I am getting chickens!

sucks2beme

I knew a guy that kept all his files in the trunk of a 1949 Ford
sitting out in the yard. I guess a file cabinet just didn't cut it.
Whatever makes you happy!

dpowell

ben62670 wrote: »

I don't let my girls talk to outsiders, or watch Oprah so I am safe till someone tells them about PITA;)

PETA = People Eating Tasty Animals

BTW, Ben thanks for the great story on the coons! Had me laughing for minutes.

ben62670

sucks2beme wrote: »

I knew a guy that kept all his files in the trunk of a 1949 Ford
sitting out in the yard. I guess a file cabinet just didn't cut it.
Whatever makes you happy!

Thanks for the idea. I have a 68 Ford doing nothing at the moment. Never mind I forgot it is being used as a tool box;)

zombie boy 2000

Rednecks...
They're so cute.

sucks2beme

ben62670 wrote: »

Thanks for the idea. I have a 68 Ford doing nothing at the moment. Never mind I forgot it is being used as a tool box;)

No, No, No! Tools go in the Chevy. Ford is for files.
Hide the Liquor in the Caddy.

ben62670

zombie boy 2000 wrote: »

Rednecks...
They're so cute.

Yes you are;)
Staying over next weekend?

ben62670

sucks2beme wrote: »

No, No, No! Tools go in the Chevy. Ford is for files.
Hide the Liquor in the Caddy.

The liquor goes in the tank behind the toilet;)

Hillbilly61

ben62670 wrote: »

Why do rabbits suck? It's like picking Tomatoes.
Well today I go out and collect some eggs. I put the lid back down on the house and start to walk away. A damn 5 foot long skinny blackish gray snake goes down the fence line. It looked kinda like a black racer. Black racers are very fast and aggressive, but not poisonous.

Ben, you have previously pretty well stated the difference. Free range chickens are pretty well low maintenance animals. You manage them, with some feed and occasional protection thrown in for good measure.

Rabbits are an entirely different beast. You care for them. First they need to be penned and that gets nasty as hell. Shitting, spoiled uneat food, etc. That and being penned up brings on disease too. They will catch something and die. Even if they do not, the amount of meat obtained is about that or less than a chicken for much more work and worry.

Plus rabbits easily become pets. You do not eat friends, regardless of species. Chickens do not easily become a friend to you. Also, meat wise, for the amount of food put in, verses what you get out, a hog is a better deal all around, excepting chickens (the eggs count as meat). The only challenge is to not allow a single hog to become a friend. Hogs are very smart, smarter than dogs. You can easily like one that you are raising ... then it is is a friend (and it eats a lot!)

Lee

Hillbilly61

sucks2beme wrote: »

We used to have a galvanized version of this in the henhouse.
http://www.flemingoutdoors.com/conventional-laying-nests.html

That is pretty much along the lines of what I had. The hens and pullets loved them once I lined them with hay! The only time they rejected them was when I cleaned them, sanitized with chlorox water and did not sufficiently rinse the chlorox off of them.

ben62670

What I was thinking with the rabbits is they pretty much reproduce all the time. I don't care about naming food. Rossie was a great pig, but was even greater smoked. I am not into freezing a bunch of meat so I figured rabbits were kinda like picking tomatoes:) After talking to a friend about the snake I may keep it around. Snakes will steal an egg a week and keep any rats at bay.
Ben

Hillbilly61

ben62670 wrote: »

What I was thinking with the rabbits is they pretty much reproduce all the time. I don't care about naming food. Rossie was a great pig, but was even greater smoked. I am not into freezing a bunch of meat so I figured rabbits were kinda like picking tomatoes:) After talking to a friend about the snake I may keep it around. Snakes will steal an egg a week and keep any rats at bay.
Ben

You throw a male rabbit into a cage with a female and the way they meet is the male immediately mounting her. That I have witnessed. The bottom line is that the creatures are too fragile for cage life (diseases, etc) and they will all run off if you free range them. Been there, done that, witnessed others sort of thing. Not a good bet for food.

Rabbits, in singular numbers, are best kept as penned pets for your girls, Ben. They are good pets!

About black snakes, they are not bad to allow to have around. They might eat a chick or a baby mammal (like a rabbit pup), but once big enough nothing will eat them either ... excepting a hog. All of these adult species will stay out of each other's way.

You just don't want to step out on your deck or porch and find a black snake coiled up or stretched out resting. That is unnerving (and women and children are absolutely frightened by such a sight)! Hard on guests too....

lightman1

I scream like a girl and immediately run into the nearest solid object when I encounter a snake.

ben62670

Trouser snakes?

zombie boy 2000

ben62670 wrote: »

Yes you are;)
Staying over next weekend?

Does the pope **** in the woods?

ben62670

Under a bullet proof glass out house.

ben62670

6 for 6 and they are getting bigger:)

Hillbilly61

Sounds like those pullets are getting into the egg laying groove!

ben62670

Yes sir. I had some hash browns with onions mixed with some eggs. A little katsup and hot sauce. Very nice indeed:)

Willow

I heard on the radio that today is international respect chicken day...or something close to that.

jdhdiggs

Ben "respects" his chickens everyday, haven't you been reading?

Hillbilly61

Ben, those girls still doing right by you? Are you doing right by those gals by getting some oyster shell food supplement to toughen up their egg shells? Those gals really do not like eating egg shells (must be like engaging in cannibalism or the like to them). To evidence, throw some oyster shell supplement out on the ground and watch the egg shells become uneaten.

ben62670

They are doing a good job. I have been using laying mix all along. I will get the shell supplement. I am getting almost 3 dozen eggs a week:) They are mostly extra large:):)

Hillbilly61

ben62670 wrote: »

I am getting almost 3 dozen eggs a week:) They are mostly extra large:):)

Told 'ya those eggs would size up once those pullets got into the groove! Has any started singing yet? A happy hen is one that randomly sings as it goes about its business. It is not a cluck or a cackle, but more or less a sing song pattern.

Hard to describe, but when you hear it, you will know. That sound is representative of a happy/contented pullet/hen. Happy pullets/hens lay a lot!

ben62670

Well I had an issue with one of the girls. She likes to go out. I have captured her twice, and she is grounded right now. I had this issue a long time ago, that one would get out and after a while it wouldn't come back. My concern is I do not want a dog getting the taste for fresh chicken. I do not want to cage them. I am thinking it might be time to put the bad apple in the pot. I would still have 5. I may just have to build a coupe:(

Hillbilly61

So, Ben,

Were you like old man Purdue giving a talk to his hen Gladys in the TV commercials?

Seriously, expect that sort of thing. While animals, these chickens are individuals. They all vary as to behavior ... even if you do not like the particular behavior.

Hillbilly

ben62670

The trouble maker is kind of a loner. It is one of the bigger ones, but it seems to be an outcast. I do not want to whack it, but if it is going to be eaten I choose to be the one to eat it. Since they have started to lay eggs the personalities have changed. At times they like to be petted. They kinda crouch down and lift their shoulders. Ashley loves to pet them when they do this(me too). It seems this behavior is either right before they lay or right after.

Hillbilly61

As long as this "trouble" chicken is pulling her part of the load by laying eggs, I'd leave her alone. So, she doesn't really care for human company. That is not a failing on her part. Heck, I can relate to the same concerning specific humans I've met during my time!

She's got a job to do, no less than your favorite pullet. Once either fails at that job, you butcher them & replace. That is how things work. Don't become friends with your livestock. Eventually, you will end up butchering and eating each and every one of them.

ben62670

My daughter wanted to name them. I said no. You do not name food;) She is really an awesome girl. She saw some squirrels outside the bedroom window and she told me to shoot them and make some stew:)

ben62670

They have been getting whacked bad lately. I am down to two of them and they don't lay well in the winter. Next year I am building a coupe for them. I was thinking about getting fertilized eggs so the kids could see the whole egg to chickens laying eggs process. Then Ashley could sell some chickens and eggs too along with the veggies we will be growing. Nothing like getting kids to eat veggies by growing them.

superjunior

I was thinking about getting a couple of chickens. A hen for some fresh eggs and a rooster to piss off my neighbor (can't stand the ****) . don't know how they would fare against the predators around here and a typical n.e. ohio winter.