[Zaubertuba]

No, No, No...I'm not talking about what you're eating for dinner.

My wife has been interested in keeping chickens for some time, both as a cheap egg source--and because she really likes chickens.

She's already checked our local zoning ordinances and we can apparently keep three (No Roosters) in our back yard if they're kept healthy and clean--and if the neighbors don't complain.

So...any tips from any closet Chicken-Keepers out there? General tips, pitfalls, Chicken Coop ideas would be appreciated. Yes, I'm serious.

 

[cyberidd]

All I can say is that its good you won't have a rooster, those things are mean!

 

[tintin47]

First, I don't understand why anyone would like chickens. They are just strange, dumb animals.

Anyway, I worked on a sustainable chicken farm last summer (I am an environmental engineering major and I thought it would be a good experience. It was. I learned a lot). We raised chickens on a much larger scale, but some things apply anyway. Chicken coops aren't hard, but you have to be hardcore about them. The mindset that you have to have when building anything to do with chickens is that raccoons will find a way into anything you build.

Overall, they are very low maintenance. They'll eat absolutely anything, especially fruits and veggies. Pretty much anything green, whether it is grass or scraps of veggies, watermelon rinds...

If you have any specific questions feel free to PM me, though I would imagine that there is a book or website somewhere with all of the info you could ever need.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I've never owned chickens, but when I worked out in the middle of nowhere, I had a secretary who did. She used to sell us the eggs for $1 a dozen. Best deal ever - I bought some every week.

She had a few varieties of chickens that produced these wonderful eggs with blue, green and brown hues. They were so beautiful I almost didn't want to eat them. They were nothing like what you find in the store, and had thick, healthy shells with almost dayglo yellow yolks.

Anyhow, I'd recommend getting a few different kinds of chickens so you'll get those amazing different colored eggs. She also said that she let them scratch in the yard most of the day, which is why the eggs were so healthy. If I can ever escape to an acre or two outside the city, I'd love to build a hen house and have eggs like that again.

 

[apatN]

We had chickens and I also worked at a local chicken farm. Like tintin said, they are very low maintenance indeed. They'll eat absolutely anything. That includes chicken as well, lol.
Just take care of them. Make sure they have a nice clean place with enough water. The first weeks you'll have to put them on a horizontal pole when they go to sleep. After that they will do so automatically. Give them some chicken food everyday and also the food that remains after your own dinner. More important, give them some space. They'll reward you with the nicest eggs you've ever had.

 

[Happy Camper]

Possum are another problem that has to be accounted for.

My foster family raised chickens and rabbits to help out and I got to be the husband. Get them into the laying boxes early or they get used to laying on the ground. Also keep their wings cropped or you will be climbing trees to gather them in of the evening.

Eggs are the best from healthy, happy chickens. Giving them free range to scavenge is a healthy way.

 

[dj_mocok]

I wonder, if your pet chicken dies, will you bury it, or fry it? (assuming it's not an ill-related death)

Also, what do you think will happen if you inject your pet chicken with steroids?

 

[Zaubertuba]

Thanks guys! Now, why am I not surprised I'm getting all sorts of useful information on a topic that has absolutely nothing to do with headphones?

Quote:

First, I don't understand why anyone would like chickens. They are just strange, dumb animals.

I know, I resisted for several years. A lot. I knew I was done for, though, when she started referring to that "one corner of the yard where the chicken coop will go..."

...and I slipped and started suggesting ways we might go about constructing the chicken coop.

Quote:

Originally Posted by apatN /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...The first weeks you'll have to put them on a horizontal pole when they go to sleep.

First I've heard of this. What's the advantage of this over a nesting box? Or do you provide both?

 

[Zaubertuba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_mocok /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wonder, if your pet chicken dies, will you bury it, or fry it? (assuming it's not an ill-related death)

Hmm....reading what other people do, I guess it depends on how much of a "pet" you view your chicken as.

I'll try not to think too hard about that one...

 

[skiflyer]

Haven't had chickens since I was a kid... but the one thing I remember is things go much much better if you give them free range over a grassy area a few hours a day. Apparently something about the protein in the bugs they eat is good for them. Plus it gives you a chance to harvest the eggs and clean up the massive amounts of excrement they produce.

 

[apatN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zaubertuba /img/forum/go_quote.gif First I've heard of this. What's the advantage of this over a nesting box? Or do you provide both?

When we had chicken we had a horizontal pole where they could sleep and some boxes where they could lay their eggs. The first few times my mom would put them on the pole every night and after a while they did so by themselves.
I am not sure of the reason why. For all I know chicken sleep like that.

When I think about it it will save you a lot of work though. If you would make a shelf under the pole all their crap would fall on there. Easy cleaning.

 

[iriverdude]

YouTube - The Real Ghostbusters: Chicken, He Clucked Part 1

 

[Happy Camper]

They usually won't sleep in the nesting boxes. They will perch (usually on one foot) to sleep. We gave them both. Put their horizontal perches over an area you can hose down and run off to an area that's safe. We would rinse it off and the drain water would go through the back yard. That area was greener than the rest of the yard.