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Tororider
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Chickens, and things related
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bmac
Veteran Member
Tomorrow is the day of the 4H Big Chicken Sale. Its part of the plan we originally signed on for - you get 20 chicks in the Spring, you raise them over the Spring and Summer, you show them at the County Fair and then you sell them at the Chicken Sale. Next Spring, repeat the process.
Well, that's the way that its supposed to work. Unless your daughter has given them all names and wants to keep them all forever. So, in our case, we are only selling 2 roosters and only selling those because the 3 cochin roosters fight one another. We decided to reintroduce Toby to the flock and remove the other 2. Toby is the one who walks on a leash and who has spent his life (until now) in exhile because the others picked on him. So far, Toby seems to be doing pretty well with the others. He is showing "maleness" with the 2 silkie roosters - but nothing violent like we saw with him and the other 2 cochins. More like male gamesmanship.
So, tomorrow its goodbye to Tony and Tommy or whatever their names are and hello to no more chickens in the basement. Yeah!
Well, that's the way that its supposed to work. Unless your daughter has given them all names and wants to keep them all forever. So, in our case, we are only selling 2 roosters and only selling those because the 3 cochin roosters fight one another. We decided to reintroduce Toby to the flock and remove the other 2. Toby is the one who walks on a leash and who has spent his life (until now) in exhile because the others picked on him. So far, Toby seems to be doing pretty well with the others. He is showing "maleness" with the 2 silkie roosters - but nothing violent like we saw with him and the other 2 cochins. More like male gamesmanship.
So, tomorrow its goodbye to Tony and Tommy or whatever their names are and hello to no more chickens in the basement. Yeah!
bmac
Veteran Member
The Big Chicken Sale turned out to be the Little Chicken Give-Away.
As I mentioned, we only took 2 bantam cochin roosters from our flock. However, I also took 7 large breed roosters that belonged to a friend of my daughter. Her mom was in the hospital so they needed a little help. The friend went with us to the sale.
Lots of chickens for sale, very few buyers. One guy brought his pickup loaded with cages. He offered $2 each for 5 of the buff opingtons (little girl's dad was expecting $8-$10 each). I politely refused his offer as we had just arrived and had not yet gotten a feel for the market. Well, after 2 1/2 hours of sitting around, I approached the wholesale buyer and told him that if he would give me $20 for the 5 buffs and 2 barred rock cochins, I'd throw in my 2 cochin bantams for free.
In the mean time, daughter's friend was told to look for some large breed hens to buy. Not many for sale - she bought the last 2 (don't know the breed) for $8 each. And my daughter, who didn't really want to get rid of her roosters, bought 2 more bantam hens - a Japanese and brown Dutch. These things are TINY - look about the size of a pigeon to me.
So, we still have 20 birds. The new ones are doing OK in the coop but pretty much stay to themselves. Being about half the size of the others, they are probably fearing for their lives amongst the bigger birds (even though the others are bantams also). With 17 hens, I'm surprised that we are only getting 2-3 eggs per day. And with the days getting shorter and no lights in the coop, I guess egg production is about to stop soon.
As I mentioned, we only took 2 bantam cochin roosters from our flock. However, I also took 7 large breed roosters that belonged to a friend of my daughter. Her mom was in the hospital so they needed a little help. The friend went with us to the sale.
Lots of chickens for sale, very few buyers. One guy brought his pickup loaded with cages. He offered $2 each for 5 of the buff opingtons (little girl's dad was expecting $8-$10 each). I politely refused his offer as we had just arrived and had not yet gotten a feel for the market. Well, after 2 1/2 hours of sitting around, I approached the wholesale buyer and told him that if he would give me $20 for the 5 buffs and 2 barred rock cochins, I'd throw in my 2 cochin bantams for free.
In the mean time, daughter's friend was told to look for some large breed hens to buy. Not many for sale - she bought the last 2 (don't know the breed) for $8 each. And my daughter, who didn't really want to get rid of her roosters, bought 2 more bantam hens - a Japanese and brown Dutch. These things are TINY - look about the size of a pigeon to me.
So, we still have 20 birds. The new ones are doing OK in the coop but pretty much stay to themselves. Being about half the size of the others, they are probably fearing for their lives amongst the bigger birds (even though the others are bantams also). With 17 hens, I'm surprised that we are only getting 2-3 eggs per day. And with the days getting shorter and no lights in the coop, I guess egg production is about to stop soon.
dooleysm
Platinum Member
Mama hen and the chicks have started venturing outside to peck around. It's pretty neat to watch the hen scratch around and then the chicks move in to pick out any goodies that she scratched up. They all still stay very close to her and she is very protective of them. She will go after any thing that gets near them. My almost 3 year old son learned this first hand. She didn't hurt him, but he learned in a hurry to stay away from the chicks.
I've been keeping a waterer filled on the ground for them. My regular waterer is hanging about 6" off the ground and I don't know if they could learn to reach it. I know from watching them that they could easily fly up that high to perch on the edge of it. The other day I saw the mama hen and one of the chicks laying in a nest box about 3' off the ground.
It starting to turn cold here now, with lows very near freezing this week. I don't think these chicks will have any problem though, they seem to be well cared for. They are doing fine. I have not fed them anything special. Just layer crumbles that the rest of the girls get. I throw a handful on the ground for them every now and then, which they seem to appreciate, but other than that, mama hen is doing a fantastic job raising them. It's been pretty neat, I think I'll just let my hens raise chicks when they go broody. Cheap, easy way to keep the flock numbers up.
I lost a guinea the other day. For a couple weeks it had been spending most of its time with the chickens instead of the other guineas. It seemed fine though. One day after work I found it dead in the coop though. No signs of pecking or anything else. Very mysterious, just like the rest of the chicken deaths around there have been.
I've been keeping a waterer filled on the ground for them. My regular waterer is hanging about 6" off the ground and I don't know if they could learn to reach it. I know from watching them that they could easily fly up that high to perch on the edge of it. The other day I saw the mama hen and one of the chicks laying in a nest box about 3' off the ground.
It starting to turn cold here now, with lows very near freezing this week. I don't think these chicks will have any problem though, they seem to be well cared for. They are doing fine. I have not fed them anything special. Just layer crumbles that the rest of the girls get. I throw a handful on the ground for them every now and then, which they seem to appreciate, but other than that, mama hen is doing a fantastic job raising them. It's been pretty neat, I think I'll just let my hens raise chicks when they go broody. Cheap, easy way to keep the flock numbers up.
I lost a guinea the other day. For a couple weeks it had been spending most of its time with the chickens instead of the other guineas. It seemed fine though. One day after work I found it dead in the coop though. No signs of pecking or anything else. Very mysterious, just like the rest of the chicken deaths around there have been.
OP
Tororider
Veteran Member
I am sick of my chickens molting, I want my eggs back.
4720 OWNER
Gold Member
For what ever reason, the girls here just seem to chug along and lay their 1-4 a day. Which is not great considering there about 15 of them but some of them are almost 10 yr old, thru molting and all. They do not get much special but their greens give out about the same time the molt is over. One of these days they can be an ingredient in lasagna but for now it is ok. Not real willing to start over with and get new layers. But reading a bunch of this thread over the months, the idea of putting a rooster in there for a month and let them go at it and see what happens is intriguing. I am more than willing to let mom do all the work, otherwise the feed cost is not even covered.
I believe the criteria for lasagna ingredient is the one that looks the best and is most greedy for food, the real workers are too tuckered.
I believe the criteria for lasagna ingredient is the one that looks the best and is most greedy for food, the real workers are too tuckered.
dooleysm
Platinum Member
I haven't noticed mine molting, but production has gone down from 8/day to 4/day. Feed consumption is at about 50#/week (feed is down to $9/50# bag, and falling every time I get more), so they aren't even close to paying for themselves. But, I've got 10 assorted youngsters that I got at the auction a month or more ago that aren't producing, 7 guineas, and 2 ducks that sneak in to eat every now and then.
I've got one hen from my original chicks that is not looking good. She is white with brown specks and smaller than the barred rock hens. She waddles around like she's very overweight, falling down if she moves to fast, and is easy for me to catch. I don't know what's wrong with her, but I haven't ever seen her in a nest box laying. If she doesn't perk up soon I may have to perform my head removal surgery on her.
Mama hen is still watching over her chicks, who are doing great. They can fly up into the nest boxes now and spend some time every day away from mama, playing around with the other chickens. They still huddle up underneath her at night. The nights are getting cooler, though we've been having above average temps for the past week or so. It's gonna be down below freezing at night here in the next couple of weeks. I don't throw any feed down for them any more and they seem to be doing good. I am still keeping their waterer filled, as I'm not sure if they're smart enough to hop up on the edge of the big waterer to drink.
I've got one hen from my original chicks that is not looking good. She is white with brown specks and smaller than the barred rock hens. She waddles around like she's very overweight, falling down if she moves to fast, and is easy for me to catch. I don't know what's wrong with her, but I haven't ever seen her in a nest box laying. If she doesn't perk up soon I may have to perform my head removal surgery on her.
Mama hen is still watching over her chicks, who are doing great. They can fly up into the nest boxes now and spend some time every day away from mama, playing around with the other chickens. They still huddle up underneath her at night. The nights are getting cooler, though we've been having above average temps for the past week or so. It's gonna be down below freezing at night here in the next couple of weeks. I don't throw any feed down for them any more and they seem to be doing good. I am still keeping their waterer filled, as I'm not sure if they're smart enough to hop up on the edge of the big waterer to drink.
4720 OWNER
Gold Member
Mine have their crumble, mixed with uncleaned oats, and corn in the winter for some heat. They seem very happy with the mix. Plus whatever is turning into a science experiment in the fridge and other left overs as they are discovered by neighbors and such. Never have a problem with what to do with that almost empty box of cereal that noone wants to finish off!
dooleysm
Platinum Member
I found some barley in the cupboard yesterday from who knows how long ago. The chickens loved it!
Egg production has dropped to 2/day over the past 3-4 days. The more I thought about it, the madder I got, so I made use of the electric outlet I put in a month or so ago. I rounded up my brooder light fixture, a timer, and a 13w CFL and have them set for light from about 3 am - 8:30 am. It's only been on for a day so I haven't seen any production increase yet. I'll give them about a week and see if production increases. If not, I'll give them light for a longer period.
I'm not sure if they need artificial light once it's officially 'light' out, even though it's normally overcast throughout the winter? Or is it sufficient to add artificial light to the beginning and end of each day? I know when I went out there this morning to open the pen up at 6, the light was on and they were all awake, walking around on the floor of the coop. Normally they are all still asleep on the roost, so I think the light is doing its job.
Stay tuned for results on this experiment.
Egg production has dropped to 2/day over the past 3-4 days. The more I thought about it, the madder I got, so I made use of the electric outlet I put in a month or so ago. I rounded up my brooder light fixture, a timer, and a 13w CFL and have them set for light from about 3 am - 8:30 am. It's only been on for a day so I haven't seen any production increase yet. I'll give them about a week and see if production increases. If not, I'll give them light for a longer period.
I'm not sure if they need artificial light once it's officially 'light' out, even though it's normally overcast throughout the winter? Or is it sufficient to add artificial light to the beginning and end of each day? I know when I went out there this morning to open the pen up at 6, the light was on and they were all awake, walking around on the floor of the coop. Normally they are all still asleep on the roost, so I think the light is doing its job.
Stay tuned for results on this experiment.
dooleysm
Platinum Member
No great jump in productivity yet, still getting about 2/day. I fiddled more with the light, giving them some in the morning and evening. They didn't seem to care about the evening light, when it got dark outside they came in and roosted. In "light" of this, yesterday I cut out the evening light and upped the morning light. Now it's coming on at about 2 AM and off at 8:30 AM. I'll give this another week and see what happens. Next step is just keeping the light on from 2 AM - 6 PM. After that I may try a 24 hour scheme.
