Raising Chicken!

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pickles

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2009
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#21
time for me to get some sleep, Im messing up writting alot. :)

God bless
pickles
 

leelee

Senior Member
Sep 5, 2011
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#22
Its not so much the butchering as the killing that is unpleasant.
 

JimJimmers

Senior Member
Apr 26, 2012
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#23
My chickens love banana peel, and any other fruit or veg, they like boiled potato peel. If you put a heater and light in their coop they will lay over winter.

I am not 100% certain you will manage to save money by having your own chickens but you will have nice eggs. We had 4 Cockerels at one point and they didn't fight, they just crowed at 5am. We ate 3.
No way, mine never eat banana peel! Maybe I give them too much other stuff :)

You're right about the light. Here in VA they don't even need a heater, just the supplemental light will do the trick. What breed do you have, btw?
 

leelee

Senior Member
Sep 5, 2011
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#24
No way, mine never eat banana peel! Maybe I give them too much other stuff :)

You're right about the light. Here in VA they don't even need a heater, just the supplemental light will do the trick. What breed do you have, btw?
Foula Chickens, from Shetland.
 

leelee

Senior Member
Sep 5, 2011
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#25
They have blue/green eggs.
 

pickles

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2009
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#26
chick.jpg

So here is a photo ofone of our chicks! :)
Yes, it has pink toe nails, :) our friend who is incubating them has painted our chicks toenails so to keep track of our chicks from her chicks.
Personally, I just think we just have classy chicks. :)

God bless:)
pickles
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
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#27
What breed is it? Is it a Plymouth Rock? I never saw one small, but as adults they are a greyish with white specks, so I am going by color only.
 

pickles

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2009
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#28
My daughter picked up several breeds, she is checking to see which kind right now.
But all good layers and recomended for the best eggs. :)

God bless
pickles
 

pickles

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2009
14,479
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#30
They are so cute right now, I wish we could have incubated them to size, but with our cats, well thay would not have stood a chance.
We have seven chicks and a mix of breeds.
My daughter said she cannot tell me untill tomorrow, as her friend has the list and she is sleeping.
Hopefully will soon post what kind. :)
I wish I could hold them now, but will have them in six weeks. :)

God bless
pickles
 

pickles

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2009
14,479
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#31
I love them, babies are always so sweet.
But they are in good hands for now, and safe from our cats. :)

God bless
pickles
 
Oct 31, 2011
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#32
I hope you have better luck with yours than I did with mine. I fell in love with 50 chicks, cutest things you ever saw. Fluffy, yellow, churping babies. My husband said they were so cute I should get 50 more. We didn't have a chicken house, so they were on the back porch until it was built. Then they grew. Getting a chick out from under a bed takes some doing.

We hired someone to build a house for them, and a neighbor thought they were so cute I should have some bantie hens and roosters. Such snobs. Would have nothing to do with my chicks. Then came two geese who hated me and chased me.

Then those chicks got hungry. I bought and bought and bought food for them. I begged the dairy for old cottage cheese. The cost!!

When it came time to butcher my four sister in laws came, straight from a North Dakota farm. They chased me out of my own home, built a fire in the back yard, brought some big wash tubs and started pulling feathers. Feathers kept popping up in the back yard for years. They canned all 100 chickens in quart jars, and took most of the jars home with them. That chicken cost me a little over three times as much as just buying them would cost, and the chicken house is now a storage shed.
 

pickles

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2009
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#33
Red. I hope we do better, Im sorry all did not go so well for you.
One of the breeds of chickens we got are americanas.
As I understand they are a more social and lay strong eggs.
The friend that is incubating them have children, so these chicks are being loved alot.
We have only layers, as I understand the layers are different from the ones you raise to eat.
We may raise some for eating in the future, but not yet.
For now, we are just wanting the fresh eggs.
We are building our own chicken run, and chicken barn.
It will be able to hold up to 10 chickens.
Today my daughter and I put up most of the frame for the run, and cleared the area.
But the rain soon drove us in doors, hopefully the rain will pass soon. :)

God bless
pickles

God bless
pickles
 
Oct 31, 2011
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#34
Pickles, I am enjoying every minute of your chickens. My 100 ones were a disaster, especially that day two got loose and into the house, (needed diapers) but I wouldn't have missed a minute of it. Never do it THAT way again, but wouldn't want to have missed it, either.

I am convinced that food grown the way God made it to be grown works for promoting the living abundantly that God tells us about. I'm thilled about that for you, too.
 
Oct 31, 2011
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#35
Those 100 chickens I had taught me to eat better food. When I looked into the diet they required, it said they had to have whole grains to be healthy. I decided my diet was as important as chicken's diet and changed my ways.
 

pickles

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2009
14,479
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#36
chick2.jpg

So, I finally finished the chicken barn, just built it as it came to me in mind.
So chicken folks, do you think this will work?
The two lower parts of the roof lift up to access the roosts to gather eggs.
The floor is all strong chicken wire.
Ive been told to use saw dust for the roosts, but I would rather use straw.
What do you think?

Thankyou and God bless.
pickles
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
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#37
I would use straw. You can make it last longer by turning it in time; I used a pitch fork in the "lool" when I was on the kibbutz. You will know when to replace it all completely, lol. I really like the set up. You are going to enjoy the chickens, and also do well with them; I believe! I pray the Lord bless the work of your hands always in Jesus Christ's name, amen.
 

pickles

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2009
14,479
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#38
Thankyou JaumeJ, I was leaning towards the straw as I am concerned the chickens might eat the sawdust.
A friend told me that her chickens ate some weeds and died as a result, are there plants that I need to watch out for?
I have a huge garden and wonder if some of my plants may put the chickens at risk?

Thankyou and God bless
pickles
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
21,429
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#39
I am no expert by any means. The hundreds of thousands I raised were housed at all times, and the feed was closely monitored. It was an experimental facility. The experiment part was the feed, which I used to mix for them. It was nothing dangerous, and all was organic. As for them eating anything poisonous, the Internet is probably your quickest place to research it. They do like to walk around, range, when possible. It looks as though you are going to be keeping them with the option to range in your yard. That is nice for them, and they are nice to see out. If any one of them is ever injured, keep it separate from the others. Chickens can be mean, when they see an injury on another chick or chicken the others will tend to peck at the injury to the point of killing the injured bird. So watch for any bloody area on any chick... I know you will do well.