Everything you don’t do I do Everything you do I don’t do. I have a Very healthy flock…. Beans are an issue even for humans if you don’t get the lectins out…. I had a broody hen hatch 10 this soring. 6 hens, 4 roos. They made Good chicken enchiladas… Hatcheries are CRUEL. Period…sexing them are also cruel…. So many things you Are Wrong about….
And here friends is what I am talking about. Someone so caught up in their dogmas, everyone else is wrong and they are the only ones who do it correctly. Sad this is how we’ve become.
It’s funny how much I see people fighting over chicken care. Do what works for you. Great video! Good points and a good way to get the conversation started about doing what works for your own flock and not worrying about fighting amongst others. I didn’t know that about beans. 🙂 I ferment feed once in awhile, the chickens really love it. So I use it as more of a treat. I feed my flock cooked meat and eggshells. We have never had any problems other than feather pickers. I’ve done the incubator hatch, broody and buy, I think they all have their benefits depending on what you are looking for. I supervise free range for a few hours a day on most days because I have the time. They always have food in their dishes because I’m too lazy to do anything else. I have a radiant heater in my main coop because the older girls live in there. They probably don’t really need it, because the coop is pretty well insulated, but I love to spoil them. 😂 That’s what works for us. They really love those black soldier fly larvae too. That’s always a really big hit! ❤
In northern states some use the deep litter method to retain heat by adding more litter to the coop and not removing the old, basically letting it compost in the coop, then they do a deep clean in the spring when the chickens are outside.
Upper Michigan we got coyotes, fox, weasels, Martins, raccoons, Possums, hawks. eagles, yes even black bear, Bob cats .!! I have lost plenty of chickens but I still feee range my chickens but only when we are home and awake.! When we are gone we normally keep them in the chicken yard which is fenced off and protected.!
@@Drake-b6i We have the cougar too. Our birds have about 3 acres fenced and 2 Great Pyrenees. Currently developing my own breed of large black birds that lay green and blue eggs. I have found that black chickens are not attacked by hawks . Some of my birds leave the yard, they look like crows when out in the pasture
I'm in Northern NJ. We insulated our coop when we built it. It's a raised coop. We have been using sand in the coop as well as the nesting boxes for over a decade. We can open the main door, use a small rake to rake the poops to the edge and scoop it out with a kitty liter scoop. The coop and nest boxes get cleaned everyday. we built a large fully enclosed run with hardware cloth under the bottom, up the sides, as well as the top. We have a poly roof over the top to keep out rain and snow. In the winter we do put plastic up on the outside during the winter. Inside the run we have a compost ring that we add wood chips, leaves, kitchen waste including meat scraps. Our egg shells get washed and baked til brittle and dry and given back to the girls. We don't give them Avocados, white potatoes, onions, citrus. Over the winter we keep adding the compost ring which they scratch and dig through and by spring it's broken down to some gorgeous compost we can use in the garden. For treats, we give them a small amount of wild bird seed and black oil sunflower as well as whole pumpkins that we cut in half. We do free range in the afternoons when we are outside with them in the backyard.
@@MyCabinLife Well, chickens are not suppose to eat Tomato plant leaves or Rhubarb or things like onions. Mine do when they are free ranging but have no ill effects. Our oldest chicken right now is 12.
We did the open air coop in the past and we were at a high elevation with cold winters. The front of the coop was completely gone and the chickens did just fine. More than that, it was always well ventilated. There was a greenhouse they had access to if they felt it was too cold but they never would go there. We did have cold hardy chickens. The best thing about the open air coop was that it never smelled bad. Our bedding was wood chips and we changed it twice a year, deep litter method. The old bedding was composted six months then used in the garden. I highly recommend this method. Like I said, we were in a really cold environment so it's probably good anywhere. Just make one wall nothing but hardware cloth and you're good to go. I was that person that thought supplemental lighting was bad but you've given me some things to think about.
I had White Rocks, Speckled Sussex, Buff Orpingtons and Black Jersey Giants both lay well and do well in Ohio's cold(and we do get some really cold ones), and I have never heated the coop nor provided artificial lighting. The roost area, however was tight and closed off on three sides with an outlet to a run and I think this kept them plenty warm.
With the bantams I have, I have done it in an incubator and I have let a bantam sit on them and hatch them. But I had to check twice a day for hatched chicks to save them. They would get out of the box and end up dead. Lost 4 that away. Of all the chicks I have raised from egg has had no antibiotic food. Only high protein crumble. Have not lost one feeding that to them. I find that the feed with the antibiotic actually kills all the good bacteria they are born with which is what causes some to die.
I used to be a licensed game bird breeder. We had 4 1200 egg incubators going at all times. So that kind of tells you what I think about using an incubator LOL. You are right. You will make a much better mother than most hens. It's the brooding period that can be the most dangerous part of the cycle. That's when you want to keep an eye on them and separate any chicks that are pecking or bullying the others. Also look for chicks with clubbed feet and other problems.
Our larger chickens run free in our chicken run ( 40 ft by 20 ft) during the day. We have a large dog that runs around outside of that area during the day to fend off bobcats and coyotes. But we put them inside at night. Our silkies are in an enclosed chicken run that is quite large. They seem happy. they would never make it outside their run during the day!
Great info. I’ve raised ducks but haven’t tried chickens yet. I use duck eggs in my pastries as it gives them more lift. But we eat pasture raised chicken eggs 🥚
@@CountryLivingExperiencebantams are more broody than other breeds, especially the "egg" chickens (Leghorns). But like many attributes there is more variation WITHIN breeds than BETWEEN breeds.
@@CountryLivingExperienceit's definitely true! My family had a bantam growing up, "Tipsy." One day she disappeared, we thought she was taken by a predator. However, some weeks later, she just appears with nine healthy chicks! She was a boss and raised and defended them all, despite being in a flock of mainly standard/large breeds. Past couple years, none of my hens seem to go broody, or when they do they only hatch three or so, and don't seem to know what to do with the chicks once they hatch. I've been considering getting a bantam again soon for this reason.
Where I live in Texas it is rarely humid and rain events are far and few between. Most of the time everything is dust. But when it rains it can flood so I have to change things up depending on what the weather does. Most of the time I have wire walls to allow air flow due to extreme heat but in the winter the cold winds are blocked with feed bags or moving blankets. Plastic tends to rip and doesn't last. Those feed bags have become a good save.
Good video. We have only had chickens for a year and a half, so by no means experts. We do a couple of things different than what you prefer, but so far, with good results. I think the best thing to do is, if you notice something isnt working well, change it. Just started following your channel in the last month or so, and i appreciate your videos.
We have had chickens for about 10 yrs or so. Still learning and not experts at all. We really learned everything from homesteading TH-cam channels and just personal experience. We have had good luck with heated waterers and a small heat source in the winter. The coop stays around 30 degrees F when it is 0 degrees F out side. We did have a week long cold snap last winter where it got 10-15 below zero. Two chickens died that were not cold hardy breeds. The Bards seem to really tolerate the cold well. We put down straw to keep the eggs clean. They tend to get muddy in the winter months. We just clean the coop out when it starts to smell bad. We have 28 chickens and get 12-18 eggs per day. We have also a few fancy breeds that are not prolific layers or very cold hardy. Those were purchased for variety and just for a hobby.
I feed our chickens leftovers like rice and pasta salad greens, beans egg shells and whatever we have that is not meat.! Oh my uncle has a farm and he feeds his chickens leftover cow or deer carcasses that has been processed especially the suet .! His chickens do just fine with what he gives them and are healthy as can be.! He also grows his own grains and feed .!
My hens are great layers providing us with 4 to 5 eggs per week per hen. During winter and shorter days we do not use supplemental lighting. I give my girls a break during this time. We still get 1 to 2 eggs per week per hen even in the winter. But, I believe that's a choice each chicken owner has to make for themself.
Went to the store to purchase eggs $12 for 18 cage free eggs time to keep chickens. It would be interesting to see if it would be cheaper to raise chickens for eggs than buy at the store.
Yikes! $12? That is robbery. Chickens are fairly cheap to raise. I have 20 and go through about 100lbs of feed per month which is about $60. Water and elec for the lights is almost negligible. When they are laying, I can get about 15 eggs per day. I have to give them away because we just cannot eat all of them.
Winter and moisture are almost a non issue for us in Las Vegas NV. Our coop has construction sand to make daily clean up easy. Summer is our challenging season for the birds. The first year we had misters, fans, frozen treats and about every other trick you see on the internet. Year 2 I built an insulated coop and added a mini split AC/Heat pump and the girls stay cool and comfortable in the 115+ temps. The coop has white light on a timer We feed layer feed and the healthy scraps including meat. We also feed fine ground egg shells back to them. We haven't had issues with attacking each other or eggs. This is what has worked for us and our girls are spoiled and happy.
I don’t understand why people are so hard lined on these topics. There is not one breed or one method of care, that suits every flocks needs. As an older, lifelong chicken keeper. My ways of keeping and utilizing my flocks have changed so much through the decades. From the types of chickens I have had. To the types of feeds and housing I provide for them. In truth your chickens will tell you what is best for them.
I have fed my chickens crushed boiled eggs, when I have excess. Cooked beans(leftover soup beans, green beans), as they just won't touch an uncooked bean. I've fed them all manner of leftover meat(ham, beef), after these same chickens I've seen eat bugs, snakes and the occasional frog. All this goes along ways toward the feed bill. I have mixed whole corn, oatmeal and Alfalfa pellets in hot water for winter time feeding and they seem to like all this. I fed them tomatoes and squash, greens off of radishes, Dandelion and Plantain out of the yard and they seemed to enjoy it all. I've fed them Comfrey and wild broccoli. And I fully agree, people go a bit hostile when it comes to their chickens and what they presume is the correct way to feed and care for them. Oddly, they know little about early America and how the Dominique chicken breed often foraged for themselves and often took care of themselves. No fancy feeds back then...
Great video Eric, loads of opinions for sure... I no longer ferment out chicken food- while i did for a couple years, and they were oh so healthy- the time and physical effort had to change when I broke my knee, foot and ankle... my girls are doing great now as well. I do find it funny so many folks are so dogmatic about how to raise chickens! My experience is - do what works for you!! Living in West Texas and raising them is totally different from East Texas. We had some younger friends who deemed our way a bad way- now, mind you, they've never raised an animal in their married life... so they started all the "right" way to raise them... all 5 sets of 25 chicks at died- they ask for help- i helped - then the hens they had died as they only free-ranged them, etc... thwy ask for help- I helped...over the course of a year they lost 82 chickens, and learned a very valuable lesson... theres not always just one way to do things... We use multiple ways, and yes, I'm partial to what we do... we have lost 2 chickens in the past 5 years, and I've one whos 7 and 1- 5 years old now... are thwy productive now, the rooster is, Henrietta- not so much... by the end of this year she will be culled. I don't use light. I do use shavings, no heat, [we're not far from y'all- here in Texas] i feed every am/pm just because i enjoyit- howeverim making some auto feeders - i do grind my egg shells and use with the chickens, dogs and garden- I use herbs to worm, and keep my girls healthy- and thats us... I have no issues with anyone who do things differently than me... again Do what works for you, and be willing to change if what your doing doesn't work. Blessings ❤
It is very crazy how some are so dogmatic for sure. Just keep your chickens as healthy as you can and if their health diminishes change what you are doing. Seems simple but some people fight about the silliest things. Have a blessed day! P.S. I got tires put on my wife's vehicle the other day and thought of y'all ;-)
Your setup is pretty much the same as my grandmother used for 70+ years and it always worked for her. I have no idea how many chickens she had but she had 2 big chicken houses, I would guess she always easily had over 100 birds.
Great video! I have 27 chickens and 4 roosters well 2 roosters now we harvested the other 2 yesterday with the 25 meat birds we did they were mean and really stressing out the hens it had to be done. I let my chickens free roam a couple hours before dark and they put theirselves up when their ready. We do add light from nov. to feb. and they definitely lay more with the supplemental light. We do schedule feed but for no reason we just feed every morning with the rest of the animals, I am thinking of just keeping feeders full after watching your vid. I dont think I realized they dont over eat. I also dont supplement for calcium but thinking of picking up some fly larva as well. Thanks for the tips I always learn something from your channel keep it up!
U did a root cellar trash can about 5 years ago can u give an update I live in Northeast Mississippi and have no means to create an actual root seller and I was just wondering how well it worked throughout the winter and whether it work during the summer you mentioned that your dad he did it 30 years ago and I was wondering how that went
Sure, no problem. It works well here in the fall, winter, and spring. It is just too hot for it to work well here in the summer though. The one we had 30 years ago was in Michigan in the barn and worked year round.
I live a couple miles from the wettest place on earth, and probably get 80 inches of rain a year, and of course all the humidity... I use hemp bedding and never have issues with moisture. If it works here, should be pretty good there. Just an fyi, I haven't had to change it in 5 years.
@CountryLivingExperience yeah I hear you, hard to trust weather they will be on the up and up on actually organic. But all I can do is try, we let them free range all day, but all 30 hens no egg. No tractor supply feed been getting it from a small feed store, and stop that 2 months ago will try to fine organic. I hoped you had a happy Sabbath yesterday and many Sabbath for year 2025 Thank you have a blessed day.
I use a digital ceramic safety heater and heated water bucket and they lay respectfully throughout the week and the food i feed comes from my local farm store so i get the stuff farmers feed they're birds
@@CountryLivingExperienceI'm digging the solar panels you got I have panels in use now for my garage fun but I'm gonna use the few extra I have and do the same for the chicken house's "utilities "
I do not use supplental lights and birds still lay all winter. Ages are 1 - 8 years old. Never had a issue. In greater Cincinnati area. Very cloudy gloomy fall and winters
Mine lay all winter as well, but I have 27 chickens and average 25 to 30 eggs a day in summer and it would drop to like 10 to 15 a day in winter. After adding the light for a couple hours extra at night on timers a few years back I'm back up to 20 to 22ish a day. Like he said it's a hot topic some people don't want to manipulate weather and daylight that the Lord blesses us with and I totally understand that to. Happy New Year everyone
I’ve lost count of how many Rhode Island Red Broody Mama’s. They have all been great! And it’s just so much fun to watch them teach the babies. Way easier on me cause I don’t have to raise them
YT channel, "FLORIDA BULLFROG" has several very informative videos on developing a "landrace" of very hardy (near feral) chickens on his homestead. He uses some English gamecocks to infuse a bit of toughness and wariness into his flock. I would call his approach to breeding/developing a farmstead bird: "Dino-chickens for the Apocalypse". ****YT channel "David the Good" gave him a shout out and mentioned his book
Barred Rock, RI Reds and Black Sexlinks. Started with 25, now down to 8, mostly from predation but I took out two who were bullies. They lay all year without any intervention, we get 7 eggs a day regularly up to today. No issue with the cold temps here in East TN, but last year I did give them a heat lamp when it was in the low teens or below. Only problem we have is tail feathers, anyone would say mites but we check often and have seen none. Early on we even went the weekly full cleaning/permethrine route to no avail. No other animals on the homestead get any drugs so we decided to stop using poisons on them and they just live with bare asses.
In the Philippines, they might feed the chickens rice. Maybe. They have pretty skinny chickens. I like my American chickens. Fat and happy. We buy 1400lbs of macaroni from the Amish. High protein and very cost effective. Once it got wet and the soldier fly larva could be weighed by the kilo.i set my chickens on them and lost 4 within a couple days. I was told that larva will kill a chicken. Since then, I've heard people telling me to kill off the larva 1st. Not sure, but havnt had an issue since.
I don't argue, you have your way, I have mine, which I learned from my grandmother, who learned from hers, who learned from hers...if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I look at it this way, look at how much healthier the food was for my grandparents, and how much cleaner the planet was then, most of our problems are created because each generation thinks they're smarter than their parents, and then screw up everything they touch....I like the old ways, but you do you. If the new ways are so great, why is 80% of America overweight and on medication for health problems? just saying
@@CountryLivingExperience Yes I paid more for hens to and they did send replacement ended up with a rooster out of that . Hopefully they will protect the hens .
$50 for a single pound of chicken food, you've got to be out of your mind. Been feeding chicks food scraps (especially meat) and cooked beans and peanuts for almost a decade now with no ill effects. These animals need and covet protein.
Chickens are similar to humans and they are born with the finite amount of eggs. So yes, if the lay them all earlier, they will have less to lay later. That may impact your decision on off season late light. Other than that. Good video.
@ Hey thanks for the response. The avian vets I have talked to disagree as well as my research. For us, it’s easier to just have less eggs to give away to friends and family in the winter and let the natural cycle take its course. But we aren’t making a profit in our eggs. I can see why others wouldn’t want that decrease in the winter and that’s probably fine.
@@Idnalro I guess like any topic, there are varying opinions. All the avian vets I researched say that it will not reduce egg production. Sounds as though we all may have to agree to disagree. Have a great day.
I had a buff orpington and a Wyandotte both go broody on me. The Wyandot kept getting up and laying on different eggs different eggs. The orpington however stayed true. I had to give her the eggs from the other chicken. Out of about 15 eggs total only two survived because of the Wyandotte getting up. We ended up with one boy one girl. And one of them we actually had to put in the incubator in order to get it to hatch and when it did we put it under our broody mama. She took really good care of both of them. She taught them what to eat and what not to eat and I think they had a more natural upbringing. This year I'm going to go and buy another 20 chicks. Even if you do hatch your own, you still need different bloodlines otherwise the mamas and the children or the daddy's and the children will be mating through several generations and that won't be good
Everything you don’t do I do
Everything you do I don’t do.
I have a
Very healthy flock….
Beans are an issue even for humans if you don’t get the lectins out….
I had a broody hen hatch 10 this soring.
6 hens,
4 roos. They made
Good chicken enchiladas…
Hatcheries are
CRUEL. Period…sexing them are also cruel….
So many things you
Are
Wrong about….
And here friends is what I am talking about. Someone so caught up in their dogmas, everyone else is wrong and they are the only ones who do it correctly. Sad this is how we’ve become.
So the perfect title for this video is confirmed! 😅
He hit all your hot buttons…or triggers in this case. 🤷 ❤
It’s funny how much I see people fighting over chicken care. Do what works for you. Great video! Good points and a good way to get the conversation started about doing what works for your own flock and not worrying about fighting amongst others.
I didn’t know that about beans. 🙂
I ferment feed once in awhile, the chickens really love it. So I use it as more of a treat. I feed my flock cooked meat and eggshells. We have never had any problems other than feather pickers. I’ve done the incubator hatch, broody and buy, I think they all have their benefits depending on what you are looking for. I supervise free range for a few hours a day on most days because I have the time. They always have food in their dishes because I’m too lazy to do anything else. I have a radiant heater in my main coop because the older girls live in there. They probably don’t really need it, because the coop is pretty well insulated, but I love to spoil them. 😂 That’s what works for us.
They really love those black soldier fly larvae too. That’s always a really big hit! ❤
Thank you!
Yep, same here. Silly fights all the time (even some here from other commenters).
In northern states some use the deep litter method to retain heat by adding more litter to the coop and not removing the old, basically letting it compost in the coop, then they do a deep clean in the spring when the chickens are outside.
I have heard that and to each his own but I still wouldn't do it for the reasons I mentioned.
I’ve had the same hemp bedding for 2 years now. I use pdz and it stays pretty dry
Do you really think that chickens can relate a piece of cooked meat to a live chicken running around? I sincerely doubt it.
Meat goes to the dogs anyways….
I give my birds lefotover steak, pork chops all ground up, and it's not an issue. Their favorite is actually leftover fried chicken. They love it.
I do. Do whatever you want.
Lol right..i feed mine every type of meat including tuna or fish no problems.. they hunt mice too.. never had problem with pecking
@@CountryLivingExperienceMine love meat and they've never displayed any change in attitude or gotten into eating one another.
Great video with good advice. Wife recently started fermented feed to help their digestion & less waste of powder from crumbled feeds. They love it!
Cool. Thanks.
Upper Michigan we got coyotes, fox, weasels, Martins, raccoons, Possums, hawks. eagles, yes even black bear, Bob cats .!! I have lost plenty of chickens but I still feee range my chickens but only when we are home and awake.! When we are gone we normally keep them in the chicken yard which is fenced off and protected.!
Yep. My uncle lives in northern MI. Lot's of predators. Keeping your eye on them while you are there is important if you free range.
@@Drake-b6i We have the cougar too. Our birds have about 3 acres fenced and 2 Great Pyrenees. Currently developing my own breed of large black birds that lay green and blue eggs. I have found that black chickens are not attacked by hawks . Some of my birds leave the yard, they look like crows when out in the pasture
I'm in Northern NJ. We insulated our coop when we built it. It's a raised coop. We have been using sand in the coop as well as the nesting boxes for over a decade. We can open the main door, use a small rake to rake the poops to the edge and scoop it out with a kitty liter scoop. The coop and nest boxes get cleaned everyday. we built a large fully enclosed run with hardware cloth under the bottom, up the sides, as well as the top. We have a poly roof over the top to keep out rain and snow. In the winter we do put plastic up on the outside during the winter. Inside the run we have a compost ring that we add wood chips, leaves, kitchen waste including meat scraps. Our egg shells get washed and baked til brittle and dry and given back to the girls. We don't give them Avocados, white potatoes, onions, citrus. Over the winter we keep adding the compost ring which they scratch and dig through and by spring it's broken down to some gorgeous compost we can use in the garden. For treats, we give them a small amount of wild bird seed and black oil sunflower as well as whole pumpkins that we cut in half. We do free range in the afternoons when we are outside with them in the backyard.
I don't have chickens yet. But I've heard it said that chickens are very good and will not eat things that are unhealthy for them. Is this is true?
Wow. Inspiring.
@@MyCabinLife Well, chickens are not suppose to eat Tomato plant leaves or Rhubarb or things like onions. Mine do when they are free ranging but have no ill effects. Our oldest chicken right now is 12.
Cool. Glad your methods are working well for you.
We did the open air coop in the past and we were at a high elevation with cold winters. The front of the coop was completely gone and the chickens did just fine. More than that, it was always well ventilated. There was a greenhouse they had access to if they felt it was too cold but they never would go there. We did have cold hardy chickens. The best thing about the open air coop was that it never smelled bad. Our bedding was wood chips and we changed it twice a year, deep litter method. The old bedding was composted six months then used in the garden. I highly recommend this method. Like I said, we were in a really cold environment so it's probably good anywhere. Just make one wall nothing but hardware cloth and you're good to go.
I was that person that thought supplemental lighting was bad but you've given me some things to think about.
I had White Rocks, Speckled Sussex, Buff Orpingtons and Black Jersey Giants both lay well and do well in Ohio's cold(and we do get some really cold ones), and I have never heated the coop nor provided artificial lighting. The roost area, however was tight and closed off on three sides with an outlet to a run and I think this kept them plenty warm.
Mine molt in December, & live in Taxachusetts so a heat lamp has been enough (so far)
With the bantams I have, I have done it in an incubator and I have let a bantam sit on them and hatch them. But I had to check twice a day for hatched chicks to save them. They would get out of the box and end up dead. Lost 4 that away. Of all the chicks I have raised from egg has had no antibiotic food. Only high protein crumble. Have not lost one feeding that to them. I find that the feed with the antibiotic actually kills all the good bacteria they are born with which is what causes some to die.
Regarding weather, chickens are forest birds in the wild. If they can live in the wild without artificial heat, they can live in your coop.
I used to be a licensed game bird breeder. We had 4 1200 egg incubators going at all times. So that kind of tells you what I think about using an incubator LOL. You are right. You will make a much better mother than most hens. It's the brooding period that can be the most dangerous part of the cycle. That's when you want to keep an eye on them and separate any chicks that are pecking or bullying the others. Also look for chicks with clubbed feet and other problems.
Our larger chickens run free in our chicken run ( 40 ft by 20 ft) during the day. We have a large dog that runs around outside of that area during the day to fend off bobcats and coyotes. But we put them inside at night. Our silkies are in an enclosed chicken run that is quite large. They seem happy. they would never make it outside their run during the day!
Great info. I’ve raised ducks but haven’t tried chickens yet.
I use duck eggs in my pastries as it gives them more lift. But we eat pasture raised chicken eggs 🥚
Thanks for the update. I'm guessing that the red verses white light for chickens is an old wives' tale
Very good advice. I’ve experienced several of the worries you covered. Learned a bit. Thank you.
You’re welcome. Glad it was helpful!
Get a couple bantams to use for hatching 🐣
Why? Please explain. Bantams are tiny
@@CountryLivingExperiencebantams are more broody than other breeds, especially the "egg" chickens (Leghorns).
But like many attributes there is more variation WITHIN breeds than BETWEEN breeds.
Very interesting Will. I had never heard that. I have neighbors with bantams and they are just for show.
@@CountryLivingExperienceit's definitely true! My family had a bantam growing up, "Tipsy." One day she disappeared, we thought she was taken by a predator. However, some weeks later, she just appears with nine healthy chicks! She was a boss and raised and defended them all, despite being in a flock of mainly standard/large breeds. Past couple years, none of my hens seem to go broody, or when they do they only hatch three or so, and don't seem to know what to do with the chicks once they hatch. I've been considering getting a bantam again soon for this reason.
@@rm8824 Very interesting. Thanks for the heads up.
Where I live in Texas it is rarely humid and rain events are far and few between. Most of the time everything is dust. But when it rains it can flood so I have to change things up depending on what the weather does. Most of the time I have wire walls to allow air flow due to extreme heat but in the winter the cold winds are blocked with feed bags or moving blankets. Plastic tends to rip and doesn't last. Those feed bags have become a good save.
You must be in West Texas. Sounds like you have adapted well to where you live.
Good video. We have only had chickens for a year and a half, so by no means experts. We do a couple of things different than what you prefer, but so far, with good results. I think the best thing to do is, if you notice something isnt working well, change it. Just started following your channel in the last month or so, and i appreciate your videos.
Thank you. Happy to have you here.
Glad you are having good results with your chickens.
Thank you. God bless!
You're welcome
Awesome video
I have my chickens in the frosty north. They live in a coop and i have to keep their water from freezing. Its not too hard.
We have had chickens for about 10 yrs or so. Still learning and not experts at all. We really learned everything from homesteading TH-cam channels and just personal experience. We have had good luck with heated waterers and a small heat source in the winter. The coop stays around 30 degrees F when it is 0 degrees F out side. We did have a week long cold snap last winter where it got 10-15 below zero. Two chickens died that were not cold hardy breeds. The Bards seem to really tolerate the cold well. We put down straw to keep the eggs clean. They tend to get muddy in the winter months. We just clean the coop out when it starts to smell bad. We have 28 chickens and get 12-18 eggs per day. We have also a few fancy breeds that are not prolific layers or very cold hardy. Those were purchased for variety and just for a hobby.
I feed our chickens leftovers like rice and pasta salad greens, beans egg shells and whatever we have that is not meat.! Oh my uncle has a farm and he feeds his chickens leftover cow or deer carcasses that has been processed especially the suet .! His chickens do just fine with what he gives them and are healthy as can be.! He also grows his own grains and feed .!
Interesting. Glad it has worked out ok for him.
I also feed meat scraps,suet and carcass left over from butchering. Replaces the insects, frogs and mice that the chickens feed on during t😢summer
My hens are great layers providing us with 4 to 5 eggs per week per hen. During winter and shorter days we do not use supplemental lighting. I give my girls a break during this time. We still get 1 to 2 eggs per week per hen even in the winter. But, I believe that's a choice each chicken owner has to make for themself.
Went to the store to purchase eggs $12 for 18 cage free eggs time to keep chickens. It would be interesting to see if it would be cheaper to raise chickens for eggs than buy at the store.
Yikes! $12? That is robbery.
Chickens are fairly cheap to raise. I have 20 and go through about 100lbs of feed per month which is about $60. Water and elec for the lights is almost negligible. When they are laying, I can get about 15 eggs per day. I have to give them away because we just cannot eat all of them.
Winter and moisture are almost a non issue for us in Las Vegas NV. Our coop has construction sand to make daily clean up easy. Summer is our challenging season for the birds. The first year we had misters, fans, frozen treats and about every other trick you see on the internet. Year 2 I built an insulated coop and added a mini split AC/Heat pump and the girls stay cool and comfortable in the 115+ temps. The coop has white light on a timer
We feed layer feed and the healthy scraps including meat. We also feed fine ground egg shells back to them. We haven't had issues with attacking each other or eggs.
This is what has worked for us and our girls are spoiled and happy.
I don’t understand why people are so hard lined on these topics. There is not one breed or one method of care, that suits every flocks needs. As an older, lifelong chicken keeper. My ways of keeping and utilizing my flocks have changed so much through the decades. From the types of chickens I have had. To the types of feeds and housing I provide for them. In truth your chickens will tell you what is best for them.
I have fed my chickens crushed boiled eggs, when I have excess. Cooked beans(leftover soup beans, green beans), as they just won't touch an uncooked bean. I've fed them all manner of leftover meat(ham, beef), after these same chickens I've seen eat bugs, snakes and the occasional frog. All this goes along ways toward the feed bill. I have mixed whole corn, oatmeal and Alfalfa pellets in hot water for winter time feeding and they seem to like all this. I fed them tomatoes and squash, greens off of radishes, Dandelion and Plantain out of the yard and they seemed to enjoy it all. I've fed them Comfrey and wild broccoli. And I fully agree, people go a bit hostile when it comes to their chickens and what they presume is the correct way to feed and care for them. Oddly, they know little about early America and how the Dominique chicken breed often foraged for themselves and often took care of themselves. No fancy feeds back then...
Great video Eric, loads of opinions for sure...
I no longer ferment out chicken food- while i did for a couple years, and they were oh so healthy- the time and physical effort had to change when I broke my knee, foot and ankle... my girls are doing great now as well.
I do find it funny so many folks are so dogmatic about how to raise chickens! My experience is - do what works for you!! Living in West Texas and raising them is totally different from East Texas.
We had some younger friends who deemed our way a bad way- now, mind you, they've never raised an animal in their married life... so they started all the "right" way to raise them... all 5 sets of 25 chicks at died- they ask for help- i helped - then the hens they had died as they only free-ranged them, etc... thwy ask for help- I helped...over the course of a year they lost 82 chickens, and learned a very valuable lesson... theres not always just one way to do things...
We use multiple ways, and yes, I'm partial to what we do... we have lost 2 chickens in the past 5 years, and I've one whos 7 and 1- 5 years old now... are thwy productive now, the rooster is, Henrietta- not so much... by the end of this year she will be culled.
I don't use light. I do use shavings, no heat, [we're not far from y'all- here in Texas] i feed every am/pm just because i enjoyit- howeverim making some auto feeders - i do grind my egg shells and use with the chickens, dogs and garden- I use herbs to worm, and keep my girls healthy- and thats us... I have no issues with anyone who do things differently than me... again Do what works for you, and be willing to change if what your doing doesn't work.
Blessings ❤
It is very crazy how some are so dogmatic for sure. Just keep your chickens as healthy as you can and if their health diminishes change what you are doing. Seems simple but some people fight about the silliest things.
Have a blessed day!
P.S. I got tires put on my wife's vehicle the other day and thought of y'all ;-)
Your setup is pretty much the same as my grandmother used for 70+ years and it always worked for her. I have no idea how many chickens she had but she had 2 big chicken houses, I would guess she always easily had over 100 birds.
Cool. It has worked great for us so far.
Great video! I have 27 chickens and 4 roosters well 2 roosters now we harvested the other 2 yesterday with the 25 meat birds we did they were mean and really stressing out the hens it had to be done. I let my chickens free roam a couple hours before dark and they put theirselves up when their ready. We do add light from nov. to feb. and they definitely lay more with the supplemental light. We do schedule feed but for no reason we just feed every morning with the rest of the animals, I am thinking of just keeping feeders full after watching your vid. I dont think I realized they dont over eat. I also dont supplement for calcium but thinking of picking up some fly larva as well. Thanks for the tips I always learn something from your channel keep it up!
Thanks and you're welcome. Glad you have yours laying all winter!
U did a root cellar trash can about 5 years ago can u give an update I live in Northeast Mississippi and have no means to create an actual root seller and I was just wondering how well it worked throughout the winter and whether it work during the summer you mentioned that your dad he did it 30 years ago and I was wondering how that went
Sure, no problem. It works well here in the fall, winter, and spring. It is just too hot for it to work well here in the summer though. The one we had 30 years ago was in Michigan in the barn and worked year round.
I live a couple miles from the wettest place on earth, and probably get 80 inches of rain a year, and of course all the humidity... I use hemp bedding and never have issues with moisture. If it works here, should be pretty good there. Just an fyi, I haven't had to change it in 5 years.
Interesting. You have not had any issues with excessive mold and bacteria growth? Chicken health issues?
Hey Eric,
We finally got our freeze dryer fixed.
We lost the bananas and apples that we bought, so now it’s time to do some eggs & cheese
✌️😜 Always enjoy your personal experiences good,& bad as that is extremely helpful especially for newbies 👌💒 Thanks Brother 😁⚔️ God Bless us All 🇺🇸🙏✝️
My pleasure!
Near Houston tx , so where do you get the organic feed?
We just find it at a local farm/rural feed store. We get the non-gmo
@CountryLivingExperience yeah I hear you, hard to trust weather they will be on the up and up on actually organic. But all I can do is try, we let them free range all day, but all 30 hens no egg. No tractor supply feed been getting it from a small feed store, and stop that 2 months ago will try to fine organic. I hoped you had a happy Sabbath yesterday and many Sabbath for year 2025 Thank you have a blessed day.
Our local feed store has some from a company called Texas Naturals. Hope you can find some! Have a blessed week!
I've been told that light in a coop should be red not white. I've been told that white light is harder in a chicken's eyes than red. Your thoughts?
The white light activates their pineal gland which tells their bodies to lay. They are out in the bright sunlight all day with no ill affects.
I use a digital ceramic safety heater and heated water bucket and they lay respectfully throughout the week and the food i feed comes from my local farm store so i get the stuff farmers feed they're birds
cool
@@CountryLivingExperienceI'm digging the solar panels you got I have panels in use now for my garage fun but I'm gonna use the few extra I have and do the same for the chicken house's "utilities "
I do not use supplental lights and birds still lay all winter. Ages are 1 - 8 years old. Never had a issue. In greater Cincinnati area. Very cloudy gloomy fall and winters
Mine lay all winter as well, but I have 27 chickens and average 25 to 30 eggs a day in summer and it would drop to like 10 to 15 a day in winter. After adding the light for a couple hours extra at night on timers a few years back I'm back up to 20 to 22ish a day. Like he said it's a hot topic some people don't want to manipulate weather and daylight that the Lord blesses us with and I totally understand that to. Happy New Year everyone
That is impressive. Mine usually stop for a few weeks (even here in TX). Must be breed specific?
I’ve lost count of how many Rhode Island Red Broody Mama’s. They have all been great! And it’s just so much fun to watch them teach the babies. Way easier on me cause I don’t have to raise them
Very interesting. I only had one go broody one time. It would be way easier than incubating them for sure.
Just asking these questions probably means you're a caring chicken owner.
Chickens are hearty. Do what works for you.
YT channel, "FLORIDA BULLFROG" has several very informative videos on developing a "landrace" of very hardy (near feral) chickens on his homestead. He uses some English gamecocks to infuse a bit of toughness and wariness into his flock.
I would call his approach to breeding/developing a farmstead bird:
"Dino-chickens for the Apocalypse".
****YT channel "David the Good" gave him a shout out and mentioned his book
That is very interesting. I will check that out. Thanks Will
Barred Rock, RI Reds and Black Sexlinks. Started with 25, now down to 8, mostly from predation but I took out two who were bullies. They lay all year without any intervention, we get 7 eggs a day regularly up to today. No issue with the cold temps here in East TN, but last year I did give them a heat lamp when it was in the low teens or below. Only problem we have is tail feathers, anyone would say mites but we check often and have seen none. Early on we even went the weekly full cleaning/permethrine route to no avail. No other animals on the homestead get any drugs so we decided to stop using poisons on them and they just live with bare asses.
Mine have bare butts too. They peck each others tail feathers out. No mites here either.
In the Philippines, they might feed the chickens rice. Maybe. They have pretty skinny chickens. I like my American chickens. Fat and happy. We buy 1400lbs of macaroni from the Amish. High protein and very cost effective. Once it got wet and the soldier fly larva could be weighed by the kilo.i set my chickens on them and lost 4 within a couple days. I was told that larva will kill a chicken. Since then, I've heard people telling me to kill off the larva 1st. Not sure, but havnt had an issue since.
Lol, yep mine are fat and happy too. Those native Filipino chickens certainly are skinny.
I don't argue, you have your way, I have mine, which I learned from my grandmother, who learned from hers, who learned from hers...if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I look at it this way, look at how much healthier the food was for my grandparents, and how much cleaner the planet was then, most of our problems are created because each generation thinks they're smarter than their parents, and then screw up everything they touch....I like the old ways, but you do you. If the new ways are so great, why is 80% of America overweight and on medication for health problems? just saying
Good points
Can you put your dog up for the last couple hours each day so the chickens can freerange before bedtime?
No
Why would you even ask a vet anything that's like going to a doctor
Categorizing every vet and every doctor together and associating them with the obvious bad ones would be ignorant.
I ordered from a hackery got three roosters out of four .
That is pretty bad. When I order, I make sure to ask for hens with a guarantee. It costs just a little more.
@@CountryLivingExperience Where do you prefer to order your chicks?
We get them from Ideal Poultry here in Texas. They are the closest to us.
@@CountryLivingExperience Thank you.
@@CountryLivingExperience Yes I paid more for hens to and they did send replacement ended up with a rooster out of that . Hopefully they will protect the hens .
$50 for a single pound of chicken food, you've got to be out of your mind. Been feeding chicks food scraps (especially meat) and cooked beans and peanuts for almost a decade now with no ill effects. These animals need and covet protein.
$50? What are you talking about?
I've never seen chicken feed cost $50/lb. The most I've paid is around $1/lb organic
Chickens are similar to humans and they are born with the finite amount of eggs. So yes, if the lay them all earlier, they will have less to lay later. That may impact your decision on off season late light. Other than that. Good video.
So you disagree with avian vets? Are you an avian vet?
@ Hey thanks for the response. The avian vets I have talked to disagree as well as my research. For us, it’s easier to just have less eggs to give away to friends and family in the winter and let the natural cycle take its course. But we aren’t making a profit in our eggs. I can see why others wouldn’t want that decrease in the winter and that’s probably fine.
@@Idnalro I guess like any topic, there are varying opinions. All the avian vets I researched say that it will not reduce egg production. Sounds as though we all may have to agree to disagree. Have a great day.
@@CountryLivingExperience That is certainly true. Have a great day!
I had a buff orpington and a Wyandotte both go broody on me. The Wyandot kept getting up and laying on different eggs different eggs. The orpington however stayed true. I had to give her the eggs from the other chicken. Out of about 15 eggs total only two survived because of the Wyandotte getting up. We ended up with one boy one girl. And one of them we actually had to put in the incubator in order to get it to hatch and when it did we put it under our broody mama. She took really good care of both of them. She taught them what to eat and what not to eat and I think they had a more natural upbringing. This year I'm going to go and buy another 20 chicks. Even if you do hatch your own, you still need different bloodlines otherwise the mamas and the children or the daddy's and the children will be mating through several generations and that won't be good
Thanks.
Good point about the bloodlines.
Government gonna take what you got…..or try anyway.
Mmmk? Mmmk? Mmmmmk?!?!?!?!?
Government doesn't care about 5 chickens, 3 roosters and a crazy guy talking about it.
@ Apparently they do as they are passing sweeping poultry and livestock laws, curtailing access to common agricultural medications, etc.
@ and that’s defamation btw….
Contoversy?