[Food] Production - Poultry (was Backyard Chickens)

Shannymara

Just wanted to give a quick update. My last batch of chicks from McMurray had a much higher mortality rate than usual. Some of that was my fault, but some not. I decided to get another batch from them. 27 arrived 2 days ago (as I mentioned earlier, I have ordered MANY chicks from McMurray in past years and this was the first time I ever had a problem, so I thought it was a fluke - bad shipping conditions or something, combined with mistakes).

1 chick was dead in the box (first time I ever had a DOA from this hatchery). Within a few hours another died. Then another. I've got 2 more that are dying now. I'm not new at this, I've raised many batches of mail order chicks to healthy adulthood in this part of the country and never seen losses like this.

After doing some poking around, I found this group of threads:

http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=35295
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=40227
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=41617

These were from February/March, but my chicks have had the same exact symptoms described in these threads, which leads me to believe it's likely to be the same problem. I will try to have some of them lab tested to see if it is an AE problem. If and when I do, I will report back here.
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Ludi

Wow, that's fabulous! Very Happy

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darwinsdog · Heavy Crude Joined: Jun 27, 2008 Posts: 170

Thanks, everyone, for the pics of poultry coops. I have buku predators where I live, & have lost birds to everything from the sharp-shinned hawk to the long-tailed weasel. My ducks & geese are big enuf now that nothing seems to be bothering them during the day, but I still have to lock 'em up tight at night. I've decided that I'm not going to get any more poultry until I have proper places to keep them secure from predators. I have an area behind the garden fence where I intend to build coops, but the brush needs cleared first. I intend to get 'er done this fall/ winter. The pics give me ideas about how to build. Thanks again.

wisconsin_cur

Ever since the shed fire last winter my chooks have, if they are motivated, been able to get out of their fenced area. So my Jack Russell Terrier (JRT) has been watching me catch the occassional bird and tossing it back into the fenced area.

I also have three hens out who are raising chicks.

Earlier this week it had gotten to the point that where I had a lot of chickens out so I caught one as 3 others that should be penned up ran away.

The JRT came up to one of the chickens and using only his front paws knocked another chicken to the ground and kept it there until I could pick it up. He did this three more times never hurting a bird. Smile

i am now able to get him to do it when he recognizes I am chasing chickens. This week I hope to be able to get him to do it on a verbal command.

What amazes me the most, however, is he never tried it with one of the hens raising chicks. That little pooch recognized that those hens were to be left alone.

I am amazed and thankful.

gwen2 · Coal Joined: Mar 27, 2008 Posts: 9

This has been an interesting thread. Thanks to all the veterans for posting all their experience. We are moving this fall and will want to get chickens next year. I would like to free range the chickens. Most of the books say that you can free range them to replace about 30 percent of their feed, but from first hand accounts, I have heard people say that they free range and barely have to give anything other than scraps, spare veggies, etc.
I was wondering if anyone here free ranges their chickens. Does anyone completely free range with no store bought feed? I know they need salt and grit and calcium, but I am talking about grains or lay ration.
Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
GWen

Ludi

Oh dear, buffy, those birds look like complete losers. Sad

I've never had significant trouble from McMurray birds, but I have had some batches that seemed to have poor genetics - not true to type and off in color. I suggest you definitely write McMurray a letter detailing your problems, making sure you include your order information.

I've only ever raised the older breeds.
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burtonridr · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 03, 2007 Posts: 763

Our neighbors raise chickens, and they always are running around the neighborhood. They run into my yard on almost a daily basis, I dont like them being in my yard so I usually chase them off.

I do however have my own chickens, which I actually caught when they were a few days old. I was hoping to get 1 rooster and 2 hens for laying. But instead I ended up with 2 roosters and 1 hen. So one of the roosters will have to end up as dinner...

The brothers and sisters of the ones I caught still run around, I was wondering if there is a way to catch them and get them accustom to being in a new pen.

I was thinking I could catch one more hen, then clip her wings and put her in a cage for a few weeks so she got use to being in a new area and then when I let her out she wont hop the fence and leave.

Can it be done or will she always want to rejoin her old group of chickens?
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LittleBoPeak · Tar Sands Joined: Apr 18, 2008 Posts: 24

Have I mentioned today how much I HATE ants?!

OK, now that I feel better . . .

Maybe I missed it looking through the archives, but I need some expert guidance on dealing with this problem. My chickens live in a tractor that is in an electric mesh fence that is moved weekly. The ants literally swarm anything that the chickens leave on the ground. They are all over the nesting boxes and if an egg gets broken, they come by the millions.

I want more than a deterrent. Seems like the ant hills move daily. And when they move into the chicken yard, I want them dead.

What can I use in the nest boxes and the roosting area to kill the ants but not harm the chickens?

burtonridr · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 03, 2007 Posts: 763

Ludi

Our chickens usually wipe out ant hills. They seem to be a pretty good way to get rid of fireants. Not young chickens, though. They need to be adult and active foragers, and have a roost or other way to escape the ants if they need to.
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"...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow." - jboogy

darwinsdog · Heavy Crude Joined: Jun 27, 2008 Posts: 170

My duck ate ants when it was younger but seems to have developed a distaste for them.

You shouldn't hate ants. Ed Wilson, who is considered the world's foremost authority on ants, says that if every human suddenly dropped dead, there would be no major environmental consequence other than that biodiversity would slowly begin to recover. But if every individual of ever species of ant suddenly died, terrestrial ecosystems would be in freefall collapse within a week. The biomass of humans & of ants is of the same order of magnitude.

Ludi

I like ants. Smile

Except fireants. We have at least six different kinds of ants on our place, including the fireants. Supposedly if you have fireants you won't have other kinds of ants, but we don't see that to be true. We never poison the fireants (or any others). Maybe if you poison fireants you won't have other kinds of ants....
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"...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow." - jboogy

LittleBoPeak · Tar Sands Joined: Apr 18, 2008 Posts: 24

I'll try the cornmeal.

My chickens do eat some of the ants, but I don't think they eat lots of them. My frustration comes mainly from the ants swarming the nesting boxes if an egg gets broken. They seem to come out of nowhere by the droves. Last week, a new ant hill cropped up overnight inside my tractor and I had ants all over the roost.

I'm just afraid they will hurt or kill some of my girls. I've seen small, injured animals devoured by the ants. I sure don't want that to happen.

Heineken

You should post this on the chicken/poultry thread. Do a search and you will find it.
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