Anyone here raise chickens
 

There were always chickens and turkeys around when I was a kid on the farm. I'm thinking of getting a few chicks for laying hens this spring. Anybody here currently or recently raise chickens?

Have heard this is a good place to buy them..Hatchery Chick pricing
Easy to raise and very hardy chicks.

There's a guy at the end of the block that has about a dozen chickens in a home made coop. Normally this wouldn't surprise me, but my subdivision is only about 2 miles from Augusta National GC. What's next, Victory Gardens?

We have for years at our stable. Tough to beat fresh eggs.

Different varieties of chickens have very different personalities. You can actually mail order live chicks. It is crazy but that's what we did.

The main thing to worry about, as you no doubt remember, are predators.

the link in my post above is all mail order. For laying hens, you will need sexed pullets.

Sorry about that! Since we have chickens I didn't open the link.

I have now: Great link!

There are a couple neighbors that raise them. Up to three hens is alllowed.
The local Tractor Supply has large bins full of chick in the springtime.
It's difficult to pass by.

It's a down-time day, and I had time to do some research. Looks like I have lots of resources nearby. I can buy chicks from a hatchery nearby, and there is a custom processor just south of here. It looks like 4 layers would be the most we would need. I can wait and get 4 pullets, or get 10 unsexed chicks and raise them to eating age, then put back 4 pullets and take the rest for a ride down south.
What breeds to you have? I'm thinking 2 Buff Orpingtons and 2 Barred Rocks, as those are the breeds we had on the farm. What do you do about predators?

You're better off finding someone local that raises their own birds. Look on Craigslist. Australorps are by far the best birds I have ever owned. Hatchery birds won't be nearly as nice as farm raised chickens.

I have a livestock guardian dog that protects everything. Good luck!

Good to know on the breed. I had never heard that before. I'm wary of getting a heavy laying breed, because with our lifestyle we consume a dozen eggs in 10 days. Finding volunteer egg-takers shouldn't be a problem, but I don't know.
CL is where I found the info about local sources. There are lots of ads for chicks (the feathered kind) in the local CL.

I used to buy freshly laid eggs when in CA...this thread prompted me to look locally here in the Phoenix Valley. I may start to buy fresh here.
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https://phoenix.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=chicken%20eggs&sort=rel
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Anyone eat an Emu egg?
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https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/grd/6002576409.html

When I was about 8 years old I wanted chickens as another 4-H project (I already had a pen of meat hogs). My dad mail-ordered chickens - and they were shipped by train! We went to the rail station to pick them up. I don't remember how many we ordered, a couple of dozen I guess, but they all arrived safe and sound in a big flat cardboard box with holes in the sides. I remember being worried about them taking a train ride all alone.

Leghorns are remarkable, skinny chickens which give 1 egg per day that you wonder how it fit in the bird. Barred Rocks are a great 2 way chicken, layer/eater. Not as productive as the leghorns, but they do a good job. If you're going to free-range them a rooster isn't a bad option, he will tend to keep them together and watch over them. Can be aggressive, and noisy, so if you're going to fence them in, maybe not what you want. Hens do tend to be more productive with a rooster, in my limited experience.

They aren't labor-free, and they aren't really a great financial decision, but the fresh eggs are fantastic compared to store-bought, and the birds are cool to have around (although rather poopy). For predators, have a secure pen, a secure coop, and get an appropriate tool for dispatching them. We've had issues with bears, foxes, and possibly bobcats. Usually just when they free-range, I end up with fewer birds and become more intentional about keeping them secure.

You will definately need some fencing for them. Your local Tractor Supply will have rolls of poultry netting that works great against a wood frame...and it's very inexpensive.
Hatchery chicks will do as good or better than others...if they are raised correctly. The biggest concern with the chicks will be enough heat (not too much), fresh water, and a good chick feed.

Man, you're a softy. :)
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But that's a good thing.
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At Easter time one local movie theater would pass out muliti-color dyed chicks free. My brother, sister, and I all got one. They all eventually died. Someone said it was because of the color dye. I was wiped out...cried for days.

One friend has chickens. He has a coop setup but also free ranges (limited area, but an acre or so) them. The rooster appears to do a good job on patrol against aerial predators. Hawks are the prime issue around here.

He has a mix of laying hens and has different eggs. They definitely give them away!

Some people around here raise chickens. They have to have sturdy enclosures that have poultry fabric covering the top also. One guy turned his chicken enclosure into a garden. When I asked him why, he said too many animals around when he had chickens. He said raccoons didn't bother him, coyotes didn't bother him, bob cats didn't bother him, but when a puma showed up, that was the last straw.

Lots of good tips here. I'll chime in as we've had laying hens for the past 4 years and plan on adding 40 or so broilers this spring.

Predators will become a concern as everything likes chicken. While free ranging, we have lost birds to 4 legged creatures, fox or coyote and have seen eagles and hawks hanging around. I keep control of the raccoons and opossum with traps. Spring for hardware cloth or welded wire vs the poultry netting as a coon will walk right through that stuff. Also be sure to guard against digging under your coop.

We live in a rural area and enjoy having Rocky the rooster around. He definitely has an eye out for danger and keeps his girls from wandering off too far.

We have a few different breeds that seem to lay 5 or so eggs a week which is enough for us. I have bought eggs from mypetchicken.com and they also offer sexed chicks. There is plenty of good info on this site as well.

Best of luck!

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That roster looks ferocious!
Free ranging - that brings up another question. I would like to turn them loose in my garden for a few hours a day. Will they hang out in a 1/4 acre area for 8 hours or go wondering off? One of my motivations is to get them to eat bugs off of my garden plants. I plan to lock them in a secure coop at night.
When I was a kid I used to help my grandfather chase the turkeys out of the trees in the evening and catch them and throw them in the coop. The only times they roosted in the trees was when Gramps had been in the field too long and didn't get home in time to catch them on the ground before they went to roost. Even as a kid I understood how it sucks when things go from bad (too many hours of field work) to worse (taking an extra hour to put the damn turkeys away). I think I learned a life lesson from that. I learned some great cuss words from Gramps too!

When I was a kid my mom had chickens. I will too someday when I retire.