I want chickens.....But....

[nmu98]

I have been wanting to get into chickens for about a year now. SWMBO has not been into it much. My kids, 2 & 4, would love it, for a while anyways. I don't want to make this an expensive project, and would like to make it fairly easy. With the kids, sometimes its hard to work and get enough time with them at night. So the last thing i want is to have to spens tons of time with chores.

On the other hand, we are outside all summer. we have a 2.5 plus acre garden that the kids love and help us with. Seems to me, the birds would fit right in.... I have 5 acres of alfalfa that is full of crickets and locusts all summer.

Are chickens as easy at people make it sound. I have been reading many other chicken sites, but i don't want to ask this there as they are all "into" chickens and I might not get a fully truthful answer.

I don't think we could eat all the eggs so i have been thinking of having 2 sets of birds. One set for pets ( all hens) and one meat set that includes a few roosters so they can reporduce. Maybe put the group together in the winter and trim the flock down to keep it easy. (meat)

I am really interested in all of your experiences, good and bad. I have followed many theads here on them, including Tony's. It seems people don't keep them for long periods? They get into it and out, sometimes just as fast as they got into the birds.......

 

[Egon]

Think about "Containment" and feeding and neighbours!

The Meat chicken will be a short raise and then butcher type of scenario. You don't keep them around after they reach the proper size.

 

[guyrj33]

Chickens for eggs are pretty easy to manage, chores are easy too.
You will need to protect them from predators.

 

[nmu98]

I am currently looking for an old shed someone wants removed in my area. Worst case, I build a small barn and use part for the roost. I also an looking for fencing so I can have an area for them to go outside without me having to open a door.

Predators are going to be a small issue. I keep the numbers down by trapping in the winter, but the coop will have to be tight and fencing put underground.

My thought it to let them free range when I am outside, but keep them in the coop and run most of the time.

 

[dking]

My meat chickens are killed in 6 weeks - they grow fast! and in no time they can hardly walk.

As for the egg layers, they're easy to look after, produce great fertilizer, and they're fun to have around. They free range around my place when I'm there - just make sure you use a fine wire for the fencing. I'm not sure where you are or what you have for predetors but I've had weasals squeeze through the smallest holes and kill my birds. And no matter how many I kill, there's always more coming...

 

[carpenter383]

You don't need a rooster, the hens will still lay eggs. You only need a rooster if you want the eggs to hatch into chicks.

 

[firefighter9208]

Dogs. Dogs love chickens ( to eat them that is). I built a 10x16 coup with a shed roof and a 25x40 enclosed run. I used 6' welded wire for the run. I bought a piece of aviary netting to go over the top of the run to keep the hawks out. I have about $1,000 in everything (my wife says I overdo it)

I purchased my 25 layers in November (Thanksgiving) and haven't gotten eggs yet. They are almost 20 weeks old, so they should start laying pretty soon. They eat about 100# of feed a month ($25 to $30).

I just started them on laying ration and oyster shells.

It takes me about 5-10 minutes a day to feed and water the chickens.

My 6 year old daughter loves them more than anything on the farm.

I already have a few people lined up willing to pay $3.00 a dozen for farm fresh eggs. I don't think you would have any problem getting rid of your extra eggs. I also have a couple people that have expressed interest in purchasing silkie roosters from me. You could buy 25 chickens and when they got a little older list part of them on Craigslist or the local swapper paper and sell some of them. That's what my cousin did. He sold all, but 8 or 9 of his.


One thing that I did when I bought our chickens was get some full size egg layers and some Bantams. I bought a mixture of 8 Rhode Island Reds, 8 Easter Egg layers, and 9silkies. My wife and daughter love the silkies. They lay small eggs that my wife plans to pickle. One of the silkies turned out to be a rooster. Boy is he funny.


check out BackYardChickens.com - Raise Chickens, Build Chicken Coops, Hatch Eggs it's a great forum.
Chris
Hill Farm Boer Goats

 

[Dadsgreenpsd]

I am going to get a swimming pool leaf cover (24 foot) for over the chicken pen this year. The owls had a good winter.......

 

[Pirate]

How about just a rooster or 2? I like the sound of them. Do they make a mess? Do I need a shelter for them? Coop? Will predators get the roosters? Can they just roam around or do they need locked up at night? DW thinkgs the coons will get to them. Will they?

We had two Peahens come to the place on a storm once. I thought they were kick *** until they started putting black tarry turds on the porch, in the garage, etc. We ended up capturing them and driving them miles away.

 

[WantedWolf]

my wife let hers roam free on about 6 acres and says hers were a pain to bring into the coop. And they have poor eyesight after dark, making them "sitting ducks"