Does anyone keep chickens?

LATeagno

I'd like to talk to anyone who has experience keeping chickens. I'm looking into getting a small coop with three or four laying hens for our backyard. We're in a very suburban neighborhood, but I've checked the local laws and they allow up to five housed hens (no roosters) on city lots. I'm looking to be more sustainable and have always wanted chickens.

Anyway, I'm thinking of purchasing a small coop with a built-in run and then buying a moveable run to let them roam a bit when it's warm. I know the feed is pretty cheap, but is there anything huge I should know before doing this? Any tips/tricks/warnings?

Also, once I figure out how to keep the chickens, I may eventually consider raising a couple of meat breeds at a time and take them to a local farm for processing. Can they be raised with the egg layers?

Also, feel free to add me if you have chickens and wouldn't mind me picking your brain from time to time. Thanks in advance.

Danger2OneSelf

Hey, I'm in the process of building my coop ATM. I think I'm going to wait until after winter before buying chicks but I hear its very rewarding to raise your own eggs and meat knowing the birds lived a much better life than the one you bought in the store. I had to propose an appeal in our village ordinances because they weren't allowed at first and I am in a very suburban neighborhood also. My neighbors b!tch to the marshal and that makes me feel better that they don't approve :happy: . I'm allowed 6 all together with no mature *kitten*. I know quite a bit of info bout them especially about the building the coop as that's what I'm currently doing. Pm me if u want and when I'm in front of a comp ill message more.

simplyxaddicted

dmprice17

raised chickens for several years, my daughter involved in 4-H, i was raised in the city so everything i had to learn about chickens i obtained from neighbors or books.
we kept meat chickens in pens and they were ready to butcher in 8 weeks from chick to 6-7 lb.
my egg layers we let free range and they were like family pets. of course if you questioned their ability to lay anymore , you could get them butchered and use them for stew. we tended to let them retire out on their own
i have in the mean time moved back to city and can't have chickens but i sure missed having them. i don't eat eggs but my husband and daughter at the time really enjoyed having fresh eggs every day even in winter
several times a year i would find a missing chicken who went broody (not sure if that is correct spelling) she would be sitting on eggs that we missed and out would come a bunch of baby chicks following her around
if you know someone handy with tools they can build you a move able chicken coop, look on line for directions or pick up a book
i sure do miss my time on farm with chickens and we also dabbed in raising rabbits for meat that was quite interesting also
good luck and you can add me if you want if you have any questions.

Danger2OneSelf

Why was brown discussing his plans to choke the chicken with Jones.....farmers

cuterbee

We had chickens when I was a kid. My parents bought us Easter chicks and we raised them to adulthood.

Get adult chickens, at least to start, otherwise it's a ton of work with lots of poop involved.

Other animals like chickens. Make sure the neighborhood cats and dogs (not to mention opossums and raccoons) can't get into your chicken coop (we had a couple of incidents with dogs who jumped our fence to get at the chickens). A rooster will help protect the hens, but be warned -- our meter reader was afraid to go in the yard. Chickens are pretty short sighted and all of us were subjected at some point to the rooster run...and then he'd recognize us at the last moment and stop so we weren't attacked. We had fullsize chickens to start with and later got some fancy tiny ones, so I don't think it matters what kinds you have; ours all got along. You probably only one one rooster, though.

I still miss hearing the rooster crow in the morning (which is the other thing you have to think about !).

simplyxaddicted

Who knows :laugh:

lovelyMYlovely

my BD family has a chicken coop lol.. they also have pigs to... they live in the country obviously.. All I can tell you is its gonna be hard work to keep up with and your going to smell.... lol but you will get eggs, they make alot of eggs!! you just need a little wire gate to keep them in and they can play around.. and a little shack thing so they can keep warm in those winter nights... with hay and stuff inside... make sure the shack has a door they can go in and out of.. they need alot of room to walk and play sooo make sure you have enough space

Danger2OneSelf

my BD family has a chicken coop lol.. they also have pigs to... they live in the country obviously.. All I can tell you is its gonna be hard work to keep up with and your going to smell.... lol but you will get eggs, they make alot of eggs!! you just need a little wire gate to keep them in and they can play around.. and a little shack thing so they can keep warm in those winter nights... with hay and stuff inside... make sure the shack has a door they can go in and out of.. they need alot of room to walk and play sooo make sure you have enough space

So what your saying is we need lots of "things & stuff" and we'll smell...but we can do it? :laugh:

LATeagno

Hey, I'm in the process of building my coop ATM. I think I'm going to wait until after winter before buying chicks but I hear its very rewarding to raise your own eggs and meat knowing the birds lived a much better life than the one you bought in the store. I had to propose an appeal in our village ordinances because they weren't allowed at first and I am in a very suburban neighborhood also. My neighbors b!tch to the marshal and that makes me feel better that they don't approve :happy: . I'm allowed 6 all together with no mature *kitten*. I know quite a bit of info bout them especially about the building the coop as that's what I'm currently doing. Pm me if u want and when I'm in front of a comp ill message more.

I realllly appreciate your help! I will send you a PM. Thanks so much for your response!

LATeagno

raised chickens for several years, my daughter involved in 4-H, i was raised in the city so everything i had to learn about chickens i obtained from neighbors or books.
we kept meat chickens in pens and they were ready to butcher in 8 weeks from chick to 6-7 lb.
my egg layers we let free range and they were like family pets. of course if you questioned their ability to lay anymore , you could get them butchered and use them for stew. we tended to let them retire out on their own
i have in the mean time moved back to city and can't have chickens but i sure missed having them. i don't eat eggs but my husband and daughter at the time really enjoyed having fresh eggs every day even in winter
several times a year i would find a missing chicken who went broody (not sure if that is correct spelling) she would be sitting on eggs that we missed and out would come a bunch of baby chicks following her around
if you know someone handy with tools they can build you a move able chicken coop, look on line for directions or pick up a book
i sure do miss my time on farm with chickens and we also dabbed in raising rabbits for meat that was quite interesting also
good luck and you can add me if you want if you have any questions.

Thank you! I am looking into buying a coop with a small attached run so I don't have to let them free range **all** the time-- but I plan to every day that it is warm enough. A moveable pen seems easy enough. Thanks!

LATeagno

We had chickens when I was a kid. My parents bought us Easter chicks and we raised them to adulthood.

Get adult chickens, at least to start, otherwise it's a ton of work with lots of poop involved.

Other animals like chickens. Make sure the neighborhood cats and dogs (not to mention opossums and raccoons) can't get into your chicken coop (we had a couple of incidents with dogs who jumped our fence to get at the chickens). A rooster will help protect the hens, but be warned -- our meter reader was afraid to go in the yard. Chickens are pretty short sighted and all of us were subjected at some point to the rooster run...and then he'd recognize us at the last moment and stop so we weren't attacked. We had fullsize chickens to start with and later got some fancy tiny ones, so I don't think it matters what kinds you have; ours all got along. You probably only one one rooster, though.

I still miss hearing the rooster crow in the morning (which is the other thing you have to think about !).

I definitely plan on getting 6 weekers so I don't have to worry about keeping the chicks inside. My budget really doesn't allow for incubators and heat lamps atm. LOL.

We have a dog ourselves, but i do plan on keeping the chickens penned in. Our dog is extremely friendly (we let her walk around our pet hamster and she's fine-- all 95 lbs. of her!). I'm hoping she'll tire of the chickens within a few days. She's usually only curious when things are new. LOL.

I can't have roosters per city ordinances, so that shouldn't be a problem. Also, like I said, we live in a very suburban area on a tiny fenced-in lot-- so we should be OK predator wise. The fencing for the run is supposed to be very strong and when we get our portable pen, it will be completely enclosed on both the sides and top to protect from predators.

LATeagno

I am a bit worried about the smell. I've heard that chickens have an ammonia-like odor. I'm hoping that if we limit the amount of chickens (we can only have 5 max. anyway), that will naturally minimize the odor. Is that wishful thinking?