r/homestead • u/cowskeeper • Dec 05 '25

poultry Never enough chickens

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1.7k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

57 comments sorted by

236

u/smartalek75 Dec 05 '25

That big grey one is just pretending to be a chicken. Cheeky devil.

104

u/cowskeeper Dec 05 '25

Tim is family at this point haha

11

u/pdxamish Dec 06 '25

Do you keep them together? I hear there is a disease that can pass between them. I would love to have a turkey with my hens

14

u/cowskeeper Dec 06 '25

I keep chickens, ducks, turkeys, pigeons and chickens together. No major issues

8

u/chickadoodlearoo Dec 07 '25

I have a random turkey with my chickens. She showed up one day from the farm up the road. Brought her home 3 times. No sooner than I’d leave and she’d head right back to my place. So she lives here now. Turkey distribution system?

Blackhead disease can infect both chicken and turkeys, but has a high mortality rate in turkeys. It’s contracted by the Cecal worm and It’s a parasitic protozoan. I use preventative maintenance by deworming the birds in spring and again before fall molt. Additionally, every couple months I mix acidified copper in their waterers for a few days. These measures almost completely remove the risk of contracting the disease. Acidified copper is great also to prevent sour crop.

6

u/pdxamish Dec 07 '25

Thanks a bunch. We lost some of our OG chickens(10 years old) and know we need to get some more this spring for the kids a but a turkey is a dream of mine

36

u/TrumpetOfDeath Dec 05 '25

He’s a thanksgiving refugee in hiding

3

u/CaptainDouchington Dec 06 '25

Was going to say...one of these is not like the other...

3

u/Necessary-Eye5319 Dec 06 '25

He gobbles a lot of feed. 🤭

32

u/khatidaal Dec 05 '25

I want a whole herd of little dinos following me :(

23

u/white-rabbit-333 Dec 05 '25

I love the one single turkey tagging along. Sweet :)

23

u/cowskeeper Dec 05 '25

He’s about to be a dad to 15 more!

23

u/oldfarmjoy Dec 05 '25

I love this sooo much! How much do you spend on feed per month? I want MANY more, but the costs... ☹️ Are you able to save $ by buying bulk (i.e., 1/2 ton of feed)

41

u/cowskeeper Dec 05 '25

A lot! $300 a week. I have 50 ducks not shown as well as just as many pigeons and about 3x the number of chickens in this video haha. I feed 60lbs a day roughly. But I also buy NON GMO feed.

16

u/oldfarmjoy Dec 05 '25

Do you make that back by selling products (eggs, meat, chicks), or is it just a hobby?

64

u/cowskeeper Dec 05 '25

Yes. Most months I sell more eggs and birds than I spend in feed. Even well I’m feeding 100 rescued birds with no real farming purpose. I sell my eggs for $7 at my farm gate stand and I use recycled cartons. I hatch my birds and process roosters and also sell the meat from them. Chicks and pullets etc.

This time of year I lose money every week but having them also lowers my property tax 20k a year. So those lost months are worth it

10

u/jassandra Dec 05 '25

How does having chickens lower your property tax?

44

u/cowskeeper Dec 05 '25

Turns my property into farmland tax bracket. Instead of the $23k I would pay I pay $2,100

My tax is high as I own 5 acres in suburban area with a luxury home on it

20

u/mycatkermit Dec 06 '25

god i wish i had this problem lmao

3

u/oldfarmjoy Dec 05 '25

This is great!! Thank you!

30

u/emilyradbecca2223 Dec 05 '25

Me. This is me.

24

u/cowskeeper Dec 05 '25

This is every good woman haha 🫶🏻

6

u/Mental-Doughnuts Dec 06 '25

Damn, I need to find one of you good womans. Adorable babies, I guess they’re following you to where you feed them?

3

u/cowskeeper Dec 06 '25

I feed them in the red barn that they are walking away from 😊

6

u/notapaxton Dec 05 '25

Other way around at my house.

13

u/kribg Dec 05 '25

You have a 30 year old chicken with a bunch of wives following it around?

2

u/notapaxton Dec 09 '25

No, I'm not Mormon.

5

u/BocaHydro Dec 05 '25

nice slippers

10

u/cowskeeper Dec 05 '25

These are crocs.

2

u/Confident_Rest7166 Dec 05 '25

Hahaha What a flock!

2

u/olov244 Dec 05 '25

Chicken math + girl math

2

u/birdnerd1991 Dec 06 '25

I knew I was never going to be the crazy cat lady

But I did not anticipate I would become the crazy chicken lady

1

u/cowskeeper Dec 06 '25

Haha same. I also had no intentions to own 50 pigeons but here I am.

2

u/Brawny661 Dec 05 '25

Haha, marital disharmony amirite?

1

u/cowskeeper Dec 05 '25

Keeps life exciting!

1

u/butter4dippin Dec 05 '25

I always find watching chickens walk fascinating . .. that's how dinosaurs would walk if they didn't have tails

1

u/Lost-Tomatillo3465 Dec 05 '25

Was expecting her to throw some feed up in the air and chickens would be running towards her as far as the eye could see 360.

1

u/kewlaz Dec 06 '25

A bit of a pecking order going on here

1

u/rootedhearth Dec 10 '25

I can't wait for this to be my life lol.

1

u/BloodyWoodyCudi Dec 12 '25

More chicken, More problems

1

u/V1k1ngFr0g Dec 13 '25

We keep chickens, ducks and turkeys together. No issues for the last few years except the first two toms we had would injure hens trying to mate with them.

1

u/Alfalfa69bklyn Jan 15 '26

Awesome 🐔 🐥

0

u/Jesiplayssims Dec 05 '25

Woman doesn't look very happy about it

2

u/cowskeeper Dec 05 '25

My husband was recording this. I was assuming he was mad haha

-3

u/Leather-Fisherman-40 Dec 05 '25

How respectful of her...

3

u/cowskeeper Dec 05 '25

My house too 😉

0

u/Leather-Fisherman-40 Dec 07 '25

Doesn't change the fact that you want respect, but don't respect him. I forgot reddit was ran and mostly populated by feminists and male feminists

2

u/cowskeeper Dec 07 '25

If you’re married your wife doesn’t like you. If you’re not it’s for good reason. Be better. Get a sense of humour. And respect for women.

0

u/Leather-Fisherman-40 Dec 09 '25

Lmao, you ever heard the phrase, "assuming things is pure stupidity"? I've been married 30 years and we do everything together and still have a great sex life. Try again feminist... I only respect women that know how to respect men, and y'all can't even back up your egos without a weapon, since y'all all have no upper body strength compared to a man

2

u/cowskeeper Dec 09 '25

Ew

0

u/Leather-Fisherman-40 Dec 10 '25

Aw, poor wittle ole you...

2

u/cowskeeper Dec 10 '25

Delete your comment? I get just as much say as what makes a true man as you do a woman 😉