Chicken Tractor

[mink]

i was kinda thinking that the extreme fast growth cut the heat requirement as compared to ordinary chicks. im curious to see how jim makes out with his feed requirements. ive never raised any but i looks like it takes about near 20 pounds a bird.

[Andy Carson]

When I recently made my coop and run, I was worried about weasels as well. I did my best to make is weasel proof with hardware cloth, but it sure gets expensive and time consuming. Especially for an animal that I have never personally seen at my place… On the other hand, I am not sure that I would be likely to see a weasel, even if I had alot of them. They seem so small and secretive… Does anyone out there who how one would know if they have weasels? Would you really expect to see sign of them (Tracks, scat, other sign)? I wonder if house cats scare them off or eat enough of the same foods as them so-as to make a weasel look elsewhere for food? It would sure be nice to not have to make future chicken pens weasel proof…

[Livewater Farm]

lost an entire laying flock 125 hens to mink same family both will get thru any hole bigger than 1 inch weasel and mink do not eat the birds bite neck suck blood meal move to next meal can do 12 to 30 birds in one sitting and return time after time for a warm meal tight ship only remedy if one shows up be armed and set traps finally trapped pregnent female would have been a hopeless case to have gotten more birds before it was eliminated
Bill

[Does’ Leap]

Andy, I don’t think a cat would scare them off. I never saw one on my farm until a found one on my door step dead. My Jack Russel Terrier apparently killed it. Anyone ever read A Day No Pigs Would Die? There is a scene in that book where they throw a JR Terrier pup in a grain sack with a weasel in order to sew seeds of murder in the pup for weasels. Both the weasel and the Terrier die. Harsh stuff, but one point you can take home is weasels are to be respected for their aptitude in killing a variety of small livestock (rabbits as well as chickens).

George

[Jim Garvin]

Mink,

I’m planning on a bit over 16.5 pounds of feed per bird, which is based on figures provided to me by another meat bird raiser in town. Again, I don’t think in the long run that it’ll be all that profitable, but I’ll know where the meat came when I’m eating it. I have quite a bit of open field areas where I can run them around, so hopefully that will hold the final cost down.

[dominiquer60]

The best weasel protection that I know of is a dog. We used to tether our dogs out with the chickens every night. With the exception of one problem they did a great job and never harmed a bird. The problem was that the tether got caught and the dog could not get to the far end of the coop where the smart predator realized he could pull birds through a burrowed hole made without the dog in the way. If I were to do more broilers in the future I would consider a guard dog that would live with them full time, the herding breeds work, but they are not as happy with this task.

Erika

[Andy Carson]

I thought about getting a pyr, and actually looked into it a little. I ended up deciding against it b/c I thought I could buy alot of hardware cloth for what it costs to buy, feed, and train one for these big guys… Plus, the fence works right away instead of having to wait for a pup to grow up… I will likely be reelavuating this decision if (maybe when?) a weasel gets one of my chickens… For now, I plan on making sure all chickens have a weasel proof house to go in when it’s night and bank on weasels not being out during the day. I suppose we’ll see… I keep thinking that it’s only a matter of time until I loose one, but then I see neighbors that let thiers run free and roost in barns as they please and think I’m being paranoid.

[jac]

Forgive the late entry here guys… I was wondering about these Cornish crosses.. are these the same bird that the big guys rear at 20,000 birds to a shed ? or do they use an even faster growing bird?.. wouldnt mind a try at this, just be nice to know where the food comes from even if it works out more expensive….
John

[dominiquer60]

John,

Cornish crosses are usually the same/very similar to what is used in the big broiler houses for large scale production. There are different strains and some variations from hatchery to hatchery. Some are only simple hybrids and some are double hybrids having 4 separate lines crossed to make a very vigorous growing bird. Most brand name chicken companies have their own favorite strain that they use, but for the most part they are all similar to the untrained eye.

If anyone is looking for a Great Pyrenees guard dog a local animal control officer is very active at rescuing dogs of this breed and often will have a couple to choose from. She tests their livestock friendliness with her own poultry, goats and sheep before she places them to farm homes. I can get her # if anyone is interested, she is located in Petersburgh, NY.

Erika

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