Chickens and thier coops
 

Any of you guys raise chickens?
I want to get started, for eggs really.
what type?
what type coop?

pointers..........direction............any help would be appreciated.

I have 3 hens now but they sure are taking their time starting to lay eggs since they are at 23 weeks and yet to lay. When i get home i'll post a pic of my setup.

It all depends on what you want. You can make yourself a big coop with alot of room for them to roam around, or individual cages. I've seen people with a setup similar to rabbit cages. One hin per cage with a laying box. Juts depends on the kind of room you have.

if you go this route with individual cages I believe I read where they need 4 sq ft per bird. Here is a pic I found of my setup. The back of my hen house hinges open so i can get to the eggs easily if they ever start laying. My idea is to build a new pen instead of this dog kennel, gonna fence right up to each side of the hen house so i can check for eggs without getting in the pen.

Nice to know about the 4sqft thing. Your setup is similar to what im about to do.

Not a bad little setup Shawn!

im about to have fried chicken if these hens don't start laying, have 2 roosters and 3 hens now but im bout to release one of the roosters in some grease. Also peddler consider ducks instead, they lay more eggs than chickens(avg 300 a yr compared to 200-300 a yr for chickens and that depends on the breed) but with ducks you need a net over the top obviously. I plan on putting a net over mine though because the hens can perch on the top of the kennel if they jump from the top of my ramp.

Duck eggs as good or big as Chicken eggs?
Let me know when you fry that dude up lol ill try to plan on coming get some peppers on that day lol i love me some shicken! Ill bring tha watermelon!

Just be warned, Ducks will make a mess!!!!!!!! They will durn a drop of water on concrete into a mud hole! I hear some types are not as bad as others. Not sure which ones though. My dad had a few and as long as the wings were clipped well enough he never had a problem with them getting out without a net.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/breeds/breed-chart

This might help, we have 14 hens and a rooster. Only have of our hens are old enough to lay and we get 1-5 eggs from them a day.

Eat the meat and sell the feathers. :rolleyes:

There ya go there is all kinda gals wanting feathers in there hurr!!

Pogie meal makes them cackle and lay eggs like crazy.

I didn't think individual set up, that's an idea.
I have plenty room though, looking for six maybe eight, no roosters.

I like the posting of pics, thanks for ideas for sure!

Do you need a rooster if all u want is the eggs?

Nope, rooster fertilizes them if you want to hatch out chicks

I personally think they are equally as good and big, dont worry bout da watermelon though, got dems in the garden too!

Nope... We put golf balls in a couple of the boxes. It encourages them to lay. All ours run around the yard all day but I will be happy to take pics of the house later today.

If you want good eggs, get you a turkey!!! big and yummy! My dad had one for a while. I hated that thing, but I loved them eggs.

Oh and almost forgot, peddler i know you garden, chickens make great fertilizer out of your bad or rotten veggies...good garbage disposals. Look up chicken tractors, people will put them in their garden to take care of bugs and fertilize at the same time. Fyi chicken poo=high nitrogen for your corn!!

Sounds like a plan! :smokin:

I didn't know this!!!! Glad you asked the question meathauler.

Hmmmm if thats the case...dey some folks on here full of nitrogen!!

:grinpimp:

:D

:rotfl:

True dat haha

just a couple...okay maybe one...naw I'm just kiddin'...actually no I'm not ;)

Also feed the egg shells back to em the calcium is good for em helps keep the shells tough

I get free eggs from a cousin. Bastid gives me 2 doz. a week.
Fried eggs
Scrambled eggs
Poached eggs
Deviled eggs
Eggs Benedict
Egg Salad
Eggs in shrimp salad
Eggs in tuna salad
Egg sandwich

Ray......you forgot gumbo ;)

Sounds like me. Not sure why I want to raise them. Between my parents and the inlaws i almost have too many to know what to do with.

My 19 month old is determined to catch one, i pitty the fool if he catches one lol

When I was a kid my dad raised those big white meat chickens. We chased those things all the time. By the time they were ready to butcher, none had tail feathers on them. I even learned how to put them to sleep. I would line a bunch of them up on my g mother porch sleeping and then run through them to wake them up. Good ole days!!
Shawn do you raise those red ones that lare bred to lay ?

They are buff orpingtons, supposed to be very docile which was good since my little one likes to go in and feed them hisself

me and a friend have been raising chickens for the last 3 months...I never knew that I would enjoy raising chickens lol but I like it alot...we are raising dual purposes breeds and rare breeds...in 3 months we have alil over a hundred birds...we have

rhode island reds
buff orpingtons
Lavender orpington's(very rare and expensive!)
french copper marans(lays the darkest egg!)
black australorp's
silver laced wyndottes
light brama's
cornish rock meat birds
and bearded and non-beared Silkie's(ornamental's/pets)

my friend had a barn that he used to raises birds and dogs...and we just converted all the pens to chicken coops then free range them all day...and we just built one chicken tractor for our cornish rock meat birds.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/index.php is the best forum for chickens..

if your wanting chickens mainly for eggs...i'd get some rhode islands,orpingtons, black australorps or some of the hybrid egg layers like production reds or black stars...

That reminds me of the joke by Bill Engvall about his wife buying chicken. :rotfl: at that joke.
Anyway. I had some hens once and my dad said that if you feed them the right mix of nutrients and grains that they could lay eggs almost everyday. I got a couple eggs from about 9 hens every 3-4 weeks. The 5th time they laid, we had scrambled eggs for breakfast and baked chicken and taters for dinner. Good eatin.

This is our coop...and FYI chickens love oyster shells...and it's healthy for em...

Also they love squash...alot

2nd that! It makes their shels stronger as well. My dad used to load them down with oyster shels just before Easter! lol

Not mine for some reason

Cut them into round pieces about 1/2" thick...they love pecking out the center and just leave the skin

What don't chickens like? They will eat nearly anything.

Lost my chewing gum in the chicken yard one day....I think I tried every piece in there before I found it! :)

LMAO!

??
 

How did u get them to sleep

My brother has been raising chickens and turkey and sells them. He has 75 to 150.

He lives on the south end of Holmwood on Hwy 27. Look for the big white sign on the fence, it showes the different kinds that he has. When he get the feed out in the evening..... he can hardly walk because all them birds are around his feet.

My nephew raised broiler hens for 4-H, that was the toughest chicken I ever ate in my life, anyone have any insight on ho to get them tender.

I just bought 11 guineas today to add to my coop. I got 5 rhode island reds and 5 straight runs. They are all the same age except the guineas and the reds are two times bigger. I got the guineas for yard dogs. Anything comes around they let ya know. And they are better then raid for pest control like fleas ticks and Mosquitos.

To put a chicken to sleep you need to take the chicken and have its head pointed in front of you. Hold the chicken like a football with the feet hanging and the legs down. Now take the chickens head and tuck it under the wing one isde or the other. You then swing the chicken from the left down to the middle and up to your right in a big U. Do this back and forth for a minute or so You then slowly come to a stop and place the chicken on the ground with its head tucked under its wing and most of the time they are out for a minute or so. GOOD LUCK

I just tried it on one of my rhode island reds. It put her sound asleep. I cannot believe it. My wife walked outside as I was doing it and proceeded to tell me that I am retarded but it was worth it. Lol. I thought it was dead. But I gave it a push and it stood up and walked off. Priceless

Hahaha I have always wanted to try that!!

LMAO:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: