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!!