Archive for the ‘chickens’ Category
I have two chickens that i recently got unespectedly. One is a Rhode Island Red that we know is younger in age. The other is a Jersey Giant (we dont know the age). But, niether one is older than a year-year 1/2. Niether one lays eggs though. So i was wondering hwo long they live and how long will they lay eggs for.
they most likely are not laying because they are not old enough. rhode island reds will lay at 5 months old and sometimes even 6 months. jersey giants lay at 6 months sometimes even 7. how long have you had them for. if they have only been with you for a few days then they are probably just stressed from moving to a new home and will start laying any day. rhode island reds will lay almost each day but jersey giants will lay every 2-3 days. the first and second years are when they lay the most and after that their egg production slows. chickens will live till 6-8 years although its most common for them to get eaten by a hawk, raccoon, dog, etc. generally they do not fully stop laying even in old age but will instead lay 1 or 2 eggs a year at 7 to 8 months.
jersey giants and rhode islands red happen to be my 2 most favorite chicken breeds. rhode islands red are great producers and jersey giants are absolutely adorable with their big brown eyes and chubby bodies 
How do I keep my Polish chickens warm during the winter?
I have 7 chickens total. 2 are different normal chickens and the rest are polish hens and 1 rooster. Its starting to get purty cold where I live and I NEED tips for keeping then warm because I know that polish aren’t very hardy chickens.
Thanks!!! (I will be glad to supply with more info if needed)
Definitely make sure you provide them with straw and make sure to over stuff their nesting boxes/roosting area. and as stupid as robert just sounded the concept isn’t a bad one although it doesn’t need to be tighty whiteys. Just make sure you close their house at night and if possible cover their legs on especially cold days with a sock that has had the toe end cut out!
I made a bet with this guy and I really don’t what to have to find this out the hard way. Please answer this fast. It will most likely be taken down by people who don’t care if possibly hundreds of innocent chickens die.
how many chickens well lets see, do a test and drink it urself.
Some day I want to get some chickens so I can have fresh eggs. What are the best breeds for egg production. I have seen chicken breed websites and there are sooo many and I read some are better for meat vs eggs, etc.
I really would like a breed that tends to be friendly and not too skittish. Something I can hold for a little while. And I don’t care what color eggs, as long as it can produce a couple pretty much daily throughout the year.
Rhode Island Reds
Red Shavers
Thoose are 2 really good layers!!
If you want a broody hen (one that sits on eggs) Silkies are very good!
Also, is it safe to feed the living chickens the ones that don’t make it? Good source of protein? Will the chickens still be delicious?
For the cloning part, it can be possible with a Bunch of money invested in to computers and works and stuff. The second question about chicken cannibalism, NO, THAT’S REALLY BAD!!! Just like feeding cows to other cows, or humans to other humans! It causes digestive problems, and other problems. Your mind is evil!
At three different times I’ve gotten chickens they’re all different ages and they always peck at each other. So I don’t keep them together. How do I get them to get along?
You need enough space for All the birds to get along and enough for each group to be by them selves for awhile then they will fall into the order that has been established.Hens do well its the roos that fight so if have more roos than hens best to sell them and keep 1 roo to several hens and hope the roos don’t fight like mine did last night.
I have full grown chickens at home and I am going to bring home new chicks. I want to make sure my chickens at home are completely healthy before I bring home any new chicks, what should I do?
Thanks!
Ok- first of all it’s best not to mix sizes of birds, so if you can keep your chicks separate from the adult flock until they are full sized that’s a really good idea. A friend once had an Araucana hen (average bird) killed instantly when a Malay hen (huge bird) jumped of the roost onto her completely by accident- just one of the risks of size differences in flocks.
It’s also not a good idea to mix adult fowl with chicks too early any way for the reason that small chicks do not have a strong immune system and if there is anything in the adult flock likely to cause problems… well it can be a disaster waiting to happen. The most common thing to be aware of is coccidiosis- all adult hens carry the coccidia to some degree, and all chicks will eventually come into contact with it- it’s just how well the immune system copes. That is why the majority of chick starter and puller grower feeds are medicated- to give the chick a chance to develop an immunity. An adult bird can also pass to the chicks diseases they have been exposed to but not currently showing symptoms… So keep the chicks isolated form the adults as long as possible and feed them an appropriate program of medicated feed.
If you are not in an area where there have been disease outbreaks, you have never had any of the major illnesses in your flock and your hens have never previously been vaccinated then there’s no need to vaccinate. If you don’t have to- don’t do it.
If you HAVE to, the easiest way is to book a vet but it’s also the most expensive way as the vet will charge you for the full bottle of each vaccine and equipment (such a dropper or pricking instrument for each vaccine) plus his time and the house call (if we are not talking about just a handful of birds). You can often also organize to order the vaccines yourself and administer them but this can be complicated and also wasteful- most vaccines come in containers for 1000 – 5000 birds! You MUST mix the full vaccine, AND arrange appropriate disposal of bio-hazardous materials afterwards as mixed vaccines can’t be stored. Some vaccines are administered generally via misting the air over the birds (really only appropriate for commercial sized flocks), and some must be done individually and usually involve either a pin-prick or an eye drop which is very time consuming if you have a large flock. If you are a member of a poultry club, you can sometimes arrange with other club members to purchase vaccines as a co-operative and have much less wastage.
If the vaccines are "live" vaccines, there is the risk that the birds will develop a mild case of the illness (that’s how a lot of vaccines work anyway) and then be "contagious" for a period. Some vaccines have a recommended quarantine period is up to two years! So if you intend to vaccinate you must vaccinate the entire flock at once and that includes the young chicks. (If they are coming from a commercial hatchery, they are probably vaccinated against most of the common diseases themselves already, but you won’t know unless you talk to the hatchery yourself). There is also the risk that if a bird has been exposed to the disease before that they will be a carrier and thus the vaccine adding a "double dose" of the pathogens can actually kill the bird- this can sometimes happen if the diseases are similar as well, for instance vaccinating for ILT when my birds had a mild no-symptom outbreak of mycoplasma related illness resulted in the loss of several great birds.
It is best to avoid vaccination if you can- it’s not really an option for people with small backyard flocks, and it’s not going to ensure your birds are "completely healthy". Just try to keep the chicks away from the adults until their immune systems have developed some, feed them well and appropriately, practice good husbandry (like cleaning out the water containers daily…) and try your best to minimize contact with wild birds because that is where the majority of flocks catch diseases from.
Good luck, Hope this is some help.
NOT the chicken or egg question but where where they originally from? What is their natural habitat? Is there anywhere that I can find wild chickens living in their original, natural habitat?
They’re descended from pheasant-like junglefowl. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Junglefowl
While birds of this type do exist in the wild in south Asia, it’s not clear that any of them are the original "wild" type any more. Most seem to have a few domestic chicken ancestors mixed in somewhere along the way.
I need to know some info for my paper about how many chickens are in a chicken house. I am not talking about a at home back yard chicken house I mean a big chicken house that they raise chickens for Tysons and other large companies. Please help!
Sounds like a loaded question!
My 2nd cousin lives on a farm and has about 21 chickens, we end up finding the cats in the chicken coop, but we want them there to hunt mice. How do we get them to stop bothering the chickens?
Any full grown chicken not only has a hard beak, it has nails on it’s toes and wings that can beat the sh** out of any adult cat. Cats don’t bother chickens. Baby chicks, they may, but if a cat can get in the pen, then that means raccoons can too, and they will guaranteed be ones likely to kill and drag off the carcasses of the birds. You need to update your fencing or do a nightly coop for the birds.
Adding one muscovy duck to the mix would eliminate any cat getting into the pen. But it still won’t protect against a carnivorous raccoon looking for a meal.