Lol, Things people with chickens never tell you

[TrickyBob]

My brother always had chickens, most of my friends do. I've been around them tons of times but I've never raised peeps. So I picked up 6 since we were going to add them this year. (I need to return 2, I accidentally got broiler chicks and I don't want to be the one who eats them I am going to get bantams instead ) 

At any rate, no one told me I'd have to wipe their little chick asses. 3 out of 4 of my egg layers had a thing called pasty butt - their butts get super encrusted with poo to the point it can kill them. I held their butts up to the shower and wiped and wiped, and boy am I glad I did. And I'm sure the chicks had a huge sense of relief. They are no longer peeping their shrill little "help meeee" peeps. 

Now I need to name them. The 4 I am keeping are all black with white chests and I will probably get another black one and maybe an all white one? I intend to call the new black one - Speedy because the bantams have these little racing stripes. lol. 

The cats are terrified of them and the dog has no idea where the peeping is coming from. (The chicks are safe from the pets)

I wish I could take them to work with me. Office peeps! 

[katb]

We are finally getting our own this spring. I have been kinda sharing with a neighbor until this point. I am getting pullets though, no little chickies for me. I will wait until the end of April so they can stay outside by themselves and so DH can finish the coop/run. I am so excited. All the kids are going to name one - they have names picked out but don't know how it will work out once they are here.

I am also planning the outside border of my garden for them so they can pasture there. I am excited. I hope I have no poop butts!!

[TrickyBob]

Yay!! I love chickens, they are too cute. And their attitudes are so fantastic - they are like tiny dogs in chicken bodies, they follow you everywhere. Every year my husband has asked me "Bobbert, do you want chickens?" and every year I have "no, no, maybe next year" so I finally bit the bullet. Tractor Supply was having their chick days.

You need to post pictures once you have the run done and the border of your garden, I'm really curious to see it!

[sofamonkey]

Name 1 - Constance
Name 2 - Pated
Name 3 - Corky
Name 4 - Foul Movement

[TrickyBob]

Mar 1, 2015 23:34:35 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Broiler chicks?!?!? BROILER?!?! What in the hell does that mean?

It means in 10 weeks you have to butcher them. They grow so fast that they don't stay alive. I asked my friend, who breeds chickens for eggs and eating, if I could just keep them as outdoor garden chickens and she said no. Apparently since they grow so fast, they break legs and have heart attacks.

[TrickyBob]

Mar 1, 2015 23:39:07 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Mar 1, 2015 23:36:13 GMT -5 TrickyBob said:

It means in 10 weeks you have to butcher them. They grow so fast that they don't stay alive. I asked my friend, who breeds chickens for eggs and eating, if I could just keep them as outdoor garden chickens and she said no. Apparently since they grow so fast, they break legs and have heart attacks.

OMFG, this a natural process? 

Yah....

I was really hoping they'd just be giant chickens who did nothing besides roam around. No dice. So they are going back. I cannot deal with all of that, I'd cry my eyes out if something happens to them on my watch.

[olive]

Chickens are the best! We currently have four layers. The girls named them Lemon, Blueberry, Tatiana, and Serafina. My youngest hauls them around like they are cats:

PDQ

[TrickyBob]

Lol olive that is great! When I visit home, I carry the chickens around when I'm out.

Your daughter is adorable and I love how the chicken is all "fine..just hold me nicely"

[zzuvet]

Mar 1, 2015 23:36:13 GMT -5 TrickyBob said:

Mar 1, 2015 23:34:35 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Broiler chicks?!?!? BROILER?!?! What in the hell does that mean?

It means in 10 weeks you have to butcher them. They grow so fast that they don't stay alive. I asked my friend, who breeds chickens for eggs and eating, if I could just keep them as outdoor garden chickens and she said no. Apparently since they grow so fast, they break legs and have heart attacks.

Were these cornish? Broilers just mean that they grow bigger than average and usually have poor egg production. I have broilers that take 16 to 20 weeks to butcher but I never keep a cornish past 8 weeks. I get 8 lb birds out of them.

I had to restrain myself from getting chicks this weekend. I have 3 orders totalling 150 birds for the spring/summer but I am having a hard time waiting. My tractor supply will have ducklings tomorrow and I cannot resist them but we already have 6

[isabel]

We got pullets for a lot of reasons. That was not one of them, but I'm glad we avoided that stage.

H and I think the chickens are hilarious. They're just such funny creatures and I love it when they follow me around the backyard. It cracks me up every time. We used to try to herd them back to their pen when they were out in the yard. Then I realized they'll just follow me if I walk over there. So, so silly. Ours also have very entertaining interactions with the resident bunnies that live under our porch.

[TrickyBob]

Mar 1, 2015 23:46:43 GMT -5 zzuvet said:

Mar 1, 2015 23:36:13 GMT -5 TrickyBob said:

It means in 10 weeks you have to butcher them. They grow so fast that they don't stay alive. I asked my friend, who breeds chickens for eggs and eating, if I could just keep them as outdoor garden chickens and she said no. Apparently since they grow so fast, they break legs and have heart attacks.

Were these cornish? Broilers just mean that they grow bigger than average and usually have poor egg production. I have broilers that take 16 to 20 weeks to butcher but I never keep a cornish past 8 weeks. I get 8 lb birds out of them.

I had to restrain myself from getting chicks this weekend. I have 3 orders totalling 150 birds for the spring/summer but I am having a hard time waiting. My tractor supply will have ducklings tomorrow and I cannot resist them but we already have 6

Yah these two are cornish.

[lexxasaurus]

My mom got 4 chickens last year and she adores them. Their names are Ruby, Opal, Pearl and Lurlene, and they're such fun girls and each has their own personality. She loves in a tiny town and they sometimes fly over the fence to go play in the park, lol.

This is Lurlene, she's a sassy girl.

[underwaterrhymes]

Mar 1, 2015 23:39:07 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Mar 1, 2015 23:36:13 GMT -5 TrickyBob said:

It means in 10 weeks you have to butcher them. They grow so fast that they don't stay alive. I asked my friend, who breeds chickens for eggs and eating, if I could just keep them as outdoor garden chickens and she said no. Apparently since they grow so fast, they break legs and have heart attacks.

OMFG, this a natural process? 

It is not inherently a natural process. Unfortunately they've been bred this way using hormones for the breast meat. But now those types of chickens grow that way automatically.

[textbookcase]

Why are you getting bantams? Do you want them for eggs? I don't think bantams are great egg layers.

Also, I have never had to wipe a chicken butt!

But, here's a photo of Cambria wiping a goat butt whilst getting it ready to show:

Attachments:

[CurlyQ284]

I have a fear of birds but I do have to wipe my bulldogs butt. Her tail is kinda smooshed yo her butt so....yeah....
It's gross

[mala]

WHY ARE THERE NO PICTURES?!?

ETA: Pictures of chicks, as in baby chickens, not pictures of poopy baby chicken butts or wiping said butts.

[bonquiqui]

I thought Kallie advised you that a yellow one has to be Mr Quackers....


Or Mrs Quackers is acceptable she said

[missbella]

Yes. The first time we got 15 chicks. Thankfully only a couple of them pasted up but it was annoying and we had to keep our eye on them.

Also I don't know where you are keeping them or what you are using for bedding but something else they don't tell you is that you will find "chicken dust" everywhere. I still find it in our den and it's been 3 years.

[missbella]

Also, what breed are the black ones? Are they barred rocks? If so, they are the best, friendliest chickens ever!

[zzuvet]

Chicken dust is the worst. It will be everywhere and everytime you clean it Comes right back

[Ohhmm(bligo)]

I'm so jealous. I want chickens desperately. We're not allowed.

Which is stupid, because people can have outdoor rabbits.

[OrangeBanana]

I had a chicken named Lucy for a few years. When I would come outside crouch down and yell Lucy she would come tearing across the yard and hop up into my lap. It was hilarious. Unfortunately, our German Shepherd really likes the chickens to. He likes to chase and play with them but he is a big dog so it doesn't really work out to well. He doesn't bite them just has huge paws that knocks them out so we have to put him in his kennel if the chickens are roaming around.

[TrickyBob]

I got whatever was their specialty (the black fluff balls) and I want the bantams because they are cute. I know they lay teeny tiny eggs - we had silkies growing up. They are friendly and eat bugs. lol



So the yellow ones will be going back today and I will be getting the bantams. This was last night when they were still pasted up and not as happy. This morning they were running around like fools and looking for someone to pet them.  

[TrickyBob]

Mar 2, 2015 6:53:26 GMT -5 bonquiqui said:

I thought Kallie advised you that a yellow one has to be Mr Quackers....


Or Mrs Quackers is acceptable she said

I will get a white bantam and name it Mr.Quackers. Unfortunately I don't want to be the one who has to eat the yellow chicks, so they will be going back. LOL

Also, lol that we are naming a chicken after a duck.  

[isabel]

Mar 2, 2015 7:46:21 GMT -5 missbella said:

Also, what breed are the black ones? Are they barred rocks? If so, they are the best, friendliest chickens ever!

We have barred rocks. I don't know if this is what you're thinking of. They were not happy in this picture. It was like -10 and we made them sleep in a box in the garage.

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[missbella]

Mar 2, 2015 10:34:11 GMT -5 isabel said:

Mar 2, 2015 7:46:21 GMT -5 missbella said:

Also, what breed are the black ones? Are they barred rocks? If so, they are the best, friendliest chickens ever!

We have barred rocks. I don't know if this is what you're thinking of. They were not happy in this picture. It was like -10 and we made them sleep in a box in the garage.

Yep. When they are chicks they are all black with white chests.

We had Rhode Island reds, white rocks, and barred rocks and I miss my barreds so much. They were super friendly and good layers. We had a few incidents with racoons and our original 15 are no longer with us. Our current flock consists of 1 white leghorn and 4 golden comets. They are awesome layers but not exactly pets but they were all we could get our hands on.

[isabel]

Mar 2, 2015 11:27:46 GMT -5 missbella said:

Mar 2, 2015 10:34:11 GMT -5 isabel said:

We have barred rocks. I don't know if this is what you're thinking of. They were not happy in this picture. It was like -10 and we made them sleep in a box in the garage.

Yep. When they are chicks they are all black with white chests.

We had Rhode Island reds, white rocks, and barred rocks and I miss my barreds so much. They were super friendly and good layers. We had a few incidents with racoons and our original 15 are no longer with us. Our current flock consists of 1 white leghorn and 4 golden comets. They are awesome layers but not exactly pets but they were all we could get our hands on.

They are certainly good layers. They didn't start up until right around Thanksgiving, but we get nearly an egg a day from each of them. Considering this is supposed to be the time when they lay less, I'm pretty darn impressed (and overwhelmed with eggs!).

[rachers]

Aww, little baby chickens.

My SMIL had a few several years ago, and they were all named after chicken dishes which is kind of messed up in retrospect. Pot Pie was my favorite, but there was Cordon Bleu and three others that I'm blanking on.

[spitforspat]

What do you do with chickens when it's very cold or very hot?

[missbella]

Mar 2, 2015 11:34:38 GMT -5 spitforspat said:

What do you do with chickens when it's very cold or very hot?

Well, it's very cold (like below 0) we have a heat lamp in their coop that we turn on so they have the option to go under that. We have a heater for their water so it doesn't freeze. Generally they do just fine. Occasionally they get a little frost bite on their combs and wattles.


When it's hot, they usually find a cool place to hang out ( usually under the coop). As long as they have access to water they are usually good. They are pretty easy.