Five 'Dumb' Questions...

[vdot]

[glow=red,2,300]NEW![/glow] I'm a newbie to chicken raising...just started last June.
I found your website, and it's the best one I've run into
thus far for getting straight answers to questions that
all chicken-raisers will eventually have.
I have five questions for you, if you don't mind answering:

Q1.) For how many years will a Araucanas hen productively lay on average, and how long will the roosters be productive? Is this about the same for all breeds?

I live on the border of Alabama and Tennessee.
Winters are generally mild (around 50F in the day), but have spells that get into the teens or even single digits (for a week or so at a time). My birds are free-range. They've been roosting just out in the trees and bushes throughout this whole winter. They could go into some outbuildings that I have, but seem to be OK with just sitting in bushes and trees nearer the house.

Q2.) In our area, is this OK for them to be exposed to the elements like this?

Along this same line, three of the young hens started laying about 2 weeks ago and have just now started setting.

Q3.) Will these eggs, if fertile, be hatchable, having been through some pretty cold weather for a week or two prior to being set on (ie: in the 30's F.)?

Q4.) How cold can the eggs get prior to being set on, and still be hatchable?

Q5.) How long can eggs go before being set on, and still be hatchable?

Thanks in advance for your answers, and keep up the
good work. Your website is a great resource

[JamesC]

vdot:
1) There is no firm answer on the number of productive years for any hen. Some will produce for many years, others may quit after 3 or 4. The first year is the best, the second you will get about 75% of the first year and it starts to decline sharply. Keep in mind that you have birds that are not necessarily bred for high production. Your best chance of getting an answer is from the breeder who sold you the birds, he should know. Males will be productive for many years but again, it depends on the bird and the way you raise them. If he is strong and stays healthy but not many are used for more than a few years unless they are exceptional specimens since they are easily replaced by a strong, verile cockerel.
2) Leaving your birds to the elements is asking for trouble. In your climate they will likely do OK at night. I'm on the West Coast of Canada and we have about the same climate as you describe but I would never leave my birds out unless I was happy to see them slowly disappear. If predators have not found them yet, that is just luck, they will find them. It's better to train them to go to their coop for safety at night. At this point you would have to gather them up and lock them in for at least a few weeks, until they get the idea. You may have to confine them in a run as well since they would prefer to go to the trees.
3 & 4) The eggs from the birds that have made nests should be fertile if you have at least one male with them. The best temperature for storing eggs for incubation is 45-55F. That doesn't mean that your eggs are not hatchable. Eggs exposed to temperature much under 40F could be questionable. I would say that if no eggs cracked, there is still a chance and that depends on where the birds made their nests. If they are protected, it could still work out. If they don't develop, no harm done, right? You should candle the eggs at 7 days to determine if the embryos are growing. That is done with a small, intense light held against the egg. Best done in a dark room but since you have Araucanas, the tinted blue or green shells are difficult to see through but worth a try. If you can't see anthing at 7 days, try again at 10 days.
5) Eggs stored for artificial incubation are kept for 7-10 days maximum before setting. Any longer and the hatch rate decreases sharply. The same rules don't apply to eggs that are laid and kept in the nest. There is something about the treatment of the eggs by hen that gives her more time. My belief is that because the hen goes to her nest every day and warms the eggs while she is laying each day and turns them like she does when she is broody, it makes a difference in the length of time they can be left dormant. When I was young, I had a bantam pullet that I thought had disappeared. Two weeks after she disappeared I saw her eating at the hopper, all ruffled up and obviously broody. I did not find her nest but he appeared one day with 22 chicks. Her oldest eggs were at least 3 weeks old.
Good Luck
James

[KChicken]

1. The average hen lays for about 8 years. Of course that depends on their health.

2. As James said, predators can be a big problem. I recently had a racoon break into my chicken coop through a weak window and take two chickens. As for the cold weather, they should be ok. It could get to about 0 F on a cold winter day here and my chickens will venture outside instead of staying in the poorly-heated coop.

3,4,5. If kept above about 35 F, they can remain dormant for about a week.

KChicken

[Heidicat]

I started out with hens that a man no longer wanted, and they were kept "out" at all times. I put them in the coop, for 4-5 days and then every evening about 1/2 an hour before I wanted them in, I would put some scratch in a coffee can and call and shake the can. It only took a few days of bribery, and hen herding, intothe coop. But then they would be waiting for the extra treats and the coop was"home". Those girls have taught very feathered criitter here to go in at night. Even my guniea's, they think they are chickens!!!!

Keep us informed, as I have Aracanna's as well, maybe not pure breds, but I get green, pink and blue shelled eggs. So far those girls are the most tame and wonderful of the lot. I also have white rock, wynadotte(sp), and one sex link and the others,,,,,,,,who knows. I am going to order breed standerd book, that someone here so wonderfully gave me the name of. Thank you by the way!!!

Best of luck, and James is correct about the coons and others that WILL find your hens, if not now, for sure when they have litters to feed and teach how to feed. I say,,,,,start bribing those gals in the barn!!! Great to see someone else find this wonderful place and folks! ;D

[vdot]

Thanks for everyones' responses. I have already become quite aquainted with the predator issue. I had
planned to build a big yard with enclosed hen-house
when I ordered the chicks originally. I ordered
50 pullets and 5 cockerels for delivery in early June of
last year. I received 57 (1 extra pullet and cockerel).
As an aside, I ordered them from Mount Healthy
Hatchery near Cincinnati, which is near where I grew
up, but not why I ordered there. With their shipping
and everything, they were the cheapest I could find.
They where very helpful folks, and I was extremely
pleased with the stock I received. Anyway, by the
beginning of winter (December), I was down to
23 hens and 2 roosters. 1 had died as a chick by
climbing into the jar of a jar feeder that the jar had
come off, and she couldn't get out. 1 had gotten
trampled or hurt somehow as a chick. The rest had
been killed by (mostly) the cats that I had had. I had
thought that wild predators where getting them 1-by-1,
but eventually was able to determine one at a time,
that my own cat AND her kitten were getting them.
After I got rid of them, I was still losing them to my
puppy. After I got rid of him, I lost some to a red-tailed
hawk. I don't have a solution for this until I can afford
a covered chicken yard. My biggest problem remains
my beloved dog of 6 years (a lab). I never thought
she would go after them, since she seemed to know
not to bother them. But one night she killed six of them..so I tied her.
I looked to the internet to try to find how to break her
and found the most plausable possibility to tie the dead
chicken around her neck until it smelled REAL bad!
With my rambunctious little sweetie, this did not work.
I think she liked the smell. But she did learn that I did
not like her to go after the chickens. The problem
occasionally would occur again, so I tried a neighbors
suggestion of pouring Tabasco sauce on the dead
chicken. He said it had cured his most determined
dog of this problem. Well, my dog seemed to enjoy the
seasoning...two whole bottles worth!
The problem is, and I've helplessly watched one time
from the window, as I could not get off the phone
on an interview: The chickens harrass the poor girl!
They surround her in a circle, only a few feet away,
and try to get her food. I could tell she did not want to
go after them, but I could also see that she was very
upset by them going for her food. I tried to motion for
my wife to go out an scare them off, but could not get
her attention. I watched for minutes, and finally got off
the interview. When I went to hang up the phone, I
came immediately back to the window to find that
it was too late. She had killed one in the 30 seconds
it took to put the phone back! If anyone knows how to
break a dog of this, I could use some advice. I love my
chickies, but I love my little 'Shamrock' even more, so I
won't get rid of her. I think shes trying hard, but the
chickens won't let her be.

Meanwhile, I now have 2 broody hens:
One with 19 eggs which hopefully hatch the 4th...
Another with eleven eggs to (I think) hatch the 11th.

There is another clutch of 18 eggs (and counting)
that is not being set on yet.

Thanks again, for everyone's helpful info and encouragement! On this board, I even found a person
local to my area who raises Araucanas (among others),
and from whom I may buy some roosters for diverifying.
(my roosters are both silvers). Anyway, Thanks! ;D
I

[Josh]

vdot said:

[glow=red,2,300]
I found your website, and it's the best one I've run into
thus far for getting straight answers to questions that
all chicken-raisers will eventually have.

Thanks in advance for your answers, and keep up the
good work. Your website is a great resource

Glad you like it! It's comments like that that keep poultryOne running.

As for preventing your dog from chasing your chickens: That's quite a difficult problem to solve. I've heard about the tie-the-chicken-around-the-dog's-neck answer, and have heard mixed feedback about it. Dogs have a natural tendency to chase chickens which is extremely difficult to stop. One foolproof, guaranteed-to-work solution is keeping your chickens in a protected area. Perhaps someone else can offer a better idea?

[amy]

hello new to this site but might have an ideal on how to help out with the dog,,,,,,,,,,,i have two dogs both labs and they never bother my chickens,,,,,,,,,when the chicks where little i let the dogs smell them and look at them if they tried anything funny i told them no and sent them away ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,after a few mins. i would let them come back to see and smell the chicks , as long as they where good they could stay by my side but if the misbehaved they where punish.

[Josh]

Thanks for sharing that tip! It sounds great. Letting the two species interact under close supervision can help when they're young.