What to do when things are just out of control.
I am thinking part of the reason my girls have stopped laying is because we are just overcrowded.. The chicks have grown up.. no-one is in control, we have too many roosters now.. and bunch of young dumb ones..
And the funny farm ain't funny!
I have lost three of my girls this week.. I believe all three were beaten to death by their roommates.. No body was eaten, just a lot of unrest in the village. I let them all out and they are free ranging right now.. I hate when I do that cuz chicken poo is everywhere.. But until I solve this problem I cannot watch them kill each other. They all get along when out and about.
So.. small animal auction in 2 weeks.. I think they are going.. not all.. thats the problem.. I must pick and choose who's staying, and I must do it with my head and not my heart.. who has always laid the best eggs, who gets along with others, who has the traits I want to stay with.
It is SO darn tough to be the adult farmer.. thats why I like Daves.. Sooner or later we all have to make this kind of decision. At least we have each other to whine to and to learn from.
Heart vs Head
Oh Fran, I can so relate to what you just said. We have each other and lots of fun together, but when push comes to shove it's a personal decision we have to make with our head. I have just been going thru the same thing. I have so many roos and I don't want to get rid of them cause I like all of them. The problem is it's costing me an arm and a leg to feed roos that I never use for anything. It's so tough cause your heart gets in the way. I have decided I am going to have to get rid of at least six roos and probably ten hens that eat me out of house and home and the roos don't roo and the hens don't lay, just to old. That is sixteen birds (pigs) I feed every day and house every day that do not contribute anything except a bill. I hear you and take heart in our mutual plight. Good luck to a great lady. Haystack
I have to re-home all the roos I hatch (except those in the secret bunker) and I miss every one of them. I think roos tend to have more personality--at least until their hormones kick in. I don't mind feeding them...but I just can't keep them once they start to crow. To do so would contravene the Code of the Chicken Underground.
But it is a heartache.
Catscan I don't know how many birds you keep on a regular basis, but I spend around four hundred a month on these feathered friends and am sure I could reduce it to about two fifty if I got rid of the sixteen or seventeen that don't produce. At some point It can get crazy so yes I am going to have to cull at least that many though I hate to. As Fran stated the decision is tuff. Haystack
Boy, I have the same 'too many' problem! Mine are wild, but they come for the corn I put on the side of the driveway every morning. They are so entertaining! Better by far than TV, which I don't have.
From four to more than thirty in ten month's time. My neighbors like them, too, but have complained recently that there are just too many and something must be done.
Molamola, I am so glad to hear that I am not the only one without a TV! See everyone (else) I am not crazy after all. TV is a sinister conspiracy to rot our brains so that "THEY" can take over. - OK , so maybe now I am crazy.
In the too many category: my son felt bad that the raccoons had decimated my hens so he is sending me more - 10 Buff Orpington and 10 Amraucana pullets! I hope I can convince the friendly feed store to take about half of them... and I was planning to get Buckeyes in the spring, hmm...
Years ago when I saw TV occasionally, usually accidentally, I was convinced that if the people who wrote the advertising were put in charge of the programs, it would be much improved.
Molamola: Porkpal: I have to agree with both of you, I do watch the national news at least three nights a week, but outside of that I find it a bore, and a waste of my good time. I must admit though that my wife watches it an aful lot and gets angry that I won't join her. I hate tv. She looks at me and shakes her head and then I hear these words "You and those stupid chickens." I just laugh and go about my business.
Sounds a bit like my sis.. she came visiting.. loves all the fiber animals.. and even fed the chickens.. but was in a quwandrey the entire time.. just had chills.. I don't get it.. they are so darn entertaining.. how can anything that stupid be so darned smart...?
I really do love and enjoy all my chickens.. even the hardheaded roosters.. and the mean ones.. not that I have anymore than 1 mean one.. but they can be to each other. Unless I am around.. then not a one of them fight.. but hey I (king roo) can not be out in the coop all the time.
I love my roosters. They do have so much more personality than the hens and I love the joyful chorus of crowing. from the deep rattly Brahma crow to the high pitched game hen crow (living in my kitchen for the winter so loud and high pitched) It wouldn't feel like a proper country home without them.
And I also dislike tv. I have one but we get 0 channels. Its only for the kids to watch the occasional movie, and if it wasn't for them , it would have been trashed long ago :-)
I say we pass a law banning TV and pass an ordinance making it mandatory that every family must replace each tv with a chicken. Hay
I second the movement.
Ummm....I love my TV. I watch it constantly....no, really, constantly. Right now I am learning how the Great Lakes were formed....
It may explain a lot--but I still love my chickens.
Ooooo...now we are learning about how the Grand Canyon was formed. Did you know that the GC could hold all the water from all the rivers on earth and still be only half full?
And how was it formed? Let it just be said: It is not what you learned in school.....
I love my TV.
The black rocks at its base are metasedimentary Vishnu Schist full of garnets, meaning that they were crushed at the moment of their creation by by six miles of earth...isn't that wonderful!
oooo don't take my TV! i need my Discovery Channel! I don't honestly want it much.. but i do leave it on the discovery channel at night for back ground noise while i'm working. I'm learning how to care of Reindeer right now. :0) i will admit.. i do have a couple shows a week i watch that aren't on it.. but i also can read three or four 800 page books a week too. I can't watch my chickens at night.. & its dark here by 5pm now. My cats are no entertainment bc they are snuggling in the blankets already. The TV rarely comes on in the summer. but then its light till near 10 pm then.
I want to keep mine, too. I also have it on whenever I'm inside, it keeps me company. I've found that as much as I hate the new digital because of its' glitches, I get some great new channels. 9 "pbs" channels, and lots of good stuff. Even lets me watch childhood favorites like Robin Hood and Ozzie and Harriet. Last night I watched a show about Peter, Paul and Mary as I shelled pecans....
I watch a bit of TV. In the summer only late at night. In Winter I am in the house more so I watch a bit. My favorite show of all time is ending this week; Monk. :( I also enjoy the humor of Phsyc. Mostly I watch RFD. Love the horse programs and the farming stuff. From Spring to Fall I entertain myself with gardening and animal husbandry.
Once in a while I think about the day when I have to replace my hens with new ones that will lay eggs. I hate the thought of killing them and know I couldn't do it. I don't think my husband could either. I guess I've decided to just put it off and not think about it. Fiddle-dee
I love HGTV and would watch it all the time if my husband would let me. He has to have his football, baseball, basketball and gambling channels on. He loves to watch billiards and watch them play poker. :)
I"ll probably send part of mine to the freezer.. and let a few live. I figure they can always teach the younger ones how to avoid being killed by predators. I've got a couple years to think on it tho.
Oh good grief!! I skimmed until I got to the part where greykyttyn was going to send part of her TV to the freezer. LOL.
My hens are getting old and will need to head to freezer camp soon as I have replacements...hate it.
What predates TVs? How can I keep mine safe?
Silent pictures, movies...
Too funny... keepin us on out toes greykit... and on track.
Early in the summer while we were processing a few meat birds we decided to do a few other birds...
Was the hardest thing.. and really wasn't worth it.. they were just too skinny, no real meat.. just a lot of work. This time I will take them to auction..
I WILL NOT incubate eggs this winter.. I will live with what I have (or end up with) and hope they will start laying soon.
I kinda figure they earn their keep (older nonlaying hens) also since mine are free range if they stop laying.. they might just be fat enough the coyotes pick them off verse the younger pullets.. if they aren't my favorite chickens to begin with & too skinny or old to eat.. they may just have a new job as decoy. :) might sound cruel.. but at least they are still earning their keep and at this point i can trade my roos for an already dressed out chicken from the neighbors.
funny story...
i was about.. 4 yrs old when mom & grandma were going to dress out the chickens, I'd been hearing this for about a week. I started collecting what i thought we needed to dress out chickens. Mom & grandma took off to the chicken coop that was way up the hill from the house with a basket (contained a knife & other items they needed that I couldn't see) & told my brothers (way older, like 24 & 21 to watch me. :) i waited till they were watching tv & took off after them to the coop.. arrived with a little suitcase in tow.. mom asked what it was & i promptly told her I was there to dress out the chickens.. all of my doll clothes stuffed inside the suit case. :0) They thought it was so funny they let me stay & "help".
You were the original Amellia Bedillia. LOL
who is that?
A character in a series of kids books. The humor is that she always took things litterally.
molamola, they're at the right age.... they probably aren't that tough yet. Try one and see.
For you, greykyttyn
http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/kids/gamesandcontests/features/amelia/
An Amish friend taught me to put the bird in nearly boiling water for a minute or two to loosen the feathers. If you leave them in a little longer then skin comes with. Quickly and easily. depressing, yukky, efficient.
Amelia Bedelia! My favorite!
Momara, there's a really good thread here with tons of advice... I'll see if I can find it.
It's here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/560438/
Long time ago I lived "down on the farm" and we had 100 white chickens, and the five free fancy chickens that the hatchery threw in for frwee. It wasn't too hard chopping off a head back then. I have a softer heart now, I guess.
I did the boiling water thing, getting rid of the skin, too. I'd want to keep the feathers if I do this thing.
Oh Wow! They're beautiful! I have a really hard time with it too... my husband doesn't...