Wow, beautiful pic, Cape. I was shocked you had no "roof" over your pen, so you must not have any danger from predators from the air. I used dog pen panels for the sides of my outdoor pen, but put cattle panels covered with chicken wire on the top to keep raccoons, possums, hawks, etc. out from that direction. I did not keep my hens when I moved 3 years ago, since for the month I took moving back and forth from houses, I saw red foxes VERY often, and didn't want to come out to find slaughtered hens one morning. They are very tricky, can dig in, and then when the hens go into a frenzy with danger inside their pen, they kill everything until nothing moves any longer. But, those girls were with me for a year and a half, and enjoyed them tremendously. Had Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, and Barred Rocks. Very pretty combinations - black/white, dark red, and golden! They were all very good layers. I had 25 hens, one rooster (they say the hens like a rooster to keep a watch out for danger, they are not necessary for egg laying, though), and they laid anywhere from 12-22 eggs a day! Hens lay an egg every 25 hours, or so. And, when the weather gets cold, they will slow down some stop altogether. I kept heat lamps on them in the very cold winter 2 on during the day, 3 at night. Had some frozen eggs, but not many. Had to pick them up twice a day, and still got at least 12 a day! The light from the heat lamps kept them laying longer. White during the day, red at night.
And, loved spoiling them. No longer worried about rotten tomatoes in the garden, chickens loves them! Grasshoppers were fun, too! And, when I dumped grass clippings in a pile on garden, later spread it out for tilling in and found 50+ huge grubs, again, treats for the chickens. I would sit on a 5 gallon bucket, some would jump onto my lap, others onto my shoulders, rest fed from in front of me. Only thing to be careful of is if they get on your shoulder, watch your eyes! They think the black part is a bug, and could peck you in the eye! But, loved them, and miss them. Maybe someday I will get just a few, as I have the room and little barn to put them in.
So we have 5 baby chickens(all Hens) now in our garage in their brooder. We have one Buff Orpington, two Araucanas/Americanas,one black Australorp and a Silver Laced Wyandotte. We have already bought the coop but it will be awhile before moving them there as they are only a week old. Would love to see some pictures and any advice on keeping chickens would be great.
