Saijen SilverWolf1
Head Administrator
Registered: 03-2010
Posts: 3632
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
 Finally getting started on chickens
We have finally gotten some roosters to start our brood......not found any hens as of yet, but think DH (and maybe me) will head to his sister's in VA to see if she's got a hen or 2 she'd be willing to let go of.....and she said her father-in-law had some he'd probably let us have....so....just have to see. We wanted older hens so once they got settled in good, they'd go ahead and start layin. With chicks, you gotta wait....... Anyway... our roosters are Cheech and Chong, and they're sure big boys! Not sure what breed...I think they're mixed, but love to talk to us when we go to let them out of the coop in the mornings.
DH held each one while I clipped wings. It was a first for me, but I got it done and all was good. One of them tried to fly over the fence, but got nowhere, since the balance is off by clipping only one wing...so, learned as we went  can hardly wait for some fresh eggs!!!
---
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
~~@Saijen@~~
|
|
5/26/2013, 8:18 pm
|
Link to this post
Send Email to Saijen SilverWolf1
Send PM to Saijen SilverWolf1
Yahoo
|
muladzh
Registered user
Registered: 10-2008
Posts: 2068
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Finally getting started on chickens
We will be buying hens as soon as we move in - run up a cover for them and sit back and wait for eggs. We will not be buying the living noisy alarm clocks. The reason I will be having them caged in a large run is having lost ours to a Red Tail hawk in the space of a week, I don't feel like letting that happen again. So we have caged chickens in a twenty foot by ten foot cage.
---
|
|
5/26/2013, 9:54 pm
|
Link to this post
Send Email to muladzh
Send PM to muladzh
Blog
|
Firlefanz
Administrator
Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 5712
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Finally getting started on chickens
A cage is good, or some bushes they can hide in. Chicken are pretty smart when it comes to escaping from predators.
But I like the idea of a cage - possibly even a moving one - so they can clean up after you on garden beds and fertilize them at the same time.
|
|
5/27/2013, 6:07 am
|
Link to this post
Send Email to Firlefanz
Send PM to Firlefanz
Blog
|
muladzh
Registered user
Registered: 10-2008
Posts: 2068
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Finally getting started on chickens
I know chickens are supposed to be smart enough to avoid being eaten by predators, but ours proved otherwise. Within a two week period we lost them all to one bird.
The cage we will build will be on skids - to allow it to be moved around the field, to give an unlimited range for them. It will be pulled by tractor, so can be quite large.
---
|
|
5/27/2013, 4:43 pm
|
Link to this post
Send Email to muladzh
Send PM to muladzh
Blog
|
Queenyforever
Registered user
Registered: 01-2007
Location: Just north of the clouds...
Posts: 3596
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Finally getting started on chickens
Good Luck Saijen.....Grandma always let hers have free run of the yard during the day...but locked them in the chicken house by night.
---
“Freedom and democracy are dreams you never give up.”
|
|
5/28/2013, 4:25 pm
|
Link to this post
Send Email to Queenyforever
Send PM to Queenyforever
Blog
|
TexasMadness
Administrator
Registered: 03-2007
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 3972
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Finally getting started on chickens
We must have dumb chickens in Texas. I feel like they were trying to get eaten by the bobcat sometimes. Sigh.
|
|
5/28/2013, 5:11 pm
|
Link to this post
Send Email to TexasMadness
Send PM to TexasMadness
|
muladzh
Registered user
Registered: 10-2008
Posts: 2068
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Finally getting started on chickens
Ours were Dumb too - one didn't even try to get away from the Red Tail - just stood there and got eaten. Darned birds.
---
|
|
5/28/2013, 5:54 pm
|
Link to this post
Send Email to muladzh
Send PM to muladzh
Blog
|
Firlefanz
Administrator
Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 5712
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Finally getting started on chickens
Hmmm. Maybe they had their survival skills bred out of them - don't need them in those hen factories!
Maybe you could try old breeds? At any rate, I'm wishing you good luck with your hens.
|
|
5/28/2013, 6:11 pm
|
Link to this post
Send Email to Firlefanz
Send PM to Firlefanz
Blog
|
muladzh
Registered user
Registered: 10-2008
Posts: 2068
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Finally getting started on chickens
There is a chicken place in Virginia near the cabin, that has old breeds where we will be getting our new ones from.
---
|
|
5/30/2013, 1:08 am
|
Link to this post
Send Email to muladzh
Send PM to muladzh
Blog
|
Firlefanz
Administrator
Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 5712
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Finally getting started on chickens
Sounds great! There is a park near where I live where they preserve lots of old breeds. And in cooperation with farmers and private breeders, they try to maintain them.
When I get my own house, I'd love to have some old breeds. (And yes, when.) Almost all of them are hardier and longer lived than the modern turbo-breeds.
|
|
5/30/2013, 8:56 am
|
Link to this post
Send Email to Firlefanz
Send PM to Firlefanz
Blog
|
