Anyone here raise chickens

[Bill Douglas]

Chickens in the back yard. I wonder if they would annoy the neighbors. Umm, if so I may be interested.

[cassisrot]

We have about 40. 3 egg bacon and toast breakfasts every morning. Sell some and give some to friends. My favorite breed is Ameracaunas. Murray Mcmurray is a reputable hatchery. We free range and close them in at night. Our Llamas keep the Coyotes and other vermin away. Feral dogs are a problem that my Marlin 1894 solves. The 3 s's: shoot, shovel and shut up. I really like my chickens.

[WPOZZZ]

You have llamas? Cool!

[IROC]

I added new fencing to the chicken run this past weekend. 100' of 2x4 welded wire fence to bring it up to close to 6' high all around. Also cleaned out the coop.





Also, my daughter painted a picture of one of our Black Sexlinks...

[wdfifteen]

^^
What a great se up. How many birds?

[Mark Henry]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Cleaning the run was a royal pain ......

That's the total beauty of the chicken tractor, no cleaning, every couple days you just move it along.
If you move it often the grass recovers in a couple of days, plus the chickies get grass, bugs, worms, etc, to peck at.

Originally Posted by Mark Henry

We use a chicken tractor and move it every couple of days.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

^^
What a great se up. How many birds?

We had 4 chickens and 2 ducks, but a series of unfortunatel weather/predator events has us down to one chicken from the original set. We have 6 chicks that are now about 7 weeks old that will be outside soon.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Mark Henry

That's the total beauty of the chicken tractor, no cleaning, every couple days you just move it along.
If you move it often the grass recovers in a couple of days, plus the chickies get grass, bugs, worms, etc, to peck at.

We considered a chicken tractor. I didn't think I could keep it secure from predators. We are thinking of building one for "day care" and putting them back in the chicken vault at night. They do love to get out and munch on the small pasture we have for them.

[Mark Henry]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

We considered a chicken tractor. I didn't think I could keep it secure from predators. We are thinking of building one for "day care" and putting them back in the chicken vault at night. They do love to get out and munch on the small pasture we have for them.

If you look at the pic the bottom of the tractor has an electric fence, but we haven't had to turn it on for years. It would be easy enough to put heavy wire on the bottom of the coup section. This section also has a door that can easily be closed for overnight.

[Jim Bremner]

Originally Posted by Cooper911SC

Ha! Funny but true. 🙂 We have 11 Valencia trees from the original orchard here. Planted between 1929&'31.

I pick and sell around 3,000lbs per season. (June to early Sept.)

If you ever find yourself in CA PM me and I'll set you up with some juice. Or an omelet.

Tell me, do you get a tax write off on your property? What does it cost to produce and what do you sell for? I have a some extra room

[356racing]

Bobcat introducing itself to the flock. I have since added a 5x10 run with electric fence to make it more interesting.

[IROC]

So, we lost a chicken this past weekend. Our matron Black Sexlink. No signs of any illness or previous distress - just found her dead in the coop. I did some reading on the internet and it seems this just happens sometimes?

[DerkPerk]

We moved our broiler chicks into their outdoor coop. Our free range layers are very interested in the new addition.

At 2-1/2 weeks old, we turn the heat lamp on at night to keep them warm. They seem to be liking the extra space. We started with 40 and lost 2 in the first 2 days. The rest are doing well.







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[Don Ro]

Originally Posted by Mark Henry

So you hitch it to something and drag it to a new location now & then?
If so, a great idea. 'Never thought of that.

[JackDidley]

Originally Posted by IROC

So, we lost a chicken this past weekend. Our matron Black Sexlink. No signs of any illness or previous distress - just found her dead in the coop. I did some reading on the internet and it seems this just happens sometimes?

The Tyson tech told me that chickens sometimes just have heart attacks. A sudden stress can cause it. Such as a threat from another animal.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by JackDidley

The Tyson tech told me that chickens sometimes just have heart attacks. A sudden stress can cause it. Such as a threat from another animal.

Yeah, I read that and that might be the case. This chicken was our oldest (and the one the kids were most attached to, unfortunately) and we recently introduced 6 chicks (that were about 8-9 weeks old) to the run/coop. These chicks seemed to stress her out (even 4-5 weeks later), but other than establishing a pecking order, she seemed to be fine. Kept laying regularly, etc.

No sign of predator issues, etc. She died in the coop with no signs of struggle, etc. It breaks my heart to think that we may have contributed to her death, but if I had to do it over again, we'd have done the same thing.

[Wyvern]

I have been Backyard Chickin-ing for about 8 years.
Very rewarding.

I would check your your local municipality about needed setback regulations for coop & run . Some have restrictions against Roosters.

Check out www.BackYardChickens.com for more info than you will ever need (It is Pelican for chicken farmers ... LOL)

Unless you want to raise chicks (I didnt because my children are old and gone ..but that is a great process for younger kids to experience)
Buy pullets (coop ready chickens)
They are sexed (so no accidental roosters)
They are ready to put in a coup (no heat lamps , special treatment)
They go right into regular feeding (no starter feed/ chick feed)

Find a way to build an automatic feeder ... Mine feeds 5 chickens for over 14 days
Build an AUTOMATIC water system. (mine are cups feed by a 5 gallon bucket that I have a toilet valve hard plumed to a water system.

Be aware of predators . I have never had an issue and my girls free range all day every day.
Decide now about what you will do when they get sick. Will you use basic low tech methods to remedy an issue or take it to a vet (don't laugh ... my vet sees a lot of chickens). and when they stop laying do they stay as guests or "go away"? If you have to get rid of one (sickness or health ) can you do that (how will you do that)

Remember that laying chickens are NOT good eating !.
That is what is used as a "Fryer" in lower quality restaurants.

I have so many eggs I do make a lot of friends (often a 12 pack is a raffle prize at my weekly PCA breakfast). I pickle them, & egg salad is a regular (Please note fresh eggs do not make the best hard boiled eggs !) They are so fresh the membranes don't want to release from the shell. There are some tricks and things you can do for hard boiled.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Wyvern

They are so fresh the membranes don't want to release from the shell. There are some tricks and things you can do for hard boiled.

What are the tricks? All I do it let them sit in the 'fridge for 2+weeks before I try to boil them.
Our Buff Orpington went broody a couple of weeks ago. I drag her out of the laying box every day and put her out with the food and water so she'll eat and drink. It's over 90 degrees in the nesting box. She thinks she's ferocious. It's hilarious to watch her.

[Don Ro]

"What are the tricks?"
~~~~~~~~~
+++

[ben parrish]

Steam, not boil, eggs that are fresh and the shells are much easier to remove. Also, aging them about two weeks will help the shells come off easier if boiling. Some say a little vinegar in the water helps on fresh eggs.
Fresh eggs do not need to be refrigerated if the " bloom" is still on the eggs.

We have about twenty hens and one rooster.