Raising Chickens

[Guest FiddleDog]

Getting close to finishing up a chicken coop. Wondering if anyone had any advise as to breeds and/or if I should insulate it. Here's what I've gotten done so far.

Edited March 27, 2012 by FiddleDog

[mikegideon]

Chickens are great. You only have to feed them once.

[UncleJak]

We used to have Rhode Island Reds and some sort of black and white spotted rooster.(dominic??) We had nice brown eggs daily. Neat thing about chickens: once they know where to sleep, they always come back to that spot to sleep. We learned this the hard way, chasing chickens nightly for about 3 weeks to put them up to roost. One night an old farmer stopped by and told us how silly we looked chasing them around. He was right.

[Guest Ceolas]

We have 3 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Production Reds, 2 Gold Lace Wyandottes, and 1 Buff Orpington in Wilson County.

They all seem to get along well together and are laying 6-8 eggs a day with no winter slow-down.

The Orpington is a bit bossy, the Wyandottes are big and slow but pretty. The RIR's are good all around.

[Dennis1209]

I have six Production Reds. They're a cross between Rhodie Island Reds and another breed. For the last year I've got 4-6 eggs daily. My coop is not insulated. If the temperature will reach twenty degrees or lower I'll turn on my "RED" 200 watt heat lamp and heated waterer. I don't let my baukers free range because of all the hawks and other chicken predators. If you build a chicken run, make sure you bury a 12 inch wide chicken wire at the base of your run to prevent predators from digging underneath the inclosement. You might also want to name your fowl so they know their place in life. Mine are, from left to right, Peckeretta, Pillow, Dumpling, Fried, Coyote Bait and Baked.

[Jonsaiga]

We raise Black Jersey Giants currently. We have raised Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks and Dominiques in the past as well as some non-specific mixed breeds. We really like the Blacks as a dual purpose bird and have been able to sell them for a little more than the others since they are not as common making them kind of a novelty.

[Timestepper]

We've got 7 Rhode Island Reds and about a dozen or so Bantams of varying breeds. We generally sell or trade the "big girl eggs" and save the Banty eggs for our own use (they're so much richer than the others even though they all eat the same stuff - and you ain't lived until you've had home-made Banty egg noodles!)

Before we got our two little pygmy goat does, the chickens were only allowed to free-range from late spring through early fall - when there were leaves on the trees, because of the hawks. But now my wife lets the chickens and goats out together about mid-afternoon and lets them free-range the rest of the day until just before dusk. Evidently to a hawk, a pygmy goat looks like a dog because we haven't lost a bird since we (she) started this practice.

Oh, and our chicken house isn't insulated, but we keep an incandescent heat lamp burning 24/7 during the winter months. Keeps the birds warm and toasty and egg production doesn't drop off due to lack of sunlight.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Those are neat chicken coop pictures and stories.

Do big owls like barred owls ever take chickens? We've had a barred owl family hanging out in the neighborhood a few years, and the old man is lots bigger than most hawks, as best I can tell.

[Timestepper]

As far as I know, owls are opportunists - just like other birds of prey (or predators for that matter) - and will take whatever will brings the most calories for the least amount of effort. Seems like a big juicy chicken would be a tough meal to pass up.

Our somewhat over-sized chicken house and run (where we also store feed for both chickens and goats). The top of the run is covered with a light weight but very strong plastic mesh to keep the Banties in and the 'coons out.

And after I added a goat shed and yard to one end.

Even built a sleeping shelf at one end for our (goat) girls.

Edited April 7, 2012 by Timestepper

[Guest FiddleDog]

I have six Production Reds. They're a cross between Rhodie Island Reds and another breed. For the last year I've got 4-6 eggs daily. My coop is not insulated. If the temperature will reach twenty degrees or lower I'll turn on my "RED" 200 watt heat lamp and heated waterer. I don't let my baukers free range because of all the hawks and other chicken predators. If you build a chicken run, make sure you bury a 12 inch wide chicken wire at the base of your run to prevent predators from digging underneath the inclosement. You might also want to name your fowl so they know their place in life. Mine are, from left to right, Peckeretta, Pillow, Dumpling, Fried, Coyote Bait and Baked.

How did you set up your nesting boxes?

Edited March 28, 2012 by FiddleDog

[DaveS]

I have 6 Rhode Island Reds and one Buff Orphington (sp), and 6 ducks. I get at least 4 duck and 5 Chicken eggs a day. I'm egged out! I have a few roosters that are reaching their 12 weeks of age. Their fate is written in stone. I have found that farming (56 of my 57 years of life) leans toward "Rabbits" as the meat animal of choice. They out produce and out weigh any chicken egg you come across.....PERIOD! Rabbit runs agout $8.99 a pound in the store. Chicken? That's another story.....