Interesting! I had a small flock + cockerel on my fruit farm in Spain. Eagles were my only predators because my farm was high in the foothills of a mountain and the eagles were constantly keeping an eye on movements on my farm. I had two well trained dogs and a cat protecting the chickens against smaller predators. One bold eagle did swoop down and grab a chick. Monty, the cockerel grabbed the neck of the big bird as it struggled to take flight. His claws were tearing at the eagles chest but when it got about 15 feet up he had to let go. He was very upset.
My chickens were entirely free to roam and roosted in the very mature cherry trees. In the winters I would put my chainsaw into the wheel barrow and this would signal to them that it was time to follow me into the woods, which they loved.
I also used the same trick to take all my animals away from the farm and down the riverbank to safety when bush fires threatened to burn us out. The village kids called me Pocohontas because I was frequently seen wheeling my barrow deep into the forest, followed by two dogs, a cat, 6 chickens, one cockerel and a retired goat-herder horse called Soldato, who provided grass chomping duties and led us all on longer explorations up the mountains for Sunday outings.
My land benefitted enormously from chicken droppings, Soldato's nutrient-rich deposits and pats taken from the fields of young bulls who were my only neighbours.
Off grid living was never easy but it was healthy and happy, that is a fact!
Thoroughly enjoyed your chicken story. Have not had chickens for years but when I did, I raised them very similar to you. Also Barred Rock were my favorite but didn't care for how scrappy the roosters are. Got attacked several times. My favorite setting hens are plain little bantams. Good setters and great mothers. Good luck with your chickens.
Very informative post. I have been raising chickens for almost seven years, a mix of breeds, but primarily Buff Orpingtons (which do go broody, they are a great breed but are more adapted to northern climate and are heavily feathered). I've experimented with others. I love my barred rock, but she is loud as heck. I'm really liking the sapphire splash hens I have. They are quiet and good layers. I want to get a rooster, but he's going to have to be orp or splash, both of which are supposedly not as loud as other roosters. I wouldn't mind some banties for setting either, I just converted a truck camper into a chicken house and will be able to expand. My hens are lucky, I have access to a few acres for them to range. I am going to try out the mash suggestions, that might be very good for them.
PS, I don't use the traditional brooders. I get 3 chicks at a time and use a series of pet kennels set next to a heater, 'nesting' them at night under a nest made of a fleece blanket that can be shaken out every morning. I think it is better for them, although one could not do it with a large number of chicks.
Thought about putting the following in the piece but it was already pretty long. On those rare occasions when I have to bring in chicks, I make a compost pile in the coop where the chicks will be, about 2 weeks ahead of getting them. By the time the chicks arrive the compost will be just the right temperature to brood them. They can come and go from various hot spots or cooler spots on the pile as they see fit. As they grow they discover that the pile is also a great place to scratch for soil fuana - it teaches them to do what their mother hen would have taught them to do.
I love your chicken posts! My chicken operation is small potatoes compared to yours. My backyard is pretty much all pool and patio but I have a coop by the pool pump and let them forage in the front yard on the grass sometimes. The neighborhood kids come over and chase them around. I’ve never had a Black Copper Maran but I would love some. My favorites are buff orp and barred rocks. My Easter Egger has not laid since Sept 🍗
I am going to start farming Black Sodier Fly Larvae soon to supplement. I usually just buy them dried but thought I’d try growing my own fresh
Working with Mother Nature instead of against her is so much more productive, in every sense of the word. But you had better be careful, as Bill Gates does not like the concept of nature and natural. It can't be patented, and how else will he make more billions? Bill does not understand nature and tries to show his dominance over her. There is a problem, however. Fool Mother Nature and you pay Father Time.
Just when you think agriculture has turned the corner and realized the folly of trying to do battle with Ma Nature and realize the benefits of working with her... in swooshes Bill Gates to tell everyone that he has some glitzy new technological baubles for everyone to try. Predictably, many of the left leaning vegan cowd begin to drool.
Fascinating information! I loved reading this thank you! 😊
My family (husband and young adult children) are keen to help start our own farmlet here in Australia. We've had some disturbing news that in one state, so far (Victoria), government has passed a bill allowing officials to come onto your property and remove all your animals without needing any due processes, if they deem an infection within a herd or flock. Also pigs recently in NSW diagnosed using PCR tests for Japanese encephalitis and now lumpy skin disease in cattle.
Do you see any of this affecting your ability to keep your animals? I've seen there's swine flu and bird flu affecting flocks in the US...but using the damn PCR tests as evidence? 🤦♀️
As OG rightly points out below, it's all part of the plan to get us off real food and onto fake meat and other highly processed artificial foods. This means much of what you see in the news is contrived to move the agenda ahead - just as with covid.
Not confining the animals and raising them out on pastures will prevent any disease from becoming problematic.
Part of avoiding detection is to not register your livestock or join any agricultural or livestock organization that keeps an official membership list.
I am so glad you take the time and effort to put your thoughts and experiences on paper for us to read and digest. It won't be long before raising chickens, like gathering rain water, will become illegal. For me, I follow the advice of Dr. Alan Mandell who is a DO out of FL with his own YT channel. People need to get off their double-wides and fight back. This is NOT the America that Paul Revere and George Washington fought for. No, I did not take the Jab. I won't either. IMO, its one of the signs of the Mark of the Beast. Thanks, Kyle!
Love this post! So full of valuable information. Our chicks are only 3 weeks old but moving them outdoors in another 4-5 weeks. We have a smallish yard so the "backyard" section was particularly helpful! Thanks for writing and posting.
Thank you Kyle! We are contemplating a move into having a chicken flock...albeit a small flock since we are in a suburban type setting. I believe our challenge will be to keep them in our 'yard' when we let them out to forage?!? And, we may not get a rooster because we are looking at only 4 hens to start. We don't eat that many eggs...which may just change if we dive off the deep end into chicken world...L.O.L. We are thinking it will be Barred Rock for calmness and quietness and heat tolerance (I think?!?) Also, a friend of ours has a flock of Barred Rock from which we would receive chicks. We will know more! And, I liked the mix of writing topics so 'Thumbs up' to you mixing and matching when the spirit moves you :-)
thanks Kyle. Enjoyed reading about your flock. I once had a party of two chickens that laid an egg every day. Then I moved and miss them terribly. Of course I had to name the girls as they were so socialible. Lucy and Bettywhite were their names and they came when called. So I agree with you. Old is becoming new again and I am so proud. I am praying for those youngsters growing up to at least look back and see what worked before and think twice before heading out to fast food places. love ya Kyle and love your articles. viv
One of the great pleasures in my life has been the hundreds of young interns that have come to my farm over the years. It's so rewarding to see them awaken to the natural rhythms and cycles of the earth and learn about the pleasures and benefits of growing ones own food.
Such valuable chicken info--thanks for sharing your wisdom. We're looking at growing mealworms and trying our hand at planting some foraging crops--good to know they can be accessed by the chickens in the ground. We've been putting our chickens to work in the garden during the winter--starting to see some positive results in the soil!
Thanks for the info on 🐔 🐓. Im just about to get my first dozen, and have no idea what to expect, but this article certainly covered many aspects. I’ll no doubt have a ton of questions before too long. Hopefully, you’ll keep reading our comments and responding to them.
So refreshing to hear about real world farm life, Kyle. Keep the practical wisdom flowing! My little flock of 4 Spotted Sussex are settling in as autumn shades into winter here downunder. So much fun to clean up the neglected garden on my new farm with their enthusiastic help. Almost had a riot when one girl dug up a big fat witchety grub and the other 3 chased her around trying to catch her. So funny. And to address your question from last post - a chook lives in a ‘chook house’. Would love to hear how you deal with predators in more detail. I’ve got foxes and eagles and just not comfortable yet leaving the chooks on their own in the fenced garden on their own all day. Maybe I’m being overprotective! 🤣
The primary thing I do to keep predators at bay is keep good fencing.
Not too many eagles here, but lots of hawks. The other good protection is roosters. They keep watch over the hens and sound the alarm if any kind of predator approaches. If a rooster calls a warning, the flock runs for the plentiful cover to hide.
Backyard chickens is a fantasy of mine, one I doubt I will ever manifest due to age, health, and location. I enjoy your stories. I remember hearing a rooster every morning, this was about 30 years ago. Now I think of a rooster as the neighborhood alarm clock!
At this time of year mine begin crowing about 3:30 to 4, which is earlier than when I need to get up. But, anymore, I sleep right through that. What wakes me up is first light.
Thanks OG! I moved to my current location from Vista in 1984. Managed an avocado farm and a wholesale nursery there. Also ran a turnkey landscaping business.
Are you R.C? I ask because I'm planning a trip south in the spring and one of the places I want to visit and write about (and maybe do a video) is Rancho Via Organica.
Interesting! I had a small flock + cockerel on my fruit farm in Spain. Eagles were my only predators because my farm was high in the foothills of a mountain and the eagles were constantly keeping an eye on movements on my farm. I had two well trained dogs and a cat protecting the chickens against smaller predators. One bold eagle did swoop down and grab a chick. Monty, the cockerel grabbed the neck of the big bird as it struggled to take flight. His claws were tearing at the eagles chest but when it got about 15 feet up he had to let go. He was very upset.
My chickens were entirely free to roam and roosted in the very mature cherry trees. In the winters I would put my chainsaw into the wheel barrow and this would signal to them that it was time to follow me into the woods, which they loved.
I also used the same trick to take all my animals away from the farm and down the riverbank to safety when bush fires threatened to burn us out. The village kids called me Pocohontas because I was frequently seen wheeling my barrow deep into the forest, followed by two dogs, a cat, 6 chickens, one cockerel and a retired goat-herder horse called Soldato, who provided grass chomping duties and led us all on longer explorations up the mountains for Sunday outings.
My land benefitted enormously from chicken droppings, Soldato's nutrient-rich deposits and pats taken from the fields of young bulls who were my only neighbours.
Off grid living was never easy but it was healthy and happy, that is a fact!
Thoroughly enjoyed your chicken story. Have not had chickens for years but when I did, I raised them very similar to you. Also Barred Rock were my favorite but didn't care for how scrappy the roosters are. Got attacked several times. My favorite setting hens are plain little bantams. Good setters and great mothers. Good luck with your chickens.
No problems with my barred rock guys.
Yes, it's hard to beat banties for setting and brooding chicks.
Thanks for chiming in Bev.
Very informative post. I have been raising chickens for almost seven years, a mix of breeds, but primarily Buff Orpingtons (which do go broody, they are a great breed but are more adapted to northern climate and are heavily feathered). I've experimented with others. I love my barred rock, but she is loud as heck. I'm really liking the sapphire splash hens I have. They are quiet and good layers. I want to get a rooster, but he's going to have to be orp or splash, both of which are supposedly not as loud as other roosters. I wouldn't mind some banties for setting either, I just converted a truck camper into a chicken house and will be able to expand. My hens are lucky, I have access to a few acres for them to range. I am going to try out the mash suggestions, that might be very good for them.
PS, I don't use the traditional brooders. I get 3 chicks at a time and use a series of pet kennels set next to a heater, 'nesting' them at night under a nest made of a fleece blanket that can be shaken out every morning. I think it is better for them, although one could not do it with a large number of chicks.
That's a good option.
Thought about putting the following in the piece but it was already pretty long. On those rare occasions when I have to bring in chicks, I make a compost pile in the coop where the chicks will be, about 2 weeks ahead of getting them. By the time the chicks arrive the compost will be just the right temperature to brood them. They can come and go from various hot spots or cooler spots on the pile as they see fit. As they grow they discover that the pile is also a great place to scratch for soil fuana - it teaches them to do what their mother hen would have taught them to do.
That is great! I'm going to try that out! Thanks.
I love your chicken posts! My chicken operation is small potatoes compared to yours. My backyard is pretty much all pool and patio but I have a coop by the pool pump and let them forage in the front yard on the grass sometimes. The neighborhood kids come over and chase them around. I’ve never had a Black Copper Maran but I would love some. My favorites are buff orp and barred rocks. My Easter Egger has not laid since Sept 🍗
I am going to start farming Black Sodier Fly Larvae soon to supplement. I usually just buy them dried but thought I’d try growing my own fresh
I've also toyed with the idea of growing BSF's. Let us know how the project goes.
Given what they're grown in, finding certified organic ones may be a stretch.
Working with Mother Nature instead of against her is so much more productive, in every sense of the word. But you had better be careful, as Bill Gates does not like the concept of nature and natural. It can't be patented, and how else will he make more billions? Bill does not understand nature and tries to show his dominance over her. There is a problem, however. Fool Mother Nature and you pay Father Time.
Just when you think agriculture has turned the corner and realized the folly of trying to do battle with Ma Nature and realize the benefits of working with her... in swooshes Bill Gates to tell everyone that he has some glitzy new technological baubles for everyone to try. Predictably, many of the left leaning vegan cowd begin to drool.
Perhaps pay a big karmic debt as well.
Fascinating information! I loved reading this thank you! 😊
My family (husband and young adult children) are keen to help start our own farmlet here in Australia. We've had some disturbing news that in one state, so far (Victoria), government has passed a bill allowing officials to come onto your property and remove all your animals without needing any due processes, if they deem an infection within a herd or flock. Also pigs recently in NSW diagnosed using PCR tests for Japanese encephalitis and now lumpy skin disease in cattle.
Do you see any of this affecting your ability to keep your animals? I've seen there's swine flu and bird flu affecting flocks in the US...but using the damn PCR tests as evidence? 🤦♀️
As OG rightly points out below, it's all part of the plan to get us off real food and onto fake meat and other highly processed artificial foods. This means much of what you see in the news is contrived to move the agenda ahead - just as with covid.
Not confining the animals and raising them out on pastures will prevent any disease from becoming problematic.
Part of avoiding detection is to not register your livestock or join any agricultural or livestock organization that keeps an official membership list.
Thanks for that insight. I'll look into our system here and find ways to bypass.
I am so glad you take the time and effort to put your thoughts and experiences on paper for us to read and digest. It won't be long before raising chickens, like gathering rain water, will become illegal. For me, I follow the advice of Dr. Alan Mandell who is a DO out of FL with his own YT channel. People need to get off their double-wides and fight back. This is NOT the America that Paul Revere and George Washington fought for. No, I did not take the Jab. I won't either. IMO, its one of the signs of the Mark of the Beast. Thanks, Kyle!
Yup, if ever there was a time to fight back, its now. Use it or lose it.
Thanks Fran.
Love this post! So full of valuable information. Our chicks are only 3 weeks old but moving them outdoors in another 4-5 weeks. We have a smallish yard so the "backyard" section was particularly helpful! Thanks for writing and posting.
Thanks AL.
Good to hear. Keep us posted.
Thank you Kyle! We are contemplating a move into having a chicken flock...albeit a small flock since we are in a suburban type setting. I believe our challenge will be to keep them in our 'yard' when we let them out to forage?!? And, we may not get a rooster because we are looking at only 4 hens to start. We don't eat that many eggs...which may just change if we dive off the deep end into chicken world...L.O.L. We are thinking it will be Barred Rock for calmness and quietness and heat tolerance (I think?!?) Also, a friend of ours has a flock of Barred Rock from which we would receive chicks. We will know more! And, I liked the mix of writing topics so 'Thumbs up' to you mixing and matching when the spirit moves you :-)
Thanks Robert.
Good luck with the new chicken venture. They'll do great where you are.
thanks Kyle. Enjoyed reading about your flock. I once had a party of two chickens that laid an egg every day. Then I moved and miss them terribly. Of course I had to name the girls as they were so socialible. Lucy and Bettywhite were their names and they came when called. So I agree with you. Old is becoming new again and I am so proud. I am praying for those youngsters growing up to at least look back and see what worked before and think twice before heading out to fast food places. love ya Kyle and love your articles. viv
Good to hear from you.
One of the great pleasures in my life has been the hundreds of young interns that have come to my farm over the years. It's so rewarding to see them awaken to the natural rhythms and cycles of the earth and learn about the pleasures and benefits of growing ones own food.
Such valuable chicken info--thanks for sharing your wisdom. We're looking at growing mealworms and trying our hand at planting some foraging crops--good to know they can be accessed by the chickens in the ground. We've been putting our chickens to work in the garden during the winter--starting to see some positive results in the soil!
Good to hear Wendy! The longer you keep dong all of that, the easier and better (soil, nutrition, etc) everything becomes.
Thanks for the info on 🐔 🐓. Im just about to get my first dozen, and have no idea what to expect, but this article certainly covered many aspects. I’ll no doubt have a ton of questions before too long. Hopefully, you’ll keep reading our comments and responding to them.
I can talk about all the plandemic bull hooey, but what I really enjoy talking about is food and farming:)
So refreshing to hear about real world farm life, Kyle. Keep the practical wisdom flowing! My little flock of 4 Spotted Sussex are settling in as autumn shades into winter here downunder. So much fun to clean up the neglected garden on my new farm with their enthusiastic help. Almost had a riot when one girl dug up a big fat witchety grub and the other 3 chased her around trying to catch her. So funny. And to address your question from last post - a chook lives in a ‘chook house’. Would love to hear how you deal with predators in more detail. I’ve got foxes and eagles and just not comfortable yet leaving the chooks on their own in the fenced garden on their own all day. Maybe I’m being overprotective! 🤣
Ok, chook house.
The primary thing I do to keep predators at bay is keep good fencing.
Not too many eagles here, but lots of hawks. The other good protection is roosters. They keep watch over the hens and sound the alarm if any kind of predator approaches. If a rooster calls a warning, the flock runs for the plentiful cover to hide.
Excellent. Tick for rooster and tick for good fencing. 👍🏻
Backyard chickens is a fantasy of mine, one I doubt I will ever manifest due to age, health, and location. I enjoy your stories. I remember hearing a rooster every morning, this was about 30 years ago. Now I think of a rooster as the neighborhood alarm clock!
At this time of year mine begin crowing about 3:30 to 4, which is earlier than when I need to get up. But, anymore, I sleep right through that. What wakes me up is first light.
Do it Brenda. You'll be happy you did.
Thanks OG! I moved to my current location from Vista in 1984. Managed an avocado farm and a wholesale nursery there. Also ran a turnkey landscaping business.
Are you R.C? I ask because I'm planning a trip south in the spring and one of the places I want to visit and write about (and maybe do a video) is Rancho Via Organica.