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Survival and Preparations Long and short term survival and 'prepping'. |
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#122
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We're getting on the average about 33-36 eggs a day.
Was planning on reducing flock size down to 12-14 through the winter, and we have been butchering, but we also have started incubating eggs to keep the chicken numbers steady at a number we want on hand at all times, which we're thinking closer to 30 than the 40 we peaked with a few months ago. we have two coops that are easy to clean and don't stink. They're raised up and have wire mesh floors (except in the laying boxes. We cover the wire mesh in straw, then rake it out into a whell barrow when it needs to be changed. The chicken manure covered straw gets spread out around the yard (not on lawn), but back around the fruit trees and other areas that we plan to plant in the next year or two. |
#123
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one important Chicken factor for those wanting to try.....
you can't have just one chicken or they will always be searching for the flock and unhappy and lonely.
You need at least two. |
#126
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Well I missed last weeks update, I've been extremely busy with work and trying to can and freeze all the extra vegi's from our garden, but here is a photo update for week 11! The chickens are all happy and healthy and growing quickly.
9/23/12 Chickens in foreground are the meat birds. Last edited by toyotaguy; 09-23-2012 at 2:51 PM.. |
#128
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Ahh, I'm so jealous of you folks who already have a bunch of chickens!
But I've finally been getting my chicken coop built, and should be ready for birds by the end of the year... I built mine up off the ground because we have lots of varmints and rats around here, and also because the ground is steep so at least one side needed to be up on "stilts" anyway. It's 4' x 8', plus the nesting box that sticks off the right hand side. It's tall enough to stand up in so I can get inside easily for cleaning & such. I scavenged the old windows and a door out of an old shed. My neighbor gave me all the nice tongue & groove siding for free (score!), and the green and brown paint were leftover from other projects... The coop is nearly done, but I still have to fence in a run for them and we have ALL kinds of predators here so it needs to be very secure. I'll be starting with hens only just for egg production, but chickens for meat could happen also someday... |
#130
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Thanks! I'm looking forward to the chicken experience. My mom has a friend who has chickens so I've become rather addicted to good fresh eggs. They really are superior and I'm looking forward to "growing my own". I'd love to raise chickens for meat, but the wife is too sentimental and would have a big problem with the killing & eating of an animal she's met and fed and... well, you know... I'll take it one step at a time. Hens for eggs she's happy with. I'll work on the meat aspect as we go along... |
#131
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#132
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Errrr.. what do you mean when you say "aren't cute" and "barely resemble chickens"? |
#133
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Post # 63 in this thread has a picture of what our Cornish-X looked like at 9 weeks old before we slaughtered them. Post #116 has a video of what 9 week old heritage chickens look like, size wise and behavior, they are much smaller, but they act like chickens are and quite lively. This is not to say that Cornish-X aren't a good choice as meat birds, they are a great choice if you want a large bird very quickly. But they have their disadvantages which I laid out in the first post of this thread. |
#134
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10/3/12 12 Weeks old Last Saturday. The chickens are coming along nicely, many of them are now larger than my adult hens, we are planning to slaughter some of them within the next week, so we will see how all of this turns out. They arent nearly as big as the CornishX were but we werent expecting them to be, we are hoping for 3-4lb hanging weight( gutting and cleaned).
Here is a good size Comparison between 4 of the 5 breeds that we are trying out, all of them are the same age, 12 weeks old. From left to right, White Wyandottes, Dark Cornish, Silver Gray Dorking, White Rock 100_4390 by toyotaguy1987, on Flickr 100_4389 by toyotaguy1987, on Flickr Last edited by toyotaguy; 10-03-2012 at 5:36 PM.. |
#135
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Ahh, man, you're making me so jealous. I want chickens so bad.!
My coop is nearly done and I spent this evening setting the first 4 fence posts for the run. What could be more fun than digging post holes and mixing concrete by hand. I have to build a maximum security coop & run because we have every known predator except bears, sharks, and honey badgers. The raccoons worry me most. They are smart, dexterous, & treacherous little bastards is what they are.. and with nothing better to do on a moonlit night than figure out how to eat chickens. Thanks for posting all the photos! Very inspirational! |
#136
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#137
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It's rural, gunshots are a daily occurrence, and the neighbors here are good at MYOB unless they think you might need help. The problem is that there is an endless supply of raccoons here and I can't keep a 24/7 watch. 22LR is the second line of defense. Good fencing is the first. |
#138
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I did about 100 chickens back in high school days, 15 years ago. Winter was rough, lost a few due to extreme frost in Sac but most lived. I just bought the high end corn feed with fish guts, it was like crack to them. It was nothing much too it, treat them like a stupid dog.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
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#139
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#140
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how do you guys prevent a predator from digging under the fence in order to access the chickens?
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____________________________________ Deterrence, Not Disarmament, Ended the Cold War. |
#141
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^ Put chicken wire/fencing about a foot into the ground...
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#142
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mine are just about full size, they are making noisy girls. no eggs yet, but they are about 5 months old now.
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2 HANDGUNS STOLEN! 1 RECOVERED READ HERE Chickens Want to get into Ham Radio? Click here http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=202581 |
#143
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I just finished setting the last 2 fence posts for the run on my coop. I'm tired now. Using a post hole shovel sucks. |
#144
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Yes, this good idea I've already though of!
I already have a decent fence charger and a spool of wire, just need to get another sack of insulators. I'll put a strand or 2 about half way up the fence where the chickens won't likely contact it, but anything trying to climb the fence gets a big surprise. |
#146
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I just love this photo, with all of the green and the nice chicken coop and the pond & cattails and all the multi-colored chickens. It's a very nice bit of backyard!
So what's the covering over the chicken run? Is that more of the 4" x 2" welded wire or something else? Still trying to figure out how to "roof" my run. . |
#147
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#148
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10/9/12 13 Weeks, We had planned to butcher a few this week but it looks like we are too busy, so hopefully we will do 5-10 next week and wait another 2 weeks to do the rest.
100_4394 by toyotaguy1987, on Flickr 100_4396 by toyotaguy1987, on Flickr Last edited by toyotaguy; 10-09-2012 at 11:45 AM.. |
#149
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wow, they grew nicely! looking forward to the butchering updates. how are you planning to preserving the chickens you don't eat?
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____________________________________ Deterrence, Not Disarmament, Ended the Cold War. |
#151
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toyotaguy,
Your chicken photos have been very inspirational. Thanks! I got off my butt this evening and spent a couple of hours working on the fencing for my coop. I got a good bit of trench dug for the "underground fence" to keep predators from digging under. I've got wire buried good & deep around the first 20 feet of fence. Only about 80 feet to go. But the raccoons are gonna need dynamite or a good backhoe to tunnel under MY fence.! Thanks for the reply on the "ceiling" wire on your run. We don't get snow here (well, maybe 1/4 " occasionally) so I guess I don't need to worry about THAT problem! I'll probably end up covering my entire run with the 2" x 4" welded wire fencing. Damned Raccoons are costing me a bundle in time & $$ for "high security" fencing. I'll probably add electric fence also as additional deterant... Thanks for the motivational photos. Your beautiful flock of chickens is definitely egging me on.... . |
#154
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Update pic, should be another month before eggs
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2 HANDGUNS STOLEN! 1 RECOVERED READ HERE Chickens Want to get into Ham Radio? Click here http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=202581 |
#155
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Darklyte, Thanks for posting a photo of your good lookin' chickens.!
I've got my coop mostly done and the above ground fencing is done except for the ceiling, but I still have a lot of shovel work to do to finish the "underground fence" around the run. I'm digging a trench and burying fence wire 10"-12" deep around the perimeter to keep the raccoons and predators from digging under. I've got 55 feet done with 52 feet to go and I'm sick to death of it already. I think need some more motivation... C'mon, you and toyotaguy need to post more photos of your coop and chickens to keep me motivated and moving forward on this project! |
#156
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So did you get around to butchering any of your chickens yet? I read where you said you will let them age in your freezer. Do you have to do that or can you butcher them and eat them right when your done processing them? I always thought you could eat them right away. Just curious
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#158
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#159
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10/21/12 15 weeks old Today
A silver gray Dorking and a Dark Cornish 100_4407 by toyotaguy1987, on Flickr 100_4403 by toyotaguy1987, on Flickr 2 White Wyandottes Which appear to be the biggest and fastest growing breed of the bunch. 100_4399 by toyotaguy1987, on Flickr |
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