Anyone have chickens?

[j.w]

Glad they are doing good Amber! I'd keep them in a warm place too if I were you during the cold. Looking forward to seeing how they have grown :razz:

 

[fishin4cars]

I want to get some laying chickens. We have a old chain link fence that was on the property when we bought it. I took it down to build the barn and thinking about trying to get someone to help me put it back up and put a fence cover over it with a partial sheet metal roof over half to give some shade and protect against predators. I think it's 14' x 16' a half dozen in this size pen with an appropriate size coop should be ok for them don't you think? What kinds are best to start with? I've never kept a chicken in my life. Anything I should really know ahead of time?

 

[j.w]

Well lets see if you get a rooster don't put the pen near your bedroom window unless you like getting up at the crack of dawn :razz:
Make sure you make the bottom under the fence varmint dig proof. Dig down and put rock,blocks or chicken wire or ? down a ways so they can't get in. Rats will be attracted by the feed and can fit in the holes in the fence and will grab any baby chicks and run off w/ them. Might be good to have a foot or so of smaller sized holed chicken wire around the bottom of the pen to try and keep rats out and baby chicks in as they can fit through the big holes also and get out where a cat or ? might get them. Don't put pans of deep water in a chicken pen w/ baby chicks in it as the babies will jump up on the edge and fall in and drown. Been there and had to deal w/ all these things and more. Once you get the bugs worked out and everything is working well to keep them safe,dry and happy all will be good. They are fun to watch and some can become friends w/ you. Had 2 once that would ride on my back when I crawled on my knees. They thought I was their mother :luxlove:

 

[j.w]

Oh Larkin that site that I posted above for Amber is a good place to start on dealing and caring for chickens.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Dear Chicken Little.... Will the sky fall Dec 21?

He he he, could not help myself!

 

[Jennywren]

I don't have chickens, but do have Guinea Fowl. Kept some chicks in my garage (had to take them away from the mother as she was trampling them...stupid birds) with a light during winter last year for about 8 weeks before putting them out into a shed. Didn't have any heating in the shed so had to wait till it warmed up enough for them.

 

[j.w]

AWWWWW, what cute little babies! MaMa chicken can't help it if she has big feet,lol!

 

[callingcolleen1]

Do you get fresh yummy eggs?

 

[CountryEscape]

I had three laying breeds: Rhode Island Reds (red, lighter style to the body), Buff Orpingtons (yellow, heavy body) and Barred Rocks (black and white speckled, medium weight body). All were great layers. I kept lights on them in the winter, and heat lamps when it got really cold. If you keep bright light on them for 12 hours a day when the summer light wanes, they will think it's still summer and continue to lay, as they lay according to the number of sunlight hours. You can fool them, though! I had eggs laid all winter long, at least 10 a day from the 27 hens, and that was pretty amazing! Sometimes when it was really cold, the eggs would freeze even.
I still think the most fun with the chickens was feeding them junk that I always hated to throw away, like rotten tomatoes (hated I didn't get them picked in time) or any other veges out of the garden that were in abundance. Bugs became something I sought after to feed to the chickens (they loved grasshoppers, maybe that's why I like feeding them to the koi!). Even corn stalks were something they loved, and other vegetable plants when it was time to pull them out of the garden. They left the stems, but it was nice to feed them greens, too.
Just enjoy whatever you get and watch out if they sit on your shoulder, as your pupil in your eyeball looks like a bug to them, and they may try to get it! LOL

 

[Jennywren]

Do you get fresh yummy eggs?

They do lay but only at breeding time....spring/summer. We don't eat the eggs.

 

[fishin4cars]

Cute baby Guinea fowl. But not what I want. I've been around them before and they can be pretty loud and get alarmed easily. Question though, how do chickens do around dogs? I will have the birds in a pen of their own. But I do own two big dogs and have two more big dog that are trying to take permanent residence here. I'm most worried about the 100# Lab puppy Drake. He's a big baby and doesn't harm any animals here but he is a investigator and will have to make a tour by the pen every morning. Will this bother the chickens as they mature? JW, I'll take your advice to the fullest, I learned my lesson at the old house, Ponds don't go by bedroom windows anymore, due to frogs! So No roosters will be allowed either. LOL I really don't want roosters or baby chickens at this point. Just some laying chickens to gather eggs and have some REAL farm animals.

 

[CountryEscape]

You don't need a rooster unless you want baby chickens. And, lots that want the eggs, DON'T want the little red spot that may show up if the rooster is doing his job.
The dogs won't bother the chickens at all. They will figure them out. The only time a dog will bother chickens is if it lunges at them by the pen, or tries to catch them if they are outside. I never let mine out of the pen when I had the Goldens, didn't want them to get chased, but I think the dogs would not have hurt them. Just didn't want the chickens to go through the stress. Once the chickens know they are safe in their pen, what happens outside doesn't bother them. Just make sure they are safe, though.
I'm seriously thinking of getting a few Lavender Orpingtons from my neighbor, he raised them and hatched them in an incubator, now wants to get rid of some of them, as they ALL hatched! But, I don't have a pen ready, nor want to have them through the winter if they won't be safe. I may fix up the little barn and fix the one side for them, though, eventually. Just more animals to feed, and since it's only me, would only need 3 or 4 chickens for the eggs that I would eat, and that probably would be too many, too!

 

[fishin4cars]

I love chickens and yours are so cute Amber! We used to have them yrs ago when our kids were little. My neighbor has chickens and she goes to this site I believe sometimes for info on stuff http://www.backyardchickens.com/

JW, Thanks for this link, I GUESS? lol Wow, I may be reading for quite some time before I make the first bird purchase. Just three hours of reading and I'm blown away at all the breeds, the breed characteristics, what does best for where and for what purpose. Looks like I have got a lot more homework to do before deciding what best suits my wants and needs. Great info though!

 

[j.w]

Now you guys have got me wanting chickens! Love the fresh eggs but found that the fresh eggs when boiled don't seem to peel as easy as the store bought older ones. Anyone have any info on this and why fresh eggs don't seem to peel as well as older ones? Don't make me have to go googleing :helm2:

 

[callingcolleen1]

So that's why my eggs don't peel well, their too fresh, get them from a farmer.

Jenny wren, Those look like nice fat plump thanksgiving dinner, sorry food always on my brain.... or are they must pets?