Discuss raising chickens, ducks, geese, quail and other livestock birds for any purpose.Not relevant to pet birds.
what's a good setup for keeping quail that still allows me to fetch their eggs? those buggers are real whiny if you reach a hand into their penim aware of the incline pen but mine sits on the ground over summer so they can eat grass, i've only got a couple i'm not running a factory operation hereany setup where they can get their grass but the egg still ends up someplace within reach? i can build anything but i've got no ideaspic rel not my quail
kys
>>4866074make a rope and hang yourself
>>4866074Chicken tractor with slanted egg boxes?
>>4866070fat fuck
>>4866078>>4866079i didn't realize chickens made people so angry
>>4866122>Posts exactly 1 minute apartI reckon it's one guy that gets very angry at chickensI can't even fathom what about a chicken would offend a person, but leave it to 4chan to be weird about the most esoteric things
Add 2% crushed lump charcoal to your feed and ferment it overnight. It's better for your birds and their manure won't be as foul.
>>4866153i dont trusta this
>>4866188>>4866109See the problem with quails is that they're not as incentivized as chickens to go inside at night and lay their eggs in one spot every time
>>4866153My aunt leaves charred logs out where her birds hang out at so they can help themselves to it at will. Fermenting feed really does cut down the smell of their droppings, its not pleasant but it doesn't have the same bite.
>>4866210>>4866153do your chooks eat some kinda nuclear waste or something? chicken shit hardly ever stanks unless there's mountains of it, in which case 1. clean up more than once a decade, and 2. don't stick your nose in itbird poo hardly ever smells bad you guys are talking nonsense
>>4866220i just let my chicken eat any mice they find i don't bother, i live in an area where mice are fairly healthy and there's no tons of em, but they still come around and the chickens benefit from eating themdoesn't make their shit smell too bad tho
>>4866198If you want to have your quails in a run, going searching for eggs is just something to get used to I suppose.If there are any children in your family, invite them over and make it a game to find as many quail eggs as possible.
>>4866070Oh! I've missed the spherical chicken. Post the bouncy gif if you have it.
My retarded quails won't go inside when it's cold or raining what doPS how do I check if my quails have down syndrome
>>4866158Why not?>>4866210Not a bad way to do it. Fermenting the feed isn't really supposed to reduce the smell, it's just an easy way to incorporate the charcoal that provides additional benefits like making nutrients more available.>>4866216I think you might just be used to the smell. If I miss more than a day of charcoal or if they find a lot of forage and stop eating the feed I provide there is a very noticeable difference in the smell. They also have diarrhea less often when they eat charcoal.
>>4866198>>4866350yeah idk what the fuck is wrong with quailsi raise both, chickens go inside as soon as its dark or raining they do it instictivelyquails will sit there like plums all wet and not figure out what to do about it
>>4866354>I think you might just be used to the smell.It's possible that someone who owned birds for longer is used to it, but do you think the mice in your area might also be infected or full of pesticides? That contributes way more to the foul smell, clean mice stink less
>Chickens are already of laying age>Not laying>Found 1 egg this month and that's itFood is normal same quality, type and same amount as a previous batch of chickens that laid perfectly, weather is decent, conditions are clean, everything is the same as what always workedWhat could be a reason? They come from several different places, some from other families, some are the children of a previous batch, so it can't be borked genetics
>>4866357I'm not the anon who was talking about my chickens eating mice. My chickens do eat mice, grasshoppers, and small birds, but the wildlife around here should be pretty clean. If they eat a lot of grasshoppers it definitely gives them diarrhea that smells awful, but even when they don't forage much there's a noticable difference in the smell with and without charcoal.
>>4866361How old are they? Maybe they retired or are haven't started yet. My chickens didn't all start laying at the same time.
>>4866365They're about 7-8 months old which is typical laying age, previous batches already began at the timeI know genetics differ, some start earlier, some later, I just think it's odd none of them lay when I have chickens of different genetics (and one did, but stopped) which is making me think it's environmental
>>4866369I think you should give it a bit longer before you start worrying about it. It took a couple weeks for all of my hens to start laying and they didn't lay consistently for about a month. Make sure they have shady nesting boxes or they might lay under a bush or something.
who here owns ducks?
>>4866270seconding this. please bouncing chicken.
>>4866070where can you find wild chickens?
>>4866524in the wild
>>4866524
>>4866375My friend has some ducks. He's going to give me some when his ducks start breeding. Any advice?
>>4866815Adult ducks need to swim, get a basin or like a baby pool (not those rubber material ones tho they can chew thru that, get metal or hard plastic) and fill it up every morningToss em some fruit and nuts into the water they love dipping their heads in and catching itDo NOT let baby ducks get wet tho, they should not swim until they grow their adult feathers, clean out their pen whenever the hay or whatever substrate you use has gotten moist because if they stay moist for long they can get sick and it could even kill them
>>4866835Thanks
>>4866836Oh also don't give them any large pit fruit like peaches before de-pittingWith chickens it's fine their beaks are too small to swallow the pit so they just nom the flesh around it and leave it, but a duck might swallow the whole thing and even if they don't choke it'll hurt coming out the other end
>Duck just laid 4 eggsYeaaaaaah bitchesssss
>>4866122its a /an/on that lives in the city and can't have chickensHe can get fucked by BBC
>>4866361They might not be getting enough sunlight/are eating their eggs/ just aren't ready yet because they don't have peak conditions.Try giving them some high protein grubs or mealworms
>>4866361My first thought was if they have long enough days that they aren’t gearing up for winter?Second thought was if something is bothering them at night or scaring them too much during the day? I’ve had my flock stop and be delayed in laying because they all got a mild case of fowlpox. I’d never dealt with it before and only noticed the tiny scabs because their faces were so unusually itchy. It took awhile for the textbook dry fowlpox lesions to get noticeable in size and pattern and then few weeks to clear up. Some never really got more than a couple small scabs that I never would have associated with illness if I didn’t have others that obviously were covered with them.
>>4866983Can nearby noises bother them? There's a dog nearby that barks sometimes but it never barks AT them or terrorizes them directly, just kinda boofs in the vacinityAnd again this isn't my first batch of chickens, old batch laid just fine even under the same conditionI'll definitely take a closer look for any scabs but none of them seem itchy
>>4866837Good advice
>>4866839One of them will be the ugly duckling. I can feel it.
>>4867010>>4866839Trips gets to name whoever comes out ugliest
>>4867012Niggatron
>>4867012W33DG0D
>>4867012Gremlin, Goblin, or Gremloblin
I have a pullet who needs a name too. It has to be something my mom would be comfortable calling her.
>>4867177I like using little old granny names, they usually fit pretty well.
>>4867181Pitch one. We've been calling her Cheeks since she was a chick and had two bright white patches under her eyes.
>>4867177Maybe Rosey because you can see what looks like rosey cheeks on her face like she is blushing
>>4867202https://www.babycenter.com/baby-names/most-popular/top-baby-names-1940
>>4867202>Cheeksno i like that, you should continue calling her thatas for you, anon>>4867012bum basher
>>4867012Beauty, for shits and giggles.
>>4867217>>4867379Maybe we'll call her Rosey Cheeks. >>4867230Lol. I think older names would have been better. The top 10 are still pretty common names.
i have one of these, it's 3½ feet tall. will it keep hawks away from my chickens if i move it every night?
>>4867795is it real?
>>4867795Just one might not do it. Move some furniture around too.
>>4867012Mathew or Gilgamesh
>>4866070ROUND
one of my hens has a small bump on her left cheek . it's about the size of her eye . what do ?
>>4868544is it her eye?
>>4868592no
>>4868594are you sure?
>>4868544Anon post a picture of the chicken we can't gouge from that description aloneIt could just be a bump from getting hit or it could be something else
I had three 19 week old laying hens escape today. They flew over the 5' tall fence. I later recovered one of the birds nearby, still no trace of the other two.I already had three older hens who free range my yard. I got these new three almost two weeks ago, and for the first week I kept them in a separate coop where the two groups could see each other. After a week I let them out. They didn't seem to mesh well with the older hens despite (supposedly) being the same breed.Today was quite hot and I suspect they'll die soon if they're still wandering the neighborhood. Also possible one of the POCs caught them.These chickens haven't been eating the layer pellets I've been giving them. I also have given them cherry tomatos from my garden which they seemed uninterested in, all of my other birds love those. The one hen I recovered felt very light and unhealthy. Not sure what to do at this point, I'll probably put her back in the secondary coop alone for another couple weeks before I try to reintegrate them again. Any advice? I've never had any birds try to escape before.
>>4868813>POCPredators of Chickens? or do I use the /pol/ definition?
>>4867012floss
>>4868830Offer her some mealworms to get her close enough that you can look at her.
>>4868813If you can find them try integrating them again. To get them to eat try fermenting the feed overnight by covering it with water and stirring in some Greek yogurt. I recommend adding 2% crushed lump charcoal to their feed too. It will help their digestion and their manure won't smell as bad.
>>4867012m00t
>>4868871Recovered one more of the three just now, a neighbor told me she was roosting on a different neighbor's car. I'll try the Greek yogurt thing at least once I guess, I really don't want to baby them too much because I view them as production animals and not pets. I think one of the reasons they won't eat is because the previous owner gave them tons of mealworms.I'm kind of contemplating keeping both groups of chickens confined to their pens for a while and then letting the younger ones out to free range first, then letting the older ones back out after a week or two. The younger ones have proven to be 'very' flighty, I just had to fish one of them out of a tree about 18' in the air. Maybe having the yard to themselves would help them settle in. Or they may just immediately fly away again.
>>4868899The fermented feed and charcoal should increase the feed conversion ratio and decrease the amount of feed you need to give them each day. The lactic acid fermentation breaks down antinutrients, but you don't need very much yogurt. I keep mine in the freezer and use about 2/3 of a tablespoon for 20 chickens as well as a handful of food from a previous batch.
>>4868899>>4868954I forgot to say, they'll probably just need more time to adjust. I wouldn't let them out for a couple more weeks. Hopefully they learn that this is their new home. Feed them on either side of the coop so they're near each other more often. Toys or treats could help them integrate too, but ultimately they'll have to establish a new pecking order.
>>4866070Chicken ate the egg
>>4868598
Sold my chicken eggs at a farmers market for the first time earlier today. Rainbow dozens and white dozens. Suprisingly people bought the tiny pullet eggs we were selling as well.It went really well and was pretty fun, but also suprisingly exhausting.
>>4869218I can't see shit in that picture
>>4866355I've been doing some research into their behavior and unfortunately they are retarded if they didn't have a mother to teach them how to do anything. It's so bad they struggle to restore the wild quail population because they won't know how to survive without a mother and being hand raised is worse than throwing enough chicks alone in the wild to see who lives. Which my country literally did and somehow succeeded.
>>4869522Good job anon I'd buy your eggs. Honest work like that is hard.
>>4869541u see that pink dot on the cheek? it's not pink it's a bump as described before
>>4870223No, I don't see shit in that picture. Take your bird to the vet or cull it if you can't even be fucked to take a decent picture.
Chooks making it through the summerHad to repair the mister system like 3x already I have no idea why this is so unreliable. Lots died, but I got a bantam sitting on some eggs for quite a bit now. Maybe they'll hatch soon enough.Need a new feeding system though. Used to use a big tub with holes but birds get into that and die, ruining a bunch of feed.I'm using the classic hanging feeders for now but I'm noticing more mice in the run, so I need to mice-proof it
>>4871293Put out tubs of water with bricks or pavers in them. They'll stand on the bricks when they need to cool down. Clearly you can't rely on your mister system alone.
Look at this freak.I actually love naked necks.
>>4866074I have chicken and live outside the city, so I would probably never have quail.If I lived in the city I would buy this for quail.
>favorite guinea got turned to roadkillraising birds is sad sometimes
>>4872126I'm sorry, anon.
>>4872126What made it your favorite?
>>4866070kinda want to get a hen but have a few questions1. I don't think I could possibly eat enough eggs to have a bunch of them, but if you just have 1 is it bad for it or anything? will it get depressed or fucked up by predators or whatever?2. I have a lot of wild lizards in my yard, including some big slow ones. Will a chicken fuck them up or just leave them alone?3. what do you need to do to keep them safe from predators short of getting a rooster (I'm in the suburbs)? I see a few birds of prey around and an absolute shitload of semi-feral cats. Is a roof over their head enough to not have to worry that much about the odd hawk? and is there a good way to cat proof your yard?
>>4872250Get like 5 hens, covered run and/or a small coop. 100 sq.ft of run/coop would be more than adequate for 5 hens. They will probably eat the lizards.
>>4872250If you get one hen then treat it like a pet. Get her toys and play with her often. Maybe even set up your nesting box inside and let her in ever morning to lay if you can devote the time to it. Chickens are very social.
>>4872224he had a leg injury early on so i spent a lot of time nursing him back to health and then he was my buddy after that.>>4872250to add to what the other anons have said, to get rid of excess eggs just hard boil them and feed em back to the birds
>>4872406That's sweet. I have a rooster with a leg injury that I've been treating and he's so happy to have his mobility returning.
>>4872409happy roosters make me so happy i love the little excited noises they make
>>4867012WTSnackz
>>4867177Sheila
>>4872411I like when they're still too young to crow properly and they sound like Maria from Umineko. Part of my wants to breed gigantic roosters that aren't completely useless like brahmas. Super ultra mega chicken.
I'm spending 8k dollars cash on 500 layer pullets tommorow night. The bank lady asked me if I was going to have a good time this weekend when I was withdrawing the cash and I told her it was for 500 chickens. She laughed.If my napkin math works out we should be able to profit anywhere from 150-200 dollars per chicken over their prime laying period.
>>4872753Good luck, anon. I suggest fermenting their feed with Greek yogurt and adding 2% crushed lump charcoal to their feed. They'll eat less feed and their manure will smell better.
>>4873067Guinea fowl. People raise them for meat, they're good at tick control, and they'll gang up on and kill rattlesnakes.
Weather was bad. 85 died on the trip over here. :( Still a crap load of chickens. Coop still needs some work.>>4872900Thank you. I am going to see about additives and if they are cost effective.
>>4873311Did you figure out a good way to hold eggs sideways in bulk or was that a different anon?
>>4866153it may not be foul but it'll still be from a fowl
>>4867012Cuntnugget
>>4873568That would be funny if I was and ended up getting 400 chickens, but sadly, I am not. Cornish cross/farmers market guy. 2k lbs of chicken just barely fit in my 3 chest freezers.I would go for 1.2 gallons/bird when doing calculations for freezer space instead of 1 gallon just to be safe.
>>4873568I'm the egg anon. I have not found a good solution.
>>4873851Probably not. I got the chickens to deal with my grasshopper problem so I only intend to breed them up to the point that they keep the pests in check. I should have got guinea fowl or ducks instead.
>>4873886You wouldn't mind the noise of ducks or guinea fowl? Ducks are also a pain in the ass to take care of. No experience with the fowlest guineas, aside from the noises I heard coming from my neighbors yard.
>>4873891What makes you say that ducks are hard?My friend has some ducks and doesn't give them any special care. The noise wouldn't be great, but they're supposed to eat more bugs than chickens. Insects can be up to 90% of their diet so I would need a lot less of them for the same amount of pest control. I've heard that their meat is tough and doesn't taste very good so maybe ducks and chickens are the way to do it.
>>4873948If you're thinking about ducks but are concerned about noise, get muscovy ducks. They don't quack and are great foragers.
>>4875702I might check them out. I'm hoping to get some duck eggs from my friend next year
>>4867012broly
>>4872250if you really like the lizards I would avoid since chickens absolutely will eat lizards
>>4873948I guess because they foul up their water very quick so it needs to be changed and their pond cleaned more often one would like, similarly processing them at home for meat seems to be a huge pain in the fucking dick.They are cute though. Would have some for eggs and cuteness alone.
MICRO EGG.
This rooster just randomly showed up at my place and was pecking around. I asked the neighbor if it was his and he said it just shows up randomly at his place and no one knows whose it is. He was only moderately skittish when I approached.Never seen a polish before so it was pretty fun.
>>4878370omg i love polishes, my old baby sitter had about 4 of them and they had very silly personalities
>>4878370If he doesn't have any hens with him you should get some for him.
Curious to see if anyone here has been affected by the bird flu strain infecting mass production flocks. I haven't seen any symptoms in the wild birds I feed and none of my neighbors have sick chickens but I know it's infected some birds and livestock in my state
>>4866070Chorb
Check out this goofy egg. It startled me when I grabbed it. I thought it was a gloriously golden egg that glowed in the sunlight.>>4878619>>4878398He was around for a day and now he is gone. :(
>Chicken has been sitting on a pile of eggs too big for her for the past month>joined by another sitting besides her>nothing hatches up till nowYou fucking freeloaders. I know there's nothing down there.She won't even let me check the eggs for chicks, gets all puffy and mad
>>4877589I love small eggs
>yall want some Tractor Supply Company info?
>>4880472Like what?
i just had to kill a backyard chicken. never killed anything before. did the two hand neck break thing. dry heaved like a city slicker bitch. it was fly-blown as hell. smelled like death.
>>4880678>TSC sells live birds in the form of chicks, ducklings, and other species. >They offer a 48-hour, Dead On Arrival guarantee (on account that these are infant animals and sometimes they genuinely cannot survive the transport). >They do not ask for proof, and you can easily find pictures of dead chicks online. >Any amount less than 5 reported DOA are refunded due to safety issues of the chicks, whereas 5 or more is able to be replaced with a new shipment.
>>4867012Girugamesh
>>4880472>>4880727why are you greentexting these, you buffoon? unsold chicks probably end up in a macerator anyway. chickens have a rough existence; several chickens killed for every person on earth per year.
Why are ducks such fucking pussies? My guineas and chickens wander all over the property but my ducks have never left the barnyard.
>>4880948This is more for your benefit than worrying about maceration.>greentext is for greentext scrapers>you can get a free electronic gift card by asking a phone rep for the sku 9900005>employees have permission to waive up to $150 without asking permission, so always ask for it
>>4880066That video belongs in a feels thread on /wsg/. Just needs some music and then you’re golden.
>>4880953they normally stay in water and hide under reeds, of course theyre uncofmortable on land and mogged by land dwellers that can dash, fly, scratch and peck
>>4880948You're telling me fuckin' DUCKS outnumber cattle in the meat trade? Not even just Ducks V Cow, th'damn chart says it's Ducks V. Every'thin' Else. Boy howdy now that just ain't right. We're cowboys god dangit, not duckboys.
>>4881566the china effect. this is worldwide.
>>4881566>>4881579I'd think it's more about the size of the animal rather than where. China effect would hit cattle as well. It's that to get the same meat from 1 cow takes 10-15 fowl. Kind of surprised pigs are so high.And note that fish and all things seafood aren't being counted.
>Have a flock of chickens for a few years>large fenced in area to roam and sometimes jump fence into another fenced off area to scratch >Numbers slowly reduce over time until there is only 2 hens and a rooster left>Long past laying just keeping them for the sake of it>Get a new rescue dog few weeks ago, shows no interest in them at all >Fucker somehow worms his way through the fence>Chaos ensues>Mauls one of the hens and has the rooster pinned by the time I get there>Rooster screeching and crying like I never heard before>Futility try to pull the dog off, it's a shitshow>Realise the rooster is fucked and just let the dog finish it to put it out of its miseryI'm amazed he was able to squeeze through the fence, motherfucker must be a contortionistI'm absolutely fucking pissed at myself and the fact that I'll have to put down the 2 hens, I don't want to risk of them going out like the poor rooster. I live in the country and have worked with animals so I've seen some gnarly shit in my time but I never thought a chicken could make such a soundSorry for the blog post, just a but upset
>>4881731At least eat the hens yourself.
>>4881736Nah, they are way too old. I might cook them up and feed them to the dogs though if they look ok internally. Guess the little bastard will get what he wanted in the end, circle of life and all that stuff
Do they enjoy being pet? They let me touch them but I think it's just because they know me well enough. I think they might get tense when I touch them but idk.
>>4881738Old hens make excellent stock and stews. Just saying... You dog will enjoy them as well. :D
>>4881752They like to be pet if you have a good relationship with them. Spend time giving them treats and handling them.
>>4879966technical term for those are fairy eggs. Usually from a hen just starting to lay/coming off molting, but it can be a sign your girls aren't getting enough calcium in their diet.
>>4881731I would never allow a dog that hasn't been trained as a livestock protection animal anywhere near my chickens
>>4882045They dont, they think you are a rooster mating with them
>>4882322>I would never allow a dog that hasn't been trained as a livestock protection animal anywhere near my chickensMy brother just started keeping chickens and he has two hunting dogs ages 3 and 6. They've never seen a chicken in their lives and now they're surrounded by 25 of them, unsupervised in the same exact yardIt's been two months now with him working full time and he's had zero attacks whatsoeverNot all dogs are violent, senseless killers
>>4883786Chickens are a food animal. A dog that does not kill chickens is just unable to eat without a human providing for it. They will probably still get violent and kill or hurt something if it's another dog starting shit in their territory or a black kid repeatedly puling and stomping on their tail while shouting. Dogs do love biting black people.Some of the least human aggressive dogs I know are highly prey driven and routinely wreck squirrels, quail, cats, chickens, etc. Some of the most human and dog aggressive dogs on earth were bred specifically to protect livestock.
>>4883741There's a difference between hens submitting and hoping up in your lap to be pet.>>4883786Yeah, well my stepdad has a 20 pound spaniel and my cousin has a 10 pound healer, both of which live with other animals and both of which attacked my flock. There's a chance it will work out fine for you and nothing will ever happen, but I think you are a fool.
>>4884298I'm just pointing out that breeds have different behaviors, and that some dogs are completely fine with chickens. My own Central Asian Shepherd actively protects my chickens, and my friends lab merely ignores chickens
>>4885297Central Asian Shepherds are one of the breeds that had their hunting instinct bred out of them so they can tend flocks. There aren't a lot breeds that make good livestock guardian dogs, and even then without training those breeds will occasionally kill livestock. I hope it keeps working out for your brother. It sounds like he has them pretty well trained.
>>4876470>crucified chickenShe died for our wings?I can't think of a better pun.
I noticed one of my coturnix quails limping one day and put her in a smaller "holiday coop" with a buddy so she didn't have to move around as much. In the last couple of days her leg joint has gotten real swollen. The lump is hard and she doesn't have any symptoms other than a limp. The vet here charges hundreds of dollars just to look at quails so I'd rather try and help her here first. I've tried epsom salt baths and making sure her bedding is dry. I have some general use antibiotics and vitamins as well. any suggestions?
>>4885741I think it's a slipped tendon. An antiinflammatory would be probably better than antibiotics, but if I'm right then you should need either. To fix it you need to gently and slowly stretch her leg all the way out and gently massage her leg all the way down. You should be able to feel the tendon and the tension in her muscles while you're massaging her. It helps to have another person to help hold her, but if it's clear she's in pain then you need to adjust your technique. Wrapping her leg with medical tape or making a splint for her could help a lot with recovery time, but it's probably not necessary. My chicken rooster was stepped on my his mother when he was a chick and I had to do this for him.
>>4881731Should get rid of that stupid rescue dog and get a dog that actually knows how to handle being around birds. Why'd you bring in some retard dog with PTSD anyway? Imo fuck the dog, put it down or give it away and get more chickens/roosters. Who knows if that idiot will attack young relatives of yours, too?
>>4885955>Should get rid of your dog over some chickensYou fucking idiot. Chickens are food. Dogs are friends. Just pen the chickens in because something else will eat them anyways. The very purpose of the chickens existence is being eaten.>A dog that does a natural dog thing and hunts food will surely attack peopleYeah sure, just look at those 300 fatal greyhound, saluki, afghan, and borzoi maulings every year. Oh wait it's just 30 pitbulls. Chickens are lower on the food chain. Humans are higher. Dogs can tell chickens and people apart, believe it or not. Do you also think a cat that hunts rabbits will go for the jugular if a toddler walks past them?I keep a prey driven hunting dog with chickens. The chickens are penned in because scraps to egg converters that are dumb enough to get stuck in a pen with an ope ndoor mean less to me than my dog. They did get a couple that I accidentally made escape while impatiently grabbing eggs, and instead of blaming my dog I euthanized and ate the chickens. Deal w/ it.
>>4885966clearly you haven't been to chicken redditthey think chickens are basically people there
>>4866070>>4867177>>4869218drew some chickens
>>4886128I love the picture of Rosie. Thanks, anon!
>>4886128Very nice. Here is one that could be fun.This guy too >>4878370:D
>>4886128Very good
>>4885966Thinking of chickens as purely a food source may be slightly psychopathic but otherwise I agree.I have legitimately seen pitmommy-types claim that it's entirely possible to get your dog to be okay with being around chickens and if you can't do that then you're both a shitty dog owner and chicken keeper (their dog is a pug).
I think my flock got attacked by a falcon or some other small bird of prey. My oldest rooster has a wound from a small, sharp beak on his waddle and my gimpy rooster messed up his leg somehow (probably running away). None of my roosters fight with each other and the girls don't bite them that hard, even when they're pissed. I'm proud of him. It was his first victory without any human intervention.
Alright, post your feeder/waterer set ups.For the feeders I use the basic mason jar style like picrel. The problem with these is that the birds spill food all over the ground which is wasteful and attracts pests, plus they're not resistant to rain at all. Any recommendations for spill-free feeders?For the water, I use a big electric dog bowl that prevents the water from freezing over in the winter. The problem with this is it gets dirty very quickly. Dirt quickly settles at the bottom of the bowl, and then algae starts to form. Plus, I've had a horrible time with mosquitos this year, I'm thinking they lay eggs in the dog bowl since it's a nice source of stagnant water. I got some of those red nipple style waterers, but I'm having trouble thinking of a suitable vessel to attach them to, last time I tried aluminum bottles and they burst in the winter when the water froze, even though I sawed the top off of them.
>>4887333Not my photo, but is same style of feeder that I use. Instead of the drum, I use rectangular buckets so I have a flat back I can just hang on the fence. Another detail is that I like a short baffle across the bottom of the opening to catch food they try to shovel out. I’ve no complaints with this style other than the openings are too big to have around chicks.I’m still trying to figure out a watering system that I like, because brown algae shows up within a day or two on most materials that I’ve tried. Been considering painting a bucket black and trying nipple waterers on that. If it weren’t for the algae here, I think I’d use something like the anon here that ran lines of pvc pipe with cup waterers.
>>4887333I ferment my feed with lactic acid bacteria and additives like crushed lump charcoal and give it to them in a cooler lid that broke off. I just use a regular waterer. I don't give them water in the winter because they have plenty of snow to eat.
>>4887377Have you considered plasson waterers? I have a bunch of them set up and they work great, and are extremely easy to set up.
>>4887377What's the inside diameter of those pipes? Is is two pieces? I'd like to build one of my one rather than buying them premade since they costs ~$80.
>>48878983 inch; those are one piece, but I prefer the flanged 2-piece elbow 90. Here’s the thread about em: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/make-your-own-no-waste-5-gallon-25-feed-bucket-feeder-for-about-3.834227/>>4887472Those do look interesting.
>>4887906They're a little pricey, but are super convenient. 1 waterer per 80-100 chickens. They work gravity fed with a bucket like 1 foot above them, or you can use a regulator on main line water(3-6psi). They're very simple designs so fixing/dismantling/unclogging them is trivial.I have a setup with 4 5 gallon buckets elevated about 5 feet up on the side of my coop as fill reservoirs, a trough filler in one bucket, and tubing connecting each bucket to each other. Physics keeps all 4 buckets filled at an equal level, and all waterers watering.
>>4887898I forgot to add that you should make sure the diameter of the pipe is small enough that your chickens can’t crawl in and die. I mentioned chicks, but the 3 inch ID pipe is probably way too big for some bantams too.
Got our 50 partial birds back from the being parted out. Excited to see how they sell at the farmers market tommorow. Turns out that we were getting on average around 1lb per breast on the cornish cross! Huge.A fully parted bird costed us 4 dollars extra per bird to be parted, BUT we can sell a fully parted bird for around 10 dollars more than whole bird. 2lb breast = 201lb back = 3.50.75lb thigh = 62 wings = 1.502 feet = .501 neck = .50Total = ~33 per bird instead of the 25 we are selling whole birds at. Pricing is based on a nice local market's organic chicken plus 1 or 2 dollars per pound because we can.
Quail > ChickenThey're cuter. That's all.
Parted chickens are absolutely an easier sell. Even if our prices are a little expensive we were able to sell our 2 thigh packs for about 6 dollars so people can actually see how much better the chicken is.We were able to skip the waitlist for a very busy market that we went to this morning. Based on our sales we should be able to sell around 50 dozen eggs, and a decent amount of chicken on a good day. 2 seperate markets today. From 830-1 then 2-5 in 100+ degree weather. Exhausting.
>>4888569>having to crack 14 eggs just to make yourself breakfastNo thanks
>backyard chickenspleb shit, the real flex is front yard chickens
>>4889385I too am doing my part to lower property values
you guys got any funny pictures of chicken screaming ?
>>4889385>keeping a silver laced wyandotte with nobody she can be racist withFor shame.
>>4887906>>4887377Okay, I made two of these. I'm not sure the birds are going to figure it out. It's been out for a week and haven't seen any of them using it. I have several times put cherry tomatoes in it (which they love) to show them that it dispenses food. They take the tomatoes out and that's it. I have been progressively giving them less and less feed in the old feeders, today they sat empty the whole day. I brought out a small mason jar full of food and they all swarmed it like they hadn't eaten all day.
>>4892049Peck at it with your hand-beak like you're teaching chicks to find food.
>>4892054I'll try it tomorrow.Also made two of these drip-waterer stands, which I got them to figure out.
Week 7 of selling chicken products at farmers markets: Grossed over 600 dollars this week selling eggs, whole live chickens, and chicken meat. Sold over 30 dozen eggs on a slow day, and sold out. Apparently on a busy day the previous big egg seller that left could move 10 cases of eggs at this busy market!We have paid for another 2 weeks of food for all our birds. Our initial goal is grossing 1k per week, and we are rather quickly reaching that! Our flock of 400 layers is starting to lay right now, and in a couple months we should be seeing over 300 eggs per day with artificial lighting...Soon we will order the materials necessary to build a 1000 hen moveable coop!We spend about 1-2 hours per day maintaining our flock, and on Saturday we do 2 farmers markets over the span of about 8 hours. Wagmi, chickenbros.
>>4867012Qu-ACK
>>4867012Caroline
>>4867012Dog.
>>4867012Natasha
>>4866153Make the charcoal yourself. Lump charcoal probably gets made with pressure treated scraps.
>>4892792>Lump charcoal probably gets made with pressure treated scraps.No way. If you can make it yourself then do it. It's a lot cheaper than buying it.
>>4892666i see what you did there
Been lurking here for a little bit, posting my setup. Three Buff Orpington pullets (also had one Cockrel I didn't want but thankfully found him a good home), the girls should be laying eggs come December. I had help building the run which gives a lot more room than the run that came with the coop, for me and the birds. Hardware cloth everywhere, floor and ceiling too. For now I have pine shavings inside and dirt outside, might switch to sand later. Overall I'm very satisfied with everything. New feeder and waterer should arrive this week as I didn't realize the current ones weren't transparent when I ordered them, but they can serve well as backups. Winters aren't too bad by me so I'm hoping ACV will be enough to prevent freezing, if not I can put a salt water bottle in or just bring the waterer inside during the night (or swap out the backup). Will also order a few toys.
>>4893074Looks great! Time to get 20 more hens lol.
>>4893079Thanks, though I want to start slow and steady so no more chicks for now. This is really just a hobby farm to get eggs for myself and sometimes for family when visiting. Pic is the original setup for when they were chicks, using the original run pieces that came with the coop plus a tarp.
>>4893074>>4893088I highly recommend fermenting your feed with greek yogurt and charcoal. It has a bunch of benefits for you and your chickens and they'll like it more. It also allows you to make use of the feed dust from the feed crumbling and is a good way to introduce feed additives like red hot peppers. You can effect the eggs in pretty dramatic ways with feed additives.
This one has something on her nose, and she makes a different noise than the other two, but otherwise her behavior is the same. Anyone have any ideas?>>4893309Thanks
Egg bump.
Had a visit from a bear a few days ago, bastard tore open the outside entrance to the laying room and got what birds he could reach in and swipe. Only lost 3, could have been much worse, but still a bummer.
>>4895373Give your chickens guns for next time.
What do you do with chickens in the winter in cold regions? Just keep them cooped until you can let them out on milder days?
>>4895373Call fish and wildlife to take care of it. It will do it again.
>>4895888They don't do crap about the bears, my brother almost got jumped by a mountain lion and they didn't do shit about it. A gal I sell eggs to has lost several lambs to bears/lions just this year and its the same deal.There IS an unspoken understanding that so long as you follow the Three S's (shoot it, shovel it, shut up) nothing will come of it- and if it does, I have the right to defend my property and livestock.
>>4894059Anyone?
>>4894059>>4895972Any changes or a new pic? Might be just an injury, might be the beginnings of a disease. Probably the former if it hasn’t got any worse. Are you able to see inside the mouth at all, or is she too skittish for that?
>>4896626It looks better now, I was probably overreacting but these are my first pullets. She's the one with the purple band who makes the lower noise: https://litter.catbox.moe/h6y5g2.mp4Also they never seem to roost, sometimes I pick them up in the run and place them on the roosting bars in the coop, but they never seem to be up there themselves. Is that normal?
>>4895968Call them. And if they don't do anything about it, then shoot it. Otherwise you're retarded.
>>4866070Look at this chicken.
>>4897159done
>>4897194Thank you. I thought the odd shape was fairly amusing. She went back to normal eventually.If you so desire observe this rooster with a very sizeable wattle.
>>4897201observed
>>4897202But were you amused?
>>4897224I was, looked cartoonish
Random but I got some toys for my pullets, they peck at them sometimes, they also seem to enjoy when I throw leaves or blades of grass into the run. Speaking of, currently my coop just has pine shavings and the run has top soil, any recommendations? I know sand is a popular one for the coop, which I'll probably switch too after I use up all the shavings. Run cannot be easily moved.
>>4896727Glad she’s looking better.>Also they never seem to roostDoes the perch wobble or is it just a new addition? Did they have stuff to climb on as chicks or adult birds to watch? They could just feel unsafe up there, or they may have never learned they have wings yet if they grew up with a low ceiling. You can always just give them treats while they’re up there before they hop down. Mine seem to use their high perches for safety with a good view of the surroundings; usually in the night or early mornings when the coyotes start singing, or during the day when startled or something new shows up like a car visiting or someone’s trash escapes. The nest boxes are the emergency hiding spot when danger is spotted and shadiest place for midday naps. They mostly only use the lower perches to demand treats because they are at hand level, or to walk around other chickens blocking the ground to avoid getting pecked. If mine always felt safe and I wasn’t too lazy to bend over to individually hand out treats, I don’t think they would use them much at all.>>4897388Sand is fun to have around.If you have a shady low spot that stays moist, a rotten log lasts awhile and will stay reasonably full of treats. Less so if it dries out though. Softer woods that aren’t pine tend to rot in a wet season or two if you can’t find wood that is already rotten and full of life; can turn it over once a week to expose whatever is hiding under it in the meantime.
>>4897386Thanks. Got another cool one for yah to peep.These are vintage egg cartons from the 30s! Found them at our local thrift shop.We will display them alongside our eggs when we are at the farmers market. They should be an excellent conversation starter/attention grabber. :D
>>4897454Thanks, they all seem to be doing well, which makes sense since they have a ton of space for only 3 birds and the climate here is moderate. The coop has always had 2 perches, and they had little roosting bars as chicks. In the evening they like to be in the open doorway (run is fully covered with hardware cloth), which feels like a perch substitute. They definitely know about their wings since they sometimes jump up most of the ramp instead of fully walking it.>>4897601Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice
>>4887333I use these but honestly it's a very flawed system.The water cups attract dirt and it just settles in there, but also small birds and sometimes the chickens shit into the cupsThey also use their fat asses to "twist" the cups until they spill water which is annoying as fuck
>>4887333I experimented with different types and settled on these. They've been great, no issues with rain or pests getting into the feed and it's nice to be able to see how much is in them from a distance. Probably easy to DIY but I just bought them off Amazon, only $30 which seems fair: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFVXRMGX
>>4897454>>4897686I don't think swinging perches should matter. I just hung my perches from the roof of the coop and all my chickens learned how to use it. To be fair I did give them swings in their brooder, but my rooster never had a swinging perch and it only took him a month or so to figure it out.
>>4897914Your birds don't roost/jump on these and shit in/on them?
>>4897986Nope, I hang them on the hardware cloth and they just leave them alone apart from eating/drinking
>>4897914Dang I would have bought this instead of DIYing at that price.just FYI, I sealed the outside of the bucket where I drilled the hole for the PVC pipe with silicone to prevent water from entering the bucket. 24 hours later the chickens had eaten the bead of silicone.
>>4897159It looks like a medieval tapestry.
>>4898199Well if it makes you feel better, I did not find that initially either>buy cheap normal feeder/waterer on sale from TSC>open top so rain got in it>buy slightly nicer feeder from TSC that has a lid on top>water still gets in the part the chickens eat out of>buy the nice rainproof ones off amazon, but they're opaque>have to get in the run and open them up to see how much food/water is there>go back to the amazon listing>they sell the exact same thing but transparentI felt retarded for not noticing that option when I got the opaque ones, but it all worked out: I gave the TSC ones away to a nearby dairy farm that just got some meat birds, and the opaque ones will be my backups.>>4898200KEK
Bros I’ve made my chickens so tame that whenever I go out to their run they gather around for me to pick them up and pet them. They each get a turn.
>>4898247Mine are 15 week-old brats that still don't want to be picked up, but Buff Orpingtons are supposedly very friendly once they're all grown up so I'm really hoping to have a similar experience.
>>4898343I’ve got three Buff Orpingtons, the two hens are very tame. Even the rooster is pretty chill.
My black australorps finally started laying.
>>4898492Yeah I had a cockrel and he was basically the same as the pullets (now he's a pet at a dairy farm since I didn't want a rooster)>>4898500mirin, mine are about a month out from laying
>>4898500>>4898798Mine will probably start laying in February
>>4898500>>4898798>>4899158WAGMI
