Chickens

[spectra]

The Chicken Mansion Roughly about 12x6 with a enclosed house of 6x4. Outside run is 25x15 they used to have free range of the yard but I got tired of chicken poop on the deck. Also they are known as a yard piranha so if you like your landscape well not a good thing to let them run around.

 

[chemist]

Yeah, my Rhode island red rooster didn't get that memo

Well, the one we ended up keeping was the runt, nearly killed by the faster-maturing cockerels, so he apparently remembered his experiences and took them to heart. He was never mean to his girls, or aggressive towards us. But he didn't have any reason to be, with eight hens to keep him relaxed.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I admire you guys. I couldn't kill a baby goat if I was starving to death. I'd probably feed it the last of my food. Total animal puss.

Blaylocke,
I just watched a documentary and for some reason something said made me think of what you said.. not that there's anything wrong with that.
It was a fleeting remark about how we are all essentially complicit, one way or another, but he goes on to say that while trapping/hunting, the animals know what's coming and to beware but the domesticated critter stays his hand pretty much as it has become more like a pet.
It was on Netflix streaming.. "Happy People: A Year in the Taiga" - 2010.
I'd suggest anyone watch this.. it's about extremely rural living in Russia. I think anyone would/could learn/re-learn something (perhaps even patience as the audio isn't top-notch from the narrator though the rest is subtitled) from this well made film.

unclekippy,
I hope your coop is coming along satisfactorily.

 

[jbett98]

Watched it a couple of weeks ago. Highly recommend it.

Those are real hardy men living that life, and a lot of it is having the mental fortitude to handle the solitude.

The one part where the lone trapper arrives late at night, (40 below zero) to one of his trap line cabins and finds a tree had crashed through the roof, and he shrugs it off as a pain in the ***, but just gets on with the repair, shows what these guys are made of.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I hear you. There's a whole lot of tricks/techniques hidden in there, along with a whole lot of tenacity/toughness. My favorite was the winch for beaching/dragging that big*** boat up that steep bank. Lots of little "forgotten" tidbits.

 

[unklekippy]

I will definitely check that out. It's amazing that even the poorest people in America have cable TV, yet we bubblegum about "equality" and whatever else, while folks in place like Russia have no idea what entitlement is. No wonder we're losing.

The coop is coming along and should be for the most part completed today. We will put finishing touches on tomorrow and probably pick up chickens Monday. I am considering a few grown hens as well as the chicks, but I haven't decided on that. At this point, I should have room for 20-30 chickens, though I really only plan on 6-8. I have another area that I could expand or separate for different animals or more chickens.

We're almost there.

 

[unklekippy]

By the way, I sure do appreciate your guys tips and well wishes. This has been a good experience and I look forward to more.

 

[spectra]

Just remember if getting a few grown hens and then mixing them together there may be issues. I had 3 to start then raised 4 more and when it was time to put them all together there were problems. Had to get rid of 2 as they were the queens of the run and picked on everyone else. If getting a rooster there should be no issues as they will take care of every ones behavior issues

 

[jbett98]

Another thing to do, is to caulk any cracks and seams inside the coops roosting/nesting area. Painting the interior white also helps keep any parasites from finding a hiding place.
I spread wood stove pellets on the coop floor and covered that with pine shavings for easier cleanup.

 

[joe k]

My wife keeps 10 now. Your chickens will each lay 5 or 6 eggs a week in the summer, until about now, when they will start to molt and will slow down. During the winter they really slow down, unless you use artificial light to simulate longer days and stimulate egg production. There is a web site, backyard chickens, with lots of info. Good luck.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Kipster, how's it going on the chicken front?

 

[unklekippy]

It's going well. We ended up picking up 6 Barred Rock birds that are about 5&1/2 months old. 5 hens and 1 rooster. We went ahead with the rooster on the claim that he was relatively friendly and so far so good. I have no qualms with killing him if he were a problem, but I like the idea of being able to make more chickens as well as eggs. The Barred Rock are good in the cold(it got down to 26 last night and we're still in mid-September.) and work well as dual purpose birds. I don't want to use the chickens for meat just yet, as I prefer store bought chicken to plucking my own, I still like the ability to do so if necessary.

While I am embarrassed to say this, the birds still kind of scare me. They have those "crazy eyes" and I think they are plotting against me(that's a joke. I don't really believe my birds are out to get me.). I go in their coop at least twice a day and I STILL expect them to attack me. They haven't so much as even pecked at me, but I think they're trying to get me complacent and lazy before the strike.

Next year we will hope to add two head of cattle. I have no intention of owning a dairy cow, but the amount of money saved in raising your own beef is amazing, not to mention delicious.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Excellent! I've been wondering for some time and thought I'd ask.

 

[chemist]

Start hand-feeding them and see for yourself how friendly those birds become - they won't leave you alone! Now nothing goes to waste in our kitchen: the leftovers get run through the hens, and do they ever love it!

 

[oknow]

I admire you guys. I couldn't kill a baby goat if I was starving to death. I'd probably feed it the last of my food. Total animal puss.

You old softy

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I admire you guys. I couldn't kill a baby goat if I was starving to death. I'd probably feed it the last of my food. Total animal puss.

Could you kill an egg? LOL!!!

 

[Trick]

It's going well. We ended up picking up 6 Barred Rock birds that are about 5&1/2 months old. 5 hens and 1 rooster. We went ahead with the rooster on the claim that he was relatively friendly and so far so good. I have no qualms with killing him if he were a problem, but I like the idea of being able to make more chickens as well as eggs. The Barred Rock are good in the cold(it got down to 26 last night and we're still in mid-September.) and work well as dual purpose birds. I don't want to use the chickens for meat just yet, as I prefer store bought chicken to plucking my own, I still like the ability to do so if necessary.

While I am embarrassed to say this, the birds still kind of scare me. They have those "crazy eyes" and I think they are plotting against me(that's a joke. I don't really believe my birds are out to get me.). I go in their coop at least twice a day and I STILL expect them to attack me. They haven't so much as even pecked at me, but I think they're trying to get me complacent and lazy before the strike.

Next year we will hope to add two head of cattle. I have no intention of owning a dairy cow, but the amount of money saved in raising your own beef is amazing, not to mention delicious.

Time for an update......is it still going smooth for you? Plenty of eggs?

 

[PBinWA]

Here's my update. In the last month I've lost 15 chickens. I killed the five raccoons that got a bunch but then a pack of coyotes dug under my fence and had a killing spree - it wasn't pretty. Seems my 100lb Lab/Pit slept through the whole thing - yeah he's useless.

Oh well, I'll start a new batch soon they won't get to free range anymore unless I'm home.

 

[CoastRange57]

Here's my update. In the last month I've lost 15 chickens. I killed the five raccoons that got a bunch but then a pack of coyotes dug under my fence and had a killing spree - it wasn't pretty. Seems my 100lb Lab/Pit slept through the whole thing - yeah he's useless.

Oh well, I'll start a new batch soon they won't get to free range anymore unless I'm home.

Do you secure the chickens in a coop that coyotes or raccoons cannot get in at night ? Or did the coyotes come during the day?

If the coyotes or coons came during the day, you need to get a call and thin the herd a bit...that is huge problem.

Securing them inside a coop that coons or yotes cannot get in is pretty much a given in most rural areas. Coyotes don't come within 250 yards of my chickens. Anything inside of 500 yards is pretty much target practice.

I have had 21 chickens for 3 years now. I have not lost any. They go in a secured coop at night, and are in a 120 x 65 fenced grassed area during the day. Had a local feral cat try to get in the pen one time. One of the hens flies out and chased the cat away. Cat came back the next day and had a encounter with piece of lead.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Here's my update. In the last month I've lost 15 chickens. I killed the five raccoons that got a bunch but then a pack of coyotes dug under my fence and had a killing spree - it wasn't pretty. Seems my 100lb Lab/Pit slept through the whole thing - yeah he's useless.

Oh well, I'll start a new batch soon they won't get to free range anymore unless I'm home.

My sister caught a coon family going after her chickens in Battle ground, she heard McChikken (yes, they all have names) scream, She ran out and yelled at the coons and they scattered. The coon had stripped away a bunch of tail feathers and bit her in the butt a little bit but she survived it OK. There were a lot of feathers on the ground.