I got an odd call from daughter #1

[frkelly74]

My daughter was out riding around with her Hubby and Kids 5 when they saw a flock of chickens wandering along the side of the road getting run over by cars passing. So they stopped and began to try to chase them out of the road. There were no houses along the stretch and the chickens had the appearance of being neglected and abandoned there. It was a circus for a while then they started to jump at the van as if they wanted to get in. It was getting dark and they wanted to roost I guess. So they opened the door and they did jump in.
She lives in a city and houses are cramped and the city knows your every move so she called and asked if she could keep them at our house. I had just bought eggs for $2 a dozen and so I said sure. We built an enclosure and made them a roosting area in the shed and bought feed and now they are our guests. Her 5 kids and our 3 have named them all multiple times and I keep saying they are all named chicken as far as I am concerned.
I have already found out we will have to clip some wings as a 4' high fence is not an absolute deterrent to them escaping. So now I am a chicken rancher, YEEHAW.
my daughter said she thought they were all hens but I think at least two are not hens, just from observing them a little. They look somehow a little more delicious than the others. No eggs= no free lunch for you. The adventure continues.

[CLAYPOOL]

You may have a up coming problem with Coons.. Small cans of nasty - cheap sardines, covered with "Marlin Fly Bait" purchased at the locall feed mill, etc. They will be dead within feet of bait site. P.S. all cats , dogs and other warm blood animals will also. be careful with your bait site..Skunks also.....just a tip...

[waksupi]

Keep one of the delicious ones around, to keep the hens happy!

[Wayne Smith]

Keep one of the delicious ones around, to keep the hens happy!

If you do, learn to candle eggs. That is, if you hold them in front of a bright light you can see if they are fertilized. If you are gonna be a chicken rancher you need to propagate the herd, no?

[357tex]

If you have a delicous one, as you put it all the eggs are fertilized already.They eat the same.:p

[kshock]

Must be some of those "free range" chickens that the politically correct crowd talk about!

[slide]

Don't forget about flying predators,mainly horned owls. If you have some birds come up missing they have been carried off. Live traps will work for the ground varmits.

[wills]

You may have a up coming problem with Coons.. Small cans of nasty - cheap sardines, covered with "Marlin Fly Bait" purchased at the locall feed mill, etc. They will be dead within feet of bait site. P.S. all cats , dogs and other warm blood animals will also. be careful with your bait site..Skunks also.....just a tip...

“Marlin”?
http://www.fishdeco.com/fd_bluemarliin.jpg

Or “Malrin”?
http://www.petandkennelsupply.com/image/cache/data/fly-pest/golden-malrin-fly-bait_600-500x500

Might be a good idea to keep the chickens from eating the deceased flies.

[frkelly74]

Daughter #1 is kind of crunchy, I think poison would freak her out pretty badly. (And I would not want an accident to happen to the neighbors dog, I need their good will for several reasons.) She sprung for the extra cost of organic raised feed.

Save the marlins.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I raised chickens for fun and the eggs back in Vermont in the 80's. I quickly learned to construct a secure chicken wire cage with wire over the enclosure and with additional reinforcements at the ground level. We had skunks, racoons, bobcats, coyotes feasting on our guests.

Then we had the flying predators. Eagles, owls and hawks. Until I erected ovehead chicken wire I would helplessly watch as our guests were picked off one by one. We got day old chicks and raised them up from there. The funniest thing is to watch a plate full of spaghetti dissapear as the chickens devour it.

Good eggs and non producers taste very good.

[gravel]

My daughter was out riding around with her Hubby and Kids 5 when they saw a flock of chickens wandering along the side of the road getting run over by cars passing. So they stopped and began to try to chase them out of the road.


why were the chickens trying to cross the road? :popcorn:

[Beau Cassidy]

Make sure she isn't violating any zoning ordinances. In the Hotlanta area, I believe Gwinnette county, a lot of people are fighting the zoning commission over the ability to keep chickens.

[P.K.]

. Her 5 kids and our 3 have named them all multiple times and I keep saying they are all named chicken as far as I am concerned..

Like.....B-Bar-Q, Sweet 'n' Sour, Kung Pow, KFC, Sammich etc......:bigsmyl2:

[LAcaster]

Daughter #1 is kind of crunchy, I think poison would freak her out pretty badly. (And I would not want an accident to happen to the neighbors dog, I need their good will for several reasons.) She sprung for the extra cost of organic raised feed.

Save the marlins.

Take a pic , tag and release. We've also used the fillet and release method. Not Marlin, but snappers yes

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

Keep one of the delicious ones around, to keep the hens happy!

that is not necessary , unless you want to have more chickens

you also do not need to candle eggs if you collect them every day you can eat a fertilized one just fine


wife's don't stop having that time of the month when their husband is off to war and chickens don't stop laying eggs when there are no roosters around , if any thing they may be happier with the rooster gone depending on the behavior of your rooster

some rosters just aren't as gentle as others


also if your going to eat those roosters , make soup, very few people have ever eaten a chicken older than 8-10 weeks what you get from most farms and grocery stores at least in the last 30 years is a Cornish cross and they are at butcher weigh in 7-8 weeks , if they have they either have a special bread or already know to make soup 1-2 year old roosters are very stringy tough meat and you will be surprised how little there is when the feathers are off.

[slide]

I don't think those chickens have to worry about being ate. If they have already got names I really doubt the kids will allow it.

[frkelly74]

why were the chickens trying to cross the road? :popcorn:

I guess it was to prove to the racoons that it could be done.

Actually they weren't trying to cross, They just wanted to look down the road to see if their ride was coming.

[frkelly74]

I don't think those chickens have to worry about being ate. If they have already got names I really doubt the kids will allow it.

That is a concern. But one of them bit middle grand daughter on the finger and she, between howls, growled between her teeth that that one would be first. Maybe it will be alright.

[firefly1957]

The previous owners of my place in Harrison Had chickens they thought of everything fenced them in and covered the area with fine fence above and kept them in a sheet metal- insulation -drywall enclosure at night. Then one morning they went out to let them out and a piece of the metal siding was pulled back and the drywall broken away. A bobcat had gotten in and killed every chicken.

[Jeffrey]

We've had chickens (free range) for about four years now. To keep night time predators out of the coop I put up a pet grade electric fence. Two wires, one at about eight inches, second at about 16 inches. You do not want to see the carnage that can be done by a coon in a single night: killed all it could reach, ate most of one. Carcass used for bait in a live trap caught it the next night. Good bye coon. We also keep shotguns at the front and back doors for foxes.

[frkelly74]

I just read that in Michigan we might be able to have suppressors soon. I might have to look into that for my.22 for pest control. If pests show up that is.

[blackthorn]

When I was growing up we had free range chickens and we sold eggs. The reason we "candled" the eggs was to make sure we did not sell one with a blood spot inside! My dad called those "rots" and we ate them ourselves after mom picked out the blood spot after the egg hit the pan. The blood spots don't hurt anything, just don't look good.

[starmac]

This is none of my business, but if kids don't learn what farm animals are for when they are kids, when are they supposed to learn. I always raised chickens, turkeys, hogs, rabbits and a few calves. these were usually named, but the kids also knew they were going to be in the freezer eventually, and on the table.

It has been a shocker to me, how many adults I have met that honestly belive meat and groceries in general, comes from the grocery store.

Your hens may not lay right away, but the ones that don't start laying make good enchiladas, even the old ones.

We always kept a rooster with the hens, I don't know how happy that made them, it is just what we always did. I do know it is not required, as commercial hens never see a rooster.