Raising Chooks

[Miki]

This thread is another chapter of Broiler Chooks which, as well as AP really appeals to our senses. We enjoy eating both fish and chicken meat and in our adventure into the direction of self sufficiency, or part of at least (we do not see ourselves as going the whole way but do look forward to providing as much as possible for the dinner plate).

Gary's thread on BC's has really sparked our attention, just look at his results and we're not even looking at the cost thing but, as Annie has written previously, it's about knowing what has gone into them and their quality of life.

We started out with a chook and a rooster, and now also have five Australorps which haven't started laying yet but are on the verge of. Now the original chook is getting broody and sitting on her nest... she's just about stuck to it and all I've read about chooks and broodiness is that you either distract them to get out of it or let them sit and each day take the egg away and by the time you have several, put them back.

In my view these eggs have cooled off too much to hatch, or is that the way to go? I've had an offer from a neighbour willing to give me some fertilized eggs.... will our chook accept them? when and if these eggs are hatched do I separate the chook and chicks from the rest of the pack or will they be accepted and not bullied by the older ones?

Looking forward to any tips and help!

[GaryD]

Hi Miki,


Hi Miki,

I'm unclear as to whether the eggs that the chook has laid have been taken away or not.......and, if so, where you stored them.

Fertile eggs are stored at room temperature (this time of the year anyway) - never in a refrigerator.

If you can obtain a clutch of fertile eggs from your neighbour, carefully set these under your clucky hen. Try to keep her out of draughts and away from predators and she'll do the rest.

Don't be too concerned if she seems to wander off every now and then. She'll know when to return in time to avoid chilling the eggs.

If she hatches the eggs, she'll treat them as her own. Once they hatch, keep mum and the chicks in a small pen. She'll continue to keep them warm during the first weeks and she'll make sure that they don't wander too far. It's a good idea to separate mum and the chicks from the rest of the pack.....particularly the cockerel.

If you'd prefer the hen to come back into lay as quickly as possible, you can brood the chicks under a heater lamp and put the hen back in with the rest of the chickens.

If she persists with being broody....and you don't want this to happen....place her in a small crate with a slatted bottom and give her water but no food for a couple of days. The idea is to make her feel slightly uncomfortable......to snap her out of the broodiness.

Keep asking questions as the need arises.

Gary

[Miki]

Thanks Gary, the last egg wasn't put in the fridge with the others, it didn't seem right to do so although I have my doubts if this rooster actually does the deed. Fertilized eggs usually have a little extra to them than the white and the yolk and these eggs have not had that.....

It does seem logical to separate the mother and chicks from the rest but not having had any experience with this the mother could have protected the chicks from the big ones and the rooster. My AP (still in the planning stage) shade house with some extra protection to keep them in and some extra shelter for them to nest would be ideal.

What do you mean by carefully placing them under the hen? she is in a sort of a hutch with an open front so if I go toward it and put my hand out to do anything she makes a fuss but flies off in a huff...... I would then have to put the eggs in her nest and hope that she goes back!

[anniefish]

Hi Miki,
I've always put the eggs under a clucky hen at night time - just slip them under the hen usually from the back if you can. Just talk quietly to the hen and she should be fine. If you leave the hen with the chicks make sure you use a shallow tin I find Riga sprats tin we can buy from The Warehouse is ideal. You will need to make sure they always have water. You can buy chicken starter crumbles from most produce stores. If you are caught short you can boil eggs, cut them in half or crumble them up and give to them.
Good luck, and have fun,Annie.

[GaryD]

.....and if she still stacks on a turn if you're applying Annie's suggestion, let her fly off in a huff and put the eggs in her nest anyway. She will, in all probability, go back.

Gary


http://www.aquaponicshq.com/forums/images/misc/progress.gif

[Miki]

Thanks for that! Annie, do you use the tin for the feed or the water or both? How long would we be able to leave the eggs away from the hen before returning them?

[GaryD]

Hi,

You can gather and store fertile eggs for about a week. Hatchability will begin to decline fairly steadily after that.

Fertile eggs are best stored somewhere dark and cool.....and they should be clean. Discard soiled eggs.

Gary

[anniefish]

Hi Miki,
I use the tins for both until the chicks are big enough for a bigger dish. You can buy special feeders and waterers but for a start you don't have to have them. It is a good practice to turn the eggs every day especially in hot weather.
Annie

[Miki]

Just an update on whats been happening to my chook adventures....

We were given 6 eggs by the neighbour which we put in the nest when the broody chook was feeding. When she went back into her nest and found the eggs she had a massive fit - screeching etc - and did not go back in for a couple of weeks! we were in stitches, this really is a chook with character (I suppose they all are really but some just stick out). We left the eggs for a few days but all that happened was that the ducks started playing with them, so I removed them (the eggs).
In the meantime one of the new Australorp girls has 'suddenly' become a boy and is practising crowing (which is a laugh and a half because he tries this croaky thing and then the other rooster starts showing off and crows his head off). Anyway, we hope now that this 'changeling' might fertilize the eggs in the future so that it is all 'homegrown'.

[GaryD]

Hi,

Here's some photos of our chicken housing:

A chicken tractor
Our layer chicken house
The broiler chicken houseGary

[sillyoldfart]

What exactly is a "chicken tractor" and what is it used for?

[GaryD]

A chicken tractor can take two forms.....

One is a mobile chicken house that can be moved onto fresh ground as required.

The other is a fixed chicken house with several small yards or runs. The runs are operated so that greenfeed can be grown and consumed in a rotation system.

Chicken tractors (of either type) are my favourite poultry housing but they don't lend themselves to our steep terrain.....so our meat birds live in a small hut with a good-sized run and our layers live in small night quarters and are allowed to free range during the day (after they've laid their eggs).

Similar "tractors" can be used to rear everything from quail to pigs.

Gary

[Miki]

Finally, its happened. The chook that had a gigantic fit when we put eggs in her nest has brooded out a chick! we found the chick wandering around the chook pen on its own and the clucky girl we found sitting on another nest with the newly laid eggs the other girls had laid that day. We are going to try to get some more eggs under her (lets see how that goes) and try to get some day old chicks to keep this one company, we have to keep this one warm (for now with a hot water bottle) so we might as well have a few more. We may try fattening them up even though this one has been named Nugget.

[anniefish]

Hi Miki,
Wow, your a grandparent! I have found an ordinary desk lamp with and old fashioned bulb to be good for orphan chicks- the new bulbs don't give off much heat. A good emergency food for chicks is a boiled egg. I know sounds like canaballism, just cut the egg in half and gvie it to them. Just don't tell them what they are eating. :D
Anniefish

[Miki]

Thanks for that Annie, for the moment the chick is getting a hot water bottle, the idea of the lamp on constantly was not very appealing and that for just 1 chick. We're leaving at the one chick for the moment, the girls are worried that any new chicks might hurt this one.

The clucky hen is sitting on a nest full! at least 12 eggs, so hopefully we should have enough chicks to start 'broilering' in a couple of weeks.

[GaryD]

Hi Miki,

Ah....the joys of broody hens. Give me an electric incubator every time.

Gary

[Miki]

Sorry Gary, the cheaper, natural way has its appealing side too!

[GaryD]

Hi Miki,

I agree. I'm just happy to leave the appealing side of broody bantams and hens......and single chick hatches......to other people.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce you to our laying chickens.

They are the brown egg layers that are common to many commercial egg farms. They are highly productive....laying one egg each per day for most of the year.....and (surprisingly) they have quite distinct personalities.

We buy these chickens from our local fodder store and, unlike many outlets, we can buy them without having had them debeaked.

The single photo features our youngest bird.....she's a replacement for one of our original chickens who became ill and expired. She refuses to be herded into to her pen each night. She jumps up onto a stump and has to be carried to the pen.

Gary

[Martin A1]

They look beautiul.... I need some!

Do you reckon' three is a bad number with chooks or should I go for four... ie one bird person person in my family? Pecking order is pecking order!

It obiously comes down to living space... I have a plot marked out 2m X 3m. I will give them some free reign access once the dog demonstartes restraint!

Would love to see some photo's of people's layer chook houses for good ideas.

[GaryD]

Hi Martin,

Three or four.....either way you'll have plenty of eggs around the place.

Here's the photos of my chicken housing.

Photo 1.....the layers' house......they free range on 1/2 an acre during the day
Photo 2.......a chicken tractor.....a great idea for flat land but a bugger for our terrain. We use this one to house our most recent layer because the original ones kept flogging her every chance they got.
Photo 3.....our meat bird hut.....we rear up to 24 meat birds at a time in this little unit. They get to run around in the yard during the day.
Gary

[Miki]

Gary, your chook pens look great! do your egg girls mix with the meat birds at all? or do you keep them separated?

Our Australorp chooks are gorgeous too, its so funny to see them racing to be first in line for the crumbs when the horses get fed. The horses tolerate them nudging them if they get too close (the chooks are usually covered in horse feed in the end as the horses are sloppy eaters).

Their characters are pretty similar (they are sisters) but are all pretty cheeky trying to sneak into the back garden (which is enclosed from them) to check out the feed shed or rose bed (which they are allowed to scratch around in now and again). They are very nosy and tend to follow me around just in case I might have something edible in my pockets.

Our young chicks are growing by the day and have now been given a sheltered corner in the big chook run. The big girls can't get to them but they do get to know each other this way (I hope). Once the big girls are let out in the morning and the duck has laid her egg in the nest (where the chooks all lay their eggs too - thats the favourite spot at the moment) the little ones are let out of their corner and have the whole pen to run around in. I took the opportunity yesterday to clean out the little one's bed and raked it towards the door where I wanted to leave it for the big girls to sort through and before I knew it a few of the babies had settled themselves down to sleep in it - they still are rather cute.

[GaryD]

Hi,

We keep our layers and meat birds separate.......no point having them form meaningful relationships that are predictably short term.

Our former layers were Australorps. They were very attractive birds but we made the mistake of buying what was obviously a show breeder's stock rather than a utility line. The result was what Texan's refer to as "all hat and no cattle"......they looked great but underperformed in the egg laying department.

It's good to see that your chicks are progressing well.

I believe that the ability to breed and rear chickens (and other poultry and game birds) is arguably one of the most useful things that a backyard food producer can do in their own interests.

Gary

[anniefish]

Hi Gary,
I agree about show animals. We have found that the better the show animal the worse they are at doing what they should do - we bought highly bred Anglo Nubian Goats all ended up dying. When we contacted the breeders they always had Vet bills. Also dairy cows, we always found the smallest, boniest, skinniest cow (useless as a show animal) was the best milker. The same happens with most animals - dogs, chooks, birds. How many breeds are now endangered due to being highly bred?

[Martin A1]

I love the line "all hat no cattle" and will be using that one on Monday hehe.

Couldn't agree more on cross breed dogs! Better in manys ways!