But before you build a coop and subscribe to Chicken Whisperer, health experts have a warning: Caring for backyard chickens is not as easy as bringing home a cute new kitten, and keeping chickens can come with a handful of serious health risks, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
-WiscoDave
*****
Pro tip: Ignore that alarmist bullshit. Wash your hands after handling your birds and freshly laid eggs and you'll be fine.
I've pretty much had chickens since I was in my early twenties. Hair to my ass, stoned outta my gourd and no clue how to care for a chicken. I fed and watered em, they laid eggs. Good to go. As the years went by I settled down a tad and little learned a lot about chickens but the birds aint changed one bit. Give em shelter, food, water, clean the coop, protect them and they will reward you. I think they are cool as shit, always have.
ReplyDelete"health risks"....that's rich.
ReplyDeleteWe've raised chickens for almost 20 years now.
Some have lived in beautifully designed, super clean coops.
Some have lived in squalor or "just out in the woods".
...but my kids are *always* carrying a damn chicken around. Petting it. Kissing it.
None of them have ever suffered any sort of "serious health issue".
Careful! They could contract chirpies. It's a canarial disease and totally untweetable.
DeleteThey lost me at CNN. "Chickenshit News Network..." The pervs on that channel probably think ROOSTERS can LAY EGGS!
ReplyDeleteNever believe the “Experts”. Especially the ones with two to three letters after the surname.
ReplyDelete"Always listen to experts. They’ll tell you what can’t be done and why. Then do it."
Delete~~ Robert Heinlein, speaking as Lazarus Long
I have bunnies, thinkibg of adding chickens.
ReplyDeleteExile1981
Kenny, earlier today I was on a website for a gunshop. They had listed the 4 rules from Col. Jeff Cooper. But they added a bunch of text to make the rules more clear.
ReplyDeleteI thought, why would they add complexity to the simple rules of Col. Cooper? Of course, the answer is no longer can we assume reason and common sense in the idividual.
All of which leada back to your advice. That which makes so much sense that it needn't be mentioned, is not so for the younger generations. These people be as dumb as a box of hammers, but they'll fight you over it. Meanwhile ignoring the basic understandings.
The big thing here is if you go on vacation, someone has to take care of the birds. You cannot take them to the kennel. Maybe there is a business there.
ReplyDeleteTGP’s Ben Wetmore reported on Thursday that the popular “Producer’s Pride” chicken feed sold by the Tractor Supply chain has been recently altered and that its new formulation is causing chickens to stop laying eggs. Some suggest a deliberate reduction in the amount of protein in the feed may be causing the reduction in egg production.
ReplyDeletePay to watch out...
And as I've stated several times in the past couple days, my birds are laying the normal amount of eggs that they should and I've fed them Producer's Pride all their lives. Not only that but with the labeling laws in the US, if they reduced the protein the bag would have to reflect that. I was in Tractor Supply yesterday and I checked - they still read 16% protein.
DeleteSo I'm calling that bullshit, bullshit.
All part and parcel to the programming. Its what is at the root of our blue-cities/red-country divide. Some people WANT big gov to do everything for them (food, safety, security, education, etc.) Some of us abhor it (life, liberty, pursuit happiness).
ReplyDeleteThe mere act of independence shows the cowards what they are, and they cannot stand it. Scare the population into government control.
I prefer ducks. Bigger, more nutrients in the eggs and fun to watch. Also no cock-a-doodle-do at 5 am.
ReplyDeleteI just don't have a rooster. The little shits still knock on the door at sunrise and want their feed. The rest of the day they feed themselves.
DeleteHell, mine must be over achievers. Cock-a doodle do at 3 a.m.
DeleteEvil Franklin
The pussification of America continues
ReplyDelete"Pro tip: Ignore that alarmist bullshit."
ReplyDeleteThat's right, my Great Aunt & Uncle ran a big chicken farm here in SC for decades and they lived well into their eighties.
- WDS
The best deal on a coop/pen is the Sentinel from Tractor Supply. Powder coated framed metal with powder coated 1/2" square wire welded in place. They advertise it as "predator proof." We actually witnessed a hawk bounce off mine after nose diving after one of my hens. We made a concrete footing, about 10" high and 8" wide, to set ours on to keep the girls from tunneling out. And to keep critters from digging in. Almost a year now and all seems to be working well.
ReplyDelete