Victoria Miller

To Johnny Niamart:

For questions about genetics in poultry, I suggest you talk to my friends at The Livestock Conservancy (thelivestockconservancy.org). Not only do they know an awful lot about the subject (since their mission is to preserve the genetics of heritage breed livestock of all kinds), but they can also refer you to a breeder in your area who is breeding heritage poultry. It's certainly possible to get birds with good genetics from a hatchery, and The Livestock Conservancy can probably recommend one to you if you want to go that route. I certainly advocate buying from a local breeder if at all possible, but you'll need to do your homework first.

How much should you worry about the genetics? Well, that probably depends on how serious you want to get about breeding, and it also depends on what breed(s) of poultry you plan to raise and what you are raising them for. If your long-term plans include a steady supply of healthy, robust, disease-resistant birds for meat and eggs, I would put some thought into it. In this case, a lot will depend down the road on what birds you start with. If you're raising birds for show, then definitely genetics is something to take seriously. If it's more like a hobby or the birds will more or less be pets, then genetics probably don't matter quite so much. Again, The Livestock Conservancy can give you good advice about this.

To Sarah Loy:

Keeping your birds safe from predators is an excellent reason to use chicken tractors, especially if you have to be away during the day. I would just advise making sure that the tractors get moved often enough. It's amazing how fast even a few chickens can graze down 20 or 30 square feet of grass when they're confined. You'll probably have to experiment a bit, depending on how many chickens you have in there, to see how often you need to move it.

Also, be aware that small predators like weasels can find their way into chicken tractors quite easily. At our place, we've only seen weasels show up when we have a lot of very young birds on the ground, but they are perfectly capable of killing a hen in a nest box. If you have weasels, I would suggest making sure that the birds can easily get upon a roost or somewhere out of harm's way if they need to. That said, unless you keep your birds in a fortress, there is no way to completely eliminate the risk of predation. With dogs, coyotes and hawks, though, a chicken tractor is a very good way to keep the birds safe and give yourself some peace of mind when you're away.

To John Devitt (again):

I posted the first reply and then realized I hadn't answered your second question. My feeling about nest box height is that they should be easy for the birds to get into and out of without risking injuring themselves. In our coops, the nest box it at the back of the coop. There are several roosts, starting with the lowest in the front of the coop, that is, where the birds enter the coop. The roosts get progressively higher toward the back of the coop, and I like to have the highest roost about the height of the floor of the nest box behind it. This way the birds can easily hop or step from the roost into the nest box.

My main thing with roost height is you don't want any of the roost so high that the birds might injure themselves coming back off it. This is especially true for larger, heavier birds and definitely true for turkeys. Chickens do like to get up as high as they can, and they seem to like hopping from the lower roosts onto the higher ones toward the back. You'll need to figure out for yourself how far apart to space the roosts; this depends mostly on how big your birds are. There needs to be enough space so that a bird on a roost isn't pooping on the roost behind it, for example.

I hope this helps. It is confusing to know what to do when there is so much conflicting advice out there. I know I say this a lot, but so much depends on your situation and what kind of birds you have. When I build coops, I like to make the roosts easily adjustable so they can work for any kind or size of bird... another lesson learned the hard way.

To John Devitt:

Is vetch harmful to chickens? Well... there are several kinds of vetch, of which we have one that grows rampantly in the Spring and Summer. Every year I spend a couple of days pulling the fast-growing vines off the fences. In the process it all gets piled up before it's hauled away to the compost areas. All our birds, the chickens, turkeys and ducks, simply love foraging through these piles. I'm not totally sure if they are just eating the seed pods or what, but they seem to love it and I've never seen any of them show any aftereffects from it.

However, I don't know for sure which variety of vetch we have, although since it grows wild I'm guessing it's one of the more common types. You might check with a local master gardener or your county extension agent to find out what varieties grow wild in your area, or which ones do well when cultivated. I know what you mean about all the conflicting information out there. I'm sorry I don't know more about this particular subject. The only other thing I can think of to suggest is getting hold of The Livestock Conservancy (thelivestockconservancy.org) and talk to Jeannette Beranger. She's a friend of mine and extremely knowledgable about all kinds of poultry issues.

To Aakash & Aasha Livingstone:

So your hen went broody and hasn't produced any eggs for 4 months. I was wondering how old the hen was, and also what time of year this happened. If she went broody in the summer, for instance, close to the time of year when she would be moulting, it might just mean that she's taking her annual break early. Sometimes this also depends on what breed of chicken it is; some are so persistently broody that even after they hatch their chicks they will still be so broody that they won't lay eggs for quite a while.

Is she still brooding her chicks? Probably not after 4 months, but you never know, some hens have a hard time letting go. If she is constantly in a nest box or trying to sit on another hen's eggs, I would try keeping a close eye on her and taking away any eggs from her as often as you can. If a broody hen isn't allowed to sit on even one egg for any length of time, she should stop being broody fairly soon and hopefully start laying eggs again. I'm inclined to think that if you give her time, she will eventually start laying again. Check the condition of her comb: A hen that is broody or moulting (not in good laying condition) will have a comb that looks pale, a little dry and smaller than usual. When they're in good laying condition the comb will look full and soft and deeper red.

To Michelle Gonsalves:

I definitely recommend staying away from medicated feed if you can. Of course, we're an organic farm, so we aren't allowed to use medicated feed, but we would avoid medicated feed in any case. Usually medicated feed is meant to minimize the risks of certain chickhood diseases. Part of the problem with medicated feed is that it provides a sub-therapeutic dose of antibiotics; that is, they get the medicine even when they don't actually need it. Over time, this results in more and more drug-resistant strains of bacteria, so that ultimately, the birds might be even more vulnerable to disease. Also, it's known that some residue of antibiotics stays in the birds' bodies, so if you're planning to raise birds to slaughter for meat, this should be a consideration.

First, I would check with your local county extension agent to find out what kinds of poultry diseases are known to be a problem in your area. If you get your chicks from a hatchery, they will vaccinate the chicks against some of the more common diseases that are a problem for chicks, usually for a minimal fee. This will eliminate the need for using medicated feed. If you hatch your own chicks, I would recommend using older hens if possible to provide your hatching eggs; the older they are, the more disease resistance they have, and they actually pass that on to their babies.

I know that in some areas, it's difficult to find feed that isn't medicated, especially the chick starter formulas. If this is the case for you, ask your feed supplier if they will order non-medicated or organic feeds. Organic feeds by definition cannot contain antibiotics, so if it's available (and within your budget) you can try that.

One thing we do, especially with young chicks, is we supplement their diet with chopped-up hard-boiled egg. We have an egg business, and we're not allowed to sell eggs if they're cracked, so the cracked ones get hard-boiled and fed back to the birds. They go nuts over it, and it's a very good protein supplement for them. NOTE: Don't feed raw egg to chickens. They love it, but what will happen is one or more of your hens will decide they like it so much that they will start breaking eggs in the nest boxes to get the raw egg. (Yet another thing we learned the hard way.) It's a hard habit to break, and it's easier to prevent by not feeding raw egg.

To Thomas Norris:

You asked about the best dual-purpose chicken breed. Well, I'm a bit partial to New Hampshires myself. They were originally selected out of Rhode Island Reds, and one of the things they were selected for was quick maturity. How fast they reach a good slaughter weight depends on whether they are free-ranging and foraging some of their own food(a good trait in a dual-purpose breed); all our birds free-range on pasture but are also fed an organic grain mash. We've found that the males get to a good slaughter size in 16-18 weeks, pretty good for a dual-purpose breed. By good size I mean they dress out at 5-6 lbs. The hens are very good layers of large and extra-large eggs, they are inclined to go broody and hatch eggs, which is important for us since we're off the grid and don't use incubators. They are also very cold-hardy and excellent foragers.

There are certainly other dual-purpose chickens out there that might work well for you. I'm always a bit reluctant to recommend anything I haven't tried myself, but everyone's situation is different so you may have to do some experimenting to figure out what works the best for you. We definitely learned this the hard way over several years. I would look for breeds that are known for the things I mentioned above about New Hampshires: inclination to forage, good growth rate, broodiness, good mothering, etc.

I hope this helps. There are so many breeds to choose from, and chances are that more than one breed will do well for you.

To Valerie Dawnstar:

We live up in the foothills of the Olympic mountains in WA State, so do have some cold weather and snow in the winter, as well as the occasional windstorm. Most chickens are quite cold-hardy down to about 0F. Below that there is always the possibility of frostbite. Mostly this affects roosters, who, unlike hens, do not tuck their heads under their wings when they sleep, so their combs are vulnerable. If your roosts are the right size, the birds' feet won't go all the way around them. This is important because the birds settle down on their feet on the roost, and their body feathers keep their feet warm. If their toes curl around the roost, part of the toes can be exposed to frostbite as well.

One easy thing to do is choose breeds known for cold-hardiness. Types with a large single comb are more vulnerable to frostbite than those with rose or pea combs. We've never gotten below 0F here,and although we raise mostly New Hampshire chickens (a single-comb type) we have never had any issue with frostbite. Our coops are not insulated or heated, and the birds seem to be just fine. I've also heard that people rub Vaseline into their roosters' combs to protect them from frostbite.I've never had to do this, but you might keep it in mind.

One thing to consider is that during the short days of winter, the birds spend a lot more time in their coops. They need plenty of room and good ventilation. Be prepared to clean out the coops more often in winter. Birds are very susceptible to respiratory problems, so cleanliness and fresh air is really important.

I haven't grown amaranth myself, although I know some people who do. I have no idea if chickens would like it or not, but chances are that they would. If it will grow in your climate, I would go ahead and try it. Chickens always love harvesting their own food. You might try growing one of the red types of amaranth; chickens are always attracted to anything red.

To Kim Schmidt:

This s a really common issue, but most people don't take it too seriously until after they get their birds. I'm glad you're thinking about it ahead of time.

Our experience has been that once young chickens get used to where to go at night (usually just a few days), they put themselves into the roost at night. If you make sure your roost area is up off the ground, most predators won;t be able to get at the birds once they're in the roost. However... if you have weasels in your area, you'll need to have a door that closes on the coop. We also replaced the ramps going up into the coops with platforms about 18" off the ground; this was after a skunk walked up the ramp into the coop and killed two hens. They're bit pricey, but you can also install automatically-closing doors on the coops so you will know the birds are safe even if you aren't there to close them up.

Re: Ducks. I personally would not recommend the island, at least not as a place for the ducks to sleep at night. Ducks really like to feel safe and they hate stray light at night, so if you have traffic nearby or lights from houses,I would definitely recommend housing them in a coop at night. (Plus you get the eggs this way.) We have two large ponds on our property, and the ducks do go down to them sometimes, but they always come back up the hill to their coops at night. You could always put a coop down near your pond too. Caveat: If you are going to use a coop, train your ducks to go to it at night BEFORE you let them get used to being on the pond all day. Trust me, ducks know where they feel safe, and once they're used to being in a coop at night, that's where they will want to be.

We have been raising heritage turkeys for about 6 years now. Most of our property is woods. Heritage turkeys are usually good foragers, but I would not encourage you to try to leave them on their own to forage all their food. Turkeys, even smaller ones like our Midget White, are large birds that need a lot of protein for best growth. Certainly if you are planning to raise turkeys to slaughter for meat, you'll get a lot better results if you give them a good high-protein turkey ration; if you can't turkey feed, some people substitute game bird feed. They need 24-28% protein feed for the first 6 weeks or so, then at least 20% from then on. Our turkey "grower" formula is 21% protein.

Once they're at least half grown, heritage turkeys are large enough that they don't have too predator issues. In our area, we have only ever lost an adult turkey to a cougar. On the other hand, we don't have coyotes or neighbor dogs here, and they may be a problem for you. I would recommend that you do not clip their wings, so they can fly up into a tree if they need to. We never clip our turkeys' wings, for this reason.

I would definitely recommend starting out small, figure out what works well for you, and then add more birds as you find you have the time and comfort zone to do that.

To Colin Skelly:

Regarding the best age of the chickens you buy... well, that depends on availability among other things. If you are prepared to brood chicks for a few weeks (depending on the time of year) and wait 5-6 months or so for egg production to begin, I think raising baby chicks is a great idea. While they don't necessarily have the same kind of relationship with you that the family dog has, they do interact with people and I think it's good to establish that relationship early on. Also, they can more easily get used to whatever your situation is; for instance, you might or might not have pasture for them when they're older, or you might have other farm animals or pets to consider.

It used to be that you could only buy day-old chicks from the hatcheries. These days, you sometimes can order"started" pullets, birds just about at the age where they will start to lay. Be aware that this is a very expensive way to buy chickens, especially when you add in shipping. I would say that if you want older birds for whatever reason, check your local craigslist, feed store, etc. Many people I know have found chickens, turkeys, ducks and even peacocks on craigslist.

If you can find a local breeder that you can birds from,that is definitely what I would recommend, especially if you're looking for turkeys or ducks. Shipping from a hatchery is very stressful for baby birds. Plus, it's an advantage to be able to pick out exactly the birds you want. Breeders often also have older birds that they want to rotate out of their flocks.

Another reader already posted something about the minimum numbers of chicks when ordering from hatchery. This is a another good reason to try to find your birds locally if you can. You can buy from a feed store but there is usually a limited selection of breeds.

By the way, if you are certified organic or planning to get certified, be aware that poultry must be managed organically from Day Two of life. This means that you must either start them as day-olds, or buy them from a certified organic source.

I hope this is helpful. I think ultimately it's up to you to decide what will work best for you in your situation. Many people underestimate how much time is needed to tend baby birds in the brooder. So take some time to think it over.