Back in the Chicken Business :)

Discussion in 'Back to Basics' started by Thunder5Ranch, Jun 17, 2022.


  1. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    So I let the flocks peter out to the point that I only had one old mean Rooster left. Then the Big Pecan tree incident took out my primary hen house and brooder shed. I had decided not to return to chickens until 2023 with everything else I have going on and then promptly ordered the chicks to get a layer and breeding flock put together.

    Not a whole lot I can do to repair the Incubator shed, the Brooder shed or the feed shed :(

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    The hen house I can repair 1/3 of it. The front 2/3s is nothing but twisted scrap metal. Half the roosting perches survived.
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    I get real technical with my layer boxes. I cut 5 gallon buckets in half (Lid On) and screw them to shelf boards. The hens love them. The pecan tree wiped out the shelfs but most of the bucket halves survived. After the repairs I will have 16-18 layer boxes instead of the 60 it did have. But 18 is plenty, not planning on ever having 500 laying hens again :)

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    The tree took out my 740 egg incubator but I had my older 244 egg incubator stored away and it is still very functional. The tree also took out all 4 of my Chick Boxes in the Brooder shed. I am only going to need one 100 chick box going forward so built of slightly different replica of the ones that got turned into splinters. Something I always hated about the first ones I built was their depth. They were 3' deep and it got real challenging to get feathered chicks out of it. The new one I corrected that problem and made it only 2' deep. A few other improvements over the old ones. Instead of a swinging hinge door, I am doing a slide panel door. Much easier to put them in and take them out with a slide panel! I also made the box high enough to put two heat lamps inside and a hanging feeder and waterer. They tend to not Poop in the hanging feeders and pack the water trough with bedding :)

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    And this morning the 50 barred rocks and 50 Rhode Island Red Straight run chicks arrived. And went into hog and cattle water tubs until I get the new Chick Box finished.
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    I get the Barred Rock and Rhode Island Reds (I get all of my birds from Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon MO.) I will maintain a small breeding flock of each but their primary function is to give me a good selection of Rhode Island Red Roosters with the traits I want. And a good selection of Barred Rock Hens with the traits I want. The best RIR Rooster and 5-6 Best BR Hens will be the breeding stock to make Black Sexlink Chicks. Hard to beat the Black Sex links for near year round egg production. They also make a heavier bird than either parent stock that make good fryers..... the fate of all Males of the Black Sex Links I breed :)

    At some point I will buy in a 3rd heritage breeder flock of Buff Orpingtons not for cross breeding egg layers but for my bigger breasted meat bird breeding recipe. The hens from all of heritage parent stock not culled will go in to the general hen population as layers and pulled out at needed to keep the parent stock Roosters and Hens populated. The roosters not selected as optimal for breeding will go into the meat bird pen with the culled hens and Sex link roos and be raised to about 18 weeks and butchered. Might not be the giant mutant cornish crosses but a couple them still make a fine chicken dinner :)

    I have never had a problem selling every surplus egg and chick I can produce, so I will make a bit of pocket change as well. Oddly enough the people that buy most of my excess chicks are Amish in nature. I have also had A LOT of the long time customers asking if not demanding that I start producing and selling eggs again. Guess the price of eggs in the stores is going through the roof.

    EDIT: LOL the Stag bottle is a 20+ year old running joke. I always put a Stag can or bottle at least one pic in a set. Usually in some obscure place..... My version of where is Waldo?
     
  2. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Metal weldin' monkey

    When I decided to fire up the chicken ranch I went with the Red Sex links. Read up on them, both the good and the bad. I'll never go back to them. They are known for high egg production, and while mine did produce pretty well, it was short lived. They seem to love crapping in their nests/laying boxes. This was my biggest beef with the breed. As the eggs petered out they became Sunday suppers. I have gone back to the Rhode Island Reds of my youth and will stick with them. We get enough eggs for the 4 families and I do not have to clean out the nesting boxes everydamnday.
    BTW, did you keep any of the pecan wood for use in a smoker? It works really well for some meats and is pretty popular down here. I have a cache of it along with the Hickory(my favorite to use).
     
  3. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    Yep have what is in the first pic and a whole crowns worth of the Pecan I had to cut off the fence :) Yeah tried Red Sex links and was real unhappy with poopy eggs. Blacks are much neater in the nesting boxes ;) Have yet to see any sexlink that is a good 3 year layer. I averaged 320 Eggs first year per hen with Blacks, Second year it drops to 200-240, 3rd year they were always down under 100. Anything under 175 per year per bird from a business perspective ain't worth the feed going into them. So at the end of year two they went through the chicken chopper and shot into a 55 gallon drum and boiled for Chicken stew for the hogs. (Chicken chopper is a old troy bilt brush chipper shredder) Just rune 50-60 (ALready Dead ones) through it whole feathers and all, bring to a boil and dump in a bushel of ground corn and dump in the hog trough. Porkers love spent hen stew.
     
  4. ditch witch

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

    For years I just gave away eggs because the cheap bastards in my area were paying .99 a dozen for eggs from Squallmart and thought mine should cost even less. Stopped trying to sell them and just gave them to friends. Then the other day at work this lady, who knew I had chickens, said she wanted to buy my eggs and what did I want for them?

    Me "IDK. $2 a dozen work?"
    Her "That's insane."
    Here we go again, I thought.
    Her "All the farm eggs around here are $5 a dozen. I'll pay you $5 a dozen, and I need 4 dozen a week."
    Me - Surprised Pikachu face

    Then the Mr took 2 dozen to a lady at his work and brought me back $10. She had been paying $9 a dozen from some guy at the farmer's market. Nine frikkin dollars for a dozen eggs. I don't pay much for feed, been doing this compost/waste food/maggot bucket thing that's cut my feed cost to almost nothing, so $5 a dozen is bank.

    I had whittled my flock down to 1/3rd it's original size. Debated filling the incubator but went the lazy route and ordered a fresh crop of chicks from Ideal down in central TX. Australorps, a "white egg layer hatchery assortment", and some Blue Cukoo Marans. My current flock is mostly all or half Americauna so this will add something besides blue and green to the cartons. Everyone seems to like my Skittles eggs, heh. Chicks be here next week.

    Also got a little flock of Silkies to be yard chickens.... just coz, heh.
     
  5. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    I have sold my Nest runs ungraded, uncandled and in used cartons for $2.50 per dozen forever. Not planning on changing that price anytime soon. The ones I have to candle/grade/wash/put in a new Carton to sell off the farm I was doing $3.50 , then saw others selling their eggs at the markets for $7.00 up to $15.00 per Dozen so I raised my Market Eggs to $5.00 per dozen being the greedy capitalist that I am and all :)
     
    mechstdr, Dunerunner, SB21 and 3 others like this.
  6. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    Finally finished the Chick Box and moved the little Poopers in.
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    Door is about as simple as a door can be. Stick finger in hole and slide to right to open.
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    Stick finger in hole and slide left to close. Did make it so it pinches a bit when closing so it takes a little tug to open.
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    It comfortably hold 100-110 chicks from fuzz to feathers.

    Worked on getting the 1/3 of the old hen house functional yesterday evening. Got all of the junk tin cut off and the patch tin on and screwed down. Grabbed a new chainlink gate panel for it at RK while there yesterday. Going to build a treated wood frame around the panel this evening..... too damn hot out there right now to mess around with it LOL. Then use self tappers with washers and wood screws with washers to screw chicken wire across the top and down the left side.
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    And since cutting all the junk tin, old layer boxes and general junk out of it........ The pile of STUFF grew.. It makes my wallet hurt every time I look at all of those smashed chainlink panels :(
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    Going to cut a dead tree and a small tree down on the left side and either get another 12x36 carpot kit with a end and sides or just have the Carport outfit closest to us come put a new one up beside the old one. Old one will be good through the summer and into late fall but pretty much worthless over winter.
     
  7. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    Totally off topic but did you change the color of your shoes?
     
  8. Hanzo

    Hanzo Monkey+++

    My daughter goes through lots of eggs. She is a baking fiend. Now she wants chicken on. our property.
     
  9. Gator 45/70

    Gator 45/70 Monkey+++

    So what breed are we buying?
     
  10. Hanzo

    Hanzo Monkey+++


    Dunno yet. Neither does she. Any suggestions? She is thinking hens only for eggs and less noise.
     
  11. Gator 45/70

    Gator 45/70 Monkey+++

    Best to do a taste test on various eggs from various breeds under various setting.
    Like fertilized vs non-fertilized
    Free range vs pen raised and commercial fed
    Makes a difference in taste and texture of the eggs
     
  12. Hanzo

    Hanzo Monkey+++


    Thanks. I will suggest it, but leave it up to her.
     
  13. CraftyMofo

    CraftyMofo Monkey+++

    SMART!
     
  14. Cruisin Sloth

    Cruisin Sloth Special & Slow

    ducks are better and no drakes needed
    Khaki campbell is what we have , chicken eggs are for the dogs here
     
    mechstdr, Hanzo, Dunerunner and 2 others like this.
  15. Alanaana

    Alanaana Monkey++

    I'm sorry that happened to your original henhouse, but it's great that you have a new flock. They are very adorable. Sometimes it's nice to take a break from poultry farming. I had a quail farm for a few years. It was a covid hobby. I wanted just enough for us to have our own eggs and then it turned into a full on operation. I started with 50 and before long had a flock of 500 at one point and they got to free range in various geodesic domes that we made. The eggs are delicious, but they have NO survival skills and are suicide MASTERS. We rehomed them a few months ago because they were producing more eggs than we could possibly eat, sell, and gift to the neighbors. One day I gave my neighbor a bucket of 1,000 quail eggs.
    I also fell in love with my neighbor's golden laced wyandotte and got 4 of my own. They were beautiful girls who laid brown eggs and had a lot of character. They would do tricks and kept me company in the garden with an ongoing commentary. When my neighbor got a divorce and had mentioned that she wanted hens for her new coop I gifted my showgirls to her because we thought we might start traveling. I got to visit them frequently, but then she said that they disappeared. I was a little heartbroken and I think the moral of the story is: "Don't get attached to poultry."
    I now have a jungle flock that keeps the bug population at bay and for now that's good enough.
     
    mechstdr, Hanzo, Gator 45/70 and 2 others like this.
  16. Wildbilly

    Wildbilly Monkey+++

    Always name poultry, and any livestock for that matter, what they are...food! Chickens could be named Drumstick, Sunday Dinner, Stew, Salad, Casserole, etc..
     
    mechstdr, Hanzo, natshare and 4 others like this.
  17. Alanaana

    Alanaana Monkey++

    I like your style! It's a very practical reminder :LOL:.
     
    mechstdr, Hanzo and Gator 45/70 like this.
  18. Cruisin Sloth

    Cruisin Sloth Special & Slow

    Freezer burn , dog food , BBQ
     
  19. SB21

    SB21 Monkey+++

    I always said I'd name them Sunday , Tuesday , Thursday .,,etc.
     
  20. natshare

    natshare Monkey+++

    OMG....don't let my GF hear you say that! She's not one of those who hates the idea of eating eggs, chicken, beef, pork (whatever). She just doesn't want to see a cute little animal turned into food! :eek::rolleyes:

    Meanwhile, a really excellent book I read, about growing & raising your own food, talked about starting out with chicks (can't recall how many). They ended up with ~6 roosters, out of the bunch. When it was getting close to the end of the growing year, they started paying attention to those roosters, to decide which one was the best one, for protecting the hens. Once decided, the remainder were turned into roasting birds! (y)
     
    mechstdr, Hanzo, Gator 45/70 and 2 others like this.
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