EP25: What is the best chicken breed to have on your homestead?

[@cameron9885]

As a manager at TSC I want to let everyone know, we do not re-use the same tanks, feeders or waterers. We use them for a month and then they will be discarded or sold. As for knowing where the birds come from, we will glady inform you on the Hatchery and their reputation. Also, any sick or injured birds are quarantined and not mixed in with the birds for sale. It is a safe and clean process picking chicks up at TSC.

[@billw7894]

My local TSC is great and is managed mostly by farm family members

[@sherilcarey7100]

I think all the "frankenbird" and other rumors and putdowns that swirl around cornish cross just comes from people seeing them. I've certainly never wanted one since the first day I saw a bunch in a tractor on someone's homestead in Maryville OH, over 15 years ago. And I have always thought of them as frankenbirds since that day as well. Now all this time later I saw some on a homestead video here on youtube just today that looked just as bad, well actually worse than the first ones I'd seen 15 years ago. man alive. never, never, never would I ever. I might try freedom rangers or bresse, but not cornish cross. It is ok that others make their own decisions. And it is ok that I make mine. Appreciate hearing your take on everything.

[@albertod4161]

I remember my first flock of rhode Island red a Cornish criss and p8ken ducks they did pretty good actually no losses i got them at tractor supply

[@robertveronda4225]

Good information, when we got chickens my wife thought I needed to make 1 nest box per bird! We went rounds over the number of boxes she just couldn't believe that they would wait in line even if you had an open box! She's a believer now.

[@RedToolHouse]

That would be a bunch of boxes! Thanks for watching.

[@yanismontero8827]

The guy is soooo funny . It’s good for the night considering the current circumstances. Thank you guys .

[@mrgearheadfromhell]

I plan on having yard birds and meat birds, the yard birds are natures janitors; Their job will be to keep the pasture clean as they will pick the bugs out of the cow pies. I'm not really worried about egg production if they sit on them to hatch out it will keep the population up. The meat birds will be the Cornish cross, I have not picked a yard bird breed just yet; However the Black Australorp is looking good. Years ago I had a spider problem, my yard was crawling with granddaddy longleggers so I got 10 Guinea hen and they took care of the spiders but were taken out by a hawk over time. So since you can't legally shoot a bird of prey I like the idea that they can't tell the difference between a chicken and a crow, so I will probably give them a try.

[@RedToolHouse]

I really like that breed.

[@horseblinderson4747]

Fayoumis are good foragers and are fast and predator skittish. They'll eat mice and snakes too. But they're not black. Sumatras similarity are good foragers but they're pretty wild and feral don't really like going in for the night and will nest near the ground rather than roosting inside. They're on a mating season schedule for the most part and go broody pair of like geese and share nest duty, generally cocks only get Scrappy during breeding season and they are black. Hope any of this helps bear in mind this is all second hand knowledge on my part.

[@deborahjones6066]

Love your down to earth approach and informative knowledge on chickens. I found this video interesting. Subscribing!

[@scotyfilms]

For meat birds, I really like the sliding coop idea.

[@shermdog6969]

We have 40 chickens and we never smell poop. We live in NM and it's so so dry here the poop dries really fast. If it stays wet it's smells a lot more.

[@10knucklechuckle]

Red Tool house - Homestead - Not overly knowledgeable on this but I have heard that the Bresse Gauloise is one of the best breeds. Good layer and supposedly the best tasting. I believe there is an American variant as the true French are hard to get. Might be worth giving them a try. :)

[@RedToolHouse]

I am not familiar with that breed. Sounds like the Creole girl I dated in high school :) I will have to check those out. Thanks for the info!

[@horseblinderson4747]

@@RedToolHouse they're actually really good not as great size as broilers, or as many eggs as Australorps. But from the videos I've seen they're good foragers and fast starters. 4 1/2 months to start crowing and laying they get to about 5-7 at about 20-24 weeks. Maybe sooner I don't have a farm but I'd like to.

[@aampofficial-w1c]

Been watching these informative videos and I thank you for them. 🙏🏻

[@jimclaire7996]

Greetings, New to your channel. I really enjoy your channel and the practical information that you provide. We raised quail in the Philippine Islands. We started getting eggs at 6w 2d, and by eight weeks of age we were in full production. Most of our meat chickens are 45 day birds, and a strain of white leghorns. We often harvest them at 35 days, give or take. A live bird of 1.4 kilograms dresses out just under a full kilo. The Philippines is a poor country and a housewife can buy a kilo bird for dinner. That, sadly, is life. I am going to try breed you mentioned but can not spell. We will also try your method of raising birds and disease prevention. We only need a few here in Texas. In the islands we had a dozen chickens and had more eggs than we needed. We ate chicken and chicken eggs and sold quail eggs. We had up to 500 quail at one time. Thanks for sharing. God bless America.

[@RedToolHouse]

Thanks for watching. Good luck with your chicken plans. The breed we like is the Australorp.

[@mikecavemansavage1936]

And the beards too I love them lol We have plans on green and blue eggs :) And the more blue birds and splashes are cute too

[@cjennmom]

How much composting do you do? Animal manure + grass clippings or old leaves is really good for that and the compost is great for your crops.

[@RedToolHouse]

We have done a little in the past but are focusing on that much more this year. With 90 chickens and 20 plus pigs, we can produce some manure. We have a bunch of wood waste as well.

[@suemcfarlane4199]

Chickens do have a use by date in regard to age is a bared rock the same as the Plymouth Rock they look alike

[@wmfife1]

I believe it's shorthand for Barred Plymouth Rock, the original name for that breed.

[@wmfife1]

I'm on a 1/2-acre wooded lot in rural N. Centr. FL At night & early AM we sometimes get (very vocal) S. Barred Owls and have spotted Red-Shouldered Hawks come through (the trees) by day. Red-Tailed Hawks stay busy with the cattle farmer's field out back and that's good as they are large enough to make off with smaller Bantam hens given the chance. Occasionally I'll see piles of feathers here I've identified as Mourning Doves and cats don't pluck their catch so I know who it was that got them. Also frequently groups of E. crows come through cursing at the top of their lungs at someone they've spotted they would like to take apart. My question: So - how many Australorps would I need to keep a single pair of say Barred P.R.'s or Buff Orpingtons safe in an open fenced partly free-ranged enclosure? Am not looking to breed or raise broilers. I just want to keep a few as part of the family and want them to stay safe. Thanks.

[@amandamattix809]

How do you guys like the black austrolorps temperament? We've got young kiddos so I always figured we start with buffs but since we are also in WV we will have hawks to contend with so a few black birds may not be a bad idea.

[@RedToolHouse]

Amanda Mattix they are pretty laid back. The key is have your kids interact with them as much as possible. Our first Rhode Island reds would perch on my shoulder like a parrot.

[@Godisnotjesus1967]

Thanks for info. I'm in Philippines and started with free range native chickens. You only find mix breeds here. I would like to show you some pics of what I'm dealing with and you can advise. I want to breed back to original species.

[@allanbressette2088]

Thanks me an my neighbor are going to do these birds. I might video the process send to you to show how we do

[@cookingsherry8784]

I've had great success with my TS chicks that I got on sale for $2 each. 😀

[@johnbrown9623]

Great vid folks. Thx for sharing.

[@RedToolHouse]

john brown thanks!

[@randysimons9802]

Great video!!! Just found your videos

[@slaytanicdavidb]

Just found your videos. Gotta admit you made me laugh for about 10 minutes. Good video

[@paulbenson4809]

Dual perpose chickens for Texas heat?

[@austinsensenig9411]

What do you do for your pasture troy? For the chickens we were thinking of mulching the entire area or at least half for the compost and bug matter and such

[@RedToolHouse]

We started with two 5000 square foot pastures that we would rotate them back and forth. They still destroyed it too much. We are now working on moving them to our 20x50 hoop house with deep mulch and a small sacrificial yard for the winter. For warm months, we will do like Joel Salatin and have a mobile coup with electric poultry netting. We will see how that goes.

[@austinsensenig9411]

Red Tool House - Homestead yeah we don't have the proper room or set up for poultry netting and have too many predators around we have around 50 chickens and was going to do a 36x12 run with a 12x12 coop inside our barn but same issue is I know what they will do to the ground but have heard using mulch instead of grass they can scratch more and still find bugs and stuff what you think?

[@RedToolHouse]

Midwestern Homestead yes, mulch/wood chips would be great. Wood chips would be better unless you get totally untreated mulch. Go as deep as you can. Check out a KZbin channel called edible acres. He has a really neat chicken composting system using wood chips in a tighter area. Creates tons of compost for him.

[@austinsensenig9411]

Red Tool House - Homestead great info thanks! While I have you here how do you feed your layers and meat chickens? How do you figure how mych per day we want to get away from the bulk gravity feeders due to large outbreak of rats in our area they are destroying my old barn and want to feed outdoors and only once a day to fill an trough but don't know how to figure how much to put

[@RedToolHouse]

For egg layers - Start with a ration and adjust up or down based upon the chicken's output. We average about 1/3 lb of 14% layer per bird per day. We have 70 chicken and feed 50lbs every two days. In the growing months, they get more forage so we drop that down some. For broilers, we average about 0.6 lbs per bird per day and use an 18% (20% if we can find it) non-gmo broiler mash.

[@WilAdams]

Did you get the internal thoughts of the hawk--'Hey, there's a lot of birds down there, but those crows are gonna mess with us'--during your exit interview of the hawks? LOL.

[@RedToolHouse]

Out of 100 hawks we surveyed most responded to the question "How intimidating do you find crows? 1 Very intimidating, 2 Somewhat intimidating, or 3 Not Very intimidating at all"

[@lilolmecj]

Wil Adams I feed dog kibble to the crows on top of my hen house hoping they will keep the hawks away.

[@wmfife1]

@@lilolmecj Making a note of this. Great tip. Sounds like a winner. Thanks!

[@muttlyone2964]

Do a video on watering animals in the winter so people know what they are getting into.

[@RedToolHouse]

Muttly One that is a good idea. I will put that one on the list!

[@TinaShay]

!, How do you get the older chickens to accept new chicks from the farm store? 2. My pigs must get bored, what can I give them to entertain them? (Both chickens and pigs have 300 acres to free range on, but my little pigs are in a big pen 1/2 the day) They are friendly and we have good fences....Sorry if some of you You-Tubers think this is dumb.... I don't care... :)

[@RedToolHouse]

Tina, if you are going to add new chicks to a flock, I would first quarantine the new chicks in a brooder somewhere else away from your main flock. Once they have feather out and gotten bigger then you could introduce them to the new flock but still keep them separated by fence in the coop. You want them to be around each other but not necessarily in the same space as some can get seriously injured. We introduce new chickens at night as well. Seems to help. as for entertaining pigs, they will "play" with items. I have left an old shirt or piece of sheet rubber and have seen the piglets sling it around like a dog. Half buried items of interest will encourage them to dig it out. They will tear up some ground quickly, however. Good luck!

[@aampofficial-w1c]

Tina no comment is a dumb comment god bless you

[@tangle70]

If you introduce 3 or more at at time, it is a lot less stressful. Single chickens seemed to get picked on a lot.

[@chucksinger1916]

Troy how do you get them back in the coop at night if you free range them? Thanks

[@RedToolHouse]

They know to return at dark.

[@ionraice]

In this video the sound is weird. the sound is mostly unbalanced where her voice is off to the left and yours is off to the right. It just makes it hard to listen to on headphones. It's probably that microphone channel thing you were talking about previous.

[@RedToolHouse]

Yes, the mics are each on their own channel. On left and one right. When we stand this close to each other we pick up on each other's mics. I will look into combining the channels. There is no need to keep them split since I am not mixing sound.

[@sandymick8639]

What do you do with chickens when they no longer lay.

[@RedToolHouse]

They are used for stew chickens and bone broth. Too tough to be fryers but are very flavorful in soups and stews.

[@garywylie2231]

I noticed you have a chicken pen and chicken tractor. is one better than the other, is it better to have both, or is there a seasonal reason? (pen in the winter, tractor in the spring)

[@RedToolHouse]

Gary Wylie we have experimented with several options over the years and have settled on a coup for our laying flock and tractors for the broilers. I will be doing a video soon on the coup and the rotational pasture. Thanks for watching.

[@robertross9269]

What chicken keeps the hawks away?

[@dexterking9003]

Good video I think you should be hatching your own chicks and sell them to the public I’ll be the first to order

[@RedToolHouse]

I'm not good enough at determining their sex at hatching. It would have to be straight run only!

[@l.loganboswell1761]

Good job on the video

[@sherrymull1728]

I wanted you to show me the chickens close up,don't have to pick them but let me watch them and maybe just tell their breed whether they adapt good with chicks, thanks

[@doriohlson108]

What is the most docile/friendly rooster?

[@RedToolHouse]

I have never had an aggressive rooster but we had a Buff Orpington that was like a pet. He would walk with the boys in the woods.

[@kl1958]

What hatchery have you purchased your chicks from?

[@allanbressette2088]

What is the type of bird to you use for meat.

[@RedToolHouse]

Cornish Cross

[@deecooper1567]

I M Gosh, you guys had me ROFL 🤣 so many times. You just casually run it right i with what you’re saying😂😂 Just found you & love that your z6 so I will be subscribing as I’m in z5-6 but high dry desert… upper Northern Nevada. Hot 🥵 summers & cold 🥶 winters. And lots of sand 🥴. We will build a coop & run this year so it will be ready for next year. ???? When do you purchase baby chics ? Our last freeze is Usually the end of May. I’m very excited to have found you 👏🐓👩‍🌾 Oh what would you suggest for the flooring? Won’t free range but darn this sand gets hot 😵‍💫🔥.

[@mikecavemansavage1936]

I had barred rock but they started eating their eggs so I ate them they were very yummy even barred rock crosses are yummy so I might just raise them for meat instead of meat birds because they can reproduce

[@terryevans898]

What chicken hashtery is the best and the cheapest ones

[@stevenbolin7688]

I live in oak hill,Wv, looking for some adult hens for sale

[@johnjude2685]

Raised in KY and about the"chicken Hawks" yes they always did seem to get the most white less than half grown chickens for most. Grandpa like the road island red cross for his favorite.Keeping the cock over most of the multiple perporpous hens

[@toddcaskey9984]

I really liked the idea with the crows , I'm thinking that's why I lost none to birds of prey, just foxes. I let them out to free range when I am home , and two times when I went in for dinner a fox got my chickens over a six year period

[@toddcaskey9984]

I was wondering if you got the pictures I sent ?

[@RedToolHouse]

Todd Caskey I was surprised the hawks wont attack but I have never had one kill since getting the australorps. I did not get your pictures. Did you try emailing them to my Red Tool house email?

[@toddcaskey9984]

Red Tool House - Homestead yea I don't know

[@allanbressette2088]

What type of food did you feed them

[@RedToolHouse]

I feed layer mash to the egg layers and nonGMO broiler feed for the broilers.

[@nebuidaghugu5397]

How can I get the chicken .... I am life in Indonesia

[@patience1226]

Would you show us how you keep the smell to a minimum. (I know you had said mulch...but would you show us as well?)

[@RedToolHouse]

Beverly Oregon yes! This Friday's video will address the deep litter method

[@troy3238]

I absolutely love blue eggs instead of most women I know.

[@amandacribb2526]

Thank you. Great video. Would like to know more about chicken and pig breeds. Very helpful :)

[@RedToolHouse]

Thanks for the feedback. We will have to add that to our list. Check out this video we did on chicken breeds a while back. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJ_KgJiDepKfqJo

[@blancamateo9002]

Do you mean AMERAUCANA?

[@kacperro8758]

Thanks for the terrible sound quality

[@dakotiti8003]

your chicken are vaccinate?

[@RedToolHouse]

No, we do not vaccinate our chickens.

[@techinitiate9318]

You shouldn't really talk bad about others practices such as KFC, when you are raising a bird that you know grows too fast. The bird doesn't lay eggs because it is almost impossible to get one to live long enough to lay. Their hearts cannot support their size. It's ok bvn to raise these birds, I'm not saying it's not. But to talk bad about another's process when there are problems in your own process is not kosher.

[@raywhitehead730]

There is no. Best