Things You Wish You Would Have Known?

[Coop de Grass]

I hatch 90+ birds at a time, basically every 24 days. In the summer I can keep everything under control, it is warmer outside and I can keep everything in the barn with really little effort, even with constant cleaning. In the winter, with Temps in the single digits, I move everything to the basement. So depending on how quickly I advertise and sell the chicks or wait them out if I'm crossing breeds for something particular, at given day 90 to a few hundred birds.

90+ chicks at a time, every 24 days! and up to a few hundred on any given day? I take my hat off to you! The most I've dealt with are 9 chicks at a time, and those 9 are pretty stinky. Wow! I have a feeling you could tell us a few things.

 

[ChickenJesus]

90+ chicks at a time, every 24 days! and up to a few hundred on any given day? I take my hat off to you! The most I've dealt with are 9 chicks at a time, and those 9 are pretty stinky. Wow! I have a feeling you could tell us a few things.

I am very much still learning, I've only had birds for about 3 years now. I'm sure almost everybody on here can help me more than I can them! I got into hatching en mass by accident. I started off with just a dozen birds that I got as chicks. My young kids loved them and wanted more baby chicks. So I did what any father who's wrapped around his little girls' pinky fingers would do..... I bought an incubator and threw in eggs that ultimately came from the original 12. Now I'm "stuck" with another dozen chicks. The chicks lost their fuzz and cuteness and like any other small kids, mine lost interest. So I put an ad on craigslist and within an hour the chicks are gone and I've got $50 in my pocket.

And it has grown significantly from there. Now I keep ~4 dozen birds for eggs and what I don't use (the vast majority) and what I don't sell at work (the vast majority of the ones I don't use), I donate to my church's food pantry. The 1-7 day birds that I don't/can't sell on craigslist I keep and have butchering parties a few times a year where neighbors come over, we butcher en mass, everybody fills their freezer for the year, and the remainder of the butchering parties all the butchered birds are bagged, frozen, and again donated to the food pantry.

That's my story!

 

[Coop de Grass]

I am very much still learning, I've only had birds for about 3 years now. I'm sure almost everybody on here can help me more than I can them! I got into hatching en mass by accident. I started off with just a dozen birds that I got as chicks. My young kids loved them and wanted more baby chicks. So I did what any father who's wrapped around his little girls' pinky fingers would do..... I bought an incubator and threw in eggs that ultimately came from the original 12. Now I'm "stuck" with another dozen chicks. The chicks lost their fuzz and cuteness and like any other small kids, mine lost interest. So I put an ad on craigslist and within an hour the chicks are gone and I've got $50 in my pocket.

And it has grown significantly from there. Now I keep ~4 dozen birds for eggs and what I don't use (the vast majority) and what I don't sell at work (the vast majority of the ones I don't use), I donate to my church's food pantry. The 1-7 day birds that I don't/can't sell on craigslist I keep and have butchering parties a few times a year where neighbors come over, we butcher en mass, everybody fills their freezer for the year, and the remainder of the butchering parties all the butchered birds are bagged, frozen, and again donated to the food pantry.

That's my story!

I repeat...

.

I started exactly a year ago to the day with 9 chicks. We are now at 28 between the ages of 3 weeks and 1 year. 6 laying hens,6 at 18 weeks, and the rest 12 and 3 weeks. We are living dangerously because we have 2 roos, 1 is 18 weeks, and 1 is 12 weeks - we aren't supposed to have roos, but the neighbors said they were ok with it. I think that I will have to check again because the big guy has begun crowing at 4!

I was hoping to hatch and sell Bielefelder chicks by having a roo - buying eggs by mail order is just not that profitable.

I told my husband he shouldn't worry about my chick obsession. He pointed out that you didn't start out with 90+ chicks!!! He knows me very well

We will definitely be moving in the next year to a larger property with lower property taxes and lots and lots of chickens!

 

[Lisa Wood]

That's a great way to learn which breeds you like and want more of and those you don't. 

Thats true! But if they live a long chicken life, it will be a long time before I get more chicks.......

 

[Lisa Wood]

Seramas are the tiny chickens you're thinking of.  They're so adorable. 

I am so excited! Not for me, but I have a freind whose elderly Mom had full size chickens, and just got so upset when they died of old age. She cried and cried, and my freind says she cannot handle any more because she has just gotten older and cant move so well anymore. So, told him about the Seramas, showed him pictures of tiny little roosters. So he wants to know price as gift for his Mom. I need breeder close to SC/GA because they are not shipping with these temps. I just wanna see a tiny chicken like this!

 

[AllynTal]

I am so excited! Not for me, but I have a freind whose elderly Mom had full size chickens, and just got so upset when they died of old age. She cried and cried, and my freind says she cannot handle any more because she has just gotten older and cant move so well anymore. So, told him about the Seramas, showed him pictures of tiny little roosters. So he wants to know price as gift for his Mom. I need breeder close to SC/GA because they are not shipping with these temps. I just wanna see a tiny chicken like this!

Just keep in mind that the chickens simply being small doesn't relieve her of the upkeep of having chickens -- feeding, watering, collecting eggs, first-aid/worming/mite control, et al. If she is elderly and gets so attached to the birds that she is that upset when they die, she may not be up to new chickens no matter how small and cute they are. My grandmother had parakeets. She cried when they died, but a well-meaning family member always replaced them. She finally told us, no more; please don't get her another one when this one dies. She was at a place in her life that she couldn't keep up with the constant care a pet required and it was making a burden for her to keep getting new ones.

Please check and make sure she wants more birds; don't spring them on her.

 

[islandgirl82]

Quote:

Agreed. May want to check with the intended recipient before purchasing.

 

[Lisa Wood]

Just keep in mind that the chickens simply being small doesn't relieve her of the upkeep of having chickens -- feeding, watering, collecting eggs, first-aid/worming/mite control, et al. If she is elderly and gets so attached to the birds that she is that upset when they die, she may not be up to new chickens no matter how small and cute they are. My grandmother had parakeets. She cried when they died, but a well-meaning family member always replaced them. She finally told us, no more; please don't get her another one when this one dies. She was at a place in her life that she couldn't keep up with the constant care a pet required and it was making a burden for her to keep getting new ones.

Please check and make sure she wants more birds; don't spring them on her.

Of course. You bring up excellent points, and of course her son will check with her first. I dont believe in surprising anyone with a gift or unexpected animal. Maybe a pet rock. If the bird is house pet, is there any chance of mites/lice?

Lisa

 

[islandgirl82]

Quote:
Pet rock. hahaha.

There's always a risk but not untreatable.

 

[lazy gardener]

I do hope you're not suggesting that b/c Seramas are small that they could be house pets. They produce just as much dander and odor as a larger chicken, and an elderly person would definitely be at more risk to respiratory ills and be very unlikely to keep up with the dander issue.