Re: OT: farming questions

On 28 Jul 2005 10:46:06 -0700, ponyrubs@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

>Joyce Reynolds-Ward wrote:
>> Not really. Plain vanilla chicken scratch works just fine for a
>> vanity flock. They don't need Laymor or any of those other mixes for
>> commercial layers.
>
>If they are hens, and are laying, they'll do better with a layer
>pellet, or at least some form of calcium supplementation. You don't
>want soft shells, no shells, and other more serious problems associated
>with insufficient calcium. Scratch is crap. It's an OK snack if the
>birds get most of their diet foraging.
>
>But I don't consider layer pellets (or crumbles or whatever) to be
>terribly specialized. Any feed store will carry them.

Yep--which was the point I was trying to make.

For that matter, we fed cracked corn along with oyster shells, and got
better tasting eggs than on mash alone.

>
>> Wrong again. Don't feed them broiler mix, but standard feed (after
>> the chick starter) works just fine.
>
>Have you raised Cornish Rocks? They are hybrids bred to make meat.
>With few exceptions, they will outgrow their heart and lung capacity,
>and they are prone to having their legs break under their weight. Mine
>free-ranged, and were as healthy as I could make them. But honestly,
>they were not meant to be adults.

Absolutely, many years ago, as many a hundred a year for meat
purposes. Actually, they were a White Cornish/White Rock cross, a
proprietary cross called Van Tress. I have seen recent specimens, and
they are not that different from the birds we raised. One year we
raised some of the hens to see if they would make it as layers. They
were part of the flock for several years. They were healthy, and
ranged with our other hens in a large (up to a quarter acre) pen (not
safe to free range due to local predators). Mind you, we also
provided all of our laying hens with roosts and ladders up to those
roosts. The biggest problem was, simply, that they were more prone to
blowout than their New Hamp/Rhode Island Red flock mates, as much as
the White Leghorns (although in the Leghorns case, they were high
strung, flighty, and prone to breaking eggs inside of them). With
ladders to the nest boxes and to the roosts, though, they did just
fine. We didn't provide the ladders just for those chickens, though,
we did it for all because in a laying flock you want to minimize the
desire to fly (leads to more blowouts). You don't manage them like
bantams, obviously, because the bantams want to fly and will scorn
provided roosts and ladders. But the multipurpose breed hens will use
ladders.

>The layers were very active, foraging all day. The CRs would run a few
>steps, stop for a rest, stand a few minutes, sit for a break... On hot
>days, I had to give them a fan and keep them in the shade on moist cool
>(frequently hosed) ground. Even then, they were gasping for air. The
>heat those things produced was truly amazing.

That was not our experience. However, we were not living in as humid
a climate as yours. When the Van Tress were hot like that, all of our
girls were suffering like that.

>So yes - avoid getting meat birds for pets.

I'd recommend that anyway. They are prone to slower moults and don't
lay as efficiently as multipurpose breeds do. Plus, when run with
roosters, they tended to get bare backs more quickly. That might be a
function of skin texture, however, as I think the Leghorns also did
that.

Besides, white chickens get boring to look at after a while <grin>.

>> Wrong yet again. That's a commerical breeder cycle, and not even
>> accurate at that. Laying hens can hang around for up to five or more
>> years, barring attacks from disease or predators. They will lay
>> reliably for most of that time. Commercial breeders generally cull
>> after the first moult, and that's a different story from a home or
>> family flock.
>
>They can live a lot longer than 5 years, barring disease or laying
>problems. :)

Oh yeah, we had a bantam that made it to 11 years. But 5 years is a
good overall average.

>I forget who posted this part - not Joyce - don't make me go back with
>this dial-up thingy and the google interface. Have pity. :)
>
>> >Last but not least - chickens are not animals that use a litterbox. Do your
>> >girls like cleaning up after a *regular* housepet?
>
>They are much easier to clean up after than the horses. :) As for
>pooping everywhere, it is easily hosed off walkways, and tends to
>vanish into the lawn.

Yep.

>
>There is the damage aspect though. :) When they are young, do not EVER
>feed them or tolerate them in areas where you do not want them as
>adults. They'll rototill your flower gardens into oblivion. They'll
>dig up every sprout in your vegetable garden. If you dig somewhere,
>they'll dig there too. They'll make your lawn look like a lunar
>landscape.

That's why we kept them in a rather large yard. A flock of two dozen
multipurpose bred laying hens (primarily Rhode Island Red and New
Hampshire Reds; we had Barred Rocks for a while but temperment,
proneness to sunburn in bare spots and the like headed us toward the
Reds) is hell on a garden plot. However, we'd turn the girls out to
free run outside their pen on a regular basis in the early evening, so
they'd have an hour or so to forage before they went to roost. That
kept the damage down.

I might add that I was/am a third generation chicken farmer--did it as
a kid, was a 4-H poultry showmanship champion, my mother was the prime
mover behind us raising chickens and keeping up the laying and fryer
flocks, and her parents were professional chicken farmers for many
years...


>
>To minimize this, I recommend bantams. :)
>
>> >Ahh yes.. another poster mentioned the fact that birds aren't the smartest
>> >and can be quite mean. They can be mean towards humans and each other. Once
>> >they start pecking on one in the flock, they wont stop until it's dead -
>> >they will cannibalize it. That is why beaks are trimmed for layer birds.
>> >Meat birds don't live long enough to justify the procedure.
>
>Mine have untrimmed beaks, and there is not a hint of cannibalism.
>They are all perfectly people-friendly. If you overcrowd them, or feed
>insufficient protein (like that scratch crap), they will look for
>protein sources.

Yeah. We never had cannibalism problems. However, we also kept an
eye on the interflock relationships (two dozen biddies can get
cranky). We also actually fed them eggshells and bits of meat from
butchering during fryer butchering season. Seeing two old hens
heading off in different directions with a chunk of intestine can be
well...interesting. Some people swear that this would lead to
cannibalism, but we never had an issue with it. However, we also had
a sizeable chicken run of about a quarter acre for those two dozen
hens, with plenty of shade, bugs, and protection from the elements.
Overcrowding is the major issue with cannibalism, especially with meat
birds (who seem to have the same frantic need for protein in early
growth periods as meat rabbits).

>Mine do bicker about prime roosting spots when they come in at night,
>but they get it sorted out without loss of feathers or blood.
>
>I really do enjoy having a few chickens. But as I lose the
>standard-sized birds, I will replace them with bantams. They're just
>as much fun, they eat less, and they do less damage to the yard.

jrw
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Chicken Lice?
    ... Spending time too close and personal with other birds is stressful ... genuine about what they think is what chickens need. ... the extra protein hens get from bugs they find, or the joy and nutrition ...
    (sci.agriculture.poultry)
  • Re: Sick Chickens! Cause Unknown
    ... > the eyes are shut completely - each about the size of a grape. ... > chickens and took out a pretty good glob of puss. ... > medicated now and the rest of the flock is getting antibiotics. ... These birds just can't be well and I think they may ...
    (sci.agriculture.poultry)
  • Re: Can u help
    ... >> Yes when I wrote that I did think they were chickens as I had only ... > These are some sort of hybrids so should only be hens ... > Jill Bowis ... I am a bit confuzzeled about your comment quote "but these birds ...
    (sci.agriculture.poultry)
  • Re: one bantum size coop
    ... >> My wife thinks she should join a flock at a friends house but I am ... > The hens in an established territory would try to kill her. ... > Single chickens as pets do just fine! ...
    (sci.agriculture.poultry)
  • Re: one bantum size coop
    ... > My wife thinks she should join a flock at a friends house but I am ... The hens in an established territory would try to kill her. ... Single chickens as pets do just fine! ...
    (sci.agriculture.poultry)