keeping chickens newsletter · keeping chickens newsletter published september 2011 by subscriber...

Keeping Chickens Newsletter

Published September 2011 by www.Self-Sufficient-Life.com


If you know anyone who may enjoy this newsletter please let them know that they can subscribe at: www.KeepingChickensNewsletter.com

September 2011

Vol.1

Hi Welcome to my Keeping Chickens Newsletter. Thanks to everyone who has sent in their keeping chickens tips, stories and photos etc. - as usual, if you have anything chicken related (tips, photos, stories, questions, coops etc.) you'd like to share in future issues of the newsletter or blog posts then just email [email protected] and I will do my best to answer / include them. Best Wishes Gina



Subscriber Letters

Monique : I love the newsletter, so fun to read about other chicken lovers. I give my chickens greens and kitchen scraps to eat everyday, but don't like throwing them on the dirt. Does anyone have a clever, low cost way to feed lots of chickens scraps? I found a great source of free greens. Since my ladies don't free range, I wanted them to have some nice salad in their run. I asked the vegetable department at my local grocery store if they'd save me "trimmings" for my ladies. They happily agreed. Today I went to pick up the first box and it was about 8 pounds of different types of lettuce and chard. I put them in old bread bags, one for each day. The girls loved the first bag. I'll send chicken and coop photos soon. Thanks, Monique, Marin County, California Andy : In response to your appeal for tips for poultry keeping. My wife is the main keeper of our chickens, carrying out most of the husbandry required for their upkeep. Like most people we purchased our chicken coup ready made with a felt roof covering. We were not very happy with the size of the run so extended another four feet, even then we did not feel happy with their confinement. On this we purchased a electric fence as my Mother-in-laws dog kept pestering them, we now have seven hens, very content in their free range enclosure. With the felt roof hen house we had a very heavy infestation of red mite on a continual rate, although we treated our birds run with Diatomaceous earth and plumage spraying with a bird spray recommended for chickens. This left us continually at our wits end. Subsequently I built a chicken ark on a idea I had in my head, on top of this I placed aluminium sheeting, used for silk screen printing. I purchased this from a company called “Fragile planet” online. This company mainly deal with beekeeping, utilising a lot of recycled materials. We have never had an infestation since and our old coup is mainly used as a shelter from the elements, I do have more sheeting to replace the felt on the old coup, when I get time and on a good day health wise I will do it. Andy

Vicki : Do our eggs need refrigeration? Four of my oldest hens seemed to have stopped laying now that we have three younger ones laying in the boxes. But today I discovered 11 large eggs in a protected wooded area in a little "den" of leaves. They are all large eggs, larger than the young barred rocks are laying. they have to be between 1-5 days old. The weather here at night has been in the high 40's to lo 50's, daytime temps this past 5 days in the 80s to low 70's. all the eggs are intact and perfectly clean. I put them in refrigerator. Do you think they are safe to eat? My Reply : The easiest way to be sure is probably the water test. When you are ready to use them if you put one in a glass of water and it floats then it is rotten, if it sinks fairly quickly straight to the bottom and lays flat on its side, it is fine. I personally wouldn't trust eggs that bob about a bit not sure if they are going to sink or float.



Kay : We've got so many chicks growing, we finally ran out of places to put them. I sort of gave up on the idea of setting up convertible cages all over the place because when the chicks are raised in them are very reluctant to stay in the permanent coops after they're grown. So, my latest invention is a brooder attached behind the main coop, from which the chicks will move straight into the coop (through an inside door) after living in the brooder till they're just too darn big.

The “attached” part also means that I'm saving resources on the foundation, since the brooder basically hangs off the coop like a balcony. The brooder is 32" X 96" and there's still room on the coop to add another 'balcony' attachment next to this one of 36" X 120" to house even more chickies. There's even an external flap for easy coop cleaning.

We're in Belize, (just below Mexico, next to Guatemala), and really appreciate your site and newsletter! K & A Create Solar & Wind Energy – DIY videos and instructions Click Here To Find Out How…

http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/1/OffGrid5



Jan : Hi Gina. I really enjoyed the newsletter. I get the biggest kick out of reading the various sagas of chicken parents! I relate with the gal who was surprised at the cost of coops! I told my family that my girls would have to lay golden eggs to pay for the coup-de-ville they have. But, ongoing saga of my own. I wrote about the Easter egger hen and the Wyandotte chicks. Well, my sweet husband built a nursery over one weekend. Mama chicken decided she had enough of being a mom after about 4 weeks. So, the youngsters have been on their own for two weeks now.

We live in the middle of the woods, but the hens range a lot in the horse pasture...lots of goodies there!

I also would like to share an idea my husband had. I like to keep the water off the ground for cleanliness. He came up with using a strap for the little ones, so as they grow, all I do is jack it up a bit. Much easier than tying and re-tying rope. There are 2 x 4's overhead since they are covered with wire and we just loop around one of them. We still don't know if we have pullets or cockerels…time will tell. Thanks again for a fun newsletter. Jan B in Mossy Head, FL



Elsa : I recently subscribed to your newsletters and I’ve been really enjoying them! We live on an 11 acre lot in the woods and started with 4 hens almost 5 years ago and now we are up to 30+ chickens and 6 guinea fowl. This year I started selling chicks for the first time and began a little business called Hillside Homestead. It’s been a blast!

Currently one of my hens, Lilly, is brooding on some eggs. I candled them the other day and they all had living and moving embryos in them. It’s such a miracle to see. I really love my chickens! They are some of the easiest farm animals to own and care for and they give you so much in return. Attached are a few pictures from when I hatched a batch of peeps in my incubator this summer as well as some pictures of two of my roosters, guinea fowl and other chickens/chicks. God bless, Elsa Koppel

Success With Poultry

Practical Advice on Eggs, Feeding, Chicks, Housing, Diseases, Incubators and Brooders,

Turkeys Ducks and Geese

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS

http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/Keeping_Chickens/successwithpoultry.htm



Hi Gina, I just love your newsletter and the great photo’s and stories that you provide. I’ve been meaning to add my own two cents for a while now. I saw someone from Geelong put in a story and I just had to do mine. It’s great to get these newsletters from so far away and find out there is someone around the corner who also loves them. ☺

My chicken journey started about three years ago now. I got my first three girls when they were 11 days old. While they were still being kept warm with a heat lamp I was finishing their outside home. I build them a little coup, made with an old desk, with a nice big (5m x 3m) run. I also had a beautiful Rottweiler (Sam), who after

a few weeks of careful introduction was great with the new girls. As he was 8 and hadn’t been exposed to poultry before I was very pleased. He was an awesome dog and I knew he would be fine with a little effort. It wasn't long before I was an addict and wanted more. So almost 12 months to the day later one of my three girls successfully incubated some fertile eggs I had ordered through the mail and I now

had 9 chicks as well. 5 of them turned out to be roosters and I gave them to the lady I got my original girls from. My flock was now 7. 3 Plymouth Rocks, 3 Light Sussex and 1 speckled Sussex. Chickens really do have a pecking order and they’re colorists too. My rocks stick together and my light Sussex stick together and that left the 1

speckled Sussex (Paige), on her own. All the other girls picked on her. So much so that she used to roost in the neighbors tree. Can you see her blue leg tag? This perch was over 6 foot high. I had checked out my council regulations and had scoffed at the 12 chickens and 1 rooster limit. Who would want that many I thought. 5 Max was my aim and no rooster. Weeeellll! I had passed my 5 and was still looking at different breeds. It was time to enlarge the coop and run.

It still needs to be painted but I’m really happy with the result. Now my aim is 12 girls. I have endless demand at work for eggs that I can’t keep up with so I don’t think 12 are too many. I tried a couple of incubations with the light Sussex as the broody but they weren’t reliable.

Barred Plymouth Rocks

Prue, Piper & Phoebe

(3-4 weeks)

House & run.

Phoebe & Chicks

Sam & Girls

(Miss you dearly Sammy Oct’99-May’11)

Paige roosting in tree



So when Paige became broody I thought it was a perfect time to try and expand the flock again. ☺ I got another lot of fertile eggs in the mail. 5 out of 12 hatched. 2 boys, 3 girls. Paige was still getting picked on so I gave her to a friend who is also into chickens and now she is queen of the flock and a lot happier. Her three girls, which I kept, do get picked on but at least they have each other. They turned into very attractive chickens that lay a nice brown egg. Now if you’ve been counting I have 9 girls. I

really wanted to end up with 12. I still want 3 Australorps. You guessed it, more fertile eggs. I purchased an incubator and borrowed a rooster (Barry), from a friend and ordered some more eggs.

Now I have Barnevelder x Leghorn eggs from my girls, the other girls aren’t really laying, Australorps, Wyandottes and Aracauna eggs that I purchased. Just candled them at 11 days and have 39 from 51 that are growing nicely. Yay! I’ll keep 3 Australorps and sell the rest to cover costs. Now I should definitely reach my quota. Barry is a great rooster, I might not give him back either. ☺

Needless to say the addiction is still strong and I keep my eye out for any nearby rural property for sale so I can move and have as many chickens as I want. Ducks are starting to look good too. Aahhhhhh! Sorry for the novel but chickens are so fascinating and I think, very relaxing to have. With the added bonus of eggs, bug removal and manure for the garden. Keep up the good work Gina. Regards, Jo & Flock (Prue, Piper, Phoebe, Patricia, Penelope, Pearl, P2, Peony, Poppy and Barry) Geelong, Australia.

Paige & chicks

Barnevelders.

Eggs before I removed the duds.

Barry & the girls

http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/1/mediumcoop2



Bob : Hi Gina, Thanks for your great newsletter. We thought you and the readers may be interested in the set up I made, specifically to have free range chickens at our inner-city suburban address. We decided that 3 hens would be enough for our needs. As we're in Brisbane Qld. Australia and have few predators, I couldn't see any reason to keep the hens enclosed anywhere at night except where they roost. So to avoid as much cleaning as possible I put the gate on their upstairs sleeping quarters.

The Back Door - The perch is lifted out and the newspaper replaced daily when

collecting the eggs.

When all was ready we bought three Rhode Is. Reds at “point of lay”, and at home I cut their wings. Then we introduced them to their new home by shutting them in their bedroom for about 20 mins, then opening the front gate. After a minute or so they emerged, descended the stairs then went straight to the tucker.

On the left is the water dispenser that I made with a 22 ltr. beer fermenting container and a rubbish bin lid

On the right a parasol lifts off a P.V.C. pipe to refill the self dispensing poultry feed mix.

The hens are shut in at night by a gate operated by a cord from our upstairs bedroom (see yellow line in photo’)

As the light faded that night, with some relief we watched them from the house, slowly ascend the stairs and enter their bedroom, as if it wasn't the first time.



And we lowered the gate on their door by letting out the attached rope from upstairs.

The three girls can't fowlt their new home and there is no need for us to mow the lawn on this

fenced section of the front lawn.

That was some months ago and we have been getting three large tasty eggs regularly; they have been fewer since winter arrived. All the best now and keep the newsletter coming, Regards, Bob Smith

~~~~

Nicole : Hi Gina, We live in tropical North Queensland and here are my girls free-ranging by the poo!! When I posted the pic on my facebook page, all the comments were... omi gosh do they poop in the pool..... well I can definitely say they've never pooped in the pool! We have a Welsumer, an Australorp, a Rhode Island red and the last we were told when we got her as a 9 day old she was a New Hampshire but I think she's a bit of a cross-breed, but they are all fairly good layers, and that's the main thing. Poor things didn't like the temperature getting below 13 degrees over night in the past month or so, we only get one or two eggs a day then, lol, they should just be glad they don't actually live where it's really cold! Nicole Tobin-Donnelly Cairns, FNQ, Australia.

http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/Keeping_Chickens/200eggs-ChickenCare.htm



Mairi : My husband recently built me a new coop for our Buff Orpington chickens. We call it a “chicken palace” because it is so spacious and nice. We have 10 hens, and no rooster. I have included pictures.

I have been raising chickens, ducks and geese for 30 years, and I just love them! We moved to this house about 4 years ago, and I have been pestering my husband to build a coop so I could keep chickens again, so this is what he built. It’s the best chicken house I have ever had! Mairi Krausse, Tyler, Texas.

http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/TenAcresEnough/selfsufficientliving.htm



Melanie : Gina - I bought two Cuckoo Marans chicks in April. One grew into a rooster, confirmed one morning about 5:30am. Within the week he had chosen a favorite girl, Shirley, an Americauna. We live in town and aren't allowed roosters so I put him on Craigslist for $20. The following week I reduced the price to $10 - I didn't feel good about giving him away free because I was concerned about him being eaten or used in cock fights. It took 10 days but a lovely woman came to pick him up. She has a couple of girls who go broody quite often and her rooster had recently died. She thought Roo (creative name, right? LOL) was very nice looking and was excited to have him. Best yet, she sent me the email and pictures below of his first night in his new home. His sister here misses him but they've finally figured out the pecking order and the feathers Shirley lost from Roo's attentions are growing back!

200 Eggs a Year

Chicken Care Guide


*************************

Well, he made it through his first day. He is a little overwhelmed, but managed to eat and drink and stay in the yard. Then, come night time I figured he wouldn't know where to go to roost so I went to get him.

First he ran to the living room doors. Then he ran to the dog yard gate. Where he gave me a heart attack when he jumped over it and into the dog yard! OMG, thank goodness there were no dogs in there!

http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/Keeping_Chickens/200eggs-ChickenCare.htm



We ran 'round and 'round, and then he jumped back over the fence through the garage, into the shop where he cornered himself and I could grab him. He surrendered pretty quickly and I put him in the coop with the girls.

He tried to cuddle up to some of the girls, but they weren't having it. When I left he was feeling all sorry for himself, all alone! Thanks for giving me your boy! I think he'll do just fine.

Ten Acres Enough How A Very Small Farm May Be Made To

Keep A Very Large Family

Ten Acres Enough is a self-sufficiency classic written by Edmund Morris, and is his personal story of his journey from city businessman to farmer. In this book Edmund details the first 3 years of his 'back to the land' experience and explains honestly what worked for him and what did not.


http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/TenAcresEnough/selfsufficientliving.htm

keeping chickens newsletter · keeping chickens newsletter published september 2011 by subscriber...

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