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Thread: Fitty's Angling Ramble 7.0
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04-14-2014, 07:00 PM #4291
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04-15-2014, 02:00 AM #4292
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04-15-2014, 05:19 AM #4293
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they always have the most awkward meals lol
sounds like you have the plan laid out in your head, time to buy some chicks
I watched the electric eel one....that one foolish guide was holding one with his bare hands...thats worse than holding rattlers for faith
I admire your level of spiteChina is asshoe !!!
Super Straight HTC Crew, Pureblood Crew & a Jeepbrah (no ducks)
Florida is GOAT
Gen X: Humanity's last hope
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04-15-2014, 06:06 AM #4294
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04-15-2014, 08:23 AM #4295
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04-15-2014, 10:25 AM #4296
- Join Date: Oct 2006
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04-15-2014, 10:36 AM #4297
- Join Date: Feb 2006
- Location: Jacksonville, Florida, United States
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04-15-2014, 10:40 AM #4298
The crappy thing there is that most hatcheries will only send you a minimum number of 15 chicks. So you almost have to find a partner who will take the other half of the order!
I'm looking at Barred Rock laying hens, which they say will produce 2 eggs per 3 hens per day. Figure as a family we go through 4 to 6 eggs per day. So 9 hens would meet my egg production needs.
I'm okay with the summer maintenance, and I'm alright with the litter trays as I'll compost it for next year's fertilizer. My concern is winter survival and winter maintenance etc...6'4"
258
"There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the way, and not starting." The Buddha
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04-15-2014, 12:39 PM #4299
- Join Date: Oct 2006
- Location: Kentucky, United States
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04-15-2014, 12:59 PM #4300
Well I was thinking for the water that I would just buy one of those plug in heated watering stations. One mag I read talked about fountains, and while I have a spare fountain, I know the damn things slime up from just two cats. I could imagine 4 chickens being a nightmare.
I also have a 44 X 80 inch thermal glass window. I was thinking I would convert the tack room into a coop and put the window on the south face to allow in additional light. Then I was going to lay some black bricks in front of the window to pick up heat load from the sun.
Then I was going to go with a cold hardy breed like Barred Rocks.
My neighbor keeps chickens and he gets eggs through the year. He says egg production is cut in half in the winter, but that they'll keep laying so long as the birds aren't stressed etc...
I'm still thinking about it. Not sold one way or the other.
Might start out with some meat breeds, raise them through one cycle and harvest at 20 weeks (Around christmas) just to get my feet wet.6'4"
258
"There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the way, and not starting." The Buddha
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04-15-2014, 01:10 PM #4301
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04-15-2014, 01:24 PM #4302
I haven't seen the 3 legged coyote or any tracks for him in a while. What I do have is a FAMILY of gray Fox living just down the hill, like 250 feet from where I'd build the coop. There is also a family of Hawks preparing to fledge in the same stand of pines. And this whole area is RIFE with birds of prey.
So I won't be "Free-Ranging" the birds and playing hippie drum music while they forage organic worms from my garden!
I figure I'll have an indoor coop with big window with a pass through to an indoor fenced area in the barn. Then I'll probably put in a chicken run or build some tractors for day visits to the garden where they can scratch out weeds and pick off bugs.6'4"
258
"There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the way, and not starting." The Buddha
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04-15-2014, 01:53 PM #4303
- Join Date: Oct 2006
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Coons and possums will be the problem w/ predators.
If you want to raise them, raise them. It's not a life decision...they make good dumplings if need be.My current log
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=158720023&p=1173746753&posted=1#post1173746753
A step backwards is better than a setback.
If this (insert whatever trivial thing that is upsetting me) is the worst thing to happen today, I'm going to have a great day.
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04-15-2014, 02:02 PM #4304
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04-15-2014, 02:04 PM #4305
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04-15-2014, 05:50 PM #4306
When I first moved out here it was after the second warmest winter in 50 years and coons and skunks were definitely an issue. After two of the top 5 hardest winters in this region since 1863 it's a waste land for all but the hardiest scavengers. Even the squirrels and rabbits that were EPIC are now scant.
When it comes to raising chickens, predator wise, Fox is my biggest worry. And of course I've got a rodent issue out in the barn that I don't know how to deal with. I've heard mixed info on the impact of rodents in a chicken coop. Any insights?6'4"
258
"There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the way, and not starting." The Buddha
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04-15-2014, 11:22 PM #4307
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Only way to go with chickens is a good plot of land and free range. If you have to feed the damn things it becomes pointless in a hurry and not worth the effort. Long ago I had some that were flat out zero maintenance. They just scratched around 4 acres and ate bugs and drank water from the dog bowls. From time to time they'd stop laying eggs in the laying boxes and start roosting in trees. I'd go out at night with a 2x4 and flashlight, find them and stick the 2x4 under their chest and they jump right on it. Lock them in the coop for a couple days and they'll go a few months without repeating. Rodents were never an issue, my chickens would kick their ass and they never bothered eggs. Opossums would sometimes harass the bitties if they were really young, foxes could not penetrate my pens nor fit in the chicken door (I had some damn fine huge pens), dogs kept the coons away. I can't say I ever lost an egg to anything other than a snake, and only things that ever bothered the chickens were domestic stray dogs during the day when the birds were out in the fields but the birds were usually fast enough to get up into a tree or back to the yard/pens before any damage was done.
Last edited by HairyScandinavian; 04-15-2014 at 11:26 PM.
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04-16-2014, 05:08 AM #4308
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04-16-2014, 05:09 AM #4309
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04-16-2014, 05:14 AM #4310
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04-16-2014, 05:54 AM #4311
- Join Date: Oct 2006
- Location: Kentucky, United States
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04-16-2014, 07:22 AM #4312
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04-16-2014, 07:45 AM #4313
Well the university of Ohio did a companion study with the University of Hawaii, looking at the different cost and benefits of raising chickens, specifically laying hens.
I plugged the base information into the Barred Rock breed I'm looking at. Then subtracted back the cost of feed for in my area, average cost of power for the watering station in the winter and came out with these numbers:
Savings per bird in eggs per year: $10
Savings per bird in Fertilizer/compost per year: $45
Final meat savings for slaughtering the bird: $7 (Stewing hen)
If we consider that the average bird lays for 2 years, then I slaughter it for soup...
Each bird lifetime has a net value of $117.
The variable I haven't accounted for is the hours of work etc...
Figure if I have 6 birds it's a savings of $702
So if it's an average of 702 hours of work to tend the birds, then I'm saving $1 an hour!
6'4"
258
"There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the way, and not starting." The Buddha
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04-16-2014, 07:51 AM #4314
- Join Date: Feb 2006
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04-16-2014, 08:10 AM #4315
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04-16-2014, 08:51 AM #4316
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04-16-2014, 12:53 PM #4317
Brother, my hatred for my neighbors keeps me warm at night. Caught another one hunting in the back, he was marched out at gunpoint for the DNR. The rest think it's a fukn petting zoo. So when they complain, I give them something to complain about, chicken houses are HORRID smelling structures long about late June through September. ENJOY YOUR COOKOUTS YA JACKWAGONS!!!
Me either, I don't eat rodents or dogs.
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04-16-2014, 01:17 PM #4318
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04-16-2014, 01:57 PM #4319
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04-16-2014, 04:57 PM #4320
- Join Date: Jul 2007
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