New in my Life Raising Chickens

[Dave1290]

Hahaha...  How fitting this is...  An older lady who is VERY trustworthy and doesn't really have much, cleans my house once an eon...  She has a son and daughter who both live with her that she supports.  The other day I picked up 5 cases of flavored water for her and got a BOGO deal on a big bag of frozen chicken breasts...  She just called me all frustrated because her bag WAS in the back porch freezer and someone came in and stole it.  She said that was the only thing in it...   Welllll, guess I'm dropping my bag off to her to put in her NOW locked freezer...  Microbes...   Dogs...  People???   😂 😂 😂 😎  

[dirtmudd]

4 hours ago, Dave1290 said:

Hahaha...  How fitting this is...  An older lady who is VERY trustworthy and doesn't really have much, cleans my house once an eon...  She has a son and daughter who both live with her that she supports.  The other day I picked up 5 cases of flavored water for her and got a BOGO deal on a big bag of frozen chicken breasts...  She just called me all frustrated because her bag WAS in the back porch freezer and someone came in and stole it.  She said that was the only thing in it...   Welllll, guess I'm dropping my bag off to her to put in her NOW locked freezer...  Microbes...   Dogs...  People???   😂 😂 😂 😎  

 

[Dave1290]

Exactly!  😂😂

[dirtmudd]

 

[joessportster]

Ok Chickens started laying a bit over a month ago, We have 11 hens and I am only getting 1 or 2 eggs a day. So what gives ?  I thought I would get at least 4 to 6 a day It seems I have at most 2 hens laying. How can I find out which ones are laying ?

 

Also how do you water your chickens ?

 

Joe

[Thaddeus Smith]

It's not an exact science. My egg numbers are down too. Heat, diet changes, stressors, amount of daylight, etc can all impact egg output. Focus less on the eggs right now and more on the chicken life cycle and your flock's temperment /personality.

 

In other news, I'm expecting 100 meat chicks to arrive on Thursday. So where you're scratching your head on egg output, I'll be doing the same with regard to maximizing final dress out weight at 12 weeks, reducing dead loss, and the logistics of it all - this is a massive jump in scale for us and I'm nervous as hell. These guys are supposed to be 100% our poultry source for next year.

[CECAA850]

You think YOU'RE stressing about chickens?

[dtel]

They all may have not started laying ? Like Michael said, other things effect chickens it's off and on but really never an exact amount regularly, you will have more eggs than you know what to do with before long.

1 hour ago, CECAA850 said:

You think YOU'RE stressing about chickens?

That is going to be one stinking job to clean up, I know what Rodney's smells like with live chickens, wouldn't want to be around that mess.

[Thaddeus Smith]

@joessportster, how are your birds doing? My meat birds have feathered out enough that they can be in their first chicken tractor. Gotta get my butt in gear and build the big tractor for the last few weeks of their life.. they're going to outgrow this one pretty quickly. Right now we're moving them to fresh grass 1-2 times a day.

 

 

 

[joessportster]

Hey Thadd

They are laying more than we can use now, up to 9-10 eggs a day, most in the boxes I made and a couple in the woods, I have been letting them roam from 4pm till dark and a couple of the Hens refuse to lay in the boxes..............I have 6.5 dozen eggs in the fridge now and have given Dad and Brother 6 or so dozen. We posted to sell the extras at 2.00 a dozen and no one seems to want them. Spoke with the wife this evening I am going to try and donate to a local food bank. I would hate to see them set and go bad.  If donating does not work I am seriously considering making approx 1/2 our hens Meat in the freezer (The wife says she wont eat them, apparently she has become attached  )

 

As a child in a Foster Home - Farm for a couple years I saw some chickens butchered heads lopped off and running to and fro till they dropped

 

I plan on trying the funnel type container, take the head and so on, watched a couple the video's on you tube for the balance of the task.

 

Thats a pretty large chick tractor in the pics. 

[Schu]

Oh wow.. That's awesome Mike. 

I'm jealous.

[Thaddeus Smith]

1 hour ago, joessportster said:

Hey Thadd

They are laying more than we can use now, up to 9-10 eggs a day, most in the boxes I made and a couple in the woods, I have been letting them roam from 4pm till dark and a couple of the Hens refuse to lay in the boxes..............I have 6.5 dozen eggs in the fridge now and have given Dad and Brother 6 or so dozen. We posted to sell the extras at 2.00 a dozen and no one seems to want them. Spoke with the wife this evening I am going to try and donate to a local food bank. I would hate to see them set and go bad.  If donating does not work I am seriously considering making approx 1/2 our hens Meat in the freezer (The wife says she wont eat them, apparently she has become attached  )

 

As a child in a Foster Home - Farm for a couple years I saw some chickens butchered heads lopped off and running to and fro till they dropped

 

I plan on trying the funnel type container, take the head and so on, watched a couple the video's on you tube for the balance of the task.

 

Thats a pretty large chick tractor in the pics. 

 

Awesome! Keep in mind that the eggs you see in grocery stores are typically around 6 weeks old already, so they'll keep for quite a while in your fridge. We usually have a dozen or two out on the counter and then several in the fridge. As winter approaches, scramble up a couple dozen - shells and all - and feed that to your chickens on a cold day. Will be a good boost of protein/calcium and a nice warm treat.

[Thaddeus Smith]

58 minutes ago, Schu said:

Oh wow.. That's awesome Mike. 

I'm jealous.

 

I'm still stressed about harvesting in December - this is just a scale that I've never done before and I'm still feeling massively unprepared.

[joessportster]

10 hours ago, Thaddeus Smith said:

 

Awesome! Keep in mind that the eggs you see in grocery stores are typically around 6 weeks old already, so they'll keep for quite a while in your fridge. We usually have a dozen or two out on the counter and then several in the fridge. As winter approaches, scramble up a couple dozen - shells and all - and feed that to your chickens on a cold day. Will be a good boost of protein/calcium and a nice warm treat.

Never thought about that. Good Idea...................Thanks

[dtel]

12 hours ago, joessportster said:

I have 6.5 dozen eggs in the fridge now and have given Dad and Brother 6 or so dozen. We posted to sell the extras at 2.00 a dozen and no one seems to want them.

That was kind of why we quit chicken years ago, you can only eat so many eggs and we gave them to everyone who came over. It finally came down to how much we were spending on chicken food compared to how many eggs we were eating. Got down to only about 3-4 chickens and we still couldn't keep up with the eggs so we gave the chickens away.  They were the best eggs we have ever had but you can only eat so many eggs.

 

11 hours ago, Thaddeus Smith said:

As winter approaches, scramble up a couple dozen - shells and all - and feed that to your chickens on a cold day. Will be a good boost of protein/calcium and a nice warm treat.

That's a good idea, the shells will help them, we would buy crushed Oyster shells from the feed store and keep a little in the cage for them to eat on, it helps them with digestion and with making the new shells stronger.

[joessportster]

Lost my first chicken to a coyote today,  Ripping some discs the wife hollered out I looked out the window and saw his A$$ on the heels of 1 bird. Grabbed the 12 GA. by the time I made the front door he was outta site. Wife said he went that way. in my sock feet I looked and there was a feather trail..............Grabbed my shoes followed the trail and no luck he apparently went into some VERY heavy overbrush that surrounds a pond..............................................

 

Still have 9 Birds and will be keeping them caged for a few days, sucks because they know when its time to roam they crowd the gate letting me know its time. I get back to the yard the wife is outside with a 3 foot piece of 1/2" pvc pipe. Told her next time either grab the Judge or stay in the house, wont do anyone any good if you piss off a coyote and he attacks you that little pipe wont do squat

[Thaddeus Smith]

Sorry man - I've had a lot of bird deaths this year and it gets easier, but still stings each time.

[oldtimer]

On ‎10‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 9:07 AM, dtel said:

but you can only eat so many eggs.

That sounds like a challenge, cool hand Luke...

[Gilbert]

Living here in the sand hills of NC with long needle pines everywhere I am thinking about using those needles for bedding in the coop / nesting boxes,  Its free Just get the boys busy with a rake................Any thoughts ?
 
as far as feed goes mine are still on the starter mix once that runs out the local TSC has recommended there brand. Thoughts ?

I've had or raised just about everything you could ever expect to find on a farm. Including chickens, since I was a small boy. Very relaxing to watch nowadays, and there's nothing like fresh free range eggs.

Watch out for poop crusted butts. Dont let that happen, or chicks can die. Fresh food and water. daily.

Keep your coop far enough away from and down wind (prevailing breezes) from the house.

What type did you buy?
Pullets or mixed?

For keeping your chicks happy, I don't think pine needles are as welcoming as Bermuda hay, or wood shavings. Be sure and keep the chicks warm, don't allow any cold drafts where your keeping them. If you've got hawks around, dont let the chicks out for a few months.

Right now we're down to 19 hens, and 4 roosters, which is too many roosters. Lots of cool breeds to consider, if you want good size eggs, black or red stars, barred rocks and rode island reds are tough to beat.



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