Chickens

[bacpacker]

Well today I made a start to my chicken clock today. I've been workin on the chicken tractor gettin it ready and gathering the supplies I needed. I've done a fair amount of research on chicken breeds to try and figure out what kind would work the best now and long term in a PAW situation.

I decided on Buff Orpingtons for a variety of reasons. They are pretty good egg layers, averaging around 5 or so a week/chicken. The hens will get 6-7 lb's and lay eggs very well for about 2 years then taper down over the next year. Rooster average 8-9 lb's, so there is a decent amount of meat when slaughtered per chicken. They can tolerate temps up into the 90-100' with shade, and down below Zero if protected from the wind. ( That means I gotta get the Coop built and finished by this fall).

The other excellent thing about the breed, they go broody very easily (they will sit on their eggs to hatch them out. They also are suppose to be very good mothers at raising their young.

Hopefully this will work out and I can get a good flock going and learn what all I need to do.

Do we have any other farmers on here? Ideas you'd care to share with a rookie?

[RedJohn]

I just wish I had land to start such a project. I am going to have think about this really hard. Please keep us posted.

[alaska]

every day i told mine " I dont have omelette's for breakfast I am having baked chicken for dinner. Seemed to work................
I inherited the ones we had. I have no idea what flavor they were. I will say tuned tho and follow your progress as I will gear up for my own here next summer.

Dont forget the pics

[bacpacker]

Well got up this morning and had lost 1 chick. I expect to loose 2-4 before they go outside. I was surprised though, they looked like they had grown over night. For a single day they had eaten almost a pint of food and drank right at a pint of water.
I've got them in a box right now and they tend to stay in a pile under the light when they are sleeping. I'm gonna have to build a larger box. I'm thinkin about using plywood and assemble it with brackets and screws so I can take it down and store it when they go out. Plenty of room available for them, easy to clean up, and move outside for periods to acclimatize them.

[CheriG22]

I have written a tutorial on raising chickens, would this forum be the place to put it? Gardening, livestock, canning foods, stuff like that?

I have a little farm, and I would be glad to post some of what I have learned.

Cheri

[bacpacker]

I bet RJ will post for sure on this, but I think the chicken tutorial would be ok here. Or maybe better, start your own thread with it, similar to Chicom's Chainsaw Primer maybe.
I'm looking forward to what you've put together.

[RedJohn]

would this forum be the place to put it? Gardening, livestock, canning foods, stuff like that

This is perfect.

[bacpacker]

Interesting night We had a big storm roll though here around 6:15 and must have knocked out a transformer. Power was down for 4 1/2 hours. After the first hour I started getting concerned about the chicks getting too cold. The chicks were all in a pile and wrestling to stay uinderneath. Very Funny.
So I started tryin to engineer something to keep them warm. First thing I came up with was a emergency candle in a can. Fired it up and placed it in a small tub to keep the chickens away and placed some foam insulation over about 2/3 of their pen. It seemed to be warming it up a little, but I was concerned about the very small flame from the candle. Then I go the bright idea to open a pack of "Hot Hands" and put in the box. They huddled close to that and pretty much slept thru till the power came back on. Once the power came back and I got their heat lamp going, within 2-3 minutes they were streching and starting to move around some.
Moral of the story, I'm stopping at Wall Freakin Mart on the way home tomorrow and buying a case of Hot Hands. We're expecting more storms Wed.

[LUNCHBOX]

Bacpacker, Someone gave me my first bakers dozen. 10 baby chicks (unknown sex) 1 full grown hen that set the 10 eggs and 1 rooster. Chicks...6 were pullets (hens) and 4 cocks. Once grown I put the four cocks in my freezer and now have 6 more pullets 2 months old. hopefully, I have 16 more chicks on the way in 21 days. They are addicting but very enjoyable....and you can eat them of course. I kept them in the garage until they were big enough to keep them warm.

[bacpacker]

Here's the latest update on the chickens.

The 13 chickens we had left are still alive and growing off like crazy. I would guess they range in size from 3 lbs to 1.5 lbs. It looks like we have 4 roosters and 9 hens. Hard to say for sure at this point. They are now drinking around a gallon or better water per day. They are consuming about 4-5 lbs of starter mix a day. Their right at 8 weeks old now and if I get the chicken tractor repairs finished tomorrow I plan on transitioning 3-4 a day to the tractor till there all out side. I don't want to move them all at once and rish losing the whole flock.

I'll post on this again in a few days after the transistion.

[RedJohn]

I don't understand the transition thing. Could you tell us more about it?

[bacpacker]

I've had the chicken in a box in the basement for the last 8 weeks under a heat lamp. The lamp has been raised up a few inches each weak to get them used to coller temps as they got their feathers. Basement temps this week have been up into the 80's. It's been in the mid 90's here all week and forecast calls for similar next week.
I've haven't got any real expereince raising chickens (my grand parents used to have them when I was a kid, but that was a long time ago). So my plan is to take 2 roosters outside first for 2-4 days and see how they do. I don't want to take them all at once and kill them all. I plan on harvesting 2 of our roosters in a few months anyway, so if I lose them now, it's not as big a deal as loosing all 13 at once and having to start over.
Nothing special, just my way of thinkin.

[RedJohn]

I see now and it makes sense. Thanks for the answer.

[izzyscout21]

i just learned something new. I never knew you had to do that.

[bacpacker]

You don't have to do it that way. I just don't know what I'm doin and don't want to screw up.

[LUNCHBOX]

BP, You may know this but I will put it out there for whoever else. You don't need a rooster for the hen to lay eggs. He will fertilize them if you want to hatch any and help keep the hens in line but thats all you need him for. I have 2 roosters with 30 hens and they get along great but they tried to kill the other 2 roosters I had so I let them go (freezer-lol) I just hatched out 19 little chicks, they are un-sexed right now, when they get old enough to sex and move in with the rest I will seperate the roosters to another pen and fatten them up and invite them in for dinner-lol.

[bacpacker]

Yeah the wife didn't want a rooster ( afraid a leg will pop out of the eggs :) ), but I wanted to have the capability to replace the flock if SHTF. I bought them unsexed so we got what we got.
Question for you LB, How early can you tell roosters from hens acuratly? Pretty sure I have 4 roosters. There all gettin along now, but they were all born within 2-3 days of each other.

[LUNCHBOX]

Yeah, it seems like all other younger males....they get along until girls start to matter. When they come of age some of them will fight. As far as sexing, I can't tell until the comb (top of head) or waddle (chin fat) start showing. Some people can look in the right spot and know.....if I hatch them out it enough to just wait and see. I will benefit from them either way--eggs or chicken.

BP, I sent a pm out to you earlier...not sure if it went. Can you advise?

[bacpacker]

PM replied, Sorry just hadn't opened it yet. Nice name BTW!

I figured it would be a longer time before I could tell, but seemed to be 4-6 weeks or so for 2-3 of them, 1 I still have questions about. Wasn't aware about the fighting, but makes sense to me. And yeah chicken or eggs it's all good. Not to mention how much "fertilize" they produce.

[LUNCHBOX]

I read you need to compost any/all livestock crap for a year before you use it as fertilizer. The chicken crap is said to be great for corn (something about the nitrogen release) I am going to try it and see.

[bacpacker]

Yeah chicken crap is extremely high in Nitrogen. If you don't compost it first it will burn anything you put it on. Corn being a very heavy nitrogen feeder will benifit greatly from a healthy speading on chicken crap in the fall/winter, before planting in the spring.

[LUNCHBOX]

This kind of talk makes me wonder how big our gardens would be if 3 or 4 of us were neighbors.

[bacpacker]

Oh God! They'd probably be massive. Just think of all the serious vittles we'd be puttin down. +1000

[izzyscout21]

i'll be the group mooch. because apparently my crops are hail magnets. I'l stay away from the group garden and try not to starve....

[LUNCHBOX]

nice--lol

[bacpacker]

Just been a rough year for gardens. Happens sometime. Just till we have NO rain for long streches. I that's even worse.

[bacpacker]

Finally got all the chickens moved to the chicken tractor last week. I moved the roosters in 2 at a time over 3 days and they did just fine. I thought it funny that they were all packing into one of the nesting boxes (18" in all 3 directions). I next moved in all the hens together that night all seemed well. Then I found that all of them going into one box wasn't so good. Apparently the whole flock was trying to get in one and one of the hens got crushed.
The last few days though I am seeing them spread out to all 4 boxes. So all is good so far. They are eating a lot of food and I've got them started on scraps. On top of that they are starting to peck the ground pretty heavy. I moved the tractor after 5 days and they had picked the grass and all down to alomost dirt and left a good deal of litter (crap) behind. This has to be a good thing.

[LUNCHBOX]

I started using milk crates in my new coop so I could just replace the straw and it wouldn't rot the wood boxes. I will get some pics up soon.

[bacpacker]

That's a good idea for when I get the permanant coop built. I gotta get started on that as soon as the wheat harvest is over. That look to happen next week I think.

[LUNCHBOX]

I also used clear platic sheets on the roof to allow light in when its cold out since I'm not running heat. The birds did just fine last winter.

[LUNCHBOX]

I know its kinda late for this but if you have chickens (any livestock really) shade is a must. I even put a little kiddie pool with a couple inches of water in my coop area for them to play.

[bacpacker]

I have a tarp across the tractor so they just move around during the day. The original I had on it ripped during a heavy wind. I had bought another one expecting that to happen. Bad thing was it wasn't big enough (6x8) to give enough shade. So I picked up a 8x10, worked much better.
I've just about got them on garden/kitchen scraps and grass only. They are still growing like crazy, gotta be close to full grown. I expect them to start layin in the next month or two.

[LUNCHBOX]

BP, the tarp is a good idea also, just make sure on the air flow. Keep us informed on when they start to lay and good luck.

[bacpacker]

My property has a low spot (kind of a gap if you will) across the middle and it typically has a breeze blowing across it. Plus the tarp is 4' off the ground so plenty of opportunity for breeze's to blow thru. The chickens will, what I call panting (like a dog) during the hottest part of the day and lay around in the shade. But they have grown pretty fast and seem to be tolerating the heat.

I finally got a bill of material together for the coop and found a guy on craigslist that runs a sawmill. Gonna call him tomorrow and get a quote on what I need. Stopped a Lowes today and got prices for the frameing lumber to compare with. My design is going to have a screened area all around the top couple feet to let breezes blow thru. I'm also gonna have a shutter type system on a hinged system that I can drop and seal off thru the winter.

[LUNCHBOX]

The shutter will be a nice touch. I raised mine around 4 inches to allow air flow. I just straw it during the winter and lean a 1x8x10 to keep it in place.

[bacpacker]

LB what do you think about raising the floor of the coop a foot or so off the ground, fence along 3 sides and allow the chickens to go underneath for shade? Like I said the property is on a slope, so the uphill side mabe a foot up, downhill side 16-18". I thought it would be easy for them to get to incase a hawk or something is flying over.

[LUNCHBOX]

You have to expect something else to do the same thing, fox, coyote, skunk. If your area is clear of all those then maybe but I wouldn't chance that. When/if you build a permanent structure then you can do your fence at 6 ft. The chickens can still get over that height and then return to roost and if you have a coop the hawk usually stays out of there. Four leg animals are the biggest worry IMO.

[bacpacker]

We have yotes and skunk around. I plan on putting up a good fence around the area for them to roam around in and feed. I'm also thinkin about putting a small area of fence around the outside border to keep youte, dogs or whatever from diggin under the fence. At least deter them somewhat.
The fencing around the coop was just a thought on the 3 sides not opened to the fenced in run. I figured the shade would be good for them.

[LUNCHBOX]

Good thought. You can pick up door screen pretty cheap for overhead shade also.

[bacpacker]

Good idea on the screens for shade. It's not total but good diffused.

[bacpacker]

We finally started getting some eggs about 8-10 days ago. We got one every day but one since then. Tonight we got 2. Their really small, but I'm hoping they get bigger as the chickens get older. They have ended up doing well thru the summer. I'm glad we made the effort at this..

[ravensgrove]

They will get bigger the longer they lay. :) Yeah!

[The Stig]

We finally started getting some eggs about 8-10 days ago. We got one every day but one since then. Tonight we got 2. Their really small, but I'm hoping they get bigger as the chickens get older. They have ended up doing well thru the summer. I'm glad we made the effort at this..

Congrats!

[izzyscout21]

I'm coming over for breakfast. Between you and Ben, we got steak and eggs.

[helomech]

Made this with my eggs this morning. We are getting almost a dozen a day now.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii247/helomech1973/IMG_1509.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii247/helomech1973/IMG_1511-1.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii247/helomech1973/IMG_1512-1.jpg

[izzyscout21]

Helomech, I'm goin to go ahead and let you know that those do not appear to be safe for human consumption. I volunteer my services to remedy your situation.


I'm going to need a grid and a foon...............

[helomech]

Helomech, I'm goin to go ahead and let you know that those do not appear to be safe for human consumption. I volunteer my services to remedy your situation.


I'm going to need a grid and a foon...............

LMAO, to late. Not even any left overs. Fresh yard eggs, steak and cheese burrito. MMMMMMMMMM

[bacpacker]

Those looked good Helo! If your getting a dozen/day, how many hens do you have?
We only have 6, i'm not expecting more than 4/day.

[helomech]

Those looked good Helo! If your getting a dozen/day, how many hens do you have?
We only have 6, i'm not expecting more than 4/day.

25 hens, and 3 roosters. We should average about 17 eggs a day for the year. That is the average for this many Austrolorps. So in the summer time, we should get close to 24 a day. Mine are only 6 months old so they are not laying at full potential. Looking forward to getting a broody hen. Going to hatch a good bit.

[LUNCHBOX]

Just remember guys and gals....hydrate, hydrate. Egg production will suffer without water. We run around the same number as Helo and averaged similar amounts. But heads up, when it got to be 80/90 degrees we got 1/2 a dozen a day (I thought they were on strike for a minute) We didn't run any type of fans though.

****And BP, remember that today you have 6, lets see where your at in 6 months****

[helomech]

Just remember guys and gals....hydrate, hydrate. Egg production will suffer without water. We run around the same number as Helo and averaged similar amounts. But heads up, when it got to be 80/90 degrees we got 1/2 a dozen a day (I thought they were on strike for a minute) We didn't run any type of fans though.

****And BP, remember that today you have 6, lets see where your at in 6 months****

Our chickens have automatic water, so they always have water. They also drink a lot out of my dogs bowl.

[bacpacker]

In the tractor they have access to 7 gal at a time. It gets topped up daily. They went thru about 4-5 gallons in the heat of summer.
Most of the roos are goin in the freezer in the next few weeks. I hope to get up to about a dozen hens this time next year.

[bacpacker]

Here's a question for the chicken farmers on here. My 5 month old Buff's started laying about a month ago, With 6 hens we were getting between 1 and 4 eggs a day usually 1-2. We had a cold spell come thru last week, then it warmed back up into the 70's.
We haven't gotten an egg since Friday. Could the cold spell have caused that? It only got into the upper 30's for a couple nights. Are the chicken's still too young to be laying really regular?
I'm just trying to figure out what's going on with them. Not really concerned at this point. Just tryin to learn.

[bacpacker]

Here is a update. We moved the hens into the chicken coop about 2 weeks ago. Within a week, we started getting 1, sometimes 2 a day since then.
It looks like we just had too many chickens in the tractor and the roosters weren't letting the hens eat and do their thing. They seem much more at ease now. Roosters have settled down some as well.

[helomech]

Great, that is good to hear.

I have been loosing to many chickens to predators lately. And my stupid Great dane has killed 7 chicks trying to play with them. She is now locked up. She isn't trying to eat them, just stepping on them when she is all excited and they run.

[rice paddy daddy]

I didn'trealize this part of the forum was even here. just read about it in the announcements section.
The wife and I have a small hobby farm. Actuallly, she's the farmer I commute into the city to a "real job."
We have horses, chickens and dogs, raise vegetables for ourselves.
At one time we had over 50 chickens, we're down to 2 flocks, 11 hens and three roosters total. Buff Orpingtons, Auracanas and Favaroles.
Backpacker - hens generally stop laying when the days get shorter than 12 hours of daylight. That's natures way of getting ready for winter. You can trick them by putting a light in their coop.
Our place is rural, with lots of woodlands around. And lots of woodland creatures who like chicken dinners. We used to occasionally loose birds to predation until we went to our present system: the 50 X 75 main chicken run is surrounded by 6 foot chainlink. Inside that are DIY dog kennels (Home Depot, Lowes), also 6 foot chain link. These have a flat shade cloth top for security and peaked tarp tops for protection from the elements. Inside THOSE are my home built hootches (plywood, 2X2's, wire mesh) where the birds are locked up at dusk each night. We have not lost a single bird to predation since.
On a daily rotation the flocks are let out to roam the main area during the day. The red tailed hawks don't bother them.
I'm suprised no one mentioned one of the best info sites on the web - Raising BackYard Chickens, Build a Chicken Coop, Pictures of Breeds (http://www.backyardchickens.com/)
I'm just a city boy, all this was brand new to me when we made our move to the country 15 years ago. Nowadays, this is the only way I want to live - on a dead end dirt road 6 miles outside a one stop light town with my wonderful wife, our horses, chickens, and dogs. And deer in the back yard!

[bacpacker]

RPD, good to hear from you. Sounds like you have a nice secure area for your chickens. I'm still working to get all mine put together. Hopefully it'll be done soon. I am a member of the Back Yard Chickens forum as well. That is a great site. One day I watched it for a period of time (maybe 2 hours) and couldn't belive the number of post that went up, it must have been 200 or more. Every topic you can think of is covered.

We are kinda backwards to you guys, I grew up on a farm, wife was a city girl. I've about got that beat out of her after 27 years :)

Our chickens have started laying again, we get 1-3 a day from 4 hens. I don't have power to my coop currently, but I plan to put up a solar panel or three with battery so we can have some lighting by next winter. My fenced area (next project) is going to be something like 32'x64', at least that's my plans for now. I'm gonna sink some pressure treated post and put a double layer of welded wire fence up. it should end up 7-8' high. I'm haven't decided yet about putting a top on it, but I do like the idea of having dog kennels in the run for them to get in. I'm also gonna lay down a 2' wide woven wire fence on the ground, mostly outside and under the fence to stop anything from digging in.

[bacpacker]

I ran across this on another forum a while ago.

Egg Production Chart.cwk (DR) (http://www.scribd.com/doc/34814337/Egg-Production-Chart-cwk-DR)

Funny thing, the wife and I were just discussing how best to keep track of our cost and production. I haven't used this yet, but I am gonna check it out, maybe modify it to fit us a little better.

[LUNCHBOX]

BP, I've noticed my girls lay by the weather. We had some nice days and got really good egg turn out, then a cold spell and production was down 70%. Warmed up and they were shooting eggs at us again. I don't run lights or heat and I still get enough eggs in the winter to feed us and sell at work to pay for their feed. It is really something to see how farming works....you plant your crop and produce feed for yourselves and your animals, then they produce for you and you repeat the whole cycle.

[Taz Baby]

found this chicken coop idea and thought I'd share. I loves Mother earth news.
Build This Predator-Proof, Portable Chicken Coop for Your Backyard - DIY - MOTHER EARTH NEWS (http://www.motherearthnews.com/do-it-yourself/portable-chicken-coop-zm0z12amzmat.aspx)http://www.motherearthnews.com/uploadedImages/articles/issues/2012-04-01/Predator%20Proof%20Chicken%20Coop_resized400X266.j pg

[Sniper-T]

That is awesome. I`ve been looking at some portable `tractors` as well... while I try to sell the wife on the idea.

The only difference I would do, is to put a set of mountain bike tires on one end, that flip down, or up and out of the way, and then it is movable by one person.

That has to be one of the sweetest designs I`ve ever seen though!!!

GREAT post!!

[Taz Baby]

Mother Earth News had a Model EGG chicken tractor. It is so cute
A Classy Model-Egg Chicken Coop (Coupe) - DIY - MOTHER EARTH NEWS (http://www.motherearthnews.com/do-it-yourself/small-chicken-coop-zm0z11zhun.aspx)http://www.motherearthnews.com/uploadedImages/articles/issues/2011-08-01/Model%20Egg%20Coop_resized400X266.jpg

[Sniper-T]

^ I saw that one in MEN before too, but it's not really portable, without equipment.

x10 on the cool factor though.

On a completely different note, given our early thaw this year, we seem to have a banner # of prairie chickens moving in around my place. If I can keep the racoons and coyotes at bay, should have a good year!!

"I loves chick'n huntin'!!"

[Taz Baby]

Here is a chicken breed chart that I found interesting.
An Alphabetical List of More than 60 Chicken Breeds With Comparative Information


Henderson's Chicken Breed Chart (http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html)

[bacpacker]

Thats a great chart Taz. Very good descriptions of the breeds. The discussion on the Orpington's (buff) is the breed I went with and the chart is very accurate IMO.

[Taz Baby]

Here is a video on how to butcher a chicken with the feathers on.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkCxIYuFW4E

[helomech]

I do the same thing but even easier. I just grab the skin on the breast and pull, it tears and then I work it around the bird. Only use shears to cut the head, feet and end of the wings off. Takes me about a minute to dress one out.

[Grumpy Old Man]

If you know someone who ties flies save the cape for them. Good old webby hackle for wet flies is hard to come by since the hackle suppliers went to breeding for dry fly hackle.

[Taz Baby]

Can't remember if I gave this link to you or not, but if so here it is again. It is a very good place that has wonderful info on chickens. We are thinking about getting a few this summer and try our hand out to find the best breed for our area. We need a very cold hardly bird that can stand temps in the winter around 10 degree's (lowest) but not all the time. Any ideas out there?

Raising BackYard Chickens, Build a Chicken Coop, Pictures of Breeds (http://www.backyardchickens.com/)

[bacpacker]

I'm very happy with our Buff Orpington's. They are very heavy birds and so far seen to be good egg layers. In my previous research I found they are suppose to be good mothers and go broody pretty easy. This was confirmed on the chicken breed chart you posted a few days back. That chart also said the were a very cold hardy breed (which I wasn't aware of). They also seem to tolerate summers heat pretty well. Mine was pretty young last summer and held up well to upper 90's ok. This summer will tell the story.

[Taz Baby]

I got a few idea's from that chart and was just wondering if anyone had any cold hardy chickens that they were raising. We are going to get full grown one's to start with since they are only for eggs and their life with us will only be for 4 months then in the pot they go. But I need to find a good breed so when we can have them year round I will know which one to buy to keep.

[helomech]

We sure like our Black Australorps. Great layers, great mothers, good meat, handle the cold and the heat. Lots of my friends are switching their flocks out to the australorps. And the biggerst bonus, the roosters are not aggressive. We have never had one attack anyone. They will run up to you like they are going to do something, but then they just stop.

[Taz Baby]

Here is a easy way to water your chickens.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/552854_10150737161012436_104062822435_9522012_1652 545312_n.jpg

[helomech]

Here is a easy way to water your chickens.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/552854_10150737161012436_104062822435_9522012_1652 545312_n.jpg

An even easier and cleaner way. This is how I do mine. No buckets to fill, not containers to clean out.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii247/helomech1973/home/IMG_1834.jpg

[helomech]

Chicken coupe/rabbit cages - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf7EZeYlWJo&feature=youtu.be)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf7EZeYlWJo&feature=youtu.be

[Taz Baby]

You did a wonderful job on that coop and looks like you can supply your grocery with eggs and chicken soon or sell them at your local farmers market. Thanks for the video, always nice to see someone's idea put into motion and complete.

[helomech]

Thanks, got a lot of young chickens that will need slaughtered soon. We do sell some of the chicks, but try to keep most for meat. Only want to keep about 30 laying hens, and 3 roosters.

[greyfox]

The bad thing about raising chickens is you need to be prepared for all out war. Everything on Gods green earth loves to eat them! this would be a good time to learn another survival skill, trapping. I've found nomatter how good your pen is the coon, possum, fox etc... eventually find a way in.

[helomech]

The bad thing about raising chickens is you need to be prepared for all out war. Everything on Gods green earth loves to eat them! this would be a good time to learn another survival skill, trapping. I've found nomatter how good your pen is the coon, possum, fox etc... eventually find a way in.


I am positiive no coon or opossum will get in mine. The wire is a very heavy duty chain link and every link is welded, or tied with stainless steel .060 wire. The bottom is also chain link. I have used this chain link to hold wild boars on many occasions and never had any broken links. Besides I have 3 guard dogs. And we kill any predator we see.

Mine do free range, so during the day I do loose one every now and then. Mostly hawks, but I am putting a stop to that.

[Taz Baby]

Our little Chicken wagon. Built on a yard cart from Tractor Supply. Three nest boxes inside with 4 roosting logs too. We have 4 hens. Automatic water from rain barrel. We will free range them as soon as we train them to come when called at night and can put in the coop.
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s395/Taz-Baby/Picture174.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s395/Taz-Baby/Picture172.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s395/Taz-Baby/Picture176.jpg

[bacpacker]

Nice lookin coop. I like having it on the cart. Real good idea for a small flock. Birds look great.

[helomech]

Looks good, they should not need trained at all. My chickens where released and never had a issue with knowing to go in the coup by dark.

[Taz Baby]

now you know why your rooster is losing his feathers, he's married


https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/298682_470472712985674_664626166_n.jpg

[Taz Baby]

If conventional meat was our only option, I can totally understand why vegans are so anti-meat. Thankfully, there are other options. Be mindful of the food you eat. Not only is it better for you and the environment, but it's clearly better for the animal.

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[Taz Baby]

We have a new chicken tractor and it is better than before. This one will be going all over the place getting rid of the bugs before the garden gets planted. It was made from a free 4 wheeler crate.

Will have pics soon.

[Taz Baby]

Egg Bound Hens – How to Recognize, Treat and Prevent
If you have chickens chances are that at some point you will have an egg bound chicken. Fresh eggs daily can teach you how to recognize the symptoms so you can be prepared for it when it happens. They share how to know the symptoms and how to treat it. They also share advice on how to prevent it. Good info for folks raising or thinking about raising chickens.
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http://www.fresh-eggs-daily.com/2012/06/egg-bound-hens-how-to-recognize-treat.html?showComment=1340036155052

[bacpacker]

Good site Taz and even better information. Thanks!

[ladyhk13]

Great news everyone!!! BWRR13 who many of you know HATES chickens has finally agreed to let me have them! It's been years of begging, hinting, pouting and every other ploy I could think of and he has now given. I do have to wait until spring though (but if it were up to me I would just get full grown ones instead of waiting for chicks) but I guess I'm going to have to be patient. His rule is that I have to take care of them but I know that once he sees them and they start following him around he's going to fall in love with them too!
Just wanted to share the good news. Now the R&D starts.

[helomech]

Awesome. We did lots of research and choose the Black Australorp's. Good layers, handle the heat and the cold, great moms.

[ladyhk13]

We have finally started building our coop! Yahoo! Babies are getting big and beautiful. My dear friend hatched them for us. Will see if BWRR can post pics for me soon.

[bacpacker]

Good deal. What breed did you all decide on?

[ladyhk13]

I can't remember what she said they were, but she had 3 heritage breeds and they are a mix of them. They were chosen for dual purpose but the nursery also threw in a surprise chick (she bought 300 her first time ever!) which lays green eggs and it looks like I have 2 chicks that may be from that bloodline. I think some are Plymouth Rock, some other New England sounding name...other than that I can't tell ya. Have to ask her again.
The chicks are beautiful. Some totally gray, black with different patterns of white, cream with dark markings, two tone gray bottom half and a gorgeous rusty/red/orange kind of color on the top half - those two are the ones she said will lay green eggs. Time will tell.

[Sniper-T]

now... if there was only a way to keep them safe from the cats...

lol.

Awesome job LH! a great prep to have!

post up some pics of your setup if/when you can!

[ladyhk13]

Will do! My kitty is well behaved (ok, she's a house cat) so not worried about her but if the dogs go after them hell will reign down upon their heads like never before!