SLP 146 Start with Baby Chicks or Big Hens?

The Sustainable Living Podcast

Heat Tips and Getting Started with Chickens We are sharing tips on staying cool in a heat wave without air conditioning. Then, we dive into today's main topic: Getting started with keeping chickens. Is it better to start with already laying adult hens? Or day-old baby chicks. What about incubating eggs?

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SLP 146 Start with Baby Chicks or Big Hens?

We are starting the show with Listener Tips

The questions: How to stay comfortable in a Heatwave without Airconditioning?

Lorien Silverleaf Evaporative cooling; wet linen scarf.

Jacqueline Kim 1. A fan. 2. Cold showers to cool off. Cold showers take two minutes or so but make such a big difference. You have to jump into it. It is shocking at first (prepare to yelp), but delicious after. 3. Don't cook meals requiring more than one stove top fire at a time (so nothing that requires the oven coming on). We have been eating all manners of salads, gazpachos, and drinking a lot of ice cold infusions (of cut cucumber or oranges or mint). Sangrias too.

Britt Cool Yep, fans. Sit right in front of them

Lorien put a scarf on the fan!! It cools the air even more.

Sally Hovey Wet clothes and a fan

Karl Aldinger If you can spare some water, misting jets on fans drop temps in our greenhouse, for example.

Trevor Presley Outdoor shower

Darlene Sweetwood Swimming pool!

Emi Lio Staying in the shade

Tiny Farmer SD Plant a shade tree! it's at least 10 degrees cooler under our Chinese elm tree.

Starting with Chickens- Babies or Adult Hens?

This episode is inspired by Nate who I met on the social media platform called steemit. You can find him here: https://steemit.com/@nateonsteemit

We have big elm tree in our chicken yard. We cut in winter in a process called pollarding and let it grow in summer to provide shade for the chickens.

Getting chickens - babies or adults?

I am not expert - but I have taken courses from the University of Edinburgh

https://www.coursera.org/learn/chickens

It is part of their MOOC. Massive open online courses

A new one opens August 20th, 2018 and I highly recommend it!

Meat and egg chicks

Heritage chicken - dual breeds

Courses by Patricia Foreman- Author of city chicks

Chicken and You courses

www.chickensandyou.com/.

Backyard Chicken Keeper Certification Course

I will post a video of my chicken set up - don't expect perfection

Beware of experts that are new to the subject - a tip by Joel Salatin who was on our podcast.

Adult or babies?

It all depends

Adult chickens

Benefits:

• Eggs right away
• Less sensitive
• Less work in raising pullets
• You know that you get a hen

Possible problems:

• Longer possible exposure to disease
• Don’t know how old exactly
• Don’t know what they ate - possible GMO and antibiotics
• More expensive to acquire

Possible free ways to get:

• Backyard chicken folks that are tired of chicken
• Egg farm that typically culls chicken when about 1 year laying.

Baby Chicks

Advantages:

• So cute!!!!!
• Less exposure to possible diseases
• Can be handled frequently and became very tame
• Know what they are being fed
• They are so cute - chicken therapy
• Less expensive to buy - start-up costs
• More varieties available

Choices:

From hatchery - direct, but will be shipped - stress (3 days without food)

From a Feed store - more exposure to possible diseases, more stress - shipping, lots of chicks, then transport home.

Disadvantages:

• More work - but they are so cute!!!
• They are sensitive - might die
• It takes 6 to 8 month to get the first egg
• Might be lots of males

Hatching your own:

• Need equipment - can be borrowed
• Needs care and attention for the 3 weeks
• Needs a space for the hatcher

Watching a baby chick hatch is an amazing experience and a great teaching moment for kids.

You will get at least half of the hatch as little boys. They are cute in the beginning but turn into loud and obnoxious teenagers before you know it.

You need a plan what to do with them.

Set up for babies:

• You need to keep them warm - mostly free of drafts.
• They grow fast and need more and more space.
• Aspen bedding is recommended - not pine shavings or newspaper.
• Better to have bottom heat than heat lamps. Lamps can fall and cause fires. Also - light all night long.

Learn chicken language

Best: Mommy gets broody and does all the work :)

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