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Raising chickens....... - Page 2  

post #21 of 27
6/11/03 at 9:17pm
We have a Bantam couple who just hatched 3 chicks. The rooster is a great watch "dog."

Unfortunately last night a fisher got to the hen. Our chocolate lab helped us find her at 2:30 am. One half of her face is pretty bad, but she is walking, talking and taking care of the chicks. They all hid in the garden, btw. I gave Goldie some rescue remedy and olive leaf extract. I hope she makes it.

We had full size hens initially, can't even remember what kind they were. They were pretty dull, to tell you the truth. We just got the rooster.

We buy from our local grain store. We also have 12 meat birds and 2 Peking ducks. Next week we are ordering either Kakhi or Cayuga ducks.
post #22 of 27
6/19/03 at 1:29am

Chicken questions...

Oh, I would love to get some; I've been wanting some for a while!

Okay, I don't live in a suburb, but I do live in a newer development of a town... you get the idea. If I could have chickens here ( I would have to check city ordinances), would I need to fence them or do they kind of learn their boundaries? Those of you who have them, do you live with a great deal of space between yourself and your neighbors? I read in Organic Gardening (I think it was) a while back about building a portable A-Frame style coop for in-town gardeners. The writer believed (and I agree) that everyone should be able to have at least two chickens in their yard for fresh eggs. Do they lay during winter?
post #23 of 27
6/19/03 at 11:27am
This thread is great!

I've been threatening to get a chicken for the longest time so I've go tons of questions (hope you don't mind!) We eat eggs like there's no tomorrow, so how many chickens do you need to get about a dozen or two eggs a week?

I think we're zoned for it, we have 2 acres, is that enough property for comfy ladies?

What good books should I check out about raising chickens before I get started?

You can order chickens in the mail!? How does that work? Do they come 'a cluckin'? But seriously, do they? or are they still in the egg and you need to incubate them? Either way, that's sooooooo cool!

I'm so excited....(hollering to dh "See honey, I'm not weird to want chickens!")
post #24 of 27
6/19/03 at 1:40pm
I don't know all that much, just starting out myself, but I found this website really helpful:
http://www.the-coop.org/
There are some really good links there too.
I know some people who have chickens in semi-urban settings, with small yards, so it is do-able.
turquoise - you can mail-order chickens, but I have never done it, got ours at the local feedstore and they come (from both sources), hatched, usually just a few days old.
I'm sure some other much more experienced chicken people will have more info.
post #25 of 27
6/20/03 at 11:06am
Usually the chickens will go to their coop in the evening. We close ours in to cut down on predators.

While our backyard is fenced in, the chickens can fly over it and the chicks can jump thru. We used to clip their wing feathers, but gave up as they naturally do not like it and they could still fly. So, no purpose in that. Fencing can help keep the predators down, but you have to make sure there is no place for them to climb.

Hens will lay in the winter depending on how much sunlight you get. This is our first year with a rooster so, I can only hope he doesn't try to fertilize any eggs- too cold for chicks to survive, kwim?
post #26 of 27
6/20/03 at 11:22am
For mail order chickens they come as day old chicks. Your local feed store I bet orders in their chicks and could most likely tell you a good place to order from.

The resaon for them being day old is they still have some nourishment left from the yolk and thus do just fine with haveing no food or water for 24 hours.

We have had good sucess with mail order chicks.

Inwe Surion, I am surprised that your chickens could still fly with a wing clipping. We dont clip anymore because the chickens have free roam on the property but when we had full size chickens and kept them in a pen we would clip. They could fly just enought to get out of the coop but not over the fence. Maybe our fence was high enough they couldnt get over?

Even if the rooster does fertilize eggs the hen still has to set them so as long as the eggs are collected every or everyother day no ckicks would come a hatching. But the collecting some somes is fun as some hens love to hide their nests

We keep a light bulb in ther coop come winter time for heat and to trick the hens into laying more.
post #27 of 27
6/20/03 at 12:42pm
Erin,

The "flier" flew as high as a tree. The fence is about 4.5.feet high.
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