My daughter , Sarah , and her husband , David , and their two children live across the holler from me and my wife , Elaine . They have a wholly different sight of how to raise wimp than Elaine and I do . And Sarah ’s conception of keeping volaille versus ours basically covers many of the decisions masses have when give programme to start chicken - keeping .
allow ’s await at how those program differ so that you’re able to determine for yourself which chicken - keeping approach to take .
Heritage vs. Industrial
When Elaine and I first began raising chickens , we go the standard “ buy them at the provender - supply shop ” road . But after four class of industrial birds and doing a great deal of inquiry , we decided to set up inheritance Rhode Island Reds . Our industrial RIRs never once tried to brood eggs , and the roosters , without exclusion , were aggressive toward us .
When we learned that many of the traditional chicken breeds were in risk of melt and that industrial hens had the broody trait bred out of them , our path was clear .
So we order inheritance RIR chicks in 2014 and have ever since look on our biddy and roosters to do what come naturally and instinctively to them : add new member to our stack . We also have added other heritage RIR chicks from breeders and friends that raise them to create genetic diversity within our two runs .
Every spring , we bet onward to when one or two of our hens go broody , and 21 days later on , we never originate tired of learn the first peeps emitting from the nesting boxwood . Of course , our fervour peaks when we glimpse several fuzzy heads come forth from beneath the mother biddy .
Sarah ’s approach is entirely unlike , and she is just as pleased with her secret plan architectural plan as we are with ours . In early spring every class , she govern six to eight pullets of some intercrossed stock , normally RIRs or White Leghorns . Within a scant meter , the birds , especially the Leghorns , are get huge numbers of bollock .
Sarah carry to gather a half twelve or more every day until the raspberry begin to molt come fall and ballock laying drastically slows .
Then , David butchers the full flock , and the couple freezes the meat for the winter to come . And throughout the winter , Sarah , David and their boy enjoy a variety of bollock and poulet entree . Sarah is quite proud of with the site , and David is happy to be relieve of the tasks of cleaning the coop , traveling to the provender - provision store to purchase provender and straw , etc .
Read more : The basic principle of egg incubation and hatch wench .
Pen vs. Free-Ranging
Elaine and I are n’t buff of the free - order chicken phenomenon when it comes to making our chicken - keeping program . We live on 38 rural , wooded acres in southwest Virginia . By my count , 16 differentwild predatorscommonly prowl and aviate in our area : four species of hawk , three species of owls , bear , coyotes , bobcats , ruby-red and gray foxes , wood pussy , phalanger , weasels and mink .
Add in rogue dog-iron and isolated kat , and the danger is apparent .
On the 1 - mile - long rural road we endure on , a half dozen of our neighbor raise chickens . At some breaker point , every one of them has suffered the loss of birds . That mortality ranges from two or three on average being turn a loss per year to an entire good deal being wiped out .
The sentiment of one or more of our shuttlecock having their throats ripped aside profoundly disturbs us .
However , we recognize the value of letting our chickens lurch our yard for bugs and flora . bolshie are natural forager , and when I approach them and say , “ Let ’s go out , ” they enthusiastically line up at the door and truly relish their time browsing . But Elaine and I always supervise this activity and keep a lookout for predators .
Our usual approach is to unfreeze our chick when we transmit the weekly cleaning of their runs . During the crepuscle and wintertime , we also let our chooks scrounge inside our fenced garden , in the appendage eliminating many weeds and overwintering insects . The rest of the year , the chickens ’ subject area is our backyard .
At other times , Elaine will also let our chickens scrounge when I am cutting Mrs. Henry Wood or doing some other outside task . But , again , she manage the fowl full time . I am majestic to put forward that we have never lose a bird to a predator !
Sarah , however , is an enthusiastic advocator of loose - ranging . She ’s a school teacher , so summers mean quite a bit of abode time . She oftentimes lets her birds out of their campaign , especially during the cool of the evening . Sarah is also aware of the wellness benefits to her volaille due to them being able-bodied to feast on protein - rich bugs and plants such as clover , dandelions and broadleaf plantain , just to name a few .
And the additional health benefit go to her family when they eat the eggs and meat from those chooks .
She is also cognizant of the dangers local predators present and has accepted the high likelihood of losing one or two bird every year . Indeed , during the summer especially , I expect to receive a phone call from her asking me to come quick as her husband is at body of work and a ( insert war hawk , fox , coyote or other vulture ) is after the volaille !
Read more : ID predators on your property with a simple-minded scent station .
Individuals vs.Nameless Creatures
As presently as our chickens pass on about 6 calendar month of age , Elaine and I position pegleg bands on them and give each individual a name . Elaine provide designation for the hen , and she usually take some moving-picture show , TV show or other cultural phenomenon as the source for her inspiration .
For example , we ’ve had biddy named Thelma , Louise , Lucy and Ethyl . Others have been christened after the female person on popular telly shows such asMad MenandDownton Abbey .
We both found the setting risible when the hen Daisy , advert after the handmaid cook on the latter show , was the alpha hen of her great deal . And it was dry that the hen called Joan was the rife biddy in her scope , just like the same - named character onMad Men .
But there is another gratifying understanding we give first names to our doll . We ’ve detect that chickens are very much individuals , and they possess certain traits that severalise them . For example , Charlotte , who is make after aSex and the Citycharacter , go brooding every year of late in the spring and is a ferocious protector of her dame .
But when she is n’t brooding ballock or nurturing chicks , she is a pure pacifist , never quarrel with the other hens or trying to move up in the pecking order . She simply does n’t have an interest in henhouse dramatic play that is so much a part of raising chickens .
On the other bridge player , Joan was like having another rooster inside the running . From the time she was an 8 - calendar month - old pullet , she was the alpha female inside her ravel . No other biddy dared mess with her unless they want a good wing beating . And when the hen were forage outside the outpouring , Joan was constantly scanning the sky and nearby woods as she watch for predators .
Elaine and I also have a practical reason for appoint our shuttle and placing wooden leg striation on them . We can determine which ones are the good egg - layer , observe the health chronicle of various birds and make profound decisions on which birds to cull come in fall . manifestly , a quality layer with no history of wellness payoff and a recurrent broody such as Charlotte is merit of live another yr .
Whereas a 4 - year - old quarrelsome hen that is n’t a good layer is a substantial stakes for the obtuse cooker .
Conversely , Sarah thinks our naming hiss is silly and definitely not for her . Her hen only live a year or so anyway before they are harvested . Our daughter ’s feeler is wide-eyed and work out well for her home , whereas Elaine and I conceive our philosophy is best for us .
The Role of Roosters
Similarly , Elaine and I have a unlike concept of what a cock should bring to a mess as compared to Sarah . To us , a run without a cock lacks charm and a leader .
A howling part of land living is pick up a rooster sound off before daytime , thus officially confirming that a new day will soon begin and that he is just the male to usher in this amazing event .
The leadership skills of a undecomposed cock within a run are very much underrated . We ’ve had cage that have possessed a male sage and I that have n’t , and the difference is obvious . When a cock is present , hen squabble are fewer and the ones that do occur end quickly because of his presence .
The sounds of a roo vocalizing the food cluck , also know as tidbitting , is a joy as well , as he dispenses treat such as a tasty bug to his harem . Watching all the hens inside a run scud to the rooster ’s side is a gripping experience . And hearing a cock give the alarm preeminence if he spy an avian or a planetary predator is reason enough to keep a manful inresidence .
Of course , the obvious fact that there can be no chicks without a virile male person serve his hen is of the essence when building a homegrown flock . Every outflow , we verify that our most randy rooster domicile within the running that own the hen that have gone broody in the past . Elaine and I do n’t need to risk that a hen is sit on unimpregnated eggs . And when it comes to a creature being watchful of his domain , a rooster ranks a respectable second to that of the category hot dog at sound off when an unwanted alien appears or even set about to venture down a driveway .
While we trust a roo for all these thing and more , Sarah only wants a rooster for tribute ofher hen while they ’re spare - ranging — which is reason enough to own one . As someone who has lose quite a few hens to marauder , Sarah has witnessed the difference an ever - open-eyed male can make .
A great cock ’s incessant weather eye will mean that at the first audio or sight of a vulture , he ’ll screech an alarm note that will send every hen within hearing aloofness toward thick cover .
Our system of volaille fosterage works well for Elaine and me , and Sarah and David have a architectural plan that meets their family ’s motive as well . Go with whichever of these two program best befit your chicken - keeping pauperism or perhaps borrow vista from both approach .
This article in the first place come along in the March / April 2023 publication ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
