Anyone raise chickens?

[Sharon]

I am considering it...since we have a chicken coop on the property and I love the idea of fresh eggs and I love chickens! But is this crazy? Who here raises or has raised chickens who can talk me out of - or into - this idea??

[Stonebeck Farm]

I'm here to talk you into it! DO IT. I so want toooo. It is so cool. The fresh eggs are awesome. The best part is that you already have a coop. Then I can live vicariously through you. ;)

We actually talked about doing meat birds last night during dinner because there are some that reach maturity in 8 weeks. It would give me the experience :rolleyes and give us more time to get a better home ready for the overwinter/wildlife issue we have. :) (Also the cost of organic meat is really high! If we eat meat/poultry at home we committed to only eating organic.) I admit not being able to kill my chickens (I suspect I would get too attached) so I told DH that was his department (he was pushing the meat birds over the layers for this year.) :P

[cklewis]

Now wait, Sharon. . . . I saw somebody here in a Get-to-know-ya thread talk about her chickens, and I'm trying to find it. . . . Hold on a sec. http://home.nc.rr.com/redsweater/smilies/detective.gif

C

[cklewis]

Found her! Eureka!! It's Tayna. Here's her profile (http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/mb/index.php?action=profile;u=179).

HTH,

C

[Garnet]

Rayna raised chickens. ;)

[ArmsOfLove]

Sharon--I'm so glad you started this thread :tu the kids have been asking for a year now if they can raise chickens and I want to let them. Now, we have to research this, build a coop, etc--but baby chicks are cheap and they want to raise them and sell their eggs. Fantastic homeschool project imo--raising chickens, starting their own business--my little entrepreneurs :) But they are young and it will be a lot of work for me and dh (and by "me and dh" I mean "dh" :lol) so we haven't done it yet.

I'm waiting to hear replies. Maybe some links? Let's get Tayna in on this conversation :)

[Garnet]

An easy way to do a coop is to built a bottomless shed. Preferably wood. Then stretch long poles across for roosting, unless you have little banties, they like floor boxes. Add sand and a rake and ta-da! They like big flat metal pans for water, you can toss seed amongst the sand. We raised chickens when I lived in Oklahoma.

[Sharon]

But how do I do free range? We don't actually have a chicken coop, it seems...it used to be one but it was dismantled...

[ArmsOfLove]

we can't do free range, we have dogs :wow

here's my big concern--are they big poopers? :shrug We're already cleaning up after two medium sized dogs

[This Busy Mom]

They poop a lot when they are roosting. They like to tear up flower beds scratching around and digging spots to sleep in.

I like chickens... hate roosters... and apparently mailmen don't like them shoved into mailboxes (don't ask how I found that one out...).

I love this site:

www.mcmurrayhatchery.com

Christa

[OneSillyMommy]

i love chickens, had em as a kid, had em when we had land, but we are townies for now,and can't have em. I sooo miss it. I am chicken sitting for my mom while she is gone this week, and the kids and i get to go over and feed em, and gather eggs. yesterday she had 4 dozen :eek she has around 40 hens and 3-4 roosters. she averages 30 eggs a day. I like it if you can let em out during the day so they graze a bit and eat bugs and things that they are suposta instead of comercial food. We did that alot when we had em. My mom has fenced her veggie garden really well, so she lets them out as well. We bought ours from the hatchery listed below. they have so many cute ones, the banty's are my favorite as well as the feathered leg ones, and the silkies. Even the silkie roosters are sweet and my kids can pick them up and hold them. we have also purchased them for meat, and as long as you butcher them at the right age/size it worked great. We didn't pluck them we skinned them as we don't eat the skin anyways.

[Garnet]

I am not sure about free range. You'd need a fenced yard, just incase. Our slept in the coop, the doghouse have no clue why, or the back porch. We raked teh yard alot to get rid of teh poops but alot of it was sand anyway.

[Mamaka]

Chicken poop is supposed to be great fertilizers for gardens, so that would be one way of getting rid of that.

[Stonebeck Farm]

Here are some MotherEarth News articles on raising chickens.

Free Range Chicken article: http://www.motherearthnews.com/arc/3015/
General: http://www.motherearthnews.com/arc/1041/
See the minicoop instructions on this page: http://www.motherearthnews.com/menarch/archive/issue/196/196-038-01.htm

I'm hoping DS will help DH build the minicoop this summer. DS is getting tools for his birthday. He actually helped buid the work bench but doesn't realize it is for him!

[Peepsqueak]

I am curious;do they smell? And how many eggs can you get from one chicken? What about weather conditions and protection from heat and cold? Also, what about parasites, salmonella, etc.? (Sorry I'm a city girl.... :doh)

[Garnet]

Sometimes they can get lice, but it doesn't happen alot, they spend alot of time grooming. The poop smells, the chickens don't. Chickens are very hardy, can live in heat and cold very well. In winter in Northern states you will want to put down alot of straw, and tack a blanket up over the coop opening, if it doesn't have a door. They can have between 2-6 eggs, depending on what kind of chicken, and how good a "layer" they are. Thats all I know. :blush

[Peepsqueak]

Is this 2-6 eggs a day? Or during a cycle? I guess I should read up on them, because I missed out on poultry class when I was in Animal Science (in college)... :lol

I would not mind having chickens but I live in the city limits...we do have a few neighbors with roosters...it is a crack up! I see them wandering around the neighborhood at times. They are noisy creatures too...do not need an alarm in the AM when you have roosters. :mrgreen

I also like goats too, but my dh would have a fit if I ever got any. They are so cute and they produce milk too. They are not very intelligent, but I think they are cute as buttons.

Do chickens peck? I am afraid of being bitten by them. My friend at work says she trained hers....to do what I wonder? I thought it was pretty funny.

[Saphirah]

:D Ooo Ooo this is a dream of mine to raise free range chickens and sell organic eggs. We need to move out of the city for that to happen. I'm going to show the links to my husband. :D

[JessicaTX]

I want to, but DH is totally against the idea, lol. I would love to have a couple chickens and a miniature cow, have you seen those?
http://www.minicattle.com/I'd never have to cut the grass, or pay 3.25 for a gallon of milk again!!!

[akmyilee]

I plan to do this too when we move to the country......my dh isn't sold on it yet but I am fairly determined, I only want a few though. There is a great mesgage board called Homesteading Today they have alot of great info they are really serious farmer / all natural types. Really neat web site.

[Allison]

My parents have always had chickens. My dad gets about one egg per day, per chicken.

[tree_hugger]

I used to have some baby chicks, but DH decided they smelled and made me give them away. :bheart But now I think I will get some more! :P

The City Chicken (http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/thecitychicken/) is the most comprehnsive site I've found specific to raising chickens in the suburbs. I get all my info from there. :)

[boonpnutsmom]

We have chickens also. I will now go back and read all the questions, but we love them and get great eggs from them daily.

WE have two Rhode Island Reds, Henni and Jenni. We got them when we traded in Ethan's school project chickens that they hatche dat school and brought home. We kept ours and adopted a classmates when it outgrew her apartment. These were broilers, and all the research I did told me these were not good pets, they are bred to eat sleep and deficate. I was afraid the kids would come home to heart attack vicitims, so we took them to our local feed store and we traded them in for baby Rhode Island Reds. At 5 MONTHS on the dot they both started laying. Gary built a really cool studio apartment for them. They have seperated compartments, but have big holes in the intermediate wall so that they can talk to each other and see each other. We get one egg a day each, golden brown eggs. They eat special chicken food that we supplement with our leftover rice, lettuce, tomatos, apple, banana, bugs that the kids catch, left over worms from the turtles, and lizards. On the weekends they are on leashes in our yard. They are gorgeous and we tell then what a good job they do everyday giving us eggs.....

Here is a couple of pictures....
http://photobucket.com/albums/v109/boonpnutsmom/THE%20CHICKENS/


The white ones are Fluffy and Hoku who both turned out to be ROOSTERS!!!!

[Lady TS]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT! Slow down! LOL!

I didn't see this thread until today and now I have to catch up, lol

We've had chickens for just over 2 years now. Started out with 25 Red Sex Link, which is a cross between two different breeds to make a chicken that is a great layer but they don't get broody and raise their own chicks and aren't very "meaty" birds so we haven't gone that route yet. Last year I ordered a bunch of Brown Egg Layers from McMurray, along with some Americaunas(aka Easter Eggers-they lay blue/green eggs) but a raccoon or something got into our supposedly varmint-proof pen and killed all but four of them. :hissyfit :(. Poor things... You live and learn. I wouldn't recommend a bottomless coop if you want to keep your chickens safe, but it could really depend on where you live. If there are wild animals around, chances are they will eventually discover your flock.

Let me see if I can answer you all's questions...might be easier if I can use the "Quote Option" so I think I will do it that way. Hope it's not too confusing! :)

[Lady TS]

But how do I do free range? We don't actually have a chicken coop, it seems...it used to be one but it was dismantled...


It depends how "free range" you want to be. To legally call it "free range"(at least, in OH, last I/dh checked), you only need a little outside run, like a dog run size. We have a very large pen outside that the chickens go out and run in. We were letting them all out but last year I stopped doing that when they were eating all my tomatoes. :hissyfit I'll let them out ever so often to run free all over the farm. I am worried sometimes that a wayward dog will attack them, too, so that's another reason I keep them in their yard. And when it was colder they were spending a lot of time on my front porch and the poop was awful. I think they were hiding there from the wind. When they are running all over the farm and not congretating at the porch, the poop is not bad at all. Oh, and if you have a rooster you really have to watch them around little kids. Our two roosters, one of them especially, is pretty cocky(pun intended) and tries to attack them/me. I think I've taught him a lesson by kicking him across the yard a couple/6 times earlier this spring, but I still watch him like a hawk. I'm kinda looking for a home for that particularly ornery one. If we weren't thinking about raising chicks, I'd just get rid of both of them...the hens haven't ever bothered the kids.

[Lady TS]

Chicken poop is supposed to be great fertilizers for gardens, so that would be one way of getting rid of that.

You do have to age the poop. Don't put fresh chicken poop on your garden or it will kill everything. I don't know for sure exactly how long you have to let it sit....haven't looked that up yet. Need to soon because dh needs to clean out the coop soon

[Lady TS]

I am curious;do they smell? And how many eggs can you get from one chicken? What about weather conditions and protection from heat and cold? Also, what about parasites, salmonella, etc.? (Sorry I'm a city girl.... :doh)


If you don't have them really confined in a small space they don't smell. Our chickens (Red Star/Red sex link) laid about 6 eggs a week. Maybe better at the height of their production, but they are the best brown egg layers out there, other than the Black Sex links, from what I've read. Our Easter Egger hen lays a lot less than that and her eggs are a lot smaller.

Chickens are pretty hardy birds. Just give them some shelter in winter and some shade in summer and plenty of food and water and they should be fine. Of course, some are from different parts of the world(cooler/ hot places) so they are more partial to different kinds of weather. The McMurray site someone else posted earlier is excellent for information on where a breed originated and whether the bird is good for eggs, meat, or a little of both.

Our birds haven't had parasites that we are aware of. Obviously you need to give them fresh straw/bedding in their nest box and clean out their pen when it needs it. I feel safer eating our eggs than I do eating the ones from the grocery store as far as salmonella. They taste much better, are actually more nutritious, and I know they have been cleaned.

[Lady TS]

Is this 2-6 eggs a day? Or during a cycle? I guess I should read up on them, because I missed out on poultry class when I was in Animal Science (in college)... :lol

I would not mind having chickens but I live in the city limits...we do have a few neighbors with roosters...it is a crack up! I see them wandering around the neighborhood at times. They are noisy creatures too...do not need an alarm in the AM when you have roosters. :mrgreen

I also like goats too, but my dh would have a fit if I ever got any. They are so cute and they produce milk too. They are not very intelligent, but I think they are cute as buttons.

Do chickens peck? I am afraid of being bitten by them. My friend at work says she trained hers....to do what I wonder? I thought it was pretty funny.


Chickens basically start laying at around 6 months old. They won't lay more than one egg a day, at least to my knowledge. They slow down after they molt(lose their old feathers and grow their new ones in at around 18 months old). I think ours have stopped laying altogether--the first batch of them, anyway. That, or they're eating their eggs :banghead. We are working on that problem...

Chickens will peck. :) You don't want to go out to the chickens wearing flip-flops and sporting red toenails. :laughtears

[Lady TS]

I want to, but DH is totally against the idea, lol. I would love to have a couple chickens and a miniature cow, have you seen those?
http://www.minicattle.com/I'd never have to cut the grass, or pay 3.25 for a gallon of milk again!!!


Hey, we've been talking about getting a cow, too! I'm not sure I'm quite ready for that though, being pg and due in June.... I think I'll have enough to do this summer, lol. Besides, we need to put up a fence before we get a cow.

[Lady TS]

I plan to do this too when we move to the country......my dh isn't sold on it yet but I am fairly determined, I only want a few though. There is a great mesgage board called Homesteading Today they have alot of great info they are really serious farmer / all natural types. Really neat web site.


I recommend that site, too. http://homesteadingtoday.com/vb/ I hang out there too sometimes, but not lately...been too busy I guess.

[tree_hugger]

Tanya - thankyou for all those great answers, and Lyssa, for sharing the photos. Hawaii looks absolutely beautiful!

[Peepsqueak]

Thanks alot for the answers to my questions, too. Unfortunately, I do not think we are good candidates to own chickens right now (as tempting as it may be...) :hearts

[This Busy Mom]

They won't lay more than one egg a day, at least to my knowledge.

Yes, they will depending on the type. I was just at a friend's house last week. They have chickens and goats (I think she thinks it's amusing that I speak goat :lol :lol) and anyways, she had some barred rocks. I always remember my mom's barred rocks laying lots of eggs. While we were there, the kids found a huge assortment of eggs up on top of some bales of hay. She has 7 chickens and had been collecting at least 6 eggs a day. She said the eggs up on top of the bales were less than a week old... and she gathered around 35. I wouldn't be surprised if she finds another spot they are laying in, too :lol.

[boonpnutsmom]

If they are fed really great laying food and have awesome housing conditions they can lay more than one a day.

[tree_hugger]

If they are fed really great laying food and have awesome housing conditions they can lay more than one a day.

Thanks for sharing that. I always throught one a day was the most you could expect. :)