One of my 3 chicks is showing signs of being a rooster.
Chicken/egg question
- Thread starter Robinjopo1
- Start date
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Arcticdude
Top Poster
Some of our meat chickens are just now starting to crow. They sound horrible.
Arcticdude
Top Poster
I don't expect to make money on raising chickens for meat or eggs. Last year we let the meat chickens free range so the feed cost was much less. We also didn't care for the meat either. So this year we're pen raising them. They go through about 20 pounds of feed a day.
We sell our eggs for $2.50/doz. We probably break even on the laying hens. They free range only during fall, winter and spring.
They are funny when they start. Sounds like they are being strangled
20# per day. How many do you have?
TexasFreedom
A True Doomsday Prepper
No kidding, 20 lbs/day? I know ones raised only for meat grow fast, and hardly walk around. But that's a lot of feed... 20 lbs should feed 20 chickens for a week.
And $2/dozen is really cheap, by me local free-range eggs are $4-5/dozen. And young roosters sound horrible for a month or two while they learn to crow. They sound like a dying lamb in a snowstorm!
Bees are really expense in the first years. Most people kill some colonies. And they don't do well configuring the hives for honey production. But once you get it going, a hive should make 50-200 lbs of honey per year, and a pound of honey sells for $8-16. Region variation on yield as well as good years/bad. And splits are a bonus.
And $2/dozen is really cheap, by me local free-range eggs are $4-5/dozen. And young roosters sound horrible for a month or two while they learn to crow. They sound like a dying lamb in a snowstorm!
Bees are really expense in the first years. Most people kill some colonies. And they don't do well configuring the hives for honey production. But once you get it going, a hive should make 50-200 lbs of honey per year, and a pound of honey sells for $8-16. Region variation on yield as well as good years/bad. And splits are a bonus.
Dying lamb in a snowstorm. I'll have to remember that.
TexasFreedom
A True Doomsday Prepper
Robin, I could have used a better example. How about "a liberal the moment Trump won election" (or RE-election!). Talk about a monster cry baby...
Arcticdude
Top Poster
It's amazing how much these birds eat and how fast they grow. I have to keep raising their feeder otherwise they'll just lay there and eat.
TexasFreedom
A True Doomsday Prepper
AD, it's worse than that. You have to slaughter them at the right time (can't remember, 8 or 12 weeks?). They won't live 6 months, they die of heart attacks or something. They can barely even stand up after a while. But they sure put on the meat quickly.
Arcticdude
Top Poster
We're going to butcher them at 12 weeks, in 10-12 more days. I think some of the ones we lost died of heart attack.
Haha very true
Oh my. We can get a pack of 3 chicken breasts and it will feed 4 with lots of leftovers. We call thwm nuclear chickens.
My roofers were all Mexican and they really liked my pollos. After a "slight" language barrier, I realized one of them wanted to buy one and another wanted fertilized eggs for his hen to lay.
I bartered my baby rooster which needed to go for shingles, the wrap and nails. Thought I would spruce up the coops a little.
I bartered my baby rooster which needed to go for shingles, the wrap and nails. Thought I would spruce up the coops a little.
Cleaned coop and carried 5/5gal buckets of sand and was so sweaty. Usually that's no biggie, but today it was hot.
We have a feels like 100 now. I love the heat. Makes my achy bones feel good.
I haven't cleaned the coop as often as usual and found some little worms. Didn't look like maggots but were probably some type of insect that eats poop. I feels guilty about being a slacker.
We have a feels like 100 now. I love the heat. Makes my achy bones feel good.
I haven't cleaned the coop as often as usual and found some little worms. Didn't look like maggots but were probably some type of insect that eats poop. I feels guilty about being a slacker.
Arcticdude
Top Poster
We took the meat chickens in to be butchered on Monday. Out of 23 birds we got around 140 pounds of meat.
We cleaned the coop out today. Pretty easy job; I just put the tractor bucket up to the door and shovel it in, drive over to the garden and dump it in a pile along with the manure from the corral. Next spring I'll spread it out and till it all under. It was about 50 degrees today so it's comfortable working weather.
We cleaned the coop out today. Pretty easy job; I just put the tractor bucket up to the door and shovel it in, drive over to the garden and dump it in a pile along with the manure from the corral. Next spring I'll spread it out and till it all under. It was about 50 degrees today so it's comfortable working weather.
2 years ago I put too much and had too much nitrogen. Lovely plants with no veggies. Be careful
Arcticdude
Top Poster
Good point. Some of the pile will be spread out on the pasture somewhere too.
The heat and drought has caused two terrible weeks of eggs production. No rain in forecast either.
After 8 more days, the temps are going to plummet into the 80s.
I live the heat as long as we get rain.
After 8 more days, the temps are going to plummet into the 80s.
I live the heat as long as we get rain.
Went out this morning and heard a chick. Tomorrow is the due date, so I had to go out and repair the apartment and make a nest etc. Only one so far. Black.
Son is looking for a cool name. Any ideas? Already had a black Raven and Tonto so they are out.
Son is looking for a cool name. Any ideas? Already had a black Raven and Tonto so they are out.
