Chicken in solitary confinement

[Jstpssng]

I'd even debate getting her an old rooster, and letting them screw their retirement away. But I don't want chicks

You do realize there's another step involved? Some people prefer fertile eggs.
I miss hearing a rooster crow, but didn't like seeing the hens without feathers.

I'm going to burn in heII for having admitted that!!

I'll be right there with you... and I suspect we'll have a lot of company!

 

[Yander]

hah... yeah, I can understand that. I actually think they're among the best pets I've ever had, but really it's something I did because my son (then age 6) wanted them, and I thought it might be something fun to do together. It was a good learning experience, and the kids had a lot of fun with them, but they've outgrown all of that now. I don't specifically mind them, I'd have kept the pair we had another few years without bother, but I don't think I want to start buying new chicks to start all over at this point.

Funny story, a business trip took me out of town the week I transitioned our first batch of chicks from the incubator to the chicken coop, and I left my wife in charge of making sure they were fed and watered. She wasn't a fan (at first) of getting chickens, but realized she couldn't just abandon them, so she somewhat begrudgingly agreed to make sure they were in good care.

Long story short, she managed to lock herself into the chicken coop one night, with a bunch of upset and squawking chickens who were not at all used to her. Our then-young kids were in the house, and her mother was probably asleep in our guest suite, but no one could hear her yelling and screaming for help from the chicken coop located some distance from ours and any neighboring houses. There was a pull cord that releases the outside door latch, but when I tried to show it to her before leaving, I got the "yeah, yeah, I don't care, I'm in a rush" attitude all you married guys probably know well enough.

She tried breaking out the window, but I had heavy expanded metal fastened over that to prevent predators, so there was no chance. She tried climbing out thru the egg collection hatch, but that was also latched from the outside. She ended up sliding up the chicken door, and scooting her narrow hips out thru that into the run, probably totally covered in chicken sh*t.

She came inside filthy and yelling, and my 6-year old boy said, "mom, why didn't you just pull the cord to release the door latch?"

I had no idea what had happened, just started getting divorce threats and other random insults in the middle of the night, six time zones away. She did have to admit I built one hell of a chicken coop, she calls it the Fort Knox of chickens.

Wow, and that hen lasted 8 years. That's a good woman!

 

[WinterDeere]

You do realize there's another step involved? Some people prefer fertile eggs.

Actually, I've never really looked into the details. I assume the fertilized eggs must be sat upon or otherwise incubated to grow, but just the same, I seem to remember hearing stories of bloody eggs and shorter shelf life of fertilized eggs. No?

My son and wife both want to keep the old girl around now, so I guess I'm going to call a few friends with chickens to see who has an old retired bird they'd like to unload, just someone to keep ours company in her old age.

And of course I know I'll be right back in the same spot, as soon as one of these two die. But if it's not the bird my son has had since age 6, I guess reversing the scenario will be a bit easier on them.

Have I mentioned our last dog lived to 20.5 years?

 

[paulsharvey]

I 'retired' 7 old hens early this spring. Was on/off getting 2 eggs per day; but only sometimes; and wasn't reliable. Decided it wasn't worth the effort to eat, and wasn't worth feeding. It seems wasteful, but they are livestock not pets, cut the heads off and threw in a hole. Yes, you could make stock or boil them for 4 hours and make a soup, but its not worth the time, low quality meat vs a dang whole chicken at Sam's club.

 

[dstig1]

That story was priceless! Somehow I'm guessing you aren't showing this post to your Dear Wife....

You can hopefully guess what movie this is from

 

[CliffordK]

Actually, I've never really looked into the details. I assume the fertilized eggs must be sat upon or otherwise incubated to grow, but just the same, I seem to remember hearing stories of bloody eggs and shorter shelf life of fertilized eggs. No?

You'll occasionally get tiny blood spots, but they won't kill anybody... as long as you still regularly collect the eggs.

It is somewhere around 3 weeks from laying to hatching. So, if you collect the eggs regularly, you won't get chicks. If you head out on vacation and leave your wife in charge of the chickens, you could end up with a whole pile of young chicks.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Actually, I've never really looked into the details. I assume the fertilized eggs must be sat upon or otherwise incubated to grow, but just the same, I seem to remember hearing stories of bloody eggs and shorter shelf life of fertilized eggs. No?

My son and wife both want to keep the old girl around now, so I guess I'm going to call a few friends with chickens to see who has an old retired bird they'd like to unload, just someone to keep ours company in her old age.

And of course I know I'll be right back in the same spot, as soon as one of these two die. But if it's not the bird my son has had since age 6, I guess reversing the scenario will be a bit easier on them.

Have I mentioned our last dog lived to 20.5 years?

No, as long as they don't get incubated there is no difference is their shelf life, just a FYI not everyone know this but the propre way to store eggs is actually on the counter or in a pantry not refrigerated but they need to be periodically rotated, if you are not going to rotate them then you are better to refrigerate them.

We always had a rooster with our flock unless he became aggressive towards us or with the chicken.

 

[WinterDeere]

Yeah, we keep our eggs on the counter, in a gravity-fed rack that naturally rotates them as we pull the oldest from the bottom and the rest roll down to replace what we take. It holds 2-dozen eggs, which is more than our small family needs to keep on hand, so I'll typically pull a dozen and give to a neighbor when the rack overflows. So, rotating shouldn't be a big problem, at least until they're given away in a carton.

A neighbor accidentally got a rooster with their batch of hens. At first thought it wouldn't be a big deal, but it was always attacking his kids when they'd let them free range. So, he decided no more free ranging... but then it attacked him when he was cleaning or feeding in the run one day. It was still young, so it became dinner.

I know some cultures will find ways to prep and cook 8 year old chickens, but I really have no interest in all that. Sounds like a lot of work to save very little money, and for a less desirable result. I usually just throw the dead ones onto my fire pit, and let them sit there until they start to stink. What isn't picked apart from buzzards or other scavengers is burned the following weekend.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Yeah, we keep our eggs on the counter, in a gravity-fed rack that naturally rotates them as we pull the oldest from the bottom and the rest roll down to replace what we take. It holds 2-dozen eggs, which is more than our small family needs to keep on hand, so I'll typically pull a dozen and give to a neighbor when the rack overflows. So, rotating shouldn't be a big problem, at least until they're given away in a carton.

A neighbor accidentally got a rooster with their batch of hens. At first thought it wouldn't be a big deal, but it was always attacking his kids when they'd let them free range. So, he decided no more free ranging... but then it attacked him when he was cleaning or feeding in the run one day. It was still young, so it became dinner.

yeah it start because the kids react to his charge or get scared, if you don't react they stay pretty good but more you get scared more they attack, obviously some are worse then others.

 

[WinterDeere]

yeah it start because the kids react to his charge or get scared, if you don't react they stay pretty good but more you get scared more they attack, obviously some are worse then others.

Reminds me of the Canada geese that used to always nest in one of the parking lot islands, where I used to work. They'd intimidate most to stay away, but there were always a few of us (mostly just me and one other guy) who never wanted to give up our usual parking spots, either side of that island. They'd try real hard to intimidate us the first few days, but then give up when we didn't back down, and then they'd be fine with us the rest of their nesting season.

That was years ago, so I don't remember for sure, but I think they'd usually hang around for a month before moving on and then returning the next year to repeat the whole charade.