# Chickens



## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Chickens because they were pretty much always around I had taken them for granted. Last year we raised 6 chicks and decided it was time to bring them back on the farm.
At first this was mostly for the grand children. Couple different breeds mixed in the six. All got names.
Chickens are easy to care for, once they have been pinned for a while they can be let out to roam and will return at sun down. Free roaming chickens eat bugs, seeds and deter mice. They will even kill them. Egg production is based on breed, hours of sun light and happy chickens. The more of those 3 the better they do. The six we have now have produced between 4 and 8 eggs a day. Extreme cold will reduce production. Like pigs they love table scraps and can eat most anything. They really require no special care and if allowed to roam and given room need no medication to stay healthy. If they stop laying they again are a food source.
Time and energy devoted to Chickens as a prep has a great return on the investment. I opened the pin about 30 minutes ago and have been watching them roam around this morning . They can be fun to watch.


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## essdub (Feb 13, 2016)

Love to watch my chickens while I'm taking a break working in the yard or garden. Stray dogs have been my biggest problem. Once in a while a hawk or raccoon. But my chickens generally hide pretty effectively from predators and even killed several copperheads last year in addition to a bunch of small harmless snakes


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## MaterielGeneral (Jan 27, 2015)

I like to watch our chickens also. Its very relaxing.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

essdub said:


> Love to watch my chickens while I'm taking a break working in the yard or garden. Stray dogs have been my biggest problem. Once in a while a hawk or raccoon. But my chickens generally hide pretty effectively from predators and even killed several copperheads last year in addition to a bunch of small harmless snakes


 My rather large Blue heeler figured out that Eggs come from those Chickens. He loves Eggs . Nothing will touch those Chickens.
Fun to watch them follow the Grandchildren around. Like a puppy looking for a treat.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Great stories. I started my chicken experiences with the colored dime store Easter chicks in the 50's and have had many interesting experiences with the critters over the years. They are fun to watch but too much trouble to maintain. Get a Duck young man..get a Duck. Those critters are amazingly durable and much more entertaining than chickens. I could tell some duck stories which could make a person's hair stand on end.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

My wife and I have been keeping chickens for 20 years now. We have had as many as 60, as few as 6, at the moment we have about 30. 
At first we lost some to predators, until we learned to take effective protection measures. In the last 3 years we have lost only two - one to a raccoon and one to a red fox.

A couple of good resources
Raising BackYard Chickens, Build a Chicken Coop, Pictures of Breeds
Chicken Forum - Chicken Enthusiast Forums


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

Fowl are great preps. We had at least 3 families raising them in my neighbor hood as a kid. I have three neighbors doing it now too.


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## beach23bum (Jan 27, 2015)

I love our chickens, but two days ago we think a wild cat killed all but one. so she is pen'd up more or less time I kill what hurt them. we love them. they a big source of laughter and I loved feeding them out of my hand.


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## Broncosfan (Mar 2, 2014)

If you like giving them treats try giving them cooked spaghetti (no sauce). They will go crazy eating it. If you give one a piece the other will chase it around trying to take it away. I assume they think its a worm due to the color. It will make you bust a gut watching them.


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## Butler Ford (Mar 5, 2015)

bigwheel said:


> Great stories. I started my chicken experiences with the colored dime store Easter chicks in the 50's and have had many interesting experiences with the critters over the years. They are fun to watch but too much trouble to maintain. Get a Duck young man..get a Duck. Those critters are amazingly durable and much more entertaining than chickens. I could tell some duck stories which could make a person's hair stand on end.


Yeah, but you can't cook a duck egg long enough to get it done! We did learn that when walking back and forth from the calf barn that when there was ice/packed snow on the ground that stepping on the duck droppings provided enough traction to keep from falling.

BF


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## tirednurse (Oct 2, 2013)

Broncosfan said:


> If you like giving them treats try giving them cooked spaghetti (no sauce). They will go crazy eating it. If you give one a piece the other will chase it around trying to take it away. I assume they think its a worm due to the color. It will make you bust a gut watching them.


they do the same with mice.


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

My neighbors in back of me have chickens. I assumed it was against the rules in this neighborhood but apparently not after searching through my neighborhood association rules ( House NAZI's ) I have considered trying a few but not sure I have enough room in the back with the pool and deck. Also considering rabbits.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

Chickens are dependent upon their owners for security.
If you can not keep them safe, especially at night, please take up another hobby.
Thank you.


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

6 months old now. Getting 6 eggs a day from the Leghorns. Lazy Buffs!


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

BagLady said:


> View attachment 15036
> 
> 6 months old now. Getting 6 eggs a day from the Leghorns. Lazy Buffs!


I'm glad to know we are not the only ones to use 6 foot chainlink.
We have the main chicken area surrounded by 6 foot, and inside that we have three DIY dog kennels (with tarp roofs), also 6 foot, one for each group.
We let one group per day out to roam and do chicken stuff, and at dusk they go into their own enclosure where we lock 'em in for the night.

We have a variety of breeds, and the average output per hen is one egg every 36 hours.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Butler Ford said:


> Yeah, but you can't cook a duck egg long enough to get it done! We did learn that when walking back and forth from the calf barn that when there was ice/packed snow on the ground that stepping on the duck droppings provided enough traction to keep from falling.
> 
> BF


Well yes..those duck eggs are richer than 3 feet up a bull's coola as my Daddy would say. Mighty good in cornbread and other baking or pancake recipes. Would be hard to tolerate fried for breakfast each day of the week. Some of the chicken eggs from the store aint too bad nowadays. Or you could barter the duck eggs with a chicken farmer. Sure they would like duck eggs for the cornbread...and off you go with their chicken eggs for breakfast. There ya go. This sounds like a good plan.


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## A Watchman (Sep 14, 2015)

PO do the rabbits in a suburban environment. No noise, little odor, super easy to care for, and smallest footprint requirement.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Rabbits just look for an excuse to die. Lets get real here.


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## A Watchman (Sep 14, 2015)

^^^^^^^^^ musta been hit in the head with one too many duck eggs!


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Well we have tried two batches of Easter Bunnies in fairly recent times. The first batch died from eating grass. Who woulda thunk it? The next one a single bunny was not allowed to eat grass and the crazy weenie dog chased him under the fence where he became lunch for two pit bulls. I had a girl rabbit back in the 70's who refused to multiply..she finally had one batch and ate all the babies. Rabbits drive me crazy...but sure they are good for some folks.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

bigwheel said:


> Rabbits just look for an excuse to die. Lets get real here.


I was 8 years old and my first rabbit died. Dad and Mom wouldn't let me eat it, something about disease or something. But they made me bury it. I remember putting old Whisker's in the cold cold ground. I'll never name another rabbit again.

As far as chickens, Mrs Slippy's Dad has been trying to get me to take some off his hands for over 3 years now. I keep putting him off, mainly because he gives us all the eggs we want for free. When he asked me the last time about taking them, I said "why buy the cow when you get the milk for free...kinda like me and your daughter back in the day Old Man! HA:joyous:

(Thank God his .357 was back in the house... :stick


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

rice paddy daddy said:


> I'm glad to know we are not the only ones to use 6 foot chainlink.
> We have the main chicken area surrounded by 6 foot, and inside that we have three DIY dog kennels (with tarp roofs), also 6 foot, one for each group.
> We let one group per day out to roam and do chicken stuff, and at dusk they go into their own enclosure where we lock 'em in for the night.
> 
> We have a variety of breeds, and the average output per hen is one egg every 36 hours.


Hey RPD! We made a trade for a bunch of the chain link panels. Will be expanding the chickens runs soon. We also put panels on top. Can't beat em.


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

A Watchman said:


> PO do the rabbits in a suburban environment. No noise, little odor, super easy to care for, and smallest footprint requirement.


And the best return. Meat, Manure and worms for fishing. You just have to know how to raise rabbits..


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

show Rabbits?


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

bigwheel said:


> show Rabbits?


No. Raising rabbits to eat. If you keep them in cages off of the ground, you can collect the manure underneath the cages for ferti
lizer, and under the manure you will find oodles of worms.
You can make $ off of the worms, (enough to pay for the rabbit feed), and then the meat is pretty much free.
(good to "see" you btw)


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## tirednurse (Oct 2, 2013)

BagLady said:


> And the best return. Meat, Manure and worms for fishing. You just have to know how to raise rabbits..


Not much to raising rabbits. just throw the buck in with the does every once in a while, food and clean water daily and you will have rabbits multiplying all over the place.


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## tirednurse (Oct 2, 2013)

I beautiful way to start out the day. very easy to achieve this. Just throw some chickens out in the yard somewhere and let them eat your bugs and weeds and they will leave these beautiful gifts for you to show how happy they are


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

tirednurse said:


> View attachment 15128
> 
> 
> I beautiful way to start out the day. very easy to achieve this. Just throw some chickens out in the yard somewhere and let them eat your bugs and weeds and they will leave these beautiful gifts for you to show how happy they are


 YEP it works kind of like that.


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## Targetshooter (Dec 4, 2015)

Were we live at this point in time we can't have chickens or any farm animals ,I am hoping some day we can move into the county area .


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Targetshooter said:


> Were we live at this point in time we can't have chickens or any farm animals ,I am hoping some day we can move into the county area .


 I can not ever seeing us living in town. Heck we don't need to raise rabbits here. They just show up.

Some of the Chickens out playing today still some snow on the ground but not bad out.


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## tirednurse (Oct 2, 2013)

Targetshooter said:


> Were we live at this point in time we can't have chickens or any farm animals ,I am hoping some day we can move into the county area .


Is it against you city ordinance? Most now allow it. My sister has 8 (should only have 6 but who's counting) and her yard is maybe 50 x 100. you can actually section off an area about 10 x 10 put a rabbit hutch in a corner and a dog house for the chickens to get out of the weather. the two will co exsist and you will have meat and eggs. Don't let them mix or you will have those nasty chocolate eggs and clucking bunnies


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