Backyard Chicken Seminar - February 8, 2020

My name is Christine Kelly Legasso. I'm the Ag Agent and Extension Director for Indian River County.

This morning, as you can see, we're going to talk about backyard chickens.

How many of you actually have chickens right now, if I can just see a show of hands?

Oh, quite a few of you. Oh, excellent.

And how many of you are living in more of an urban environment with those?

So, once again. And the rest of you are living more on like half an acre or an acre out in the country.

Okay, good. All right.

So, there's a lot of different reasons why people want to raise chickens.

Of course, the self-sufficiency, you know, people really enjoy being able to have their own, collect their own eggs and eating them.

For educational purposes, I see a few children in the audience and it's always fun to have chickens.

I raised three girls with my husband and we had chickens and rabbits and we're constantly being harassed by our HOA.

But, you know, it was a great educational opportunity with children.

Food safety issues.

People may not like some of the public announcements that are made about, you know, E. coli and different things that happen.

Chicken meat does carry E. coli inherently now.

It's pervasive within the meat itself.

So, there are a lot of reasons why people want to grow their own eggs.

Antibiotics, too.

Although, there's kind of a misunderstanding about antibiotics and I'll talk about that a little bit later.

In terms of food safety issues, people don't like the idea of hormones in their food.

Yet, in the poultry industry, hormones have not been allowed since the 1960s.

So, whenever you see on a package, it says hormone-free and it's poultry, that's just a marketing tool.

There are no hormones that are used in poultry, not even in meat.

And the reason why they're able to grow poultry so fast, so quickly, is improvements in genetics.

Just simple breeding and improvements in feed conversion ratios.

So, improvements in feed and improvements in genetics is really why they can produce chickens and eggs so rapidly.

Antibiotics are no longer allowed and haven't been since the 1960s.

But, it's a cool marketing tool, isn't it?

I know, I know.

Who's not going to grab the package that says no hormones?

But, it's because most people don't realize that hormones have not been used in the poultry industry since the 1960s.

So, also food security reasons.

Some people get concerned about food security in terms of not being able to access things.

Of course, we live in a country where that doesn't happen too often, except around hurricane season, when you go into the grocery store and there's no bread, no eggs, no water. But, that doesn't happen on a normal basis like it does in, say, developing

countries.

So, we're pretty lucky that the access to food, such as eggs and meat, is not an issue.

There's other reasons why people like to raise chickens, of course.

If you have them range-free in your backyard, they're eating a lot of bugs.

They are carnivorous, so they will eat bugs and weeds.

Well, they're herbivores and carnivores.

So, they'll eat bugs and weeds and other plants.

So, they're good weed control as well, in certain instances.

You don't want to set them free in your garden because they're going to eat everything.

They have a great fertilizer, but that fertilizer has to be treated, has to be composted or at least aged.

Because the urine comes out with the manure, then it's very hot, meaning it's very acidic and a lot of nitrogen.

So, you can't just take that and put it directly onto plants. It'll burn it.

Of course, the eggs are nutritious and fresh, and that's one of the pluses.

And they're just great fun.

A few years ago, during the recession, the other day I called it the depression, because that's how my state of affairs was, because we were short on staff.

So, I was constantly just working way too much.

But during that period of time, I had some chickens, and that was the best stress reliever I had had in a long time.

Because I was raising children, the budgets were poor, there was just all this, oh, do more with less, because we don't want to raise taxes.

All the whole issues that we were dealing with during that time.

But the best thing for me was coming home in the afternoon and just sitting there for a half an hour, just watching these chickens just do their thing in the backyard.

So, they are lots of fun, and they're great amusement, as many of you probably already know.

The things that you really want to consider before you get chickens, but a lot of you already seem to have them already, is, of course, know your ordinances.

And there's different ordinances.

There's going to be state ordinances, county ordinances, and city ordinances.

And we're going to talk about what's allowed right now.

You also need to talk to your neighbors, because having your neighbors on your side is going to prevent a lot of problems in the future in terms of complaints.

And so, talking to your neighbors, asking them how they feel about chickens.

Chickens do make noise.

Unfortunately, they haven't invented a chicken yet that doesn't cluck.

And chickens are quite proud of themselves.

When they lay an egg, they're clucking for two reasons.

One, because, wow, I just laid an egg, and aren't I super?

And then the other reason is because they're looking for their flock, their flock animals.

And so, when they lay their egg and they come out of the nest, they're like, okay, where are you, girls? I'm trying to find you.

So they do cluck for two reasons, and those are the reasons why.

Of course, they cluck for other reasons, but that's the main reason.

So most chickens, if not all of them, will cluck after they've laid an egg.

They're quite proud of themselves.

You also want to include your family in the discussion on chickens.

I could go on and on about this one.

My children were not necessarily into it.

And even though their father's a biologist and their mother has been in agriculture all of her life, not one of them is in agriculture now.

Now, they weren't too thrilled with the chickens, nor the rabbits, but they were in 4-H, and I made them have them.

My husband was fine with the chickens, as long as he didn't have to clean them, feed them, water them, take care of them, let them out in the morning, put them back in in the afternoon.

And if anyone complained, he wanted me to get rid of them right away.

So include your family members in this discussion about chickens, because last year we had some chicks hatch in our office.

We didn't have any place to put them because we have an embryology class.

And actually, they went home to my garden tub in our master bathroom, which also upset my husband.

Now, why would that be? I don't get it.

Who uses their garden tub? Anybody?

No, I've never used our garden tub, so why wouldn't you put baby chicks in it?

It's perfect.

Okay, well, he didn't think so, but good thing he doesn't know a good lawyer.

So, anyway, so when I'm talking about ordinances, in the city of Vero Beach, it's not allowed.

At all?

At all. In the city, in the city of Vero Beach.

In the city of Vero Beach.

So now there are some, and I know that because I drive from South County up to my office, downtown Vero, every day, and along 20th, there are people with chickens in the city. The city doesn't really go after you unless they've received complaints.

Now, a few years ago, a few people in the city tried to get that ordinance changed, but it didn't gather much support.

I think that has changed a lot over the last couple of years.

So I think it was about 10 years ago was when they tried it last.

So if any of you are interested in that, it probably would not be that difficult to get that ordinance changed.

But for now, it is illegal.

In the county of Indian River, yes, but with conditions, and those conditions depend upon your zoning.

In some areas, you can have no more than five animals collectively.

So that doesn't just mean chickens. That means two chickens, two ducks, and one dog.

Or, you know, I visited this one house that had 10 chickens, five ducks, and a miniature pony.

And they lived, right, they lived in a...

You know, in a development, so there is exceptions to that five animal rule.

And that includes dogs and cats too.

So and we're talking about Indian River County in an in a in a housing area.

We're not talking about agricultural zoned land.

Okay, so we're not talking about ag zoned land.

We're just talking about regular housing areas.

And that that five animals includes cats and dogs.

So if someone's going to complain about you, then they're going to come out and count the number of animals that you actually have.

But if you you can get administrative permit approval.

So if for some reason you adopted or moved into a house and there was five chickens and you have a cat and a dog and someone complains, you can ask for administrative approval and get a permit for that.

So and like I said, they really neither the city nor the county have time to run around checking on chickens.

So it's only when they get a complaint, are they actually going to come and see what's going on.

Sebastian does allow for two fowl on a single housing lot.

And that fowl means all types of birds, chickens, ducks, turkeys, similar.

The city of Sebastian doesn't have anything for keeping pigeons.

And that might be a little bit of a problem.

My husband, I don't know why he's an ornithologist.

So he's a bird expert.

He's suddenly gotten re fallen in love with racing pigeons.

And yeah, I know.

Why can't I have chickens, but he wants racing pigeons, right?

So but Sebastian doesn't have an ordinance for that.

Felsmere, anybody live in Felsmere?

One a few people.

Well, we know in Felsmere, man, you can do whatever the heck you want.

Emus, donkeys, zebras, go to Felsmere there.

And if you live on the island, you know, I have had people that have had chickens that lived on the island.

As long as your neighbors don't complain, you don't get in trouble.

But once they start complaining, then you have to get rid of them.

There was one family I knew, and I said there, it was a big time when what was that show where you got kicked off the island?

What's that show?

Survivor.

Survivor.

Right.

Well, their chickens got kicked off the island and they gave them to me.

And then six months later, they got kicked out of my HOA.

And so, you know, so poor little chickens.

So and that HOAs are completely separate entity too.

Do any of you live in HOAs and want to have chickens?

Yeah.

It's challenging.

Unfortunately, when we moved down here in 2004 from Gainesville, the only thing that was within our price range was within an HOA. And I've lived with it for 16 years and hated it almost every single day because of that issue.

They do not allow what they consider livestock. Now, the last time we had chickens, the ones that were in the tub, I told my husband I wasn't going to get rid of them and I was going to call them my support, emotional support animals.

Yeah, that didn't go over very well with him either.

So those chickens went, those chicks were gone.

So just know your ordinances before you actually go out and spend money on buying a beautiful chicken coop or building a big chicken poop or chicken coop, not poop, and really putting energy into this because your HOA is going to be difficult. So some

of the myths that I'd like to bust right now are, how many people think chickens can't fly?

Yeah, right.

Chickens can fly and sometimes they can fly quite high and quite long.

They can definitely fly out of your fenced backyard into your neighbor's because that happened once to me.

So I'm speaking from experience.

But if you have chickens and you don't know how to clip their wings, you can clip their wings in a certain way and it's not cruel.

They do not, I can't say they don't feel it because I've never asked the chicken, but there is a way that you can clip one side of the wing.

It does not bleed.

It's mostly cartilage on the feather and what it does is it imbalances them and they can't fly out.

That does grow out though and so you have to do it every six months to a year.

If you're uncomfortable and you need it done, just call me and I'll come do it or I'll have you bring your chickens to my office and I'll do it.

It's not cruel and it's very quick.

At least they've never told me that it hurt.

No, you just cut at a certain angle down here.

And you don't do the exact same thing on the other side because what happens?

It makes them balance and so they can't fly as long or as far, but they can still fly.

So you only do it to one side.

Roosters will crow anytime.

That's another myth that they only crow in the morning.

That is not true.

So if you're going to have chickens and you have neighbors near you, in order to keep those neighbors friendly, don't get a rooster.

Do not get a rooster.

You don't need a rooster because contrary to popular belief, those lucky hens don't need a rooster to lay eggs. The eggs are just not fertilized.

So at maturity, chickens will lay eggs without a rooster.

Lucky things.

The rest of us are not so lucky, are we ladies? Eggs do not taste all the same, but it's not the color that influences the taste.

Exactly, it's what they eat.

It's what they eat.

So if they're eating grass and weeds and feed and insects, that's going to be a more robust flavor than the eggs that you get in the grocery store that are coming from a large farm that are just feeding them grain.

So definitely chickens that are able to get some grass and insects, like this one is, where they're enclosed, but you move this around to fresh spots.

Okay, that normally doesn't happen to your chickens.

They usually fly off, but sorry about that.

So the taste is definitely influenced by what they're eating.

And colored eggs are not more nutritious than white eggs.

It all has to do with what they're eating.

So if someone has colored eggs and says, oh yeah, they're so much better for you than white eggs, that's not true.

But how many buy brown eggs in the grocery store?

Yeah, me too, because they're just prettier, right?

And there's kind of like the illusion that they're better for you.

So yeah, I buy brown eggs because it's like whole wheat bread, right?

Unless you're making it yourself, it's still the same stuff.

Colored eggs are lots of fun to have, but in order to get those colored eggs, you really need to have different breeds of chickens. But they come in all sorts of really nice colors now.

And in the catalog that I gave you, I am not recommending this particular McMurray's.

It's just that they have such a cool catalog.

And I love the pictures in it.

I think, oh, did we run out of them?

I really need to keep one.

But you can write McMurray's or get online and ask them for a catalog.

This is a, I think this was a, it wasn't 1917 catalog.

That's established 1917.

I think it's just a few years old.

But the thing I like about McMurray's is they really have great pictures.

But you can go on there and you can see all sorts of colors of eggs.

But once again, not necessarily promoting McMurray's, just a great catalog.

So now we're going to talk about poultry behavior.

And poultry is very cool to observe.

I love just sitting there.

I wish sometimes that I was able to have a chicken in my office.

But that's frowned upon, too.

And I don't know why.

In the new county administration building, we got moved over there a few years ago and can't have animals.

I don't get it.

But one day I'm going to find a good lawyer that's going to help me with that.

Yes.

I need to do that.

I could just see the next day I'll get a phone call from my boss.

So we're going to talk about poultry behavior now.

And if anyone wants this PowerPoint, I'm happy to share it with you.

I didn't bring extra copies because a lot of times this stuff just gets thrown away.

So at the end, if you'll come back and kind of check off by your name, then I know you want me to email you this PowerPoint.

I'm happy to do that.

So, poultry are very territorial and habitual.

So, they like having the same routine every single day.

So, if you're the type that only feed your animals at different times during the day, you really need to, and you're noticing that they're not laying as much, that's one of the reasons.

They really like consistency.

And for some of us that are still working, that may be a little bit challenging.

Or if you have a schedule that doesn't allow for that.

But really, I mean, it's not to say that that's bad for them, but they're habitual.

So, they like that routine.

They will roost in the same spot.

You'll notice that certain chickens will have favorite spots.

And they really kind of get upset, hence the ruffled feathers saying comes from, when something moves into their spot.

And so, that's why they're jogging for positions on that roost in the afternoon or early evening, is because they have their favorite place.

The good thing is chickens do not often stray from their flock.

So, it's not like chickens are always going to look for a way to get out.

It's a lot like other animals where, you know, you can't trust turning your back on them because they're going to escape.

Chickens don't like to do that.

They like to be with a group.

So, I'd purchase two to four always.

I would not purchase one because they like that one chicken is going to be kind of, they're not independent.

And I'm speaking to generalities.

You may get one or two that have their own, they all have their own personality.

So, just like us, you're going to get one or two that are going to be a little bit more independent.

But for the most part, they like to be with their sisters and they're not going to try and go very far.

So, that's the good thing.

There is a social hierarchy, once again, where we got the idea of a pecking order.

And you'll see that.

And that's the reason why you should always get the same age chickens and not introduce new chickens into your flock.

The reason for that is that the new additions will be picked on until they create that pecking order.

And so, I'm talking about the best case scenario.

Sometimes that's not going to happen.

Someone's going to find out you have chickens.

They want to give you more.

And you say, okay, I'll take those.

But a lot of times what I recommend is you keep them separate for a couple of weeks so that the chickens can see each other and get to know each other and hear their clucks.

And then let them mix with the other group.

Definitely if you're mixing young chickens with older chickens, the older chickens are going to beat them up for the most part.

And when that does happen, they can peck them enough to where they'll bleed.

Once that happens, you need to remove that chicken and keep it in a separate area, let it heal, and then reintroduce it back in.

Because chickens are also cannibals, and they will peck each other to death.

So as soon as they see or smell that blood, they're going to keep pecking at that one area where it's bleeding at until that chicken dies.

So that's why you need to separate them until it heals.

And then you can introduce them back in with the rest of the flock.

The interesting thing about chickens is they can recognize each other and you.

Chickens can recognize up to 12 different chicken faces or 12 different individuals in their flock.

And they have a tendency to want to stay with those individuals.

And so they can recognize the individuals in their flock.

Once that flock becomes much bigger, it becomes much more difficult.

And what you'll find is in a large flock, you'll find separate groups within that larger flock.

And those chickens stay together and they recognize each other.

So isn't that interesting?

And they also can recognize...

But they can even recognize even if they're all the same breed and look almost exactly the same.

They can even recognize that.

So it's just like us.

Sometimes people say, oh, you guys all look alike.

When in reality, we don't at all.

It's the same thing with chickens.

They recognize each other.

You have less problems when you have a smaller flock.

So if you're keeping your flock to anywhere between 2 to 12, you have very little problems once they've established that pecking order.

Some other behaviors they have...

Most all chickens will molt.

And molting is just the shredding of their feathers.

And they do this for a couple of reasons.

Sometimes they do it because of stress.

Sometimes they do it when the days change, the days get longer, the days get shorter.

We don't have necessarily that here as much as you have it up north because we don't have that huge change between night and day here.

But it is natural after about 2 or 3 years of laying.

Now, that happens sooner when they're in a larger system, when they lay an egg every day or every other day and they're kept in a cage.

The production...

After the chickens mature, the production goes down after about 18, 24 months depending on the breed of the chicken.

So sometimes it's economical to force those chickens into a molt.

And so they'll remove light and water and food for 24 hours.

And that forces the chickens into a stress.

The chickens will molt.

Then they give the food, water, and light back to the chickens.

They put back on their feathers.

And then their production goes back up again.

It doesn't go back up as far as it was before.

But it still can be economical.

On a smaller scale, for a majority of you, that's not going to be a challenge because you're not looking at production per se.

So if you've got 5 chickens and you're getting 3 eggs a day, that's pretty good.

But you will see after a few years, and if it's not done all at the same time, you'll see different chickens molting at different times.

So then you have to think to yourself, okay, how old are they?

How long have they been laying?

And is there a stressful factor that's making them molt?

So if they're young and have only been laying for a short period of time, they really shouldn't be molting.

There's a stress factor going on.

Maybe a barking dog next door.

Maybe you can't get home in time and they've run out of water a couple of days in a row, especially during the summertime.

They'll go into a stressful period, they'll molt.

And then once conditions are back to the way they want them and they're not too old, they will start producing again.

So we do have natural molting.

We have forced molting is what we do in larger systems where you're trying to do this on a commercial basis or for selling the eggs.

And then, of course, stress.

You'll have them molt under stress.

Chickens do a lot of preening, just like cats.

And they have certain oil glands at the base of their tail.

One person called me one time and they said,

I have this one chicken that she's always turning her head around and wiping her head on her butt.

What's wrong there?

Why is she doing this?

Well, they have an oil gland at the base of their tailbone and that oil gland is used for combing.

So they reach around, grab some of that oil, and then they go like this to the rest of their...

I don't know if I like that on video.

And so they're reaching back and they're cleaning their feathers by putting this oil there.

So it's quite natural for them to do that.

They also take dust baths.

Dust baths?

How many of you have seen your chickens do a dust bath?

They love that, love that, love that.

And the reason why they're doing it is one, it reduces, the main reason is it does reduce lice and parasites.

And so that dust bath is a normal thing that they do.

You'll find them, and I'm going to do another kind of weird movement here, but this is another call I got.

The woman said, my chicken sits down and she shakes like she's having a seizure.

And I had to laugh because what the chicken is doing, and some chickens can be quite violent about it.

Some can be just like, you know, they go like this and they settle down.

Other chickens, right, are just creating this huge mess and this whole dust flying up.

And the person thought the chicken had like epilepsy or some neurological disorder.

And the chicken had nothing.

It was just more of an energetic chicken that was trying to get some dust up.

And so that's the reason why they do that.

Even if they don't have parasites or lice, they're still going to do it.

It's just a natural thing for them to do.

So don't get too excited.

They will find favorite places to do this at.

Ours like to do it along the side of our fence line.

So my husband didn't complain because he didn't have to weed along the fence.

the fence line.

But as soon as they came out, you know, past a foot, then he began to not like it because, of course, then it destroys the grass.

They'll do that.

So, and they find favorite spots and they'll keep doing that.

So that when they started into the grass, that's, that's when it became a little bit more of an issue.

So and so for those of you who have a spouse or someone in your family that just loves their lawn, this is another thing to think about when you when you have chickens.

So I'm not going to talk too much about the anatomy of chickens.

Just to let you know that, you know, there is a maturity age depending on the breed.

And we're going to talk a little bit about breeds right now.

There's over 113 breeds recognized by the American Poultry Association.

And that's not even including the mismatched breeds.

We get some of our eggs from a farmer here who lets everyone mingle.

And he gets quite a few strange things coming out of the flock.

Sometimes good, sometimes really weird.

Because a lot of a lot of avian species can some avian domestic avian species can interbreed.

The offspring is sterile, but they can still interbreed much like donkeys and horses.

So they can interbreed have offspring, but they can't. They're sterile.

So, so sometimes you get some very weird looking chicks.

So and usually they don't last too long, because there's something wrong with them.

So there's two classes and, and choosing a breed, we'll go into that a little bit later.

But there's two classes, the bantams, which are the smaller ones.

And then the large breeds, the bantams are nice to have, you can find a bantam in almost any breed that you like.

So if you like the Rhode Island Reds, but they're too big, you can find a bantam that's half that size.

Some of the bantams too are the more fancier ones that have, you know, different hair, tufts, tails, things like that, feathers on their feet.

And so sometimes those are a lot of fun as well.

So when we're looking at what type to get, you kind of need to think to yourself, why am I doing this? Am I doing it just for fun? Am I doing it to get a few eggs? Am I doing it for meat? So those are the kind of things that you're going to think about

in your head before you select the breed.

Now, I'm the type of person that, you know, I look at the breed first and I go, Oh, wow, I really like those characteristics.

And then I look to see if it's going to do what I want.

Sometimes it's not going to do what I want, but I want it anyway, and I get it.

So most of us are like that, right? When you go into any garden center, you know, you see plants that even though you know, it's not the right plant for the right place, but you just love that plant, you're going to get it anyway.

So, and usually there's problems associated with that, but we want what we want.

So there's major types of breeding of breeds.

So you've got the Bantams and the large.

So I'm going to move away from Bantams and large because we've explained what that is, but there's lane breeds, there's meat breeds, and in those meat breeds, there's specific breeds that can be used as broilers, fryers, or roasters.

Most of you are not going to care too much about that.

There's dual purpose breeds that will lay, but also once they're done laying, they're still hefty enough to put in the stew pot as well.

And then there's ornamentals and the ornamental breeds are just for ornamental purposes.

They're not going to lay a lot of eggs if they do lay eggs.

So most of them will still lay eggs, but they're not going to lay an egg every 24 hours because that breeding went into emphasizing some particular characteristic, which is really cool to look at, but not necessarily something that you're going to have

for laying.

A lot of hybrids out there, a lot of different colors. Most people want to have different colored eggs, and so they have to choose different breeds.

And that's fine.

And if you're buying, say, five chickens at the same time, different breeds, that's fine.

Breeds will intermingle.

It has nothing to do, breeds don't really, you don't have the same stress problems in between breeds.

It's when you have different age groups is when you have problems.

So a good layer will lay a large number of eggs, 250 to 280 eggs a year.

Sometimes you'll get a chicken that lays an egg every single day.

That doesn't happen too often.

Usually it's one egg every 24 hours.

But sometimes you get a bird and they're just a layer.

Good layers also have a smaller body.

And the reason for that is that you want them to put all their energy into laying eggs.

So once, you know, most of the time when

layers are done in a larger farm, there's very little that you can do with that bird except sell it for pieces or dog food or something like that.

And the reason for that is that there's just no fat on that bird.

And because they're putting all their energy into producing eggs every single day.

So those birds, they're kind of ugly.

Well, very ugly when they get to the end of their

egg laying cycle.

But they also need less feed.

So those birds are smaller, they need less feed,

and they're going to produce more eggs. But they're, like I said, they're not very attractive.

And they begin laying at about five months.

So sometimes people want them to lay sooner, and they get these specific breeds.

But they're not broody, meaning that they don't usually sit on their eggs.

If they're geared toward, especially like white leg horns or red laying horns,

the reason that they've been bred only to produce eggs, and you don't want them to be broody.

Because if they're broody, then they're going to stop laying.

So you don't want that.

So some of this broodiness has been bred out of some of these chickens.

So when you're reading through the descriptions on the different breeds, if you want a chicken that's going to hatch eggs,

in case that you're lucky enough to live in an area where you can have a rooster, then you do want a chicken that's broody.

But if you're not going to lay eggs for any kind of

hatching chicks out, then I wouldn't worry about it.

Because the broodiness, they'll brood on anything.

And there's even chickens that will brood on these fake

eggs. These are ceramic eggs.

And they'll brood on them for years, because they think that this is going to hatch.

And there are stories where extremely broody chickens have adopted like litters of kittens, litters of puppies, raccoons, I'm sure rabbits, because they're just a mother.

And that's what they want to do is they want a mother.

And so they'll brood outside of their species, which is kind of amazing.

Yeah. But if you want it just for egg production, you really don't want a broody breed, a broody boozy breed.

There's also meat breeds, which are going to be

some Rhode Island whites.

Orvingtons have become very popular because they're a little bit calmer and people like the color.

The Plymouth Rocks, a lot of crosses.

And there's a lot of different hybrids because they're bred to grow faster and larger quicker.

There's a large breast

to meat ratio because Americans like that white meat or since we think it's healthier, or it's supposed to be healthier, then we want these large breasted animals so that we can get the most meat off of it as possible.

Their meat breeds are very efficient at converting their feed over to meat.

And so but you have to be careful that you're giving them a high protein diet.

So if they're not getting that bone foraging, then you're going to select a feed to supplement that forage that's got a large protein in it.

Some of those meat breeds are more pest and disease resistant, but that also has to do with some of the breeding and you'll find that in the descriptions of each different bird.

So some of the things that I was talking about earlier is that a lot of people feel that the poultry industry used hormones or steroids to make beef breeds, I mean meat breeds grow faster.

They can't do that.

There's no hormones, no steroids in that and it's due to breeding and due to increased feed conversion.

Better feed, more breeding for adaptability to that feed and so that's why they can have a large bird marketable in six weeks or less, five to six weeks.

Yeah, we used to produce them at five weeks.

so that's why the poultry industry does so well and

Usually, we don't have a problem with poultry in the marketplace.

So, and they've gotten much bigger over the years.

And the reason is because of that increased feed conversion and the, the breeding, breeding to the feed conversion.

So, it's very interesting how they went through all of that, but that's why they can do that so quickly.

There are dual purpose breeds, but the ones, and they'll have their, their dual purpose, meaning they can be egg and meat, but there are some that are better for eggs and better, and some that are better for meat.

So, the ones like the Australorps, those are better for eggs, although they will have meat on them at the end of their production cycle.

And then the, but the Wyandotte is better for meat, but they also produce eggs.

And the meat is, is really good at the end of their production cycle.

So, so those all, those characteristics are very interesting.

The dual purpose breeds, like the, the Succyx, the Plymouth Rocks, the Rhode

Island Reds, they're going to be fairly large.

And even at an older age, like an older layer, will still have a considerable amount of meat on them.

The, those are more hardy and self-reliant, meaning they're not quite as needy as some of these pure egg or pure meat breeds.

And they, they mostly lay those colored eggs and they have that strong instinct to brood.

So, you'll find some of them.

One time I went, one person called me and said she had one particular hen that was always sitting on top of a small ball.

And what was she doing?

Did the chicken want to play with the ball?

That's what she was asking me.

No, no.

The chicken had a strong instinct to brood and that made her happy.

Now, if you have a broody chicken, I would buy, and you don't have fertilized eggs, because you don't have a rooster.

And I would put in one of these ceramic eggs because there's nothing worse than having a broody chicken that can't sit on an egg for a couple of days.

And they really get upset.

I mean, it makes them sad.

And so, I know I am an egg agent.

We're not supposed to say that, but, but it's true.

They, and you'll see them be sad when you remove their eggs.

So after they've lowered their production and you're not, and they're not giving you as many eggs, let her have a ceramic egg to sit on.

She won't lay anymore, but it really makes her happy.

And, and, you know, if you're not going to eat them afterwards, either, you're going to keep them as pets.

You know, you might as well get a ceramic egg.

You can get these now at Cracker Barrel for less than $2, I think.

I just let her sit on it and it makes them happy.

Yeah.

But, but you guys, in a commercial setting, they're not pets, but in a backyard setting, really?

Huh?

Well, you know, yeah.

Okay.

We'll move on from PETA.

So, um, you also, you know, the more calmer pets, uh, the breeds are, especially if you have children, those are going to be like your Australorps, um, the Wyandottes, um, they're the

Plymouth rocks.

Those are calmer ones.

They're not as quick to, to, uh, right.

To startle.

Uh, that's another thing that startling reflex is just like it is for babies.

I know.

Um, I, I remember probably when my, my mother had her last child and I was in my teens, you know, we didn't think about swaddling the kids.

They just would startle all the time.

Well, now they show that you should swaddle your child quite your baby quite snugly because that startling reflex is, is, is like a flight kind of thing for, for, for danger.

Um, and it's just an instinct.

They'll, they'll do it always.

Um, but it wakes them up and you don't want them to wake them up.

I never wanted my children to wake up and they, and they would go, I wish I had known about swaddling then I would have swaddled them quite tightly.

And so, um, but, uh, chickens are the same way.

They startle quite easily.

And if you have children, um, you don't want them to startle.

Startling also reduces your, um, your egg production.

So you don't want them startling.

So, especially when you have children, uh, you want to make sure that you're, uh, getting a breed that's more adapted to them.

Um, let's see, we'll skip.

Is anybody going to incubate?

No.

Yeah.

Um, there's two different types of, of housing too.

This is a very cute one.

Um, you know, it's set up for say, um, well, no, I mean, okay.

What we think is comfortable is different than what chickens think is comfortable.

You could get four to six in here.

Yeah.

And they don't need a, that's another misunderstanding.

Chickens do not, you do not need one box for chicken.

You can have one box for 20.

Yeah.

As soon as they lay, they usually come out, they come out because they want to eat and they want to find their friends.

I know.

And it's like, get out of the box, get out of the next team box.

So, um, but it's whatever you're most comfortable with.

But if you're going to keep more in a confined space, make sure you're giving them the right amount of space.

And you can find that for per breed on the internet, anywhere.

Just say cage space needed for Australo, Australorps.

And it'll tell you the footage to, you know, 18 inches by 18 inches, 24 inches by 24, um, but you want to make sure that you don't have them crowded.

Um, and you can have them free range, uh, semi pastured, like these are caged, but the idea is to be able to move this around to different grassy areas.

And then when they've eaten down the grass, uh, to a level, you don't want them to go below an inch cause then it's going to be hard for that grass to grow back, but then you pick that up and you move it.

Um, so that's a free range, uh, semi containment system.

Um, there's, uh, of course you can have floors, you can have all sorts of things.

And the one thing to remember when you're buying free range, um, eggs in the grocery store, that doesn't mean that they're out on grass.

It just means that they have at least one or two hours of accessible sunlight.

That's what they mean.

So they can be free range, um, or non confined system and still be on concrete.

So that's the thing to remember is that now pastured is a different story.

If they say pastured eggs, those are the ones where they're allowing the chickens to actually eat grass and insects and weeds.

Um, and that's pastured, but there isn't a limit of time.

They could be out for an hour and then brought back in again.

So you really want to find out if you're buying, you know, $6, a dozen eggs from the grocery store and it's telling you it's a pastured or, um, free range, you want to go to the company and see what they mean by that.

Cause some of them free, uh, uh, free range could just have them back out on concrete, but it's, you know, out in the open.

So if they eat the concrete,

well, they're eating grain, a concentrated feed that gives them the proper nutrition, but it's certainly not going to have the different flavor of the bugs in the grass and things like that.

So, yeah, the color will be different as well too.

So, um, there's pros and cons to each one of these systems.

If you're not really sure and you want a little bit of advice after you've done a little bit of reading, cause that's the first thing I'm going to ask you is, did you do some reading about this first?

So that we can have a good discussion about your particular, uh, uh, circumstances, um, and what kind of system that you want.

Then I can give you a little bit more advice about different types of containment systems, uh, um, uh, or free range or, uh, a little bit of both with that, that has.

So, um, your care of your egg, uh, when, when the egg comes out, it actually goes through a small, thin membrane that puts almost like an impermeable sheath around that egg.

That's why if you pick up an egg that was just like laid right then, it's sticky.

That dries within seconds and that keeps, um, some air, but it keeps a lot of air out and it, it doesn't allow for a lot of exchange of air and gases, so it protects the egg for a longer period of time.

So in a 70 degree, 70 degrees, 70 to 80 degrees, you can keep eggs that have not been washed, um, out for two to three weeks, depending on the temperature and it stays good.

So you do not have to refrigerate your eggs as soon as you collect them.

Now, if you wash your eggs, you don't have to refrigerate your eggs, you can now, if you wash them.

you that little film dissolves and then you do have to refrigerate them because then it allows exchange of gases and

That egg will begin to mature and rot

after a few days

So you can keep eggs fresh eggs on your counter for you know at least three weeks now If you're not using your air conditioner during the summertime, I'm not sure I would do that

You know, but they are pretty

Sustainable left out.

You do not have to refrigerate them right away

And if you're gonna leave them out, the only thing you need is a little brush because sometimes you know

Just like everybody else

Chickens might not be all that

Hygienically clean and they don't have toilet paper.

So you'll get you'll get

manure On some eggs, you'll get some dirt So if you just have a little brush, you know an old toothbrush or something like that just a little brush gently

Wash that off.

You don't have to completely wash it until you eat it when you eat it then I would

Wash it because that manure does have E.

coli and and other bacteria that is not good for our stomach

So, um, but if you think that that egg has not been dirtied at all

Then perfect.

You don't have to do anything.

Just crack them and cook them.

Let's see, what else can I talk about eggs?

They'll start laying smaller eggs at first

so you'll get little eggs like this and

Then over the next couple of weeks as they mature the eggs will get bigger and bigger and bigger and then when they're at the peak

You can get some nice nice big giant eggs.

And then

What happens is the eggs don't get smaller as they mature.

What happens is production does drop

So after two years or so depending on the breed you can see that production drop off a little bit

So Just I'm gonna finish up with some just some concerns that I touched on briefly

You know, you do want to watch out for chicken lice and fleas, of course

Nematodes which are

Like tapeworms, but invisible so you do have to watch your flock

I mean usually on a smaller flock you don't have as many pest problems as you would on a larger flock

They're not under the same kind of stress, but you just want to watch out for it different diseases

I highly recommend that you get chicks that have already been

Vaccinated a lot of people do not because it costs of a dollar or two extra

I would do that because then you don't have to worry about it again, you know, they've been

Vaccinated against a couple of different common

Chicken diseases and then you don't have to worry about it

Bullying, of course you want to watch for bullying

Any kind of pecking in your flock cannibalism, like I said before any bird

Bleeding even if it's a little bit remove that bird because those chickens will keep until it's totally healed You don't want to put a bird back in that has a scab either because once again, those chickens will peck at that scab

Cannibalism if you find any cannibalism

You need to get rid of those birds and you'll have a leader

You'll have a leader that that shows everyone else how to cannibalize other hens

egg eating

Egg eating they will eat their own eggs

Especially if they're bored or you don't remove those eggs or if an egg is broke

They will eat that they get that taste that flavor and then they keep doing it

One of the more amusing things is egg hiding

You will get individual birds that will not nest in

I'm not saying you all will but there will be occasionally and they're what they're doing is they're hiding those eggs

Because that's an instinct hide those eggs brood on them

But you'll be able to tell because after a few weeks

That bird will disappear for longer periods of time and what she's doing is she's sitting on her nest

So you'll be able to find that out

So so I would encourage anyone there's a lot of benefits to having backyard chickens

Of course, they're beautiful

It enhances your life, especially when you're not stressed and sitting there watching them

You're recycling you can use your kitchen scraps as well

From the kitchen to feed your chickens from your kitchen to feed your chickens

And of course, it's great life lessons for children and grandchildren so I would encourage any of that

so that's the main portion of this and

I'm not going to quite answer questions yet in case anybody wants to go because we have a raffle