My sister gave me my first chicken about 6 years ago when she found a little stray hen nesting in her boxwood shrubs. She seemed lonely so a friend gave me 2 more little hens. The next year I built a large enclosure with a henhouse and bought 10 australorp chicks from rural king. There was one rooster in the batch and now I've built my 3rd chicken run and have about 35 chickens. Eggs and meat are plentiful here because the 3 little original hens are all broody and wonderful mothers. We've taken on raising red New Zealand rabbits and coturnix quail for meat too. My australorps arent really broody,but they're good layers and are very docile. The mixed children from the littler original hens are ending up a little smaller than the original australorps I'd bought,but they're more broody and better mothers. Quail are the perfect example of the best parts being bred out of animals. The ones I have have never been broody and dont even nest. If it weren't for incubators theyd probably go extinct. Rabbits are excellent animals to keep,as they're quiet,dont need alot of space or attention, and they're always prolific breeders. Now if they only laid eggs.🤔
Yea I agree with the cross breed, chickens are varied, not all follow the ideal traits , with 15 layers on line now my number 3 and 4 spot for amount of eggs are a Sultan and a Polish ,they lay 6 days a week all seasons ,.my 1 and 2 are a Black Star and a Road Island Red , Now I got some crosses coming up that have black skin and ornamental features ❤❤
I wanted the flower hens because they are extremely self sufficient, but much too small for our hawks. We ended up with Buckeyes and Dominiques. They're dual purpose, rose combs less likely to freeze in our northern winters and lay a lot of large eggs. In the summer our feed bill for chickens goes down to next to nothing as they forage very well. The hawks always check them out, but move on. The over abundance of eggs we sell sometimes, feed to our dogs and cats. We do separate them every year or so so selectively breed and let the hens raise their own.
Thanks Pa Mac for the great information about chickens. Sears and Rareback and Monkey Wards were the originators of home shopping networks and did a really good job for a number of years then now they have both gone by the way side. Seems we are getting back to that again. The delivery systems are failing greatly bringing out the road agents again?? Sure enjoyed your video today, keep up the great work and the fun you have around there, Fred.
I've had various breeds in my flock over 7 years. Road island red, Grey Wyandotte, Austrilope, and leg horns. While sitting here listening to this video watching my chickens I'll have to say the Road island reds are the best. My oldest which is 7 years old was my first chick's I bought from tractor supply since then I've sprinkled the other breads amongst them over the years with a total at one time of 28. I currently have 14. 11 of which are Road island reds the other three are leghorns. The others died of old age and at times a racoon or hawk. My point is the road islands are more aware heat and cold resistant and great egg layers plus they have a great personality and live long.
Great info as always. I raised black sex links for 4-H as a kid and remember them being gentle. A couple years ago I bought six Rhode island red chicks to raise because I always thought they were a good looking chicken. They had the worst temperament out of any chickens I've had-- even the hens. Now I have mostly Cochin bantams and a few other random breeds. Don't ever give up on chickens because of one bad experience. I enjoy taking care of them and observing their mannerisms and individual personalities.
We are just getting started with our flocks and getting fencing established. We do have a Brama Rooster for now and will have some more chickens coming very soon. If you needing the use of our Rooster for breeding we could probably bring him over when he is ready for that...He is the Mrs pet so you couldn't keep him long term but would make a VERY big bird for more meat...lol
I enjoy having chickens but have not been able to find a rooster that doesn't crow. It would be okay if the roosters crowed for the first 3 hours of day light but my experience has been that roosters crow almost non stop. They crow all night and all day. They crow when you are working and when you are trying to sleep. So having chickens is great but they wont reproduce without a rooster. I did have a rooster that I liked once. His name was Barnie. I was in the process of snatching up 4 other roosters to kill and Barnie managed to take a chunk of skin off my cheek while I was snatching up a rooster. Barnie died protecting his buddies. Thanks for your videos. I learn a lot and I enjoy the content.
Great discuss about breeds and characteristics. I enjoy the colors in chicken and egg .. but I discovered one characteristic I wasn't happy with. Most of my hens are rather gentle when it comes to collecting eggs .. they might give you a lite peck .. but I had one midsized bantam that tried to put a deep tattoo on my arm .. yikes!! I decided it was time to end that annoyance!!
Question/possible video idea: Any experience with push reel mowers? I got an old one from my grandfather, and after sharpening and adjusting the height, it's darn near less effort to use than the loud, smelly, pollution emitting gas mower, or even the heavy battery powered mower. Mt question is, one of the four blades of the reel grinds/bonds against the lip, so instead of a slicing sound it's slice/slice/slice/GRIND. Still cuts nicely, I have a sharpening stone on the way, which I figure with enough passes on the one blade I can shorten it's length, but if you have any insights/experience on reel mowing, I'd (and I imagine others) would love to hear about it.
I had one of that kind my children gave me because I wanted one that wasnt gas powered that I had to nag my husband to fix. That I could just push without a fuss. After a few uses, it got so difficult to push, I can no longer use it, nor want to. Well, I tried.
I have a serious question. I have never raised chickens but I would love to. My only problem is I can’t be home everyday to care for them. Sometimes I am gone for the day but occasionally I am gone for a week. Do chicken require attention EVERYDAY?
I am looking for a manly meat bird that will breed true and lay a moderate amount of eggs year round. to that end My main flock is 1/4 light brahma 1/4 Jersey giant 1/2 Breese. has of yet the flock is to young to know if it will work out has I hoped
My land has a lot of trembling aspen. Any advice on how to best use softwood on the farm? Is there a fencing construction technique that utilizes softwood well?
