like fun!!! do they live in the same coop with the chickens? (clearly I know nothing about ducks)

 

[SMonroe1990]

I've read that you can house them together. The bedding in the coop is just going to need to be changed more often because ducks are very messy with their water. I figure 2 though can't be too bad. And they are soo cute as babies too. DH will not let me get anymore chickens, I think he fears if I go to place another order of chicks I will order a male and he doesn't want one of them. So I compromised with ducks. It's a win for me. I am also going to raise a couple meat birds and a turkey next year for eating. With all the horror stories I have been hearing about what the government deems okay for what we consume, I kind of want to give raising and butchering my own birds a shot. If I like it well enough the following year I will do enough meat birds to have a 6 month supply of chicken and when that starts getting low I'll order more. I am also trying to convince everyone that we need a pig to raise for meat consumption. I am hoping to get as close to self sustaining as possible.

 

[stasichick]

I've read that you can house them together. The bedding in the coop is just going to need to be changed more often because ducks are very messy with their water. I figure 2 though can't be too bad. And they are soo cute as babies too. DH will not let me get anymore chickens, I think he fears if I go to place another order of chicks I will order a male and he doesn't want one of them. So I compromised with ducks. It's a win for me. I am also going to raise a couple meat birds and a turkey next year for eating. With all the horror stories I have been hearing about what the government deems okay for what we consume, I kind of want to give raising and butchering my own birds a shot. If I like it well enough the following year I will do enough meat birds to have a 6 month supply of chicken and when that starts getting low I'll order more. I am also trying to convince everyone that we need a pig to raise for meat consumption. I am hoping to get as close to self sustaining as possible.

Really... quite interesting!!! We are all about living off the land and self sustaining!!!! My only qualm about raising and butchering meat is
I have always personally had a problem with taking somethings life.... when I eat meat I have to "not think about it" I think its just my motherly instinct of wanting to baby every animal... For instance I cant imagine taking the dog out in the back shooting and eating him!!! But I am also very aware that its life so 'SUCK IT UP' lol

It is a "battle" in my house about eating our raised chickens... Last night at the dinner table we had the "What do we do when they stop laying eggs" conversation.... A lot of people eat them... I can NOT see myself eating dear old Buffy... We keep going back and forth between eat them or order new babies then and keep taking care of the oldies.... until they die of natural causes.

We decided that if we do kill to eat them...my husband would have to do all of the dirty work and just hand me a hollowed out plump body then ill prep and cook it... We are not traditional Chicken owners (we are from New York City) but live out on long island... I have never experienced killing something and eating it before!! not even a turkey! Might be a new chapter in my life...


Is this something you ever struggled with?

 

[Xiao Casa]

I don't think we'll ever eat ours. We'll just have to keep taking care of them, I really, really hope they'll lay eggs for lots and lots of years. Some people's chickens keep laying until they are 7 or 8 years old! (Of course, most of those people have been breeding their own chickens specifically for that trait.)

Stasichick, to answer your question, yes chickens do eat cockroaches. The only problem is that cockroaches are hiders and most coops have plenty of little gaps where a cockroach could go and a chicken could not follow. Plus, cockroaches are nocturnal and chickens are diurnal, so, much like the old phrase "when the cat's away the mice will play" you have "when the chicken's asleep the cockroach will eat... your chicken's food!"

I know it is really gross, but if you can scare the cockroaches out of their hiding place during the day (assuming you don't have some sort of huge, major infestation) then the chickens will go crazy and glut themselves on the ugly old bugs.

 

[SMonroe1990]

I was raised in a family of hunters. I can go up to the shed we have and watch my father gut and skin a deer no problems. I will say I have never been hunting but if I were to go I can almost certainly say I would have no issues taking a shot at a deer. I am sure once the time comes if I cannot personally end their lives someone in the house would do it for me and then I can do the rest. I have the mind set of it's food I eat and I will do what I have to to keep my family and myself fed. I couldn't imagine doing it with a dog or cat either, but our culture we have grown to think of these animals as companion animals and not food. Meanwhile in other cultures cows are revered and not eaten while they do consume cats and dogs. I would say I would let the chickens live out a full life once their egg production has slowed, but I have read chickens can live 10 or more years, especially if they are healthy. Not to mention the prime egg laying time for a chicken is the first year and usually, depending on the breed, I have read people like to have young one laying by the time the older ones are on their 3rd year. So if you do that math, especially if you live somewhere where you can only have a certain number of chickens, you will exceed the amount of chickens you are technically supposed to have and eventually run out of room to keep the ones that are living and not producing anything for you.

I am not saying by any means that everyone has this mindset and I understand there are people out there who keep chickens as pets even after they stop laying, my Aunt is one of them. But where I live I only have a certain amount of room for chickens and because of that I will probably order 6 new girls in January of 2016 and have them ready to go out into the coop before butchering a couple of my chickens to make room. I figure mine are not even laying yet and I am not expecting eggs until spring. I will get a year and a half or more out of my girls before they then become food for my family. The way I look at butchering them is they have lived a happy and decent life on my property. I swear sometimes they eat better than I do. I give them table scraps as often as I clean out my fridge and they always have food, water, and shelter.

Before I even bought the chickens I had to get in the mindset that they were eventually going to be food, this the reason I didn't name them. One has a name and that was my husbands doing. The others are just "chick", "Chicken", or "Stupid Bird" when they escape the coop before I open the pop door to the run. That's what I have to add to the honey do list, a system to open the pop door without having to step into the coop. They all think it's funny to try to get out while the outside door isn't being blocked.

I think for a lot of people, they decide before getting the chickens whether they are just going to be for eggs or for both meat and eggs. If you decide for both people usually go with breeds that end up being a little meatier than some of the other breeds. I knew before getting them that eventually they would end up in my freezer and that's why I got a lot of the breeds I did.

 

[stasichick]

I don't think we'll ever eat ours. We'll just have to keep taking care of them, I really, really hope they'll lay eggs for lots and lots of years. Some people's chickens keep laying until they are 7 or 8 years old! (Of course, most of those people have been breeding their own chickens specifically for that trait.)

Stasichick, to answer your question, yes chickens do eat cockroaches. The only problem is that cockroaches are hiders and most coops have plenty of little gaps where a cockroach could go and a chicken could not follow. Plus, cockroaches are nocturnal and chickens are diurnal, so, much like the old phrase "when the cat's away the mice will play" you have "when the chicken's asleep the cockroach will eat... your chicken's food!"

I know it is really gross, but if you can scare the cockroaches out of their hiding place during the day (assuming you don't have some sort of huge, major infestation) then the chickens will go crazy and glut themselves on the ugly old bugs.

Thats good to know!!! for the bearded dragons I can buy "hissing cockroaches" but I never do... just the thought of a cockroach in my house skeeve me out!... so my poor bearded dragons are forced to eat juicy goliath worms and crunchy crickets! I don't think they mind so much )

 

[stasichick]

I was raised in a family of hunters. I can go up to the shed we have and watch my father gut and skin a deer no problems. I will say I have never been hunting but if I were to go I can almost certainly say I would have no issues taking a shot at a deer. I am sure once the time comes if I cannot personally end their lives someone in the house would do it for me and then I can do the rest. I have the mind set of it's food I eat and I will do what I have to to keep my family and myself fed. I couldn't imagine doing it with a dog or cat either, but our culture we have grown to think of these animals as companion animals and not food. Meanwhile in other cultures cows are revered and not eaten while they do consume cats and dogs. I would say I would let the chickens live out a full life once their egg production has slowed, but I have read chickens can live 10 or more years, especially if they are healthy. Not to mention the prime egg laying time for a chicken is the first year and usually, depending on the breed, I have read people like to have young one laying by the time the older ones are on their 3rd year. So if you do that math, especially if you live somewhere where you can only have a certain number of chickens, you will exceed the amount of chickens you are technically supposed to have and eventually run out of room to keep the ones that are living and not producing anything for you.

I am not saying by any means that everyone has this mindset and I understand there are people out there who keep chickens as pets even after they stop laying, my Aunt is one of them. But where I live I only have a certain amount of room for chickens and because of that I will probably order 6 new girls in January of 2016 and have them ready to go out into the coop before butchering a couple of my chickens to make room. I figure mine are not even laying yet and I am not expecting eggs until spring. I will get a year and a half or more out of my girls before they then become food for my family. The way I look at butchering them is they have lived a happy and decent life on my property. I swear sometimes they eat better than I do. I give them table scraps as often as I clean out my fridge and they always have food, water, and shelter.

Before I even bought the chickens I had to get in the mindset that they were eventually going to be food, this the reason I didn't name them. One has a name and that was my husbands doing. The others are just "chick", "Chicken", or "Stupid Bird" when they escape the coop before I open the pop door to the run. That's what I have to add to the honey do list, a system to open the pop door without having to step into the coop. They all think it's funny to try to get out while the outside door isn't being blocked.

I think for a lot of people, they decide before getting the chickens whether they are just going to be for eggs or for both meat and eggs. If you decide for both people usually go with breeds that end up being a little meatier than some of the other breeds. I knew before getting them that eventually they would end up in my freezer and that's why I got a lot of the breeds I did.

Well you certainly do have a healthy thought process on this... I am sure if I had more exposure like you had, I would be able to tough it through!!! ) I am not going to lie, I wish I was more like you!!!

Our original plan was to keep them till they are old and fat and die of being spoiled and loved. ( I think we will stick with this) I think my husband got panicked at the idea of the chickens not laying eggs and not being able to replace the chickens with new chickens hehehe. When the time comes, I am sure ill be reporting to all of you and asking your advice ) Thank you for all of your insight!

 

[Xiao Casa]

Thats good to know!!! for the bearded dragons I can buy "hissing cockroaches" but I never do... just the thought of a cockroach in my house skeeve me out!... so my poor bearded dragons are forced to eat juicy goliath worms and crunchy crickets! I don't think they mind so much )

I have a brother who keeps lizards and they are kept on the same diet... but they don't seem to think it's that bad of an arrangement.

 

[lightchick]

I could never eat my chickens! Oh and guess what!!!! I got my first egg today! I think it's from my Black sex link, but I'm not sure.

 

[Xiao Casa]

You got a first egg and haven't posted a picture of it and the chicken who laid it?! Just kidding...

Congratulations!!!!

I can't wait for my first!