Ordered chicks today

[arnofarrell]

I have been thinking of ordering 50-100 meat birds and just butcher them in a few months and have a ton of chicken! I might do that next year.

 

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[truckinbutch]

Kuger- what kind of game fowl? I have been thinking of raising ringneck pheasants, melanistic pheasants and bobwhite quail to release on my property. I have heard most do not survive once released. Any ideas?

I think Kuger is talking more about Arkansas Traveler or other game chicken breeds . He and I have spoken of this before .
I have a Zareba 9,000 volt ac fence charger that services several miles of livestock fence . 24" chicken wire on insulated posts enclosing garden beds and other places we want to exclude critters works well . 2" off the ground will keep out everything except weasels . Dogs will only wiz on it once .

 

[Chadeaux]

That is a good idea. I poured some cayan pepper in my gardens to help keep my dogs out. Black pepper should work well.

The wife swears that Cayenne pepper keeps the squirrels out of our garden. Without that pepper, we get nothing fit to eat.

That's ok though, got a good air rifle on the way to "thin the herd" . . . regardless of how pissed my neighbor gets. Told him when he teaches them to stay on his side of the fence, I'll leave them alone.

I live in an unincorporated part of town so as long as I don't bust any windows or kill any pets I should be okay. Do bratty kids count as pets or varmints?

 

[Red James Cash]

Do bratty kids count as pets or varmints?

Depends on whether you like or dislike your neighbor

 

[arnofarrell]

Update: The chicks will be here friday morning. So a checklist of what needs to be done. 1st bury my fence deeper. 2nd pee all over the area. 3rd cut my hair and spread it all around the fence area. did I miss anything?

 

[arnofarrell]

Also I forgot to post this last week but I bought a dozen chicks at my local farm store. 2 Buff Orphington and 10 Rhode Islands. I almost bought more today at a diffrent farm store (same chain) but my wife gave me a look so I backed off.

 

[arnofarrell]

There is a post about coyotes that I said some comments in. When I first bought my acreage I wanted all the wildlife in the area to be around my farm. I wanted the coyotes, raccoons, skunks and foxes to live here in harmony. O how nieve I was. Well that lasted until I bought my first chickens and then they started disapearing one by one. Once they started messing with my livestock they made a mistake. Now I do not want them around and I will shoot any predator I see on my farm. (which is legal since I am protecting my property ie livestock)

Also a skunk made its way into my garage one night and my wife scared it and it sprayed her and one of my dogs, it was funny but I also helped put an end to skunks being on my farm. Every now and then I can smell skunk spray on one of my dogs but i havent seen any around my place in a while.

 

[0121stockpicker]

There is a post about coyotes that I said some comments in. When I first bought my acreage I wanted all the wildlife in the area to be around my farm. I wanted the coyotes, raccoons, skunks and foxes to live here in harmony. O how nieve I was. Well that lasted until I bought my first chickens and then they started disapearing one by one. Once they started messing with my livestock they made a mistake. Now I do not want them around and I will shoot any predator I see on my farm. (which is legal since I am protecting my property ie livestock)

Also a skunk made its way into my garage one night and my wife scared it and it sprayed her and one of my dogs, it was funny but I also helped put an end to skunks being on my farm. Every now and then I can smell skunk spray on one of my dogs but i havent seen any around my place in a while.

Arno, where I live its most unrestrained dogs that get the chickens. My biggest problem is actually the deer eating absolutely everything!! And the ground hogs!!

 

[mammoth29]

I raise Ringneck Pheasants for a local CWMU. We TRY to raise about 2,000 to maturity every year, but we only end up with about 2/3's by the time we start selling them off. Our main problem is Raccoons, they are some sneaky little buggers! We once caught one on top of our nesting shed trying to peel back the metal roofing! He was caught in the spotlight and then in the cross-hairs.

We bury our fences down a couple of feet and we put a railroad tie in the bottom of the trench that we nail the fence to. It seems to work for the most part as we haven't had a critter dig under the fence for quite a few years now.

 

[truckinbutch]

There is a post about coyotes that I said some comments in. When I first bought my acreage I wanted all the wildlife in the area to be around my farm. I wanted the coyotes, raccoons, skunks and foxes to live here in harmony. O how nieve I was. Well that lasted until I bought my first chickens and then they started disapearing one by one. Once they started messing with my livestock they made a mistake. Now I do not want them around and I will shoot any predator I see on my farm. (which is legal since I am protecting my property ie livestock)

Also a skunk made its way into my garage one night and my wife scared it and it sprayed her and one of my dogs, it was funny but I also helped put an end to skunks being on my farm. Every now and then I can smell skunk spray on one of my dogs but i havent seen any around my place in a while.

I have been a husbandman on my farm for nearly 60 years . Helped restore white tail deer , wild turkey , and canada goose populations in my area while maintaining a viable beef herd .
I respect all predators as being just critters out trying to make a living ; same as me .
Long as they leave my stock alone and eat what nature put before them we get along . When they steal what I am raising instead , I kill them . They are stealing from me . I try to protect skunks . They dig out and eat a lot of yellow jackets and bumble bees that would otherwise sting me . I can deal with their odor for that benefit .
'Coons are only an excuse for rednecks that want to keep a passel of dogs and not sleep with their wives to stay out all night . JMHO

 

[fistfulladirt]

I have been thinking of ordering 50-100 meat birds and just butcher them in a few months and have a ton of chicken! I might do that next year.

I've done that. They ended up being $15 birds, but the best chicken I've ever eaten. I let them range, plus commercial feed. Feed here is $15-$17 per 50# bag, I was paying $12 two years ago.
I've got two dozen layers and get 12-15 eggs a day. I move most of eggs to people at work, although some folks will not touch anything light brown and doesn't come from a grocery store. I charge $1.50 per dozen, just enough to cover feed costs...some around here charge an average of $2.50/dozen for the "free range" eggs.

 

[arnofarrell]

'Coons are only an excuse for rednecks that want to keep a passel of dogs and not sleep with their wives to stay out all night . JMHO

Now that is funny, I have some friends that go coon hunting all through out fall and winter.

 

[truckinbutch]

I've done that. They ended up being $15 birds, but the best chicken I've ever eaten. I let them range, plus commercial feed. Feed here is $15-$17 per 50# bag, I was paying $12 two years ago.
I've got two dozen layers and get 12-15 eggs a day. I move most of eggs to people at work, although some folks will not touch anything light brown and doesn't come from a grocery store. I charge $1.50 per dozen, just enough to cover feed costs...some around here charge an average of $2.50/dozen for the "free range" eggs.

You just answered your own negative balance problem . Ask $1.25 more a dozen for your 'special' eggs . Right now you are acting like the rest of us farmers : Expect to buy everything you need retail and sell everything you produce wholesale . The folks you are working with aren't buying your eggs because they are special . They are buying them because you are selling them so cheap .

 

[arnofarrell]

Arno, where I live its most unrestrained dogs that get the chickens. My biggest problem is actually the deer eating absolutely everything!! And the ground hogs!!

My dogs used to attack my chickens all the time my first year but they learned after a while with some "training". Last year they killed a few but it doesnt take long for them to leave them alone. The other day I was playing catch with my dogs and my yellow lab went around my corn crib and ran into my goose and the goose smacked her in the head with his wing and she ran off.

When I first started raising animals I had a rottweiller and she was a real sweet thing but she hated pigs for some reason and she killed all my pigs one night.

 

[truckinbutch]

Now that is funny, I have some friends that go coon hunting all through out fall and winter.

LMAO ! How often do you go to visit about dusk /dark when nobody's home but the missus ?

 

[arnofarrell]

I will have to agree with Truckin on this. I sold eggs for a while but it got to the point where I was giving them away.

 

[arnofarrell]

LMAO ! How often do you go to visit about dusk /dark when nobody's home but the missus ?

I plead the fifth!

 

[releventchair]

Weasel in the hen house! bring a couple dozen eggs to feign delivery if you get caught.

 

[arnofarrell]

Arno, where I live its most unrestrained dogs that get the chickens. My biggest problem is actually the deer eating absolutely everything!! And the ground hogs!!

My dad has problems with ground hogs, I never had and I am 6 miles down the road. I wish I had a problem with deer. My dogs keep most things away including deer. I wish I had them around so I could hunt them at my place for only 2 bucks a deer instead of 28 dollars.

 

[fistfulladirt]

I will have to agree with Truckin on this. I sold eggs for a while but it got to the point where I was giving them away.

No way will I give 'em away. If I can break even on feed cost I'm good. I tried for $2 a dozen. As much they all tell me they're delicious, they'd go back to cheaper tasteless store-bought. I think a dozen+ hens are going to end up in the freezer soon.