A draw.

This post has nothing to do with chickens whatsoever. But I just wanted to air my discontentment over a draw against Manchester United tonight.

Both teams played very well, I am just upset with some unfair calls by the referee at times. Well looking forward to next week's game.

Pleasantries.

Today after feeding.

The photo above shows the current state of the chicks. Just fed them about 20 minutes ago and they are lazily resting. Just ran out of feed by the way. Going to head into town later on.

There's a big Liverpool game to night (Versus Man United). Why I wrote that is beyond me.

Cleaning out the Poop (STOOL)

Chicken Poop (Bueks)

Seven Week Old Chicks

This morning after breakfast I went and cleaned out the chicken coop. I tell you the stench was so unbearable. Managed to get 2 gunny sacks full! (About 40Kgs). At least we have fertilizer for our plants and what not. Plus it'll get my mother in-law off my back regarding the stench.

Also, an updated photo of the 7 week old chicks. They eat like nobody's business. I am getting pretty worried at the rate they're going. 50KGS of feed and corn in 3 days! I've tried to cut down but they look so adorable running to the door as I approach. I gotta be more disciplined.

Well, I'll keep you updated.

7 Weeks

It's been 7 weeks since I started and boy has it been hectic. Now the chicks are quite big, about 1kg plus, almost 2kgs. Another 7 weeks to go until I sell the last batch. By week 12 I am expecting to sell off some because I have received pre-orders for a party in the beginning of November. Our supplier has promised another batch of chicks coming in next week. We are still contemplating whether or not to go for 100 or 200 chicks.

The last 7 weeks have been good to us. We've lost 3 chicks to natural causes and not disease. I have been feeding them corn (crushed) from 5 weeks plus up til now. I did have some hiccups with regards to them eating so little but I managed to overcome that by mixing 1 part chicken feed to 5 parts corn. It obviously made a difference because they were back to their old self again. I think I made a judgement error by switching broiler feed with corn abruptly, instead of weaning them to it.

The weather has been good so our water source has been clean and not muddy (Gravity fed water). A good suggestion is to always ensure your chicks receive fresh clean water. I have been pondering on watering nipples for my future projects (plus my wife is nagging because we have to refill the 5 liter water feeders ( I call them upright bombs... don't ask) three times a day. Also, it would make everything much easier.

I have made many new friends over the past few weeks, all of whom are also chicken keepers. A lot of ideas and new information on chicken health and diseases. I am fortunate to not have lost many chicks. My mother in-law seems to think I should go bigger and expand this small project. But I think I will wait another 3 to 4 months before taking the plunge. It's a big investment even for 100 chicks. I have to make sure I have the time to manage the chicks before I can even consider doing it. We have our rubber trees and vegetables to think about too.

Never in my wildest dreams I would have thought that one day I would end up being a 'Petani Moden' (Modern Farmer in Malay), but I am glad I did. Oh yes, I am glad I got chicken stricken too...

Corn Feed

I have found that feeding corn makes the chicken look livelier compared to normal chicken feed. The chicks tend to be more active and have more color. Just a point I wish to add.

Eric

*UPDATE* Added another pic.

This is Eric, our 3 month old Chicken. He was on his way to be food until something special caught my eye. I was watering some vegetables in the garden about a month ago, when, my neighbor commented that a chicken was following me around. I turned back to see Eric walking behind me. I tried to chase him away but he didn't flinch.

Well, I left it at that. Until 15 minutes later, while I was feeding the week old chicks, he came and stood by me. I was quite astonished when I took some feed in my hand and gave it to him, he ate from out of my hand! Yes! I couldn't believe it! I told my wife and she was saying not a chance that would happen. But she tried and lo and behold! Eric ate out of her hand too.

Now ever since then, Eric is always first up to see me come when it's feeding time. He still follows me around, but I don't think that taking him to town will be quite a good idea.... YET!

New Home For The Chicks.

Finally the new home for the 5 and a half week old chicks. My wife and I took 3 days to complete the 10ft X 10ft home for them. I tried to stick to my original plans and I am quite happy with the results. I have already put some bedding for the coop but it isn't shown in the picture above.

Lost one chick last night due to the cold weather (Been raining heavily the last few days). Apart from that minor misfortune everything seems to be looking good. I am currently feeding the chicks corn feed. They are taking a liking to it.

From what I have gathered folks out here want their chicken to be fed with lots and lots of corn. So as this is my first try at rearing commercially, I decided to go ahead with feeding them corn.

Well, It's been a hectic 5 weeks and I am very happy with my progress. My wife seems to want to build another coop double the size to house new chicks for Christmas celebrations. So I think she may be on to something here.

Til next time...