Getting some chickens

[RED333]

Picked up some meal worms the other day, man the chickens LOVE them,

got them eating out of my hand, sight to see.

[swampnut]

I love the chicken coup, I seen plans like that in Mother Earths mag. and been thinking of building one myself. I'm also  looking into raising rabbits for a good food sourse......

[Guest USMC 2013]

For what it's worth, I have been working with both, and IF you are in the mindset of prepping, rabbits are a better meat source.  Chickens take a lot more intakes to produce as much meat as a rabbit.  Chickens are great as insect control and for eggs, but a yard bird is a soup pot only kind of meat.  12 week old fryer rabbits on the other hand are as tender as can be.

 

Joe

[RichardR]

For what it's worth, I have been working with both, and IF you are in the mindset of prepping, rabbits are a better meat source. Chickens take a lot more intakes to produce as much meat as a rabbit. Chickens are great as insect control and for eggs, but a yard bird is a soup pot only kind of meat. 12 week old fryer rabbits on the other hand are as tender as can be.

Joe

I've also raised both chickens & rabbits (semi-commercially) I personally think chickens are the best choice of the two, mostly because they are less labor intensive but also because they provide plenty of protein without having to butcher them (ie: they lay edible eggs).

Rabbits do provide fur though, which is a great resource even if there is never a SHTF scenario, in fact I mostly raised New Zealand whites because of their solid white super-soft coats of fur & nice meaty build, rabbit meat is very lean though so if you are planning on relying on rabbits as your only. (or main) source of protein you'll need another source of fat in your diet.

[RED333]

I am leaning towards goats for meat, as well as chickens.

We raised cows and hogs on the farm as a teen, WAY TO MUCH WORK.

Them cows and hogs are HEAVY!!!

I have a few cow farmers around me for that.

[Guest USMC 2013]

The most sustainable meat sources are your grass eaters.  And the meat conversion ratio of feed to meat, nothing beats a rabbit.  Rabbits, goats and sheep  would be the best meat animals long term, short term and definitely if SHTF. 

 

Again, chickens are great protein sources as well, for their eggs.  A common misconception most people have though is that they will be sustainable.  Most chickens breeds now have had the broodiness bred out of them.  We get out chickens from a hatchery.  Case in point, my buddy has been trying all spring to hatch a clutch of eggs from his flock and has 100% failure.  The hens sit for 7-10 days and then stop. 

 

Most people want eggs and don't get a damn about hatching chicks, in fact, a broody hen is commonly a nuisance because she guards her eggs.  Remember, if you're not breeding an animal for a certain trait, chances are the animal won't have it.

 

I've been selectively keeping bunnies from my best litters, raising them out, crossing them with other from great litters with good growth size and after two years of working with another breeder we are now averaging 10 bunny litters and getting 10-11 week market rates.  We started with 100% NZW and 100% Californians.  Our bunnies now come out looking like NZW, dirty NZW, Californians, Californians with weak markings, etc...  Why?  Because we bred for meat production, not the markings or colorings.  See what I mean?

 

If you think you have chickens for SHTF do you and yours a favor and try getting that flock sustainable now.  It would suck when Kroger is empty to find out your hens can't hatch a clutch of eggs and they're dried up. 

 

Anyway you go though, having some sort of protein source now, is WAY better than not.  Semper Fi,

 

Joe

[RED333]

Most chickens wont sit on eggs, as you posted.

The thing to do is hatch them your self, I know another job, but you get more chickens.

I dont have a male yet, will in about 18 months to get me some

eggs to hatch out.

[RichardR]

Some breeds of chickens are more "broody" than others, some individual chickens are more "broody" than others, it is of course easier on both the hen's & the chicks to simply incubate the eggs, but in a post-shtf scenario where electricity could be questionable, owning a couple broody hens would be a good trait & should be encouraged by seperating them so that the other hens will leave them alone, or have plenty of nesting boxes so that there is no competition for them.

[maroonandwhite]

Almost have my coop completed! I am ditching the dowel rod design for the perches and just going with 2x4's ran flat across. I am going to make a u-shaped frame on either side for the perch to sit into so it won't move around but still be removable. I am also going to add some ventilation on both sides. The opening is in the back side that you can't see and is hinged but will stay closed off. I still have to build the run but I am close!

 

[URL=http://imageshack.com/i/7e1dypj][/URL]Uploaded with [URL=http://imageshack.com]ImageShack.com[/URL]

 

[URL=http://imageshack.com/i/bbngf1j][/URL]Uploaded with [URL=http://imageshack.com]ImageShack.com[/URL]

Edited July 8, 2013 by maroonandwhite

[JAB]

The most sustainable meat sources are your grass eaters.  And the meat conversion ratio of feed to meat, nothing beats a rabbit.  Rabbits, goats and sheep  would be the best meat animals long term, short term and definitely if SHTF.

 

I cannot verify this from personal experience but I once read a claim that the best return is to have rabbits in an elevated enclosure and enclose chickens below the rabbit enclosure.  The claim was that you don't even have to feed the chickens - they survive off of what the rabbits 'drop' (including droppings, I suppose.) 

 

Anyone else ever heard/read this?

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

ugh nope.. not  true.. prolly some old wifes tale as usual.. seems there  quite a few of them around in TN

[RED333]

Almost have my coop completed! I am ditching the dowel rod design for the perches and just going with 2x4's ran flat across. I am going to make a u-shaped frame on either side for the perch to sit into so it won't move around but still be removable. I am also going to add some ventilation on both sides. The opening is in the back side that you can't see and is hinged but will stay closed off. I still have to build the run but I am close!

 

Uploaded with ImageShack.com

 

Uploaded with ImageShack.com

Nice looking coop there, how many chickens ya getting?

[maroonandwhite]

We actually just got 4 chicks today. Two Sex Links and two Rhode Island Reds. Don't plan on getting more than that at the moment.

 

I added the ramp and some sturdier roosts last night as well as a piece of wood to hold the hay or whatever in the nesting boxes. My main concern is venilation now. It's vented at the top but I am wondering if I should add more. Don't want to freeze them out in the winter though. I know the hole vent-good draft-bad thing but I just don't know where to put them. Any ideas?

[RED333]

As close to the top of each wall as you can, in the summer you can not have to much air flow.

Then close them off in the winter.

My floor is open for the summer and come winter I will lay a layer of straw on the

floor to stop the draft.

[JAB]

Well, "something" got into my chickens this past weekend.  It killed my little Bantam rooster and one of my Bantam hens.  Whatever it was, it injured my other Bantam hen badly enough that she eventually succumbed to her injuries.  So now I have only one chicken left - the White Leghorn hen.  I don't think the killer was a raccoon, fox or possum as whatever it was didn't drag any of them off nor did they even appear to have been chewed on or partially eaten.  In fact, had it not been for the one hen being obviously injured, I would have thought some kind of disease got them.  I have heard that weasels will kill chickens and drink the blood without doing much damage but I don't know how much truth there is in that.  I am also not ruling out the possibility that it was a snake.  Whatever it was, if it returns I hope to contribute greatly to its sudden, bloody and violent demise.  Either way, I will have to figure out where something could get in to the coop, block that up and then get some more chickens.  I might look into some more White Leghorns - they are good layers of large, white eggs.  I also wouldn't mind having a couple of gold and/or silver laced Wyandottes as they are supposed to be good layers as well a fairly hardy birds - plus I think they are pretty birds.  We'll just have to see what I can find, though - I might end up just getting some of the sex links from the 4H auction.

Edited July 15, 2013 by JAB

[RED333]

WOW, sorry to hear about your chickens.

[JAB]

Well, I now have no chickens, for the moment.  Found my last hen dead in the fenced-in 'run' area attached to the coop.  I did notice something, however.  There is a tree growing in that portion of the coop that I didn't want to cut down so the fencing on the top of the coop had to be placed around it.  I noticed that, where the tree goes through that fencing, there was a bunch of feathers stuck in the wire.  It didn't look as if the wire had been disturbed but I figured that was how the marauder was getting in and out.

 

Suffice to say that I left the hen's carcass on the ground where it was, figuring whatever killed it would be back for the rest, and last night was able to verify that this was how the critter got in as it returned to the scene of the crime for the rest of the carcass.  Suffice also to say that there is now one less marauding, livestock destroying (chicken killing) raccoon in the world - and what remains of the carcass of my little hen is now draped across a branch about twenty feet up that tree (that is actually how I located the killer in the first place - my flashlight picked up its white feathers pretty easily and then I saw two, beady eyes reflecting the light back at me so the chicken got revenge from beyond the dead.)  Hopefully, when I get more chickens (after better securing the fencing around the tree trunk), getting rid of that, particular threat will help make things safer for them.

Edited August 2, 2013 by JAB

[RED333]

Sad it took all your chickens to find out what was killing them.

Glad ya found out what is was and got rid of it.

[Guest Republican]

How cool is this, there is a store close to where I live that sells Guns & Ammo and all sorts of Chickens and other fowl. And yeah, they have good guns.
Check them out http://mixonsemporium.com/

[JAB]

How cool is this, there is a store close to where I live that sells Guns & Ammo and all sorts of Chickens and other fowl. And yeah, they have good guns.
Check them out http://mixonsemporium.com/

 

Okay, I bookmarked their site.  Not really in my neck of the woods but I can see checking it out the next time we head up to Muddy Pond.

[Dennis1209]

Picked up some meal worms the other day, man the chickens LOVE them,

got them eating out of my hand, sight to see.

 

Yep they do! They also must love mice too...

 

I just walked into the chicken run one day this summer to put the fresh water in and as I was hanging the water on the chain a ruckus broke out just behind me. Evidently I stirred up a mouse that ran into the run and they were all over it. It was totally devoured in twenty seconds, fur, bone tail and all. 

 

Mine are also partial to cooked noodles and watermelon.

 

P.S. The wife and I were at Wally World today grocery shopping and passed by the butter, orange juice, egg section. One of the egg carton tops was open as we passed by and the wife and I commented, that's the first white egg we've seen in three years! They sure are white still.

Edited August 5, 2013 by Dennis1209

[RED333]

I have been giving mine potato peelings, tomatoes that have a worm or a bit if rot, and a few apples.

I had heard of the mouse thing, never seen it.

[JAB]

I've never seen the mouse thing, either.  I have, however, seen a big hog swallow a (live) chick whole.

[Guest Republican]

I've never seen the mouse thing, either. I have, however, seen a big hog swallow a (live) chick whole.

Pigs. Natures opportunist! Lol

Used to raise them. Lotta work, however a family could easily thrive off of two sows and a boar. As stated above they will literally eat anything. Fed mine coal sometimes... on the advice of an old timer. Mine usually had 12-14 piglets each. They were big enough to slaughter in 6-8 months. Never had a predator problem like I did with chickens.

[Dane]

Try out
http://www.mthealthy.com/store/948458/product/TT-sr

The hatchery is awesome and the little tetra tints will lay the biggest egg you've ever seen.

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