I tell you, I am getting frustrated with our chicken losses! The coons are not bothering us as much now, after catching and taking 3 of them off, but we are still losing chickens from both feathered predators as well as metal ones! Most of our predator problem is now coming from the sky, but it really saddens me when we loose a hen by getting hit on the road. During the past 33 days we have lost 5 of our good McMurray laying hens, 3 to hawks most likely, and 2 to the road. A Partridge Rock hen and a beautiful Light Brahma hen have been hit on the road in front of our house! Two Black Giant hens and our largest, most beautiful Buff Orpington hen have turned up missing during the day, and we are constantly spotting hawks flying around. This morning a Blue Jay flew over the lot and all the chickens made the alert sound and disappeared under cover, so I think they know what is going on. Just yesterday (the 21st) was when I lost the last Black Giant and we lost the Buff Orpington on Sunday (the 19th). The other Black Giant hen was lost back in June, but I am furious to loose 2 good hens in just 3 days!
If the hen losses are sad, then our chick losses are downright chilling. I hate to even admit these numbers. In the past, we have had chicks hatch off and we let the mamas free range with them all day long and we close them up in a cage at night. They usually loose one or two chicks that way, but the vast majority survive. We have never before had crows that would come and steal the chicks away, but that is what is happening this summer! Unlike the hawks, they can go down to a lower branch and just drop right down and snatch a chick before the mama can do anything. Ok, here is the disgusting number: we have lost 14 chicks this summer during these past 33 days. And I’m afraid we will loose more! Right now we still have 17 chicks that we are trying to keep safe.
As a result of all this carnage, I am keeping most of the chicks caged (but they have a way of getting out somehow), and I am keeping the hens in their lot later into the evening now. I really like letting them all free range starting sometime in the afternoon, but between the road and the sky, it seems to be too dangerous. This means I will have to feed them a bit more.
One of the reasons to free range is how much it cuts down on the feed bill. (I also think they are happier and healthier and lay more eggs when they free range, but not if they don’t survive.)
Cost Analysis:
We have quite a few chickens, but I can make a 100 pound sack of cracked corn last for almost a month feeding just the 2 dozen or so coop chickens. The cost for that bag has been about $11.30 for the past year now. (I remember when it was just $7.30, as well as when it skyrocketed to $15). That comes down to about 38 cents a day to feed the coop chickens.
Unfortunately, our numbers of layers have gone down by 5 now, but we are still getting between 6 and 10 eggs a day, even with some of them in molt. We are down to just 12 mature laying hens in the coop now, with 2 others raising chicks. We also have the 7 pullets in the coop that are not yet laying and 2 roosters. So, for less than 40 cents a day we are getting enough eggs for a family of 7 with enough left over to sell or feed to the hogs. I figure it is coming out to about 4 cents per egg right now. or 48 cents a dozen, but in the spring we were getting many more eggs for the same feed money.
Where we are probably not making much money sense is feeding our "meat flock". We need to have several more serious butchering days like we did earlier in the summer when we butchered those 7 roosters. We have a flock of 11 birds still in the ravine lot, 8 waiting to be butchered, and we are still raising 9 roosters in the duplex lot for meat, as well as 2 Light Brahma roosters that are ready. Those in the duplex are not yet full grown, but they will be to a good butchering size by fall. Those in the ravine lot are just costing us money in corn. The meat will be valuable, but I don’t know if it will be much of a bargin if we keep feeding them! So between them and the chicks, I go through another 100 pound sack of cracked corn pretty easily.
Keeping all the chickens shut up most of the day, I will probably need at least 3 sacks of corn in a month, feeding them twice.
Current Count:
So even after our recent losses of those 5 hens and all those chicks, here is the tally of the birds God has entrusted us to care for. I already mentioned the 19 birds for meat, and the 17 chicks that are still alive. In the hen department, we still have 4 Light Brahma hens, 3 Black Giant hens, 3 Partridge Rock hens, 2 Buff Orpington hens, 1 Black Australorp hen and 1 Game hen, for a total of 14 hens. Our pullets are 3 Rhode Island Reds (still not sure if these might be cockerals), 2 Buff Orpingtons, 1 Black Giant, and one Buff Orpington/Black for the total of 7 pullets. In the rooster department I am still keeping 2 Buff Orpingtons, 1 Black Giant, and 1 Light Brahma, a total of 4 roosters. So if I add all that up right, we still have 25 chickens that we are caring for as well as 17 chicks. We also still have 3 geese and 2 ducks (having lost 1 goose and 2 ducks earlier).
In conclusion, I know I need to keep better watch on our poultry. We also need to get the butchering done so we can save on feed and also open up some more cages to keep the chicks better. We are thinking about putting a scarecrow by the chickens to fool the hawks and crows and I am planning on sitting back there with a shotgun to see how many crows I can kill. I am thankful for the poultry we still have and want to take good care of them!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 comments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Glory Farm on July 22, 2009 at 9:18 am
Crows took out all 24 of my friend's ducklings. I didn't realize they were so nasty.
Rhonda
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
jlgoinggreen on July 22, 2009 at 10:38 am
Thanks for posting all this (very useful to a newbie) information. These are things that the books I've read do not mention. "Real" life on a farm. Things I really need to prepare for. My dh (after a lot of explaining) has finally convinced me to allow my son to get an air rifle. After reading this, everything he told me makes sense. I guess my son will be making good use of his air rifle.
I will be praying for your family and your chickens safety.
God Bless you and yours,
JEN
PS- Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving your very helpful thoughts.
No comments:
Post a Comment