Anyone here keep chickens?

a reply to: hutch622

I have no preference, I'm not reggcist!

a reply to: Domo1

I've got three chickens and they are great but I've a few issues, I love my garden but keeping chickens can mean making a choice between flowers in your garden or not. My girls have free reign in the garden as every enclosure I build they act like "prisoners" running their beaks up and down the fence and making so much noise I have to let them out before the neighbours complain. Three eggs a day on most occasions, far too many eggs for two people each week.

This year I'm setting up a small aquaponics unit in my garden and I'll be connecting a chicken enclosure to the greenhouse as supposedly they are beneficial to the whole system.

a reply to: Domo1

LOL. I am sure that colour discrimination doesnt filter down to chooks . Well yet . But some people swear one colour or the other tastes better . Personally brown is the way to go .

5. Orpington
Weight: 8 lbs.
A dual purpose bird, the Orpington is a bit small on the weight side but definitely not on the appearance side. The loose feathering makes the Orpington appear much larger (nearly two times) the size of some other hens and when they are brooding or aggressive they fluff out and appear even bigger. The Orpington is a good layer of above average sized eggs and hardy in all weather. Cold doesn't faze them so you can expect them to continue laying during the cold seasons!

Sounds like an all round cold weather chook ,and plenty to eat when they stop laying .

a reply to: flammadraco

Backyard is going to be reserved for vegetable garden, and I don't mind chasing the chickens out if I let them run around when I'm in the backyard. Also planning to do raised beds again. I'm trying to think how many eggs the two of us could eat every week. Still not too worried about giving some away. Worst case scenario, chickens like eggs.

a reply to: hutch622

Personally brown is the way to go .

I kinda prefer them too, but don't notice a taste difference. The just seem more natural somehow.

Sounds like an all round cold weather chook ,and plenty to eat when they stop laying .

Hey, thanks so much! That sounds perfect. In the PNW it doesn't get all that cold, but the constant mild weather is a drag and I would like a hardy breed that poops good eggs.

a reply to: Domo1

Chickens are awesome. The wife and I got some last year and I love them.

Fresh eggs are the best, you won't want store bought eggs anymore.

They are super easy to take care of. Just make sure they have plenty of fresh water. We have two of them. I made them an A-frame coop. I wanted to get them to fertilize my little garden plot too but they always poop in their roost and not the ground anyways LOL.

Cleaning the coop is nothing really. And also, if you have high fences in your backyard, how does anyone know if you're "processing" chickens or not?

Honestly though after you've had them for a while you'll have to get somebody else to prolly cut their heads off when you want to put them in a pot. My girls look tasty but I still would have to get somebody else to do it because they are sort of like a pet now.

I'd say get 2 (you'll have plenty of eggs if its just you and your wife).

honestly if your friendly with enough of your neighbors you could probably find something from them you can barter the eggs for. You can trade for honey, meat, fish, something others are growing that your not. I barter with people all the time. Neighbor lady comes to me for a bundle of my cilantro every now and then, and gives me a nice russet baking potato in exchange. She probably just has extras now and then I doubt she grows them. I would gladly give them to her for free as it is infrequent enough, but she knows I love baked potato oh yea!! She has also given me peppers as well.

Food for food is always a fair trade for me. Id say a dozen organic eggs is worth 2 or 3 baked potatoes or a handful of peppers. Maybe someone grows a fruit in the area that you dont grow yourself. Work something out with them. Or you can even trade for eight grams of silver lol. Most people who grow some of their own food or raise livestock such as ourselves are perfectly happy to barter. I do it all the time!

a reply to: Domo1

Worst case scenario, chickens like eggs.

Never feed eggs to chickens, not even the shells. They may start eating the ones they lay.

If you have too many, talk to your neighbor over the back and arrange for a place to put them through the fence or whatever.

P

Yes indeed! 20" enclosure (was for peacocks.) lots of beaches to roost on, a shed and nests. I have 5 Isla Browns. they are just like a dog.. and happily follow me around the yard eating up the spiders and bugs! yay!!
We get 4 eggs a day on average. They eat everything... although I don't feed them "chicken". They wait at the side door each morning with the dog. waiting for breaky... My Boys love them.
Mine are fed scraps and scratch mix. Great fun for kids.

a reply to: pheonix358

Never feed eggs to chickens, not even the shells. They may start eating the ones they lay.

I feed my chickens the shells, but only after I have sat them on the stove (old cook stove I have in the kitchen) so that they can dry out. In the summer, I stick them in the oven on a lower heat setting for a few minutes and that does the trick.

You have to dry them out enough so that you can crumble them.....then just mix those crumbled [dried] shells into the feed mix or scraps that you feed them. Don't worry too much about the sharp edges...I've never had a problem. Chickens like to eat rocks, so they can handle them.

It's actually really good for your chickens....and in the winter when there is less sun and fresh bugs for them to eat, it will keep them laying.

But, yeah...don't feed them shells without drying them first. They WILL start "sucking" eggs....

.................

a reply to: Domo1

If you want some chickens with a bit more easy going persona....try bannie chickens. The eggs are of the "small" variety (though apparently that doesn't matter because it's just the two of you) but they are very gentle chickens that are easy going and always lay (sometimes, some of mine lay twice a day at times...especially summer)

I keep them with my larger chickens..
Also, a side note, when it comes to roosters, bannie roosters are about the only roosters I have found that will live in harmony together. Any other types I get want to fight and fight. For some reason, the bannies don't do that. But since you said no roosters, that is neither here nor there....

Oh....and about processing them. 3 to 5 years is about the entire life span of a chicken. (I've had some live a bit longer...but not often).....if you wait that long to slaughter, they are going to be tough eatin'. It is generally best to slaughter a lot earlier, if you are going to.
I just got done slaughtering and processing a bunch the other day. Freezer is now full of fresh chickens (YUMMY)...

And, for the record...if done properly, it's not a noisy process....so, if you CHOOSE, you could just thumb the rules and proceed.

..............as for "do they STFU at night"? LOL...
Most do, unless, like others said, predators get after them. My rooster. That bastard starts about 3 am...every...single....morning...and he and the neighbors bannie roosters compete...all....morning....long....lol
The little bannies up the road sound like him, just really sick with something in their throats'....lol.
He sounds like he has a mic and huge speakers down in the coop. Of course, he is a VERY large rooster that took the place of a RIR (rhode island red) I had which met it's demise after it wouldn't stay off my freakin' shoulders every time I tried to go in the coop to do work. The last time, his neck met my hand....no more head for mister pain in the ass

...I don't miss the SOB...
The one I have now is pleasant...and the kids that come around love him. He stands nearly as tall as my 3 year old nephew....

ETA: It's the calcium in the shells that is really good for them. I was pretty sure, but wanted to be super sure before posting it here.

Here is a LINK discussing the matter.

I don't have chickens, never did have chickens and am sure I never will, but I find this thread very educational and fun!

a reply to: Domo1

The thing with chickens is that if you have say five chickens, the cost of producing the eggs is about two bucks a dozen if you feed them decent food. If the coop takes three hundred bucks to build, that is a hundred fifty dozen of eggs at two dollars a dozen right there. They have chicks here at Tractor Supply for a couple bucks a piece, they better produce at least a dozen to pay for themselves. It is still a cheap hobby and if you take care of them they can provide you with eggs for quite a while. I know a woman who has chickens that have been laying for six years. But now they are getting old and are starting to want to hatch a chick and get a little crabby when she grabs their eggs.

a reply to: Domo1

Don't know the regulations in your area regarding fencing. Chickens can fly somewhat but are ungainly as hell when they do. You probably won't need to trim their wings. We have Rhode Island reds and they lay quite well and do well in colder weather. They roost when it gets dark and stay quiet until morning.

Fresh eggs are much much better than store bought. All my neighbors have chickens so I don't have to. They give me more eggs than 2 people can eat.

I have had chickens in the past. I like the exotics!
cutiechickens.weebly.com...

youtube has all the info you need on raising those birds.

Guinnea hens lay nice green eggs....make great watchdogs and are tougher than boiled owl poop......they have a screech thatll wake the dead.....don't get any if you live close to neighbours.....
Banty hens make the very best moms.....will bring out chicks from the strangest places if allowed to run free.....
Chickens in the city are sort of like sled dogs in Florida.....extra trouble but if you are into it go for it.
You may end up paying a lot more for eggs that way.

originally posted by: Expat888
a reply to: Domo1
Raccoons can be royal pain in backside .. make sure your hens cooped at night and that the coops secured well .. shame cant have roosters there ..

A rooster would tear up only a small handful of chickens. I used to raise 200 chickens a year and my rooster made short work of all the hens, and only one rooster in the bunch actually does the deed.(but it's not because the other roosters don't try.. lol... I guess there can be only one king or something.. ). but his working was hard on the chickens.. many had a bald spot on their backs from him..

I couldn't imagine what a rooster would do with only 3 or 4 chickens..

You chicken handlers better beware that they might throw H5N1 virus on your chickens.

Our next-door neighbors have chickens in a coop in the corner of their garden. For me, just walking to the end of our garden and seeing them is like a visit to a working farm. They've made it super secure, with three levels of fencing; apart from the coop itself, there's an inner perimeter and an outer perimeter on top of their boundary property fence. More than one time, the chickens have made it into the outer yard, even with the gate always closed. There's always going to be a time when storm winds are strong enough to blow a gate open, or chickens bunch up in one spot and push one through the mesh.

One of my workplaces actually had a complete chicken coop and rooster. That little guy could really shout - louder than a passenger jet taking off.

Brother has chickens, I can not where I live.

They're great. He keeps his penned most of the time, but when they're out they aren't a problem- they just roam around like a bored cat would, usually in groups. If you're working outside, they'll just hang out and eat bugs. Not too bright though.

If you brew beer, make the switch to all grain brewing- the spent grains are great feed.
They'll eat just about anything else, too- especially bugs. Ticks- tasty.


edit:
he has no roosters, and has been getting eggs for two solid years. Not sure if there's a trick or not.

originally posted by: Domo1
a reply to: igloo

Thanks for that link and your reply! Do they STFU at night? As much as I'd like to irritate all the McMansions that went up on the other side of my fence (

) I prefer to be on distant good terms with neighbors.

Haha, STFU at night!... yes the hens will and are usually only loud if a predator is near or one is bragging about laying an egg... roos not so much, at our high latitude they start at 4:00 am in the summer.