My first chickens

lockedup5

lockedup5

overcompensating underachiever
Joined
Jan 30, 2008
Location
Burke County (Hildebran)
I had a couple pet chickens (hen and rooster) and a nice coop to keep them in give to me today. I've been wanting some for a while now but the wife isn't to happy about them. The kids are loving them. Unlike the dog I got a couple years ago if I get tired of the chickens I won't have to go to the trouble of finding them a new home. I'll just fire up the grill and.... well you know.

I was just wanting to find out if any of ya'll have pet chickens and maybe get some advice about raising them. Is there anything special I need to do besides feed and water them. The PO told me the hen lays an egg everyday and I would like for that to continue if possible. Seems like I heard one time you have to feed them something special for them to lay eggs all the time. Is this true? When I went and picked them up I forgot to get the food they had been eating. I guess I need to go back and get it since she was laying good eating what the PO had. Also do chickens carry any disease or anything I need to be concerned about w/ the kids? Do they need shots or anything like that? I know I sound kinda dumb asking this stuff but like I said I've never had any chickens. Any advice is welcome. Thanks
 
No "pet" birds, but help a bud with 30+ layers & together have raised hundreds of "dumb white birds" (Ross & variants)...

Food, water, & access to grit (dirt/sand/cinders held in the gullet/gizzard to grind the food) is all they need. The absolute best eggs ("marigold" yolks) come from free-range birds... those allowed to roam & eat whatever (bugs/worms.grubs/grasses). You can feed them mixed grains or pelletized feed ($10/50#) in lew of them roaming, but fight the urge to feed them $4/bag "deer corn" (it's like feeding them candy & not good for them). If they came from a hatchery, they'll likely be inoculated against the most common diseases. If not, don't sweat it.

It may take a bit for the hen to start laying, depending on the "trauma" of being moved, but if she was laying before, she'll likely start again. Some layers are the worst "sitters" and have seen henb that don't lay be the best sitters/brooders.

If you get bit by the fresh egg bug, let her sit & hatch a couple broods, whack the roosters & keep the hens. Multiple roosters (even in large flocks) tend to spend more time messing with each other :rolleyes: than doing their jobs... "servicing" & protecting the rest of the flock.

If you plan to keep them cooped all the time, make sure varmits (coons/foxes/hawks) can't get through below or above & make sure they have somewhere secure to roost at night.

Also, make sure *everyone* religiously washes their hands after being in contact with them and wash the eggs (dish soap & water) before storing... they're fawkin' NASTY!
 
Big poop is the worst poop out there. So be carefull and don't be afraid to take a shovel to the rooster. He'll bounce back in a couple of minutes.
 
Ask John Thomas. He can also give you tips on how to shoot a Rooster at 3am in the dark with a .22.
 
Kenneth, you have no idea of the joy you will get out of those fine birds. Darlene and I inherited a couple Banties a few years after we got married. They quickly turned into several, and then too damn many. After about a year or so of listening to the roosters crow all night, and picking "fowl stuff" off our feet on a daily basis they ended up in the cooking pot. :uzi:

Good luck with your newly acquired pets! :lol:
 
My granny use to feed her chickens oyster & clam chells, and she said that's why she got double yoke eggs. YUM!!!! I don't know it to br true about the double yoke, but the shells were vert strong(she would toss them back in the pen too.

one more piece of advice put 1 white golf ball in each nest. it will kill the snakes that come to eat the eggs and keep the chickens laying...
 
What I know
Chickens are a carrier of Salmonella
Feed them Laying mash if you want a good egg crop
They need sand or small grape nut cereal or smaller gravel for their craw(sp) No teeth, so this is how they "chew" their food
If you don't have a completely unclosed pen, you will need to clip one side of their wing feathers, will keep them from flying out
Water them with a chicken waterer, not a bucket or the like, they will drown
Feed them pretty much the same way, or they will infect and waste a lot of food since they will shit all in it.
A young hen will lay smaller eggs. A older hen will give you larger ones
keep laying boxes fresh, or they will lay everywhere
If they get too hot, they will pluck out their own feathers
the more they are handled, the more they will allow you to
 
I've had six birds for a couple years now. I feed mine the laying mix from Tractor Supply or a local feed lot. Use crumbles not pellets (they are dumb and will choke on big stuff). I also mix in crumbled oyster shells with the food.

I clipped the wings on mine twice I think. I never put a roof over my outdoor area for them. Only one bird flys out. She spends all day in the yard or woods and then flys back at night or when I feed them some scratch. When I get home after work I will sometimes let all of them out of the coop and then free range for a couple hours then file back into the coop.

Very easy to keep them. Make sure they have fresh water and food. When winter comes add a light to the coop if you can. They like light and will lay better if they are happy. I use a regular incandescent bulb and then switch to a 250 watt heat bulb during the middle of winter. They will make it without a light, just less eggs.

And keep your fawkin hands washed!!!
 
After a little research and some great advice from you guys I think I will enjoy these things alot except the thoughts of salmonella like Chip mentioned and I never thought of. I thought I would let the kids play w/ them and let em run around the yard but that's out. I told my oldest one they are only to look at throught he pen and he seems pretty happy w/ that. It wouldn't be so bad to let them run around the yard but since I fertalize my yard that's not good. I read that it's not good to eat the eggs if they free range in a yard that's not organically fertalized. I went today and bought some crumbled laying mash, scratch feed and a big feeding pail that holds like two gallons of food so I can vacation and not worry about them. The guy give me a good watering jug w/ the chickens so I didn't have to buy one of those. Other than getting the coop in place where I want it I think I'm on the right track.
Some may remember I had a dog a couple years ago and ended up giving it to Chip. I kept the dog lot in place and I think since I can't let the chickens free roam I'm going to attach the 8x8 coop to the dog lot to make them a run and enclose the coop for the winter.

I got some more Ideas and stories to run by you guys but my son wants me to hold him before he goes to sleep. I'll be back.
 
lockedup5 said:
After a little research and some great advice from you guys I think I will enjoy these things alot except the thoughts of salmonella like Chip mentioned and I never thought of. I thought I would let the kids play w/ them and let em run around the yard but that's out. I told my oldest one they are only to look at throught he pen and he seems pretty happy w/ that. It wouldn't be so bad to let them run around the yard but since I fertalize my yard that's not good. I read that it's not good to eat the eggs if they free range in a yard that's not organically fertalized. I went today and bought some crumbled laying mash, scratch feed and a big feeding pail that holds like two gallons of food so I can vacation and not worry about them. The guy give me a good watering jug w/ the chickens so I didn't have to buy one of those. Other than getting the coop in place where I want it I think I'm on the right track.
Some may remember I had a dog a couple years ago and ended up giving it to Chip. I kept the dog lot in place and I think since I can't let the chickens free roam I'm going to attach the 8x8 coop to the dog lot to make them a run and enclose the coop for the winter.
I got some more Ideas and stories to run by you guys but my son wants me to hold him before he goes to sleep. I'll be back.
Click to expand...

haha quite being a nancy!

you're not going to get salmonella from yard chickens, just done eat their shit and wash the eggs before you eat them.

your kids arent going to suffer ill effects from running around in the yard with chickens other than maybe stepping in shit every once in a while.

and not eating free range eggs when the chickens run around in a fertilized yard? :lol: what kind of food do you think the chickens that made the eggs at the grocery store ate? yup, genetically modified grain crops that have 10T per acre of fertilizer dumped on them. they are pumped full of drugs and hormones to keep them from getting sick. free range eggs from a chicken that lives in a garbage dump are more healthy than store bought eggs.

the only reason you might not actually want the chickens in the yard is because where ever they shit there will be an extra green patch of grass that will look out of place.

ive had chickens for years, they're quite entertaining and make great eggs.

*note, i might have exaggerated a bit in some of my "facts" but you get the idea :flipoff2:
 
I get what your saying I just guess I'm overly cautious when it comes to my kids if you know what I mean. I'd just assume not step in chicken shit anyhow. BTW my 17 month old has his hands in his mouth every other time I look at him so I'd rather not chance it.

I've heard everything from people living w/ chickens forever and "I grew up w/ chickens and never got sick" and stuff like that but if I can help prevent my kids from getting sick I will.

To finish what I was telling earlier. I brought the two chickens home and w/in five minutes I had three. I've never seen a wild chicken in all my life on my property but for some reason a wild one decided to join the crowd and it came right out of the woods and has been hanging around ever since. It's got my rooster tore up too. Just thought that was funny.

I brought them home saturday and sunday afternoon I got my first egg. I thought she might need a few days to get situated but I was wrong. So this morning I check the brood and was no eggs. This afternoon I moved the hay around and found two. What I need to know is if a hen can lay two eggs in a day or did I just miss one that maybe old. If there was an old one in there I guess I'll need to throw both of them away cause I have no idea which one she layed today. What would you do?
I'm going to post some pics soon as I take some and hopefully someone can tell me what kind of chickens I have cause I have no idea.
 
Don't toss the one egg. They can keep out of the fridge for something close to 4 weeks (I've read upwards of 6wks, but that freaks me out!). Stick em in the fridge and cut that in half.
 
Hens lay in something close to a 27 hour range. Happy birds lay better. I have 6 birds and get between 4-6 eggs daily.

We need a photo gallery for coops. See what other wheelers coop looks like. Not to hijack your thread, but it would be cool...
 
Kenneth, those eggs were already "in motion" way before you got her. She still may have a 'slump"
SInce you were kinda excited about the egg's I am assuming you have never butchered a chicken that has been laying. You will find eggs ready to be layed, all the way down to something that bare looks like an egg. So, the laying plan has been in the works.
 
sounds like you've got the majority of what you need to know. I just built my coop this year and have 4 birds currently. We're looking to expand to 6 but that's the limit.

Go to tractor supply and buy laying mash. throw in some oyster shell so the egg shells are firm and some grit for the birds digestion. Also, there's a real handy website I use: www.backyardchickens.com. I learned quite a bit from it.
 
Just to update along w/ my two chickens I aquired a stray that was hanging around the coop. Also I allowed my hen to lay a clutch of 12 eggs and she incubated them naturally and in the end I got four cute and healthly chicks. They are three weeks old today and growing strong. So now I gotta get going on moving my coop to it's permanent spot soon as I close it in. Ill try to take some pics to share.
anybody got pics of your coop?
 
John the boys love them. every time we get out of the truck they have to go see them. As far as the wife she likes them as long as doesn't have to mess w/ them. I spent the day today enclosing my coop and getting it painted. Still got a little more to do.
 
I forgot to take before pics but it was basically a frame w/ wire around it. I had to spiff it up a little for the wife. Now I just need to get a few friends over to help me move it next to the dog kennel. Notice the hole I left on the left side to let them have access to the kennel/runner. I think this setup will work out good. What yall think?
 

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hadn't really thought about roosting poles in the run. I already have them in the coop. Hopefully that is where they will stay. I can't wait to get it moved. I hate not being able to see my chickens.
 
i work at Perdue Farms, MAKE SURE THEY HAVE PLENTY OF WATER. the feed has a lot of salt in it. they can get a cold just like a human can. pellets are mostly for males. the oyster shells help the eggs, makes them stronger. there is a whole "feeding' schedule we follow. u have any particular questions hit me up.
 
Thanks for the info. It is rare they run out of water. Only time is if they get the waterer swinging and it basically runs out of the gravity feeder. I generally check on them a couple times daily.
 
The chickens that Purdue farms are a little different than the everyday run of the mill chicken. they are engineered to either grow fast, and or to lay more eggs. The feed they eat is also part of it all too. A good friend and I had some chickens once. We also caught a few chickens that were left behind when the truck come to take them to slaughter. Those chickens grew so fast, and got so big, that they all dies of heart failure. Their heart was engulfed in fat, and stopped it from beating.

I like the chicken house, but I recommend some vents in it to help get the heat out. An actual fan drawing from one end to the other would be great.
I know we talked about it, and I still recommend putting a top to the run so they won't fly away. Most likely if they do get out, they will stay close since they know it as home, and where the food is.
 
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