Chickens

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by Wild Trapper, Apr 12, 2008.


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  1. Wild Trapper

    Wild Trapper Pirate Biker

    Some of you may have seen my posts on GIM but thought I'd post this here too.

    Two weeks ago I bought 24 straight run chicks, mostly Rhode Island Reds, but had to finish out the 2 dozen with a mix of other breeds. Some seem to be Barred Rocks and yet others some kind of booted breed. Actually I think the greater share of the chicks will end up being roosters from the looks of them.

    After getting them home and well on their way to growing, my wife comes home from work and says she wants some Golden Laced Wyandottes. So, I ordered them [15 pullets] from Mt Healthy hatchery here in Ohio. They were to be delivered on the 10th. At about 8 AM on the tenth we got the call from the USPS that our chicks were in and we would need to come in and pick them up.

    I had a couple of stops to make on the way in but got there by 10AM to pick them up. When I asked for my chicks, the guy went back to get them but took a long time coming back and without any box for me. He told me that there had been a mistake and somehow Tractor Supply got my chicks and they were trying to recover them. so I left. On the way home I decided to stop in at TSC to see if I could find out anything myself.

    All the chicks were already sold, including mine. I had not ordered chicks through TSC since I only wanted 15 and not 25 I had ordered direct from the hatchery. TSC has a minimum order no. of 25.

    Anyway, the post office screwed up by giving my chicks to TSC. TSC screwed up by not reading the shipping label and selling my chicks to someone else. So, the post office paid me the full price I was out for their mistake and TSC is paying for replacement chicks which are to be delivered this Monday. I HOPE!

    I contacted the hatchery and told them the whole story and since TSC is paying them for the replacements, they put me at the top of the list to get my birds in the next shipment, which is to be this Monday. So, for all the frustration, I'll be getting my chicks free. Well, that's not quite true, it will have cost me for gas in my truck about 65 miles worth of gas. Maybe $15. for gas plus about a hundred dollars in headaches and time. Nothing is ever free. I give a big thumbs up to the hatchery for their part in helping me out.
     
  2. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Well, at east the involved parties sounds like are doing their parts to make it right. Which hatchery are you ordering from out of curiosity? I know we usualy have picked ours up from Martie's since they are just like 20 miles from us.
     
  3. Wild Trapper

    Wild Trapper Pirate Biker

    Mt Healthy hatchery, the link is above and you are fortunate to have one within 20 miles as long as they have the breed you want. Yes, the guilty parties are doing all they can to make it right. I doubt they will be as careless again about chick deliveries. Let's hope anyway.

    I've bought a storage shelter I plan to modify for the chickens and a smaller coop I built for a kind of range shelter or chicken tractor. About the time the new ones are old enough to go in the smaller coop, the earlier batch will be moved into the larger coop. In the fall I'll have to separate all the roosters from the hens and start eating chicken. By then, I hope to be able to mix the hens into one flock. I'm not sure at this point if I'll be keeping a rooster or not. I'll have at least 4 different breeds if I end up with any hens out the early batch. All together I will have 40 birds, if they all survive until fall.
     
  4. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Keeping a rooster could be good for sustainability of the flock but if you do you want at LEAST 12 hens to the 1 rooster and closer to 20 is better. If there arent enouph hens the rooster will tear them apart mateing them constantly and shread their backs.
     
  5. Wild Trapper

    Wild Trapper Pirate Biker

    Yes, I inherited about 8-10 chickens one time off an in-law and there were 2 roosters. I had to get rid of both as they fought all the time and left the hens backs all bare of feathers. I had no plan then to have any reproduce so roosters just eat up the feed and had no function. Well, I won't have to make a decision about a rooster until fall when the time comes for butchering.
     
  6. KAS

    KAS Monkey+++

    sorry im ignorant about this subject but u can eat the roosters correct ????

    DONT HATE
     
  7. VisuTrac

    VisuTrac Ваша мать носит военные ботинки Site Supporter+++

    yep, if it don't lay eggs, it's usually in the pot first sign that it can't fertilize the hens or is just plain nasty and no good.
     
    tulianr likes this.
  8. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Reminds me of that young rooster, the farmer bought. Chased every hen to exhaustion and the farmer was sure he would have a heart attack. After about a week, the farmer found him laying in the yard with two buzzards circling overhead. "Dang Blast it, He's Screwed himself to death!" One eye opens and the rooster says "SHHH! they are coming down...."
     
  9. ditch witch

    ditch witch I do stupid crap, so you don't have to

    If you have a problem with your roosters tearing your hens up, take an empty bleach or gallon vinegar bottle and fill it half full with sand. Now lay it on it's side on the table. You're about to make it into a submissive hen. Take a piece of old carpet and cut it to fit over the back and a bit over the sides like wings, and then Gorilla Glue it onto the top and halfway down each wing. Go throw it in the hen yard. Before long he'll be dancing and bringing it grass and bugs and riding it until he passes out. He'll still breed the hens but he'll focus a lot of his energy on the easy conquest that just lays there.

    We used to have one at a feed store/garden center where I worked that had a very passionate affair going on with the small concrete turtle we used to prop the greenhouse door open.
     
  10. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    Now that is funny. Who would have thunk it? Even the Hare didn't hump the Turtle as far as anyone knows, and he could run rings around it. You know what they say about rabbits and hares so go figure.
     
  11. Desert Marine

    Desert Marine Certified Master Herbalist

    I have a flock of 45 Fayoumi Chickens. They purpose all the eggs necessary for our family of 4. We have 2 roosters. Both are doing their job and very protective. We also have Muscovies and Mallard ducks with a flock of Rahmani Sheep and Shami Goats that we raise on our BOL/Homestead. My point of responding is that if an animal fails to meet the task which it has been raised for it too meet the lunch/dinner table without any hesitation. That's what food is for :)
     
  12. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    Kas, I just noted no one answered your question. Yes by all means Roosters can be excellent table chicken. They usually don't start to fight each other until 5 to 7 months of age or even a little older. At that time you have to make a decision as to what to do with them or the mayhem and unrest among your flock will reduce egg production dramatically. At that age they are excellent table fare prepared most any way you would store bought chicken. Older roosters no longer preforming their assigned function of fertilizing eggs you can hatch out with a broody hen or an incubator for more chicks can be used like an over the hill layer. Think slow cooker or slow simmer stew pot.
    .
    btw, the only stupid question is the one not asked. Ignorance can be corrected with knowledge, stupid can not. I am pretty sure your local library system has plenty of informative books on raising chickens.
     
    chelloveck and KAS like this.
  13. Clyde

    Clyde Jet Set Tourer Administrator Founding Member

     
  14. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    Clyde, most excellent video song performance by Edge of U2, but after listening to it from start to finish all I can think to say is ....... What the heck has this got to do with Chickens?
     
  15. Clyde

    Clyde Jet Set Tourer Administrator Founding Member

    The thought of a chicken mounting a rug covered jug was enough to make me think about "Love is Blindness".
     
    tacmotusn and ditch witch like this.
  16. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    I would think this one would fit better.....
     
  17. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    It kind of reminds me of Steppenwolf's song "Magic Carpet Ride" ;)

     
    ditch witch likes this.
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