[Food] Production - Poultry (was Backyard Chickens)

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

My chickens are laying fine in the South Carolina heat and humidity. I collected 11 from my 15 hens yesterday. They consistently lay 8 - 12 a day.

CarlinsDarlin · Moderator Joined: Jul 02, 2004 Posts: 1422

burton,
sounds like a fun weekend! You're off to a good start with the chickens - unless of course you captured someone's pet Smile

and they come looking for it! Smile

Yes, about six months old is when hens start laying. Could be a month either way, though, so don't be disappointed if it takes a couple more weeks. And also, because the days are getting shorter, don't expect her to be in full production mode until spring. They usually slack off some during the fall and winter.

Good luck!
Kathy

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

careinke

If you keep the light on all night, it will probably increase your egg yield. Hours of light is a big factor in egg production.

Cliff (Start a rEVOLution, grow a garden)

CarlinsDarlin · Moderator Joined: Jul 02, 2004 Posts: 1422

burton,
What I do for my rabbits in the winter is to take out their water bottles and replace them with bowls of water. They still freeze, but not as fast, and are easier to switch out everyday. The heat lamp will help, I'm sure. And the rabbits will love you for it. Just be careful you don't burn the place down with chickens being able to get in there. They love to roost on stretched out power cords and such.

I have my lights for the henhouse on a timer. Generally, I wait till a bit later in the fall before the lights start coming on. I have them timed to come on about 7:00 pm for a couple hours, and again at about 5:00 am for a couple hours. That effectively stretches the day out to help keep production up. And yes, keeping the lights on all night will help keep them laying, but it will also run up your power bill and increase your food bill. If they're up, they're eating. A timer does the work for you without running up either bill.
Kathy

Heineken

I have kept several flocks of chickens and am modestly knowledgeable about it. However, my chicken coop and fenced chicken yard have stood empty for several years now.

I enjoyed the fun of having chickens around, but gradually the fun wore off and I got tired of those daily chores, on top of all my other work. I'm sensitive to things that intrude on my freedom, and livestock do that big-time.

When I add up the cost of building the coop, fencing the yard, and buying the equipment, the feed, the litter, the crushed oyster shells, and the chicks, those were the most expensive eggs I ever ate. Plus my labor---time is money.

And cleaning out a chicken coop is one of the nastiest jobs there is. That awful dust! There is no end to it.

Perhaps I'll have chickens again someday, but with certain clear misgivings.
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

Lumpy

Here are the facts:
1. Have about 30 full grown hens in our flock
2. Have 2 full grown roosters
3. Have about 20 hatchlings ... about 3 weeks old now ... in brooder coop.
4. Want to round up all the hens & lock them in the bigger coop for 10-14 days ... too many of them have been laying here and there around the place this summer. (Obviously free range). Want to get them back into the habit of being in the coop, and laying there.

Here are the questions:
1. Is it safe to put the youngsters in with the hens, or will they get pecked to death?
2. Perhaps we could put them in there, but in a cage of their own? (We have one, but they would be crowded after any more than 10 days, I think.)
3. Will our roosters go crazy (crazier) without the hens out for that long?

Thoughts, please ..

Thanks

Lumpy
_________________
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." Thomas Jefferson

Ludi

No, it is NOT safe to put the babies with the larger birds.

The roosters will be fine without the hens.
_________________
"...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow." - jboogy

CarlinsDarlin · Moderator Joined: Jul 02, 2004 Posts: 1422

I have to agree with Ludi. The little ones can be seriously hurt or killed if they can't get away from the bigger birds. One thing you might consider is to give the babies a place of escape. Set up a part of the house that is just theirs, or a "pen-inside-a-pen" with a door only big enough for the little ones to enter. My brother is raising some roosters for the freezer and also has larger hens. What he has done is to have them in one house but with two runs. The run for the little ones has a door that only they can go through (too small for the big hens to get into). The little ones stay on that side most of the time to avoid the hens. When the hens go to roost at night, though, (before dark), the little ones will go to their run as well, and clean up any feed the hens left. It's worked pretty well so far.

I will say, though, that the babies were much older than 3 weeks before they were put together. They were fully feathered. For little ones as young as yours I wouldn't advise it. Not until they're older, anyway.
K

Shannymara

I've mixed young flocks with older ones at least 3 times now. Each time, I did it when the young ones were about half grown (by size - sorry I can't recall how old they were). I have not had problems. Though there was a little pecking for the first few days while they established who was in charge, there were no serious injuries or deaths. They did have plenty of room, but not an escape place.

While I can't say how old they were, they were definitely much older than 3 weeks. About half grown, as I said.

In fact, we will be doing this again in a while - I just got another batch of peeps this morning!

I kept most of my roosters in a separate pen from the hens, because the hens would get harassed until they were half bald otherwise. The roosters didn't like it too much, but they were okay.

What we did last year was keep the brooder coop directly adjacent to the main pen, so the birds could see each other all the time. I think that helps some when you do mix them eventually.
_________________
"Every junkie's like a setting sun..." - Neil Young

wisconsin_cur

I have often mixed them at 1/3rd grown and the only problem I have is that when they are that little they have a better success rate at escaping the area I try to keep them confined to. Once everyone knows who is in charge and once the young ones are considered part of the flock they have been fine... I would guess that they are about 8 weeks old when I put them together.

Sometimes what I do is I have a wire cage in the coop and keep the younger one's in that cage. All the chickens get to see one another and get a little use to one another but I have to feed and water the locked up chickens seperately which can be a pain.

Good luck, keep us posted.
_________________
“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.”

J.R.R. Tolkien

"The time has come for men to act like men; and for women, well, to act a lot more like men."
-Ma Cur

careinke

All of my chickens were killed. I had them in two chicken tractors. Thursday morning when I went to move them one of the tractors had been invaded by something that killed all the chickens (Broke their necks). Only one was partially eaten.

So I made sure the other tractor was staked down for the night. To no avail, some how the animal got in and killed the rest. My guess is raccoons, though I have not seen any on the property.

What really bugs me is they did not eat the birds, just killed them. I'll miss the rooster waking me up in the morning. Guess I'll have to eat those anemic store bought eggs this winter.

I am going to give up on the tractor idea, and replace it with a large coop and electric mesh fence.

Cliff (Start a rEVOLution, grow a garden)

bruce2288 · Tar Sands Joined: Jul 11, 2008 Posts: 23

I would suspect the culprit was either a mink or a weasle. Bite in the neck drink blood, kill more than needed, small animal particularly the weased could gain access with a very small opening.

wisconsin_cur

Sorry about the loss hoss.

Sounds like raccoons to me... maybe possum.

If we were closer I'd donate a couple of birds to the flock rebuild.
_________________
“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.”

J.R.R. Tolkien

"The time has come for men to act like men; and for women, well, to act a lot more like men."
-Ma Cur

Shannymara