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Chickens?

retroxler58retroxler58 Member Posts: 32,693 ✭✭✭
edited October 2017 in General Discussion
Anyone raise chickens for egg or meat? Hobby?
Otherwise?
Interesting comments to share?

Comments

  • p3skykingp3skyking Member Posts: 25,750
    edited November -1
    I raised chickens and mallards for Y2K.

    Fresh chicken and duck eggs are the best!

    Every couple of weeks I'd kill a duck or chicken for dinner. No hormones in that meat.
  • Smitty500magSmitty500mag Member Posts: 13,603 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    My youngest son in Everett, WA just bought a house and the previous owners had a small chicken coop with 3 chickens that they left with the property. He and his wife now have more eggs than they know what to do with.
  • grumpygygrumpygy Member Posts: 53,466
    edited November -1
    Best of luck. But unless you know how to make the hen house completely safe from Predators they will get more than you. I can't tell you how cause I have not succeeded yet.

    Will say that those hens that are free range during the day lay the best tasting eggs. They also keep the area free from bugs.
  • diver-rigdiver-rig Member Posts: 6,342 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I raise a bunch of broilers in the spring, for eating, and have 15-20 yard birds running around here.

    The yard birds are free range, and it's always an Easter egg hunt around here.

    I have an old galvanized 8 hole double decker egg layers box in their coop.

    I will get 12-15 eggs in it everyday for awhile, then it dwindles down to 2 or three.

    The girls and I go for an Easter egg hunt, and will find huge piles, tucked behind something out in the weeds.

    Bought the only way to rein them in, is lock them up with food and water for a week. Then they just lay in the layer again.

    We found goats make great watch dogs. Built a huge pen around the coop, and out into the pasture. Goats eat weeds, mostly leaving the grass untouched, and sleep next to the door of the coop at night.

    Haven't had a problem with * since we got the goats.

    They'll be going home to their owner soon, so I'll have to start locking the chickens up at night again.
  • toad67toad67 Member Posts: 13,019 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I thought that this might be about a single NFL player who wants to stand up for the Anthem....[;)]
  • BrookwoodBrookwood Member, Moderator Posts: 13,275 ******
    edited November -1
    I raise a few Rhode Island Red hens along with a couple of Seabright Bantams. Free range all the way! I have the same problems with the "girls" laying out in the surrounding woods and am very leery about eating eggs found outside the coop!

    The last rotten egg I broke kept me away from eggs for quite a long time.[xx(]

    Chickens are a lot of fun but roosters are a PITA IMO.
  • grumpygygrumpygy Member Posts: 53,466
    edited November -1
    Hint for those that raise your own. Break the eggs open in a separate bowl before Using them. Keeps from having problems like Brookwood had.[8D]
  • p3skykingp3skyking Member Posts: 25,750
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by grumpygy
    Best of luck. But unless you know how to make the hen house completely safe from Predators they will get more than you. I can't tell you how cause I have not succeeded yet.

    Will say that those hens that are free range during the day lay the best tasting eggs. They also keep the area free from bugs.


    Predator proof is fairly easy.

    10x30 four foot high chainlink enclosure with one gate.


    3/8ths inch rebar, as much as you need, and the ability to weld. I use a Lincoln stick welder.

    I built a rebar quonset-type frame with four ribs and three horizontal members making it completely rigid. It stands about twelve feet at the peak with two vertical supports inside the pen. On that, I used galvanized dog fence wire with aluminum fence ties.

    My dogs keep the ground clear and hawks can't get at them from the air, plus they can't get out so all my biddies and eggs are safe.

    ADDENDUM: I built it over 20 years ago and it's still serviceable and I use it as a dog kennel now.
  • grumpygygrumpygy Member Posts: 53,466
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by p3skyking
    quote:Originally posted by grumpygy
    Best of luck. But unless you know how to make the hen house completely safe from Predators they will get more than you. I can't tell you how cause I have not succeeded yet.

    Will say that those hens that are free range during the day lay the best tasting eggs. They also keep the area free from bugs.


    Predator proof is fairly easy.

    10x30 four foot high chainlink enclosure with one gate.


    3/8ths inch rebar, as much as you need, and the ability to weld. I use a Lincoln stick welder.

    I built a rebar quonset-type frame with four ribs and three horizontal members making it completely rigid. It stands about twelve feet at the peak with two vertical supports inside the pen. On that, I used galvanized dog fence wire with aluminum fence ties.

    My dogs keep the ground clear and hawks can't get at them from the air, plus they can't get out so all my biddies and eggs are safe.

    ADDENDUM: I built it over 20 years ago and it's still serviceable and I use it as a dog kennel now.


    No Dogs here.
  • 204targetman204targetman Member Posts: 3,493
    edited November -1
    we have orpingtons and barred rocks. no problem with predators. have chicken wire fence 6 feet high. about four inches buried in ground. cant remember the last time I bought eggs at the store. and we only have about 30 dollars a dozen in ours. [:D]
  • grumpygygrumpygy Member Posts: 53,466
    edited November -1
    I may have to try it again cause the Last time I was working Swing and Not always able to get them Locked up before I had to go to work.


    I do really like fresh eggs from chickens that not only get grain but bugs. It really adds to the flavor.
  • 204targetman204targetman Member Posts: 3,493
    edited November -1
    we have a fenced space about 25x30 for ours. I use to go out at night and close the coop door. then open it up in the morning before I left for work. but I don't close door anymore. had no problems at all. biggest problem ive had, is the egg production seems to drop off a lot. go from 8 or 9 a day out of 10 chickens. then it will go to 2 or 3 for awhile. but still enough for us. we just don't give as many away as we use to.
  • Ditch-RunnerDitch-Runner Member Posts: 24,450 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    trust me cheaper to buy eggs [:D]
    we have had chickens and ducks for many years , wife keeps them as pets
    over the years , * and a random hawk(s ) over they years have picked off a few and most just die from old age .
    we have a fenced in area apx 20 x50 feet and a couple shelters they can get into ,
    wife also lets them run the property most of the time unless we have a garden out [B)]
    our cats leave them alone even mingle with them ( exceptions the very young chicks or ducklings I thing they pick them off )
    we give away a lot of eggs and also feed them back to the chickens . scramble them while warm the cats and dogs will eat some but do not like them as a rule snub them 99% of the time
  • gunnut505gunnut505 Member Posts: 10,290
    edited November -1
    Neighbor has a rolling coop in his yard.
    Chicken wire on a rebar frame with an open bottom & a cam to lower the wheels hooked to a slot machine lever.
    Looks pretty Mad Max, but he has 4 birds that look happy.

    The rooster, though....
  • SGSG Member Posts: 7,548
    edited November -1
    Yep,got 12 ISA Browns for eggs. They give me a dozen extra large eggs every morning and they're the friendliest chickens you can get. Plus they keep the insect population in check.
  • jimdeerejimdeere Member, Moderator Posts: 25,583 ******
    edited November -1
    +for the ISA browns. Daily layers of huge eggs. They are not known for living long, though.
  • montanajoemontanajoe Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 57,892 ******
    edited November -1
    I like my chicken fried,and my duck orange glazed,,,[:p][:p][:p][:p]
  • droptopdroptop Member Posts: 8,367 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Raise silkies for eggs and to sell as pets.

    tigre_hens.jpg

    Farm chickens to eat and for eggs. Chickens don't need refrigeration until you eat them and only if there's left overs.
  • AdamsQuailHunterAdamsQuailHunter Member Posts: 2,014 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Just thought I would mention "Backyard Chicken Coops" DVD - Item #54434-DVD - from www.MovieandMusicGreats.com -- $9.98 + shipping.
    Best Regards - AQH
  • BrookwoodBrookwood Member, Moderator Posts: 13,275 ******
    edited November -1
    I had run out of egg cartons (I keep giving them away with free eggs) to keep all of my daily gatherings this last summer and went to our local farm store to buy a few.

    They wanted 49 cents apiece for their empty 12 hole cartons and right across the road, the supermarket was selling grade A large eggs for 49 cents a dozen![:0]

    Knowing the great difference between free range eggs and those anemic off the shelf ones, I did buy the empty cartons.

    Still sometimes feel like a person has to really pay, pay, and pay some more to get the best. Kind of ironic though!
  • remingtonoaksremingtonoaks Member Posts: 26,251 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    My son used to raise pheasants and turkey's back in the 90s when he still lived at home.

    He raises chickens now, but is thinking about getting into raising pheasants again. I'm encouraging him wholeheartedly to do so
  • HandLoadHandLoad Member Posts: 15,998
    edited November -1
    We had Buff Orpingtons for Five Years or so. Loved the Eggs.

    But, if You have Chickens, predators, all of them, face in from all the surrounding Counties, and begin their stalk.

    Miss the eggs.
  • TrinityScrimshawTrinityScrimshaw Member Posts: 9,350 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have lost all but three hens this past year to Foxes.

    I also lost all my Guinea Fowl, four hen turkeys, and one Tom turkey to Foxes.

    I had 18 pullets disappear form inside the barn last Spring, not sure what got them, but I think Foxes dis it too.

    I have ten new pullets in a fenced in coop right now, that I think may grow to egg laying age, but I have to watch them closely. The predation where I live is so bad, I could probably trap a Fox, Coyote, *, Possum, or skunk everyday and not put a dent in them.

    Trinity +++
  • grumpygygrumpygy Member Posts: 53,466
    edited November -1
    I will say I had some of these that lasted the longest. They lay a small sort of Purple colored egg. Still good eating. They were the only bird I could not sneek up on at night and catch.

    PhoenixBtyBBRCkl.JPEG
  • BrookwoodBrookwood Member, Moderator Posts: 13,275 ******
    edited November -1
    What breed is that rooster grumpygy?
  • grumpygygrumpygy Member Posts: 53,466
    edited November -1
    Phoenix.

    I got mine from

    https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/phoenix.html

    But they are only available in the spring.
  • gunnut505gunnut505 Member Posts: 10,290
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by grumpygy
    Phoenix.

    I got mine from

    https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/phoenix.html

    But they are only available in the spring.


    They must have to rest up after the Fall/Winter Tournaments[:)]
  • CaptFunCaptFun Member Posts: 16,678 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by gunnut505
    Neighbor has a rolling coop in his yard.
    Chicken wire on a rebar frame with an open bottom & a cam to lower the wheels hooked to a slot machine lever.
    Looks pretty Mad Max, but he has 4 birds that look happy.

    The rooster, though....


    My sister wants to build a chicken tractor since she got a new house out in the country... (Still just down the road from Thomas Hospital....) .
  • pwilliepwillie Member Posts: 20,253 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    What is a chicken tractor?
  • fkdentonfkdenton Member Posts: 540 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have a 7 hens a mix of breeds. They are free range and eat anything they can catch and kill. If you are wanting egg production you cant go wrong with the ISA browns.
  • droptopdroptop Member Posts: 8,367 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Posted this in the past but the Chicken Chick has updated her website.
    http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/

    The website has good accurate information in different categories.
    I find the most useful categories are: Chicken care articles and Hatching. Don't think there is a forum?

    Also: Back Yard Chickens: https://www.backyardchickens.com/
    They have a huge forum with many topics(one million with 18 million replies.)[:0] Their "coop" section contains,, thousands? of different coops.

    Site has a link at top of main page FORUMS and one is titled: Emergencies / Diseases / Injuries and Cures

    This is an EMERGENCY forum, Post If you have a problem right now and need advise. Best to review what's being said and keep the link for future use.
  • COLTCOLT Member Posts: 12,637 ******
    edited November -1
    ...Yep...end up selling some when the Hens get happy and lay like crazy.

    ...For big eggs there are several breeds, I like the Sexlink hen, docile and lay HUGE eggs. I feed a mix of regular Dumar chicken feed, lay crumbles...and sometimes mix corn in with the chicken feed.
    I also treat them to meal worms ever so often, they are CRAZY about those things!

    ...If you get chicks or young chickens, when their combs & waddles torn bright red, theyre ready to lay...doesn't mean they will though.
    Sometimes they get unhappy for some reason and go on an egg strike [;)] and don't lay hardly any eggs, then sooner or later they perk back up.

    ...IF you start out with say a dozen, then want to add some later, you have to keep them separated in the coup from each other for awhile or the new ones may get murdered by the original hens. Just keep the new chicks in a cage where the original hens cans see them and somewhat enter act with them without actually being able to get to them! You have to let the original hens get used to the new hens and accept them before you let them all together.

    ...Regardless of how long you let the original hens get to know & to accept the new chicks/hens...they will still fight and find their own pecking order...no Roosters needed!

    ...Some breeds are better for eggs, some for meat...just read up on which type you want and go get 'em. Chickens are actually smarter than you think!...[;)]
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