Pet Chickens

[presonorek]

Does anybody have any pet chickens or ducks?

I have 16 chickens and 8 ducks. I may have a 17th chicken in a week. I can chitter chatter about it if there is any interest. If not, perhaps this thread will disappear into oblivion.

 

[Lumpy 1]

I do like eggs for breakfast..

 

[presonorek]

I do like eggs for breakfast..

That counts for something. Do you name the eggs before you eat them?

 

[Lumpy 1]

That counts for something. Do you name the eggs before you eat them?

.
Yup, Poached, Fried or Scrambled..
.

 

[RodISHI]

Five hens one Goose and two duck hens. The girls all talk to Rod the most with the exception of mamma duck. The goose talks to whoever he thinks will listen including the cats. Mamma is a fav and she is very demanding at times. She comes right in the door when its her chow time if we don't get her food out to her.

 

[Muhammed]

Does anybody have any pet chickens or ducks?

I have 16 chickens and 8 ducks. I may have a 17th chicken in a week. I can chitter chatter about it if there is any interest. If not, perhaps this thread will disappear into oblivion.

I live in the city and looked up the local ordinance. Here you're allowed to have up to 6 hens (roosters are banned within the city limits).

I was considering getting some chickens because fresh out of the nest eggs are so much tastier than the eggs you get at the grocery store.

However, I have no desire to deal with all the chicken shit.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

That's a lot of chickens! Did you know you can preserve unwashed eggs for up to a year, via a process called water glassing?

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

I live in the city and looked up the local ordinance. Here you're allowed to have up to 6 hens (roosters are banned within the city limits).

I was considering getting some chickens because fresh out of the nest eggs are so much tastier than the eggs you get at the grocery store.

However, I have no desire to deal with all the chicken shit.

We can have up to 6 hens in my small Midwestern town, but the two pit bulls who live next door would probably make it really impractical. Maybe some day I'll decide it's worth it to build that 6 foot cedar fence between me and the neighbors. I have a friend just outside of town who raises chickens and she will allow me to bring my dog over to test her chicken tolerance level. It would be cool.

 

[presonorek]

We can have up to 6 hens in my small Midwestern town, but the two pit bulls who live next door would probably make it really impractical. Maybe some day I'll decide it's worth it to build that 6 foot cedar fence between me and the neighbors. I have a friend just outside of town who raises chickens and she will allow me to bring my dog over to test her chicken tolerance level. It would be cool.

I lost four chickens to dogs. The trick to raising chickens is to always plan for a 42% survival rate. If you need 6 hens then start off with 15 baby chicks. They do die, a lot. People think they are sad because a baby chick dies. If they are honest with themselves they will admit they are sad because their plans are interrupted. Plan for a lot of death when raising chickens. Ducks are a little bit tougher and/or luckier. I never did geese or turkeys.

 

[presonorek]

That's a lot of chickens! Did you know you can preserve unwashed eggs for up to a year, via a process called water glassing?

Oh wow. Unwashed eggs will keep for a really long time on their own. I wouldn’t be afraid to eat a 60 day old egg that was never refrigerated. This might be a good idea around September right before chickens stop producing for the cold days.

 

[JustAnotherNut]

I have chickens but they're not pets but a source of food. Eggs mostly and sometimes meat.

I lost four chickens to dogs. The trick to raising chickens is to always plan for a 42% survival rate. If you need 6 hens then start off with 15 baby chicks. They do die, a lot. People think they are sad because a baby chick dies. If they are honest with themselves they will admit they are sad because their plans are interrupted. Plan for a lot of death when raising chickens. Ducks are a little bit tougher and/or luckier. I never did geese or turkeys.

What are you doing to those poor chicks that more don't survive??? In 15+ years of raising chickens, I've had about 98% survival rate.

 

[JustAnotherNut]

I have no desire to deal with all the chicken shit.

garden compost

 

[presonorek]

I have chickens but they're not pets but a source of food. Eggs mostly and sometimes meat.




What are you doing to those poor chicks that more don't survive??? In 15+ years of raising chickens, I've had about 98% survival rate.

I started with 18. Two died within the first few days (I think disease). 3 disappeared without a trace. 5 were killed by dogs. That left me with 8. I bought 8 more. They seem to be super healthy. I haven’t lost any of them yet. Out of 26 I am left with 16. So I am at 61% survival. I anticipate losing 5 more by surprise. If I ever have good luck I just give away the excess chickens. Chicken death has discouraged me to get out of the business twice. This time I am just making a five year commitment to my original stock.

 

[JustAnotherNut]

I started with 18. Two died within the first few days (I think disease). 3 disappeared without a trace. 5 were killed by dogs. That left me with 8. I bought 8 more. They seem to be super healthy. I haven’t lost any of them yet. Out of 26 I am left with 16. So I am at 61% survival. I anticipate losing 5 more by surprise. If I ever have good luck I just give away the excess chickens. Chicken death has discouraged me to get out of the business twice. This time I am just making a five year commitment to my original stock.

I'm assuming you start with baby chicks? Don't you keep them in a warm brooder of some sort until atleast 6 weeks old, when they have all their feathers??

If you're losing that many chickens, for whatever reasons then you need to secure the coop better to protect them from dogs or disappearing without a trace..........I'm guessing some type of predator like rats, raccoons, or other

 

[presonorek]

I'm assuming you start with baby chicks? Don't you keep them in a warm brooder of some sort until atleast 6 weeks old, when they have all their feathers??

If you're losing that many chickens, for whatever reasons then you need to secure the coop better to protect them from dogs or disappearing without a trace..........I'm guessing some type of predator like rats, raccoons, or other

Yes. I start with baby chicks. None of them have froze or overheated. I have a very savvy brooder system.

I plan for these loses now. The two that died in the first few days I assume had a disease. The disappearing chickens probably escaped and wandered outside to be killed by critters. I let my chickens free range to save on feed. They do that for about 8 hours a day. That’s how two of them were killed by dogs. I put three chickens in my old pen one night when I wasn’t home. The pen was inferior and was penetrated by a neighborhood dog. (Picture below) I don’t mind the assurance that the survivors are superior birds that can survive such things. I eventually plan to build a fort. It will be a chain link fence 30 x 30 surrounded by a hot wire about 8 inches off the ground on the outside. I plan to build 4 small pens on the inside of the chain link fence and post two trained Australian Cattle dogs inside the chain link fence for an extra layer of security.

For now I’m just practicing. My chickens basically live in a highly secure shed. It is just difficult keeping the chickens inside when they are small. They also become vulnerable when I put them out to free range. There are no problems if I stay outside with them but I don’t always do that. It’s a work in progress. I expect my project will be completed $4,000 and 5 months from now. The money I have invested in these chickens right now isn’t worth the investment at this time. I’d lose very little money if they all died. Once my flock becomes larger these investments will be justified. I’m just in practice mode for now and learning a lot. I’ll never be naive enough to believe my chickens are 98% safe. I feel like they are 42% safe and I’m capable of managing those odds in my phase one scenario. I also avoid fragile rare breeds. I stick with the boring tough chickens. I’m sure my survivability rate will improve but I have been told to hope for the best and plan for the worst. I have found 42% expected survival rate to be a solid planning tool to reach the goals for my flock. Optimism can lead to extreme disappointment. Your flock isn’t safe from another avian bird flu plague or a human culprit. There is nothing wrong with realistic planning.

This pen worked well several years ago when the neighborhood didn’t have roaming dogs.

 

[JustAnotherNut]

Curious...........just what is your plan for having so many chickens???

 

[presonorek]

Curious...........just what is your plan for having so many chickens???

I don’t really plan to have that many. My goal is a flock of 12 hens that lay 250 medium or small eggs per year. It’s a hobby to keep me off drugs and possibly keep me off the internet. This is like an 11 year project. I eventually plan to get me some Silver Gray Dorkings and Plymouth Barred Rock Bantams to produce some heavy laying hybrids of medium to small eggs. I just want to pretend to be a mad scientist.

The Silver Gray Dorking is a failing breed and needs to be lighter in weight and heavier in egg production. Terrine the eggs to be small is a stretch.

 

[buttercup]

 

[presonorek]

I have chickens but they're not pets but a source of food. Eggs mostly and sometimes meat.




What are you doing to those poor chicks that more don't survive??? In 15+ years of raising chickens, I've had about 98% survival rate.

Do you vaccinate for Marek’s? or do you buy older chickens?

 

[JustAnotherNut]

Do you vaccinate for Marek’s? or do you buy older chickens?

When I buy chicks, it's usually from the feed store and they have already been vaxed......but if a hen goes broody and hatches & raises the chicks, then no, I don't vaccinate them and have never had a problem.

One time I did have a chick with leg or foot problems, that is cured by putting them in a cup. I don't remember what the problem is called, but the cup does work..........I think it forces them to stand up and builds the leg muscles, but I'm not sure about that