Moving the Chickens out!
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 at 07:42
We loved looking at the chics. Helping them learn to
eat and drink. It was so much fun to just stare at them and occasionally
make a quick loud noise and watch them all jump. I think we lost about 5
for unknown reasons. I think some of them just didn't learn how to eat
even though we try to watch them and teach them how to eat if they look like
they were not eating. We even tried to mark the ones that we knew were
eating with a permanent marker, but that didn't work well.
They had started to grow big enough that it was time they move out of our
basement. But I had no where to put them so I bought some chicken wire
and 10 post. I fenced in a square that was about 10X10, put lights out
there and because of our previous experiences with the dogs and other predators
I lined it with electric fencing. I got a good strong electric shocker so
that we could use it in the future when we got goats. With great resistance,
I put up our 10X10 EZ Pop up canopy over the chicken coop figuring that I would
have something permanent soon.
Eventually they grew out of that and I fenced off about 50ftX30ft of the yard
with electric fencing. I put 3 lines of actual fencing and 2 that were
just grounds so that if they jumped on the fence and touched two wires they
would get shocked. This worked well and we lost none of the chicks to predators.
We did unfortunately loose one to the electric fence, which was horrible.
The next step was to set them up in our 30X20 foot barn and since the electric
fence worked well we fenced off an area of about 50X50 in the yard. This
worked great but eventually the chickens would get out of the fenced area but
they would always run into there for safety if a dog came by.
Our chickens were just about fully grown and on my return from a trip to California I was going
to make laying boxes. While I was driving my way back I got a call that
they electric fence was unplugged and about 20 chickens were just gone.
No evidence of what had happen was left behind. Two nights later it
happen again and almost all the rest were gone, no evidence again. We
protected the remainder of the chickens (about 4) but over time the Cornish
Cross just died. Not sure what happened but they always seemed to
struggle as they go so big.
Untitled Comment
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 at 08:16 by CandyFoote
Hmm, seems like you are becoming quite the farmer and blogger!
Candy
ugh
The learning curve is ridiculously steep isn't it? I can still remember the morning we woke up and all of our laying hens had been killed by a stray dog that I had fed thinking that would satisfy it until we could take it to a shelter the next morning. Nope. It was obviously starving and killed every doggone (no pun intended) chicken we had.
Hard lessons. Some of them are just so very hard.
LOL - excellent Info!
I knew I shoulda' checked here to see if you posted on chickens!!
I guess you could answer my chicken questions in a post - since you are now officially a blogger!
( ;
Um, *correction*
Did you find out what happened to them?
No, I was *not* LOL to the post ... just that I sent you the email about chicks...
Really sorry about you losing them! That is weird.
Good info about the space. How many chicks did you have? We are still trying to figure out where to put the ones we will be ordering.
We have coyotes here and stray dogs, too.
Take care
HEY from SuperAngel
Sorry to hear about the chickens!!
I added you to my friends!!
God Bless and Keep You and Yours!! Take Care!!
Love
Amanda
Hey...
I don't know what a Cinnamon Dulce Latte tastes like...I don't like cinnamon either!!
Thanks for stopping by
Amanda
Untitled Comment
Posted on Monday, March 19, 2007 at 06:59 by Jonash2004
How old did the Cornish cross chicks get? You're supposed to butcher them anywhere from 8-10 weeks as soon as they are big enough . . . . they are not "designed" to live much longer than that.
I'm trying to get my mom to get some Cornish so that I can get them put up by the first part of June. I don't like to put up chickens in the heat!
We had one that was exceptionally skinny Cornish that ran around the farm for 3-4 months (we spared him trying to be nice) but eventually his genetics caught up with him.
Ashley
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you...
For all the info you sent on your chicken experience. And tyvm for *not* sending pics of the chicken skinning... though I did see them on Ryann's blog... yikes!! I was going to leave Coie a comment about the look on her face in the pic on Jen's blog... She looked like she was saying... "ok, ok, take the picture, please..." forcing a smile...
lol... You guys have wonderful children!
Anyway, I read all the info, checked out the links, and I have been too busy to think about it again... though I do need to get on that! so, tyvm!!
-Jacque
Have you hugged your blog today?
Just a friendly reminder from your Senior Editor that a neglected blog is a sad blog. And we wouldn't want to like damage the blog for life or anything, would we?
Come on back and give us an update on what's going on at Curry Farm. What's going on with Jen's potatoes in a trash can?
CERTAINLY
You all must be so busy you have no time to impart your homestead-y wisdom to us in blogland,
RIGHT?
Er, something like that.
I know I am not the only on who would like to hear of your experiences!
-Jacque
Missing Your Entries
Posted on Sunday, June 24, 2007 at 01:52 by Purewater
It's been over a month since anyone nagged you about blogging again so I thought I would throw my 2 cents in.
I know you have more to say, and you do such a good job at it. You got off to a great start and I enjoyed your entries. Now you just need to come back and start writing again.
If it would bog you down to try to catch up on all the past months you haven't written, just tell us what you were up to yesterday! Everything else will fall in place as you go along.
Just wanted you to know I've been missing your entries.
God Bless!
Last Page | Page 1 of 5 | Next Page
|
|
|
