trying to be a farmer

[Trigger Mike]

I decided to try my hand at farming. I keep buying chickens for the owls and hawks to stay fed, so obviously I am failing at raising chickens. My goal had been to have yard chickens, now I only have 1 hen that roams the yard, and three chicks who are so scared they stay huddled in their coop and won't come out. I keep them in a 10x10 dog kennel and their coop is a rabbit house on legs with hardwire cloth all around and a tin roof. I put tarp over two corners of the kennel and string zig zag across to keep the owls out but the hen still gets out. Since chickens are a failure, I bought 6 quail. They stay locked in their rabbit house in the pen with the chickens, while the chickens can roam free in the pen.

 

1. should I put something in the quail pen to encourage hatching, i.e. pine straw, or wheat straw of even a chickens laying box?

 

2. I have been told that a spotted quail egg is fertilized while a plain one is not, is that true?

 

3. is there anything I can do to help promote quail multiplication?

[Dirty Dan Dawkins]

you could shoot the owls and the hawks.

[Trigger Mike]

but I need them to eat my rattle snakes

[Dirty Dan Dawkins]

but I need them to eat my rattle snakes

You must've moved south on us.

[Trigger Mike]

Vidalia

[SOUTH-PACIFIC,SASS #59402]

you need a him and a her to produce hatch able eggs the egg color is dependent on the type of quail. bob white eggs are white.

[Dirty Dan Dawkins]

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/113482/legal-elimination-of-hawks-and-owls

[Dirty Dan Dawkins]

Vidalia

Home to Paul Anderson

[Grizzly Dave]

but I need them to eat my rattle snakes

 

Best stop feeding then chicken then

[Trigger Mike]

Best stop feeding then chicken then

[Badlands Bob #61228]

You'd be better off starting lower on the food chain. Plant a vegetable garden in the spring and work your way back up to chickens in a couple of years.

[Trigger Mike]

You'd be better off starting lower on the food chain. Plant a vegetable garden in the spring and work your way back up to chickens in a couple of years.

not a bad idea really. To that end I tilled to plant turnips and mustard greens yesterday as well as a few Broccoli. My spring garden did poorly partly because we had way too much rain this year. next year may be too little we will see.

[Bama Red]

Gawd,I love hanging out in the Saloon (ACS)!!

[Blasted Cap]

Might want to NOT take the advice of shooting the owls and hawks. You get caught doing that, the only farming you'll be doing is at either the poor house or the big house.

Completely cover the kennel you keep the chickens in. Let them run free only when you are out there. Shouldn't have any issues. My daughter has raised them in our backyard for the last 5 years.

[irish ike, SASS #43615]

Chickens need sunshine, the ability to move around, some open dirt to get sand etc for the gizzard and to dust themselves, add oyster shells in their feed for nice thick eggs. We built an enclosure connected to a cage for them to roost at night. And get out of the weather. It's doesn't have to be huge and tall. Cover it with chicken wire and the predators will stay out. Along with other birds eating the feed. We get 1 egg a day fro each chicken. They need something to nest in. We used wooden eggs laying in the nesting boxes for them to get the idea. Roost should be up off the ground, they feel more secure, and it helps keep them off of the cold ground in the winter.

 

I know, too much information. But a few 2x4's and some wire and you don't have to shoot part of the natural food chain.

Ike

[Krazy Kajun]

Trigger Mike.....the solution is obvious...you have to plant the chicken's feet in the ground :lol:

[Yellowhouse Sam # 25171]

What you might need is a mobile coop or pasture pen for chickens. Lots of designs on the net. Here's one of many and a good website to boot: Pasture Pen

[Grizzly Dave]

Lastly, you need to improve your odds a bit...

 

With only 10 chickens, if the hawk and owl each get one, you've lost 20 percent of your flock.

 

Now say if you had 100 of them, and the hawk and owl each got one, you'd only be losing 2 percent.

 

:D

[irish ike, SASS #43615]

Grizzly...that there is real close to the logic our politicians use!

[Hayes Greener]

Make yourself a chicken tractor and let them mow the yard

 

As far as the quail are concerned, slip some Viagra in their water and put some Barry White music on. Oh, and get a brooder hood at your feed store. They like their privacy

 

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=chicken+tractor+plans&id=40EFF9CCD927F00650F57EBCD1412CB5141CFD9B&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=2248D8FF02E5769366FD5E511E685214EE120FE8&selectedIndex=3

[Trigger Mike]

I like these portable homes. I want them to graze on grass to lower my feed cost and yellow my yolks as well as let them help me keep the bugs down, but want them safe at the same time.

 

I lost 3 more chicks last night. My main hen sleeps in a tree branch above my head that has other branches over it. The others stayed huddled inside their coop. A part of my roof over the pen was collapsed (plywood resting on a corner and a log across for support) and two were gone and a third was half eaten on the roof of the coop. a more permanent solution is in order. My quail were fine though. They are locked in their coop and predators must not know how to turn door handles.

[Krazy Kajun]

Make yourself a chicken tractor and let them mow the yard

 

As far as the quail are concerned, slip some Viagra in their water and put some Barry White music on. Oh, and get a brooder hood at your feed store. They like their privacy

 

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=chicken+tractor+plans&id=40EFF9CCD927F00650F57EBCD1412CB5141CFD9B&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=2248D8FF02E5769366FD5E511E685214EE120FE8&selectedIndex=3

Chicken tractor...now that there is funny, I don't care where you're from

[BLACKFOOT SASS #11947]

Onions man, onions. Hawks, owls and snakes don't eat onions. Go with the flow, be an onion farmer.

 

Lafitte

[SOUTH-PACIFIC,SASS #59402]

I like these portable homes. I want them to graze on grass to lower my feed cost and yellow my yolks as well as let them help me keep the bugs down, but want them safe at the same time.

 

I lost 3 more chicks last night. My main hen sleeps in a tree branch above my head that has other branches over it. The others stayed huddled inside their coop. A part of my roof over the pen was collapsed (plywood resting on a corner and a log across for support) and two were gone and a third was half eaten on the roof of the coop. a more permanent solution is in order. My quail were fine though. They are locked in their coop and predators must not know how to turn door handles.

[/

sounds to me like you got a 4 legged critter problem]. bate a trap and see what happens. I am speaking from experience. the critters put me out of business.

[Trigger Mike]

well before I could get a better coop, my last hen got too cocky and wondered in the open yard and judging from the pile of feathers was taken away by a hawk while we were out today. My quail are fine, and in the meantime I planted turnips and collards today. hawks don't eat vegetables. Since it is hunting season I best not catch a deer in my field.

[Dirty Dan Dawkins]

A farmer stopped by the local mechanic shop to have his truck fixed.
They couldn't do it while he waited, so he said he didn't live far and
would just walk home. On the way home he stopped at the hardware store
and bought a bucket and a gallon of paint.

He then stopped by the feed store and picked up a couple of chickens and a goose.

However, struggling outside the store he now had a problem - how to carry his purchases home.

While he was scratching his head he was approached by a little old lady who told him she was lost.

She asked, "Can you tell me how to get to Mockingbird Lane?"

The farmer said, "Well, as a matter of fact, my farm is very close to
that house. I would walk you there but I can't carry this lot."

The old lady suggested, "Why don't you put the can of paint in the
bucket. Carry the bucket in one hand; put a chicken under each arm and
carry the goose in your other hand?"

"Why thank you very much," he said and proceeded to walk the old girl home.

On the way he said, "Let's take my short cut and go down this alley. We'll be there in no time."

The little old lady looked him over cautiously then said, "I am a lonely
widow without a husband to defend me. How do I know that when we get in
the alley you won't hold me up against the wall, pull up my skirt, and
have your way with me?"

The farmer said, "Holy smoke lady! I'm carrying a bucket, a gallon of
paint, two chickens, and a goose. How in the world could I possibly hold
you up against the wall and do that?"

The old lady replied, "Put the goose down, cover him with the bucket,
put the paint on top of the bucket, and I'll hold the chickens."

[Harvey Mushman]

I cannot afford to keep replacing keyboards!

[Trigger Mike]

A farmer stopped by the local mechanic shop to have his truck fixed.

They couldn't do it while he waited, so he said he didn't live far and

would just walk home. On the way home he stopped at the hardware store

and bought a bucket and a gallon of paint.

 

He then stopped by the feed store and picked up a couple of chickens and a goose.

 

However, struggling outside the store he now had a problem - how to carry his purchases home.

 

While he was scratching his head he was approached by a little old lady who told him she was lost.

 

She asked, "Can you tell me how to get to Mockingbird Lane?"

 

The farmer said, "Well, as a matter of fact, my farm is very close to

that house. I would walk you there but I can't carry this lot."

 

The old lady suggested, "Why don't you put the can of paint in the

bucket. Carry the bucket in one hand; put a chicken under each arm and

carry the goose in your other hand?"

 

"Why thank you very much," he said and proceeded to walk the old girl home.

 

On the way he said, "Let's take my short cut and go down this alley. We'll be there in no time."

 

The little old lady looked him over cautiously then said, "I am a lonely

widow without a husband to defend me. How do I know that when we get in

the alley you won't hold me up against the wall, pull up my skirt, and

have your way with me?"

 

The farmer said, "Holy smoke lady! I'm carrying a bucket, a gallon of

paint, two chickens, and a goose. How in the world could I possibly hold

you up against the wall and do that?"

 

The old lady replied, "Put the goose down, cover him with the bucket,

put the paint on top of the bucket, and I'll hold the chickens."

even my wife laughed