Raising Chickens: UPDATE
Submitted by MikeLawson on Sun, 02/15/2009 - 16:35
This year, I will be raising chickens for eggs and later, dinner. I have been doing a lot of research and asking others who raise them for any hints they have. I'm only going to get 3-4 hens to start and build a moveable coop that will let the chickens get fresh food (I will have a feeder and waterer too) and keep my yard from getting any muddy holes. Does anyone have any suggestions or little things I may not be thinking about?
I'm not planning to sell eggs or anything, just have enough to eat and maybe give a few away to friends and neighbors.
What really made my decision final was telling my grandparents and watching them light-up talking about how much they enjoyed raising chickens. Anything that you can do 45 years ago and still brings a huge smile to your face is well worth it in my book.
UPDATE 2/20/09: I bought 4, 5 month old Rhode Island Red Hens tonight at the local livestock auction (an experience everyone should have) and they will be moving into their beautiful new home tomorrow. For now, they live in a 8 foot long cardboard box. I am not going to eat them, they are for eggs. So I will be naming them. Suggestions are welcome.
Update 3-9-09
They are going out during the day and scratching in the yard and are laying like champs! Nice big eggs 2-3 a day! Today there was a ladder problem and they laid two right on the ground under their coop!
photos at: www.hideyourride.com/chickens
Great update!
Love the chicken tractor.
I have the best dog! (and the worst one...)
I have a pound rescue dog that someone trained beautifully. This morning, I caught her herding a chicken from the top of the hill back to the pen. Not one aggressive move, just eased her way up until the hen wandered down the hill, patiently moving back and forth till she was back by the pen. She never got close, even, just near enough to make the chicken move. Amazing.
Of course that was about the time my other dog noticed and started charging at them both... which is why she lives on a dog run leash most of the time. I felt sorry for my lonely good dog so I got her a companion - should have just gotten her a chicken friend!
Just a few words about
Just a few words about chickies. I got mine last year, had them sent from a reputable hatchery by mail. I will share what I learned. First, and most amazingly, they live their first several days on yolk from the egg, so feed is not critical for two to three days. I kept mine in a 5' diameter plastic wading pool with a heat lamp over it. If they huddled under the heat lamp, it needed to be lowered. If they stay outside the perimeter, it needed to raised. Red lamps are better than white ones as white light inhibits sleep and can make the chicks aggressive to one another. When they started flying out of the pool, I extended its life by putting ring of wire around the inside to raise the walls until they were ready to go outside. If you started out with a coop built, you are ahead of me - mine were the guest room and are still in a stall in the horse barn. Maybe a coop this year...
Anyway, back to the chicks, each chick's beak does need to be dipped into water to show it how to drink. There are some great chick starter supplements that can be added to their water that helps them grow strong legs, very critical with the large breed birds. The best feed for them is a poultry starter. If your chicks have been vaccinated for coccidiosis, do not feed them medicated feed. If they have not been vaccinated, medicated feed can ward off those protozoan parasites. Marek's disease is the other major threat to poultry. Chicks under 16 weeks old are the most susceptible. If you take your birds to fairs or shows, you should probably protect them. If they are healthy and isolated from other poultry, they should be fine. Since I bought from a reputable hatchery, I had my chicks vaccinated since they do it at time of hatching. It does not need to be re-done.
The one thing that about drove me nuts was trying to tell which were hens and which were roosters. The hatcheries can sex them, but I sure couldn't tell the difference until they started growing tail feathers! Our sixteen hens lay enough eggs to fill our needs and to provide several dozen a week extra in peak season, which we sell for a dollar a dozen. It helps pay for their feed. They quit laying during really cold weather but are now back to five or six a day. When the snow is off the ground, that will go to eight to ten. Hens are getting past their prime when they are eight years old.
That is pretty much what I have learned so far. Still a newbie at it, and like everyone, will continue to learn more, one problem at a time.
Pat
BOHICA!!
Pat
BOHICA!!
Poultry Forum
When we got our chickens, I had a ton of questions. I found the forum here: http://www.poultryconnection.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=4 on this terrific poultry site. The people there are experienced with all sorts of poultry and are wonderful about sharing good information.
Pat
BOHICA!!
Pat
BOHICA!!
I seem to have saved my chicks!
I got a bout of pooped-stuck butts in my chicks, and got some discouraging info from searches, but took a shot at combining ideas, and am happy to report 100% cure - at least so far. I don't even count my hatched chicks, I count laying hens and broilers - lol! Any way, if you find yourself with poopy butt problems, get the disgusting mess off. If it flakes off, great, I had to soak their little rears in a dish of warm water to soften it up. You can pull a piece of their butt off, so be careful and patient. Then take away the food, but sprinkle some in the bottom of the water tray. Let them have only this ultra soft or no food for about 6 hours.
I know this is a common problem, do not know if this will work every time but it worked on the 5 or 6 that were afflicted.
I must say, it is a real biological disadvantage to be too stupid to poop... good thing they are so cute.
Here's a thought..........
Little puppies can have the same problem! The experienced 100+ puppy litter lady told me to take a warm washcloth and hold it on their little bottoms to soften and remove the stuck on stuff. BUT, the most important thing she told me (that solved the problem entirely) was to dab a little vaseline on their bottoms from time to time (a couple times a day). That keeps the poop from sticking on in the first place! Wonder if that would work for little chicks that are having the same problem? Now I know you can't be having to "vaseline" 100 chicks a couple times a day! But maybe just the ones who are seeming to have the problem?
Anybody know what would cause a "deflated" egg?
This morning's egg was just a flimsy broken shell. Do I need to give them more of something? Is it somebody's first egg? I'm curious.
If it walks like a duck & quacks like a duck...
Ok, so this city girl who now lives in Peticoat Jnct just went & got her chicky's. We built our coop & drove to downtown Hootersville to the feedstore to purchase 8 of them.
The guy told me to pick out my chicks and the first one I scooped up was a gorgeous yellow with a very unusual beak.... lol... yup, it was a baby duck. Boy did I feel like a "newbie".
They are home safe & sound in my greenhouse with a light over them living in a galvanized tub filled with chipped wood bedding. The chicks are only 4 days old so it will be a while before they move to their coop. I should of gotten my babies alot sooner rather than building the coop first.
Also the guy at the feed store said don't put babies in straw because they can smother, ground wood chips are the best. And they sell little bags of oyster shell aka calcium if the egg shells are too thin.
Bernanke thought it was a bubble?
Just a thought.
Could be the 1st egg, buy you some crushed oyster shell
and put it in a hopper for them free choice. Also, I put my eggs shells back in the food for them to eat. I just do my best to make sure all the egg itself is gone so they don't develop a taste for eggs.
Thank you Dr. Paul for making me act on what I already knew was right.
Tea Party People--Folks that want to be on the winning team, and just so happen to think that the republicans have cuter helmets and jerseys. Don't matter if the two teams always tie to them, they KNOW they really won.
Taste for eggs??
They aren't like dogs. They won't break into their own eggs to eat them if they get a taste for egg. Furthermore, they already have a taste for it. Their first 28 days were spent eating yolk. Anyway, I have often broken excess eggs in my pen to recycle the shells and the nutrients they get from the yolk. In all my years of chicken raising, I have never once had a chicken break into an egg.
Names: Take-a-little, Tax-a-little, and Tax-a-little More
I re-wrote the song from THE MUSIC MAN for my "Marian the Libertarian" musical. Some of the lyrics would make good names for chickens (if you recall, the original song mimicked them).
Take-a-little
Tax-a-little
Take-a-little
Tax-a-little
Take, Take, Take
Tax-a-lot
Take-a-little More
IMissLiberty
IMissLiberty
OMG!!!!
My husband just came home with a box of 30 chicks!!!!We haven't even cleared the woods
to build the coop yet!Have to cut down 4 trees and clear out the brush.He's got the chicks in the laundryroom with a heat lamp.They are so cute!!!!!30 of them, OMG!!!!!
Oh, no!
Laughing...
Don't forget to stick EACH of their beaks
in the water dish. They need to be shown how to drink.
ONE IDEA...
One idea I had to solve the big problem you have with the vulnerability to predators is to also put hex mesh on the bottom. Otherwise, a fox or possum could dig in there and get a bird no problem. (If this were a stationary coop, you would dig down and put mesh in the ground for this purpose) This would still allow them to eat the grass and grain, but it would further benefit by preventing from scratching and destroying the grass! Furthermore, you can pick up the whole coop and transport them wherever. With that addition, these would be the ultimate coop!
I had to whack a possum with a 2 x 4 once
I couldn't shoot it because the coop was attached to the barn and the cows were in for the night. So I grabbed a board and hit him. It was ugly. He was coming in for a three course meal--scratch, eggs and chickens!
For anyone who wants...
to start with a few more birds
these folks are great.
Always very healthy chicks.
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html
I am getting about....
twenty eggs a day.
Of course I have a little
larger flock but good for you Mike.
The best advise I have for you is to
make sure your coup is critter proof.
I have lost chickens to everything from
owls to possums.
And.......
dogs.
(my own)
LIFELONG BACKYARD CHICKEN FARMER
You picked the best breed for eggs and even meat. Each mature hen should lay about one egg every other day. So you are currently set up for two eggs a day.
But a big tip is get an incubator (with auto egg turner!) and a rooster. Pad your flock. Bump it up to six hens to be safe. Really, anything under 6 hens isn't worth it. But anyway, take that rooster and two hens and incubate their eggs for a while (pencil the dates on top of each egg to track their time - eggs over 35 days incubating should be chucked as duds). Raise several hatchlings (only half will survive to maturity) and after a few months, determine which are hens and slaughter the rest for supper.
With an incubator and a rooster, you can ensure that this little flock will self-perpetuate.
P.S. In the winter, put a light on them at night to keep their egg production up.
5 egg day!
Our hens are picking up the pace now that the days are getting longer. I got my baby chicks yesterday. We are going to try to get a little side business of backyard coops going, and I want to offer them with hens. Mostly so had ad excuse to go buy chicks!
too cool!
:)
MIKE
I want to see all of the pictures.
Please post them!
i know!!! like come on!!!
i wanna see the chicken run!!! have you finished it yet??
New pics are up. Including the new chicken run
www.hideyourride.com/chickens
WOW
How nice. Wish I could convince my hubby to get some chickens.
kay dude... you're a frickin' genius.
that rocks!!
Awesome photos!
Isn't that run a little small?? LOL. I know nothing about chickens....just saying......they look cramped. LOL
lol.
it fits perfectly along the rows of his garden. its brilliant!
I raised all kinds of fowl for years. One thing to remember
before you eat one of those "backyard strutters" make sure to boil him in seasoned salt water until he gets tender or you will think you are eating shoe leather.
Gratz on your new adventure.
Gratz on your new adventure. Rhode Island Reds are great dual-purpose birds (meat and eggs). We have 6 of them in our flock of 20 currently. Three of them are just over a year old (Named Red Leader, Red 2 and Red 3... think Star Wars) and 3 are just about ready to start laying. Chickens are an amazingly efficient means to produce high-quality food for you and your family and a fantastic way to offset the need for money in a currency crisis.
Ta,
We are going to buy some chicks
pretty soon.Thinking about getting several different
kinds.So what happens when they breed with
each other,do you get a mut?My husband wants
to raise extras to sell and I'm concerned that nobody will want to buy a mut.Anyone know anything about this?Mike??
Check out the information
Check out the information available at Backyardchickens.com for breeding ideas. Some breeds are specific crosses, most especially the 'sex-linked' breeds which throw sex-linked coloration in the chicks, making sexing them easy and the chicks more valuable.
Red Stars and Black Stars are examples of these kinds of birds. We have a half dozen Red Stars currently with that same number of Black Star chicks on the way. We bought the chicks from other sources as we do not have the infrastructure/flock for that... but, we're considering it.
Our rooster is an Easter Egger (a mutt that has the 'green egg' gene) so if we hatch eggs from that flock they'll all be EE mutts that will most likely lay green/blue eggs. He was the right price... "free to a good home" and he's fit in well with the girls. EE's are of varying quality as layers, but ours are young and are producing well, but not as well as the Red Stars or Rhode Island Reds, which is to be expected. But, they're happy and healthy and that's really what matters most at this point.
Ta,
wolfangel
Yes you can get some real crazy looking muts.only buy one rooster, they can service a lot of hens. Banny hens are a very small breed and they dont eat as much, plus you can put larger numbers in a hen house,The little roosters are beautiful and there crow is not so loud. The eggs are some what smaller but 2 banny eggs = 1 regular size egg. they law better than my full size hens most the time, I keep my banny's in a separate pen because some times the larger breed's will bully them or kill them.
yeah
one rooster is just fine for up to 12 hens
Thanks for the info
You guys are great.
this thread was sandwiched
between all kinds of bird flu viruses - just had to move it.....
!!!Truth is treason in the EMPIRE OF LIES!!!
" Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of they day; but a series of oppresssions...pursued unalterably, through every change of ministers, too plainly proove delibrate, systematical plan of reducing us to slavery..."
Tho
a "Chicken Sandwich"
.lol
MikeLawson
Are your chickens still staying up late? :o) or did turning off the light help.
Turning off the light helped. thank you.
One even laid an egg this morning!
Did you start
with full grown hens or baby chicks?
Pics please!
Name them - Freedom -
Name them - Freedom - Liberty - Larry - Moe and Curly
www.retakecongress.com
www.rtrradio.com
www.retakecongress.com
www.revolutionbroadcasting.com
www.RJHarrismoneybomb.com
Got my first egg today!!
How cool. I feed them, they feed me. The dog and cat have never been this thoughtful.
Ha!
My cats have always been very thoughtful of me.
I'm just not ready to dine on chipmunks, squirrels or mice.
Yet.
The dogs? Well they are good for making noise at least.
Good point. I'm not a baby bunny eater, but she thinks of me
at least.
lol.
cool!
Thanks for posting this
it reminds me to call my township and see if I can have some chickens.
We used to live in a
We used to live in a subdivison just outside the city limits, and several people there kept chickens in their backyards, The hens are usually better accepted by close neighbors than the roosters, folks don't like the crowing-I love to hear my rooster crow, just adds to country living.
Word your question carefully
Ask HOW MANY, not if, and use the word "PET" over and over. Promise you will not have a rooster, and you are likely to get permission. Check out catawbacoops.com - they discuss the process and they have a great city-dweller design.