Raising Chickens

[Darzin]

Where do you live in the US? Because if you live anywhere where there are raccoons you will need a coop. Racoons are evil motherfuckers when it comes to chickens and they have hands. So they can open even a semi-complex latch as they can twist turn and pull and they will check every night so forget once and your chickens are done.

I would recommend the book Keep Chickens My mom used it as her chicken bible to keep a small flock and basically do what you want to do. Its an easy read and has lot's of helpful hints and tips, the coop design part while not in depth did help me design a proper coop for our climate.

Chickens are great fun now that my mom's an empty nester all her letters are at least half chicken news. If you treat them as pets you really do begin to see their personalities come out.

[Tears of Lys]

I'm getting two nucs (beginning bee hives) in June, so I will definitely let you know how it's going.

Do you ever watch "Alaska, the Last Frontier"? The folks on that show have been living off the land for generations, and you can learn a lot about beekeeping, cattle, chickens, etc., from watching it.

I've never had chickens myself, but have always wanted to. When I was a kid, we'd go visit my grandfather's farm where we'd collect eggs, milk cows, etc., and I grew to really love it. But the brand of fowl I **REALLY** loved was guinea fowl. http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/raising-guinea-fowl-zmaz92aszshe.aspx?SlideShow=1

Apparently they'll rid your property of ticks, fleas, spiders, etc., and are extremely easy to care for. I didn't know this as a kid, though. All I remember was that they looked cute to me and that every time a car pulled up the long drive, they'd make a strange sound to announce the arrival. I thought they were much more endearing than the chickens. But ducks are real sweetie-pies too! I guess you'd need a pond for them, though.

[Seli]

We had a small number of chickens for years when I was growing up, bantams. I belief we had between 4 and 10 ish over the years, and they -even for breeds not optimized for laying eggs, produced more eggs than we would use in a family of 6. They had a coop, and a sturdy hen house. But usually were allowed to roam in the garden in winter and autumn. This being suburban Netherlands there were not many predators, and the only losses we had were to a random dog attack.

The hen house takes maintenance (we used, hay, straw and sawdust) and cleaning. And we had to dig up the coop at least once a year. The main thing is to make sure they have access to clean water, one of the important things each winter was to go out and replace the completely frozen old supply.

Besides any use in pest control they loved food-waste.

[Elder Sister]

The area where I live (rural SE US) has every predator you can think of besides wolves, polar bears, and dragons. So I'll have to have a strong, raccoon-proof coop.

[Lummel]

Llamas are your friends - they will protect your chickens from predators

It is a little known fact that Llamas can subdue dragons by spitting milk at them - this is why the Incas had no problems with dragons despite all their gold.

[sj4iy]

I grew up with chickens, and my parents still own them. They have a flock of about 40 now, with about 4-5 roosters in a fully enclosed coop that takes up a good portion of their yard.

One thing to remember with chickens is that they need a special feed mixture to help keep them healthy as well as help them lay as much as possible. My parents mix several different kinds of feed and add in crushed oysters, and they get a good haul out of their chickens. So you have to take into account the cost of such food when figuring out whether it's cheaper to buy eggs or raise chickens. They sell their eggs from $2-$3 a dozen, depending on size and type, and they also sell chicks at chicken markets. They also have all different kinds of chickens, because my mom personally likes having an array of colors with her eggs.

They aren't hard to raise, but as stated above, EVERYTHING will want to eat them...hawks, dogs, etc, so make sure they are protected. Hell, my parents lost three young chickens that were in a cage because two dogs were able to bend the wire enough to get them. And once those dogs have a taste for it, they will come back. So just be careful about that.

If you garden, it's even more useful to own chickens, because their manure is great for fertilization.

Hope you enjoy it ^^

[Rubies & Jade]

hi ES! I have nothing really to add here (I haven't spent a lot of time with chickens!) but the handful of people I know that have kept chickens all say they love them, that they're full of entertainment. good luck with yours! Looking forward to pics & stories~

[peterbound]

I grew up with chickens, and my parents still own them. They have a flock of about 40 now, with about 4-5 roosters in a fully enclosed coop that takes up a good portion of their yard.

One thing to remember with chickens is that they need a special feed mixture to help keep them healthy as well as help them lay as much as possible. My parents mix several different kinds of feed and add in crushed oysters, and they get a good haul out of their chickens. So you have to take into account the cost of such food when figuring out whether it's cheaper to buy eggs or raise chickens. They sell their eggs from $2-$3 a dozen, depending on size and type, and they also sell chicks at chicken markets. They also have all different kinds of chickens, because my mom personally likes having an array of colors with her eggs.

They aren't hard to raise, but as stated above, EVERYTHING will want to eat them...hawks, dogs, etc, so make sure they are protected. Hell, my parents lost three young chickens that were in a cage because two dogs were able to bend the wire enough to get them. And once those dogs have a taste for it, they will come back. So just be careful about that.

If you garden, it's even more useful to own chickens, because their manure is great for fertilization.

Hope you enjoy it ^^

You can buy a 'complete' mix that doesn't require you to add anything to their diet. You can add egg shells, oysters, or other 'hardening' foods if the shells you are getting from the hens are brittle, but you don't need to do that out of the gate.

Here is what I used: http://www.ranch-way.com/products/poultry-feed/ranch-way-20-lay-feed

You can get scratch, and others stuff if you want to spoil them, but if you want to just streamline the operation just get the complete feed.

Keep an eye out for soft/brittle shells, you'll need to feed them some shells, otherwise they don't need it.

[eyenon15]

In addition to protecting the chickens from predators you might want to consider protecting predators from getting hurt.

My uncle had some and his neighbors dog somehow strangled himself while trying to get through the wire to the chickens.

[Isis]

I just wanted you to know that my old boss started keeping chickens when he got into his 60's and he had one breed called a Ginger Ranger that was quite pretty. (Please get one of those impractical silkie chickens as they are hilarious).

We thought he was more upset when one of the chickens died than he was when his mother died.

[Darzin]

The area where I live (rural SE US) has every predator you can think of besides wolves, polar bears, and dragons. So I'll have to have a strong, raccoon-proof coop.

One trick for doing this is to put dog leash clips like this on the latches the mechanism is to fine and requires to much force for them to open and that way you don't have to fumble with a key or combination every time just pair it with something like this and you''l be golden. Something like this isn't suitable as they'll figure it out pretty quickly and even with a latch like this they have all night to push and pull and juicy chickens are powerful motivation.

One other my mom did is make a safe pen for when she's away basically a big box but set in the yard maybe 10x5 that way when she's at work the chickens can get some air. She then has a much looser bigger pen for when she's home and she lets the dog out it's not one hundred percent necessary but it gives some piece of mind, but it depends how paranoid you want to be. Some friends let their chickens run free range in the day and just tie up their dog to guard them which seems to work fine.

[Elder Sister]

Llamas are your friends - they will protect your chickens from predators

It is a little known fact that Llamas can subdue dragons by spitting milk at them - this is why the Incas had no problems with dragons despite all their gold.

I'm already skirting some serious questions about my sanity because of the bees. If I get llamas, my reputation is shot. But no dragons would be a big plus.

I just wanted you to know that my old boss started keeping chickens when he got into his 60's and he had one breed called a Ginger Ranger that was quite pretty. (Please get one of those impractical silkie chickens as they are hilarious).

We thought he was more upset when one of the chickens died than he was when his mother died.

This post made me snort. And feel guilty because of your last sentence. I laughed and immediately felt bad about it. :D :blushing:

ETA: I posted this in GC thinking that maybe two people would respond. You people are chicken experts. And how odd is it that there are so many threads mentioning chickens and eggs?!? It's cosmic. Or something.

[Tyrion's Third Wife]

I'm no expert, but a newbie like you.

I have three pet chicks we are experimenting with this year.

I took this picture in honor of the GoT premier last Sunday:

http://i1264.photobucket.com/albums/jj496/larissap112/motherofchickens_zpscekz6vhb.jpg

[Elder Sister]

TTW, that's awesome! I saw that cute photo but wasn't sure if it was just a funny or was actually a real person. Glad to know it's you! :). Please keep me updated on how y'all are doing with the chickens.

[wolverine]

My brother and my old man have about 20-25 laying hens each. Up here at least, you can expect about 6 eggs a week from each laying hen.

They both have an enclosed coop with an outside run that they lock them totally inside each night. They will go back inside to roost on their own each evening. You don't have to try be a chicken herder like my 17 year old son thinks he is.

We have all kinds of predators around here and neither of them have had serious issues. Again, their chickens are usually free range during the day, but are locked up at night. Other strange thing about predators is that both of them have cats that kill all sorts of stuff, but will just walk in the chicken coop and look at them like,"I know you're not food, maybe cuz you smell like shit, but I am not going to even try and eat you." Ten minutes later that same cat is trying to ambush songbirds coming to eat out of my dad's birdfeeder.

Laying hens will need much less feed if you let em run around and eat all the crap they can find if that is any concern too.

[Seli]

That reminds me, we had cats at the same time as the chickens. And the cats somehow realized they were not prey. Most cats loved scaring the chickens by running past them, but they never attacked them.

[Lummel]

I'm already skirting some serious questions about my sanity because of the bees. If I get llamas, my reputation is shot. But no dragons would be a big plus.

:laugh: there are people were you live who actually imagine you're sane! What planet are they from.

At least Llamas, unlike chickens, are indigenous to the Americas. Plus being known as a crazy cat lady is passe, crazy llama lady however is a trendsetter (which I understand is rather like a red setter but not quite as enthusiastic?)

[Tears of Lys]

I'm no expert, but a newbie like you.

I have three pet chicks we are experimenting with this year.

I took this picture in honor of the GoT premier last Sunday:

http://i1264.photobucket.com/albums/jj496/larissap112/motherofchickens_zpscekz6vhb.jpg

Hey, you're pretty darn cute yourself with those chicks! :)

[Elder Sister]

Check out this gorgeous coop.

http://www.tomschickencoopplans.com

[Tyrion's Third Wife]

That reminds me, we had cats at the same time as the chickens. And the cats somehow realized they were not prey. Most cats loved scaring the chickens by running past them, but they never attacked them.

Cats, yes. Kittens, no.

Our two cats have been ignoring/quietly looking at them passively. Our 2 month old kitten, however, has already killed one. (Don't get me started on how that happened, let's just say my mother was trying to "help" with the chickies and left the door to the cage ajar.)