Chickens
 

I am planning to host some egg laying hens on my small suburban yard.

I have no experience raising chickens so I could really use all the advice you can dish out.

here's a few things I am grappling:

1. what's a proven chicken coop design for a small flock (6-7) which can serve their needs all year round. It can get pretty cold here in the winter and I am assuming they can survive it if the coop is insulated well enough.

The spot I am looking to build it is on a slight slope (I'd level a part of it) and completely in the shade.

2. I'll need to fence in my yard a lot better so they dont escape into my neighbors' yards and get themselves hurt, lost or butchered. but we also have a cat which wanders all over the place- is there a way to make a fence to keep the chickens in but allow the cat to roam? I am guessing that's not going to be possible but who knows...

do invisible electric fences work with chickens? that may be a solution... especially since it would be easier than building a regular fence.

3. what are some good feed mixes to promote healthy eggs? they will mostly forage for bugs and stuff on my yard but what grains or other foods should I supplement their diet with, especially during the winter?

I will only have egg laying hens... no rooster

Re: Chickens
 

Agree with techguy on that link.

1. If you had said flat land, I'd of said chicken tractor. What I'm using for my hen house is an 8x10 storage shed (premade). It comes on skids and you can buy one almost anywhere. My is wood not metal. for the number of hens they'd have plenty of room. Shade is good as the hot sun is something mine do not stay out in long.

2. I used 2x4 welded wire 5' high. seems to keep out cats, although they could easily gain access by climbing one of the wooden corner posts. If I were you I'd not fence in the whole yard so the chickens couldn't crap where you walk.:D
Oh, I don't think an invisible fence would work on chickens, don't they have to wear a device for those things to work?

3. Feed, just feed them a laying mash. I buy mine from a local dealer that is a complete mix, chickens seem to love it. Some claims by the places like TSC sell it in a processed form that is like tiny pellets, that they'll like it better. I've used it side by side with the ground mix from the feed store and the chicken actually clean up the mash first. Tell you anything about the added expense of processed feed?
Another feed I use is just scattered for then to peck at is, scratch grain. It has cracked corn, oats, wheat, and some other goodies in it that they clean right up in very short order. Scratch can be given any time of year, but it'd give them something to do in the winter.
Don't worry about a rooster, just add him to the pot when he starts to eat more than he's worth. I got a dozen of them or more and they will soon be table fare.

One last thing, they also love grass but mine won't eat some of the weeds, so I still have to mow.

Re: Chickens
 

We keep barred-rock chickens. Sizeable meat bird, and fairly prolific layers. They lay year round here in the south (not sure about your climate), with only a slight decrease in production during the winter months. Started with a dozen, and keep around twenty at any given time now. We let 'em hatch one or two broods per year. We kill off all but two roosters, and a few older hens each time. 15 x 30 fenced and topped coop with a 5 x 8 plywood house. We put a light in the henhouse only during the absoute coldest couple of weeks of the year, and I'm not entirely sure that's even necessary. The smallish house makes them roost close together, and I built "windows" that can be raised to enclose all sides, and can be let down in the summer months for ventilation.

We feed plain layer/grower pelletized feed from our co-op mixed with an equal amount of chops and milo we plant ourselves (for native wildlife, and to reduce cost). They get scraps from our garden and leftover veggies from our table also.

I don't let them free range as we live in a rural setting and occasionally have issues with predators. Our dogs keep them away, but they too wouldn't pass up a chicken dinner were it to present itself.

Something else to think about if you are considering an alternative meat source are rabbits. We started with two tame "easter bunnies" last spring. This year, we've got about fifteen, and are getting ready to cull back to about six (for the second time). Easy to care for and live up to their reputation as prolific breeders.

Re: Chickens
 

I finished our rabbit cage last week .....guess I need to stock it now.

Re: Chickens
 

Expect maybe 2 eggs for every 3 hens, so 6 to 7 hens will give you about 4 eggs a day seven days a week.
A couple of my little darlins go broody at the drop of a hat, which is bad in that they stop laying when broody, but good in that they are potential hatchers.
Some breeds, especially the commercial Leghorns, rarely if ever go broody. The tendency has been bred out of them.
Since I'm not currently looking for a larger flock, I put together an anti-broody cage which works great. It basically keeps the hen from nesting for a few days and cools her body temp down so she gets back to hormonal normalcy.

We have five dogs and two cats and though the chicken yard is fenced, about the only thing the dogs seem interested in is eating the chicken poop. The cats could care less about them. However when we first brought them home as little peepers, the cats and dogs were very interested.

Re: Chickens
 

Do you plan on fitting them with the little collars? Now that is something I'd like to see. Seriously, the invisible fences would not work with chickens in my opinion. There is quite a bit of training involved to get a dog to recognize the boundries. I think training chickens would be a fruitless endevour.

Re: Chickens
 

Nay, the fruits one would reap would include partially fried chicken!:D

Re: Chickens
 

I'm looking at the Red Star breed. anyone have experience with them?

Re: Chickens
 

As far as fencing goes, I've had good luck with 4x50ft rolls of cheap black plastic garden fencing and 5ft. metal fence posts every ten feet or so. You can just stick em in the ground with your foot. Although the birds likely can fly over a 4ft. fence they don't really try. If you pin it down to the ground every couple ft. it'll keep the cats out, but the stuff is worthless against wild critters who are determined. I like it because it's easy to put up and move around the yard. This would work to sort of contain them to certain areas of the yard. It's lightweight, cuts with scissors and is reusable. It's nearly invisible as well.
I wouldn't use it for a permanent type chicken run though. Also, Bantam chickens may require much higher fence. Being smaller and lighter they can fly higher.

Re: Chickens
 

I have some Red Stars and they are GREAT layers. I'm a little partial to Rhode Island Reds.

It's a LOT cheaper to feed them if you free range. We built a pen attached to the chicken house because the neighbors were complaining my birds were eating their strawberrys. Now they eat about 4 times the feed they used to when they would free range.

Happy birds lay more eggs.

They eat just about anything so dont let your table scraps go to waste.

Re: Chickens
 

I'm not familiar with Red Star. I got my birds for a buck per chick at the local permanent flea market. They were about a week old. I was looking for a mix of breeds to get easter egg colored eggs and wound up with exactly that. Four Americauna's and six buff Orpington types.
My rationale was a local born bird would be naturally suited to our local climate. Plus, mutt backyard farm birds might be generally healthier. It paid off. They are healthy, happy and generally very friendly birds.
With one exception. The rooster is an ornery boy and challenges my foot every so often. Kind of like having a mean little toy poodle, but much quicker. Funny as hell really.
The birds hadn't been sexed and I was looking for females, so I got lucky with 10 hens and only 1 roo.

Re: Chickens
 

Chickens WILL eat almost anything and I agree 100% that free range is the most economical. Lots of low clucks and constant scratching means more eggs. Better tasting eggs too :wink:

We pulverize egg shells and spread them around the back. Chickens will eat them and it makes their shells harder. It also saves on feed.

Re: Chickens
 

watch out for the dogs. as a child one of our german shepards ate every freaking chicken we had while we were in town one day. ate everything but the feathers.

Re: Chickens
 

An old remedy for keeping dogs at bay regarding chicken killing...

Take the dead chicken and bailing wire it to the dogs neck.

Leave it there until it rots off.

Dog will never touch another chicken again...


Prolly work for cats as well.


Hopefully, the beasts are 'outside' animals....

Re: Chickens
 

search GIM for hens and chickens to find everything from coop design to breed info.

If you buy chicks and besides their baby chick feed, give them every weed that grows in your yard for their green treats when they are little, they eat your paticular weeds when they grow up, unless you have very noxious weeds. They do like them young and tender, and if you throw a 4 foot thistle in their yard it will become mulch.

Our heavy bodied black australorpes were contained by 5 foot chain link, but 8 foot is safer. We trimmed 1 wing when they were still light enough to fly much. They really did give an egg a day their first year, then gradually diminished with age.

Re: Chickens
 

Goldhedge, I heard that and actually (I am ashamed to say) tried it. My dad was so mad when I told him. He said I had a bird dog and was trying to undo thousands of generations of breeding with cruelty.

Cats don't bother full grown hens. And till they are too big for cat prey they should be in the garage or something being cared for by humans in lieu of mother hen.

We had one smart feral cat insinuate herself into our flock. She ate some of their leftovers we gave the hens, hunted other birds that wanted their feed, and even sometimes slept in their coop with them in rainy or cold weather. They accepted her. At first they pecked her, but she was persistent.

Hens are ok with cold weather, but heat is a real killer. If they have a wind free shelter not too big for the number of birds... well they huddle together each in her own down comforter.