Backyard Chicken Keeping: There's Poop Everywhere!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > Backyard Chicken Keeping: There's Poop Everywhere!

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

I'm considering trying to get a couple of laying hens when I move into my first house in a couple of weeks.

As of right now, the town told me 'no livestock allowed', however I'm considering petitioning/fighting for me being able to keep 2-4 laying hens. the CITY allows people to keep laying hens, yet the town I am moving to 20 minutes away which is a lot less populated doesn't- it's stupid.

So, if I happen to win my right to have a couple laying hens in my backyard..I want to know what to do in winter time? I'm in upstate NY, and our winters here are no walk in the park.

Would I be able to get like a dog-heating pad to place in their coop to make sure they have a warm spot to go to? Or is that not necessary?

# ¿ Jun 30, 2011 19:16

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 13:56

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Marchegiana posted:

Fun fact: the oils this gland secretes contain vitamin D precursors, which turn into the active form of the vitamin upon exposure to UV. The birds then ingest the vitamin D at their next preening. This is how birds manage to get their vitamin D requirements despite the fact that their skin never gets sun exposure.

I just found this out a couple weeks ago, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let a useless fact like this go unshared.

Thank you for that awesome fact of :science:

So I've been in my new house for about three weeks now. I mentioned to my super-friendly neighbor (who enjoys animals and loves my big ball python) how I wanted to have a few chickens in my backyard, but I had called the town and they said no. He was shocked they said no, and seems adamant that I can have chickens.

At least I know one neighbor is for me being able to keep chickens. He's also got some close connections with the mayor, so that is another bonus! I'm going to go to the town in person sometime to ask them about having some hens..if they say no, I'm going to make a petition and ask all those neighbors closest to my house if they care and if they could sign the petition saying they don't care if I have some hens in my backyard...

It's pretty stupid considering the city 25 minutes away allows people to have hens in their backyard, but in this semi-rural little "village" area, they say I can't have a couple laying hens.

I guess if I wanted chickens I should have moved into the city, not out towards the country :haw:

# ¿ Aug 17, 2011 16:49

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

I've been looking up breeds of chickens and I've settled on about 5-6 types I would really like.

The thing is, I only really want a total, MAXIMUM, of 6-7 hens. Mainly because my yard isn't very large...at all.

I've narrowed it down to: Golden Laced Wyandotte (OMFG BEAUTIFUL :swoon:

), Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Red, and White Plymouth Rocks.

Would it be okay to have only 1-2 of each breed of hen? Or would it be better to many just stick to two breeds max, considering the small number of chickens I want?

# ¿ Aug 21, 2011 23:05

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Sweet, glad to know they aren't going to destroy each other if I get a rainbow-flock like I want :3:

# ¿ Aug 22, 2011 02:58

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

So I found out some neighbors have chickens. After we were told we couldn't have chickens. They apparently paid to have a permit...but we were never told about this being possible. I'm fairly certain if we pay for a yearly "chicken permit" the town will not give a poo poo, and I'm pretty certain my neighbors don't either...

That being said, I might be re-thinking the possibility of having chickens :neckbeard:

My main questions are, how big of a run would 3-6 chickens need?

And how much MINIMUM daily care time would a couple chickens require? 20 minutes? They'd often get more than that, but I just want to know for those days I work on my feet all day and come home at 5pm tired, needing to make dinner and care for all my other critters.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2012 02:25

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Inveigle posted:

Perhaps start out with the bare minimum of hens (two) to see if you like it. What other types of pets have you had before? And how much is a chicken permit?

I've had all sorts of pets before..and I currently have 3 dogs, 3 cats (mostly my husband takes care of them), rodents, and a room full of reptiles, the last taking up the majority of my time..I've had caged birds when I was younger.

I am guessing a chicken permit would be comparable to that in the nearest city, which is I believe $30/year. That isn't an issue.

Chido posted:

Coop stuff

I don't have a lot of land, I'm only on about .25 acres, but my backyard is fenced in, so that helps. I don't really get many predators because my neighbor is always leaving traps out for racoons etc to catch/relocate them. I do have three small dogs, and I don't mind them getting the occasional bit of chicken turds, but I also don't want my backyard over-run with the stuff, the main reason I want a run for the chickens. I think we could easily do a decent sized run for them while still having plenty of backyard.

They would have to stay in the coop/run most days during the week since my husband and I are at work, but they'd be able to run around most of the evening.

I do have to say though, if any chicken tries to hurt my smallest dog they are going to be soup though :mad:

Or dog food.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2012 04:12

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Chido posted:

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/wichita-cabin-coop

This coop is 10x5 feet, and I think the person who built it houses 4-5 hens in it. That's a really good sized coop with run included that might fit well in your backyard. I'd say the chickens would be fine in it as long as you do let them out regularly so they don't get bored and start pecking at each other, and also it'd keep them safe from racoons at night and hawks during the day (we had one of our smaller hens being almost caught by a hawk last year). So you should be fine with a coop that size for 3 hens

Wow, I wish I had the talent to build something like that! My best friend is pretty handy and I'm sure she could help me build something with good plans...the only problem is summer classes are killing any free time she has.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2012 12:23

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Chido posted:

Chicks. I don't wanna deal with hatching eggs. Hopefully I'll have a broody hen when the chicks arrive and try and get her to hang out in the brooder with the chicks. That will depend on who's broody and if the hen adopts the chicks.

That would be adorable :3:

Keeping my fingers crossed this happens.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2012 03:24

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

I ordered my chicks. They are coming in late July. :ohdear:

Golden Laced Wyandotte
Buff Orpington
and Whiterock.

I ordered extra chicks because I want to make sure I get one of each that I want, and I know sometimes you lose a chick while raising them due to whatever abnormalities/failure to thrive stuff.

I want to keep 4, two wynadottes and one oprington and one white rock.

Now to get the coop thing finished before they arrive and are ready to go outside. I've got time. Already found someone local who has a coop they could deliver!

# ¿ Jun 19, 2012 13:40

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Zeta Taskforce posted:

Awesome! Mine are coming second week of August. Take lots of pictures.

You bet I will! Already letting my friends with small children know so they can come cuddle the chicks if they want... :3:

# ¿ Jun 19, 2012 21:25

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

So, you sent me geckos. In like a decade can I barter hatching eggs out of you too? Because goodness, I'm going to be living vicariously through everybody's wyandottes.

D'aww I wish! I won't be able to have roosters where I am now. Then again who knows, maybe in a decade...I might. There is a good chance we'll only be here for the next 5-6 years.

The orpingtons and white rocks are sort of boring in comparison, but I wanted some decent layers that had colors which just kind of went pretty with the wyndottes

I wanted at least one chicken that just looked like a "classic white chicken". Like when you think of a chicken icon on something!

Also, I really really want one of these:

http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Day-Old-Baby-Chicks/Golden-Sebright-Bantam-p265.aspx

It is just the most adorable statue-looking giant-eyed little chicken I've ever seen. :3:

I have to limit myself though, and I want chickens that lay normal sized eggs!

# ¿ Jun 20, 2012 03:20

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

So, I've got this idea of possibly turning a playhouse on our property into a chicken coop.

It is sort of like this one:

But only has one entry way, two windows (that could be removed/sealed up if needed) and a nice little roof with shingles and everything.

And then of course I would make a run attached to it.

Does this sound like it could be made into an appropriate chicken coop?

# ¿ Jun 29, 2012 00:09

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Chido posted:

I think it'd make a great coop . I've seen pictures cars, plastic playhouses, plastic sheds, and even large rubbermaid storage containers used a chicken coops, so I'm sure that wooden playhouse would work .

Oh, well, I forgot to mention we have pretty bad winters. I did get cold hardy breeds specifically for that reason though. Can I or will I need some amount of insulation?

# ¿ Jun 29, 2012 02:49

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Chido posted:

Think that's hard to imagine? This will make it harder: the rooster is as small as the chickens in this video

http://youtu.be/JUhc5YZZjTY

So adorable! :3:

# ¿ Jul 2, 2012 15:31

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

I don't know for sure since I haven't had chickens, but I've had other bird before and usually grit is a LOT more fine than aquarium gravel. I think getting them some grit would be a good idea, if anything, they should enjoy it at least

# ¿ Jul 5, 2012 01:33

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Chido posted:

Spaghetti didn't make it. I was hoping she'd make it at least one more week until I get paid so I could take her to the vet, but she died some time early this morning. I fed her some watermelon and baby food last night and she ate it, but I guess her body couldn't keep going.

I don't wanna go to work today. I know she was only a chicken but it hurts, she was my grumpy lady and the sweetest of them all.

Chido, I'm so sorry for your loss :sympathy:

You did what you could, and showed her a much better life than her previous owners had given her.

And don't feel silly because she was "only a chicken". She wasn't, she was a cherished pet. No matter the species if you lose a cherished pet it hurts, and rightfully so.

# ¿ Jul 7, 2012 17:18

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

I've been thinking a lot about my upcoming chickens, just planning things out in my head, and was wondering how I can keep my back yard relatively clean against chicken poop?
I know birds poop a lot. My dogs love their backyard. I am going to get my chickens a decent sized run just for them, but will also let them have run of the backyard a couple times a week. I know at some point, my dogs will end up getting into some chicken poop...however I would like to limit this as much as possible.

Would it be feasible for me to use a dog pooper-scooper to help clean up chicken poop in the yard when needed? How do you guys keep your yard tidy?

Also, how often are coops usually cleaned out, weekly, bi-weekly? I guess that depends on the number of chickens, too.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2012 22:12

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Just measured out the run size for the future chickens, it is 150 square feet. I could go bigger if needed. Is that going to be good for about 5-6 chickens?

# ¿ Jul 14, 2012 21:45

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

HeadcrabPie posted:

Yesterday I went to pick up my new ball of fluff, a currently nameless Silkie!

I have some experience with chickens but it's been quite a while. Right now it's in a large plastic tub with pine shavings and an infrared lamp on one side (sitting around 90 degrees), stuffing its face like there's no tomorrow. He (she?) was hatched on the 18th of this month.

This chick is going to be a housepet. A friend of mine has an indoor chicken who runs around with a chicken diaper, and turned me on to the idea.

Is there anything I should know beyond the basics? Do any of you have experience keeping an indoor chicken?

Also, beautiful chickens in this thread!

Well, I can tell you that you should have at least two, no matter where you plan on keeping them.

# ¿ Jul 22, 2012 21:50

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

My chicks are being shipped today!

....Holy poo poo, my chicks are being shipped today! :ohdear:

Very excited, but also super worried/nervous/fretting! They called me this morning and said they didn't get as many golden wyandottes hatch today as they expected, and wanted to know if a substitute would be okay. So I went with silver wyandottes. No big deal, my little seabright is golden, so it works. I kind of wanted a b/w chicken anyways.

# ¿ Jul 23, 2012 19:03

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Chickies!!!

Will get better pictures tomorrow after they have settled in..

# ¿ Jul 24, 2012 20:48

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Inveigle posted:

Hahaaa! Yay! What types of chicks did you get? And yes, please post more photos!

2 White rocks
2 Buff Orpington
3 Silver laced wyandottes
1 Golden seabright bantam, that already is practically dancing across the heads of the other chicks as it runs around. :3:

I'll most likely only keep 4-5. I ordered extra in case of losses. And the bantam became available well after my original order, but I really really really wanted one!

# ¿ Jul 24, 2012 22:34

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

piscesbobbie posted:

Greycious - which hatchery did you order your chicks from?

I ordered mine through mypetchicken.com

Customer service was pretty awesome. Chicks arrived healthy and all alive and wonderful.

My only issue is their shipping costs...I paid for 2-day shipping on their website. However, they were sent USPS express which is overnight (which all live chick orders under 15 birds is sent)

What was stopping me from choosing priority and saving a bunch of $$? Also, I've shipped live animals through USPS before (reptiles) and I know it doesn't cost as much as I paid to ship overnight from one state over...so that has me all kinds of confused.

Maybe live chicks cost more.

# ¿ Jul 25, 2012 01:59

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Sorry to double post, but I took some more chick pictures earlier. I couldn't help myself.

White rock sporting its egg tooth. The camera doesn't capture how pale yet BRIGHT their yellow fluff is, especially on their neck/back. It is so cute.

Wyandotte

I think this thing has the funniest face/head. It has like...brow fluff. And friar tuck head fluff.

PEEP! PEEEP!

And...I'm already getting really attached to this one
The seabright bantam:

At one point I touched its head when she was sitting in my lap and she immediately nuzzled her head against my hand, huddled close against it and closed her eyes :3:

I about died.

# ¿ Jul 25, 2012 02:26

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Geokinesis posted:

It turns out Janet is a very curious hen and decided to investigate the open back door today.

This picture is too cute :3:

Also...Tim the Enchanter..black...MEAT?!? That is so weird! :aaa:

I decided to have a little fun with the chicks today and put a small grasshopper in their box. Not so surprisingly, the largest chick who we have nicknamed "lardass" (But considering naming her butter, and a skinnier one margarine) got it.

It was so cute how she was chirping like "omg stay i have something special I have something special leave me alone!" and running around while several of the others, including the little bantam were following her like "OMG GIMMIE!"

They don't know how to be discreet. She gobbled it down and looked very satisfied.

# ¿ Jul 25, 2012 23:38

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Tim the Enchanter posted:

Delicious grey silkie pullet coming right up!

This is just too adorable

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but do silkies lay well?

# ¿ Jul 28, 2012 15:51

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Cute little girls with cute baby chicks!

My little cheepers are growing so fast, I will try to get some more pictures soon.

# ¿ Jul 30, 2012 15:10

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Lucifer looks so badass, he lives up to his name in actions and just that look of pure hate in his eyes.

Now, time for another chick photo dump! Finally!

They are about 10 days old now.

Please excuse the poo here, they were cleaned out just after these pictures:

Hmmm, I wonder which one the bantam is?!

This buff orpington is the sweetest and largest of them all.

But this little bantam has stolen my heart too

CHEEP

# ¿ Aug 3, 2012 03:40

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Velvet Sparrow posted:

Rooster!

Seriously? Please don't be. I can't keep roosters where I am and I just love this little thing.
Seabright hens and roosters have the same feathering.

Ceridwen those eggs look so pretty together!

# ¿ Aug 3, 2012 13:17

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Chido posted:

OMG are you sure? drat that boy is gonna have some big girls to "sit" on

That would be hilarious though.

# ¿ Aug 3, 2012 13:18

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Zeta Taskforce posted:

My chicks are being shipped today! I�m so excited and nervous.

That was me two weeks ago! :supaburn:

I'm sure everything will turn out fine. Just make sure you have food and water waiting for them.

Someone told me a trick that worked great, put a nickle in their water. It will make them try to peck it and quickly learn where to drink from.

Also, here are some really crappy videos of my chicks having their first outdoor adventure. I was holding a cocktail in one hand and my cell phone in the other.
I don't know any other way to spend the afternoon than sit outside with the chickens and have a drink. :woop:

Ignore my super pale goon feet and baby talk, and my mom being concerned a chick is going to choke to death on a feather.
http://youtu.be/IhJ6M4NypAE
http://youtu.be/nnPeogXU1pw

UltraGrey fucked around with this message at 22:31 on Aug 7, 2012

# ¿ Aug 7, 2012 22:28

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Zeta Taskforce posted:

Chickens arrived today! What am I getting myself into?

They are too cute!
I love those chicks with the cream coloring and black all down their backs.

# ¿ Aug 9, 2012 12:16

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Disco Nixon, beautiful birdies. I actually really like the dark cornish, so pretty!

And Roo :argh:

Stop giving your mom so much trouble!

# ¿ Aug 11, 2012 12:30

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

My girlies are getting so big! :3:

http://youtu.be/N7I4GlNnFeg

They love fluttering around like that first thing when I bring them outside.

# ¿ Aug 12, 2012 02:41

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

piscesbobbie posted:

Awwwww Greycious - they are so adorable. Wow, look at them trying to fly! Thank you so much for sharing your video. SO VERY CUTE! Will you try to trim one side of flight feathers?

Well, I hope I won't need to! I guess if they keep this up when they are adults I might have to though!

Over the last couple days I've been pretty surprised how friendly one of the white rocks is. She's the only one that will actually come up into my lap while outside. It is very :3:

VS those girls are too cute.

# ¿ Aug 12, 2012 14:17

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Chido posted:

If you trim their wings, do both. All my henhoes have trim wings because they are so ghetto they'd try to break into the neighbors' yards and eat their food (or become dogfood). They don't really try to jump over the fence, but when Tissue and Turkey were still strays, they'd jump over the 6-7 feet fence, fly onto our roof, and perch on a pine tree next door at night. drat birds can fly when they want to.

Wow, well it sounds like I will need to be doing wing trims then! Good thing I use to do this with my cockateils when I was younger, so I'm not a complete stranger to it.

I'll let them enjoy working all their muscles out while they are still little things though

# ¿ Aug 12, 2012 17:37

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Ceridwen posted:

We got our last first egg today! Beatrice took her sweet time but she finally gave us a cute little blue-green egg early this afternoon.

Yay, egg!! :neckbeard:

I can't wait to get my first egg, it will be so exciting

Also, I had to look up a video of the 'egg song' because I had never heard it before and was curious. IT IS SO ADORABLE.
http://youtu.be/Hx_Hdpg1M8g
I've listened to it like 10 times over the last few days, haha.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2012 15:17

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Lmao peaches. She's so drat cute. It's a good thing she is!

"Are you done now? RRRRccwwwaaaaawwwrrr!" (I have now idea how to type that sound!)

# ¿ Aug 13, 2012 23:46

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

One of my chicks found a piece of old styrofoam out in the yard the other day. I took away what I found after they pecked it to bits, but apparently there was a piece left behind and one of them ate it. :doh:

It was small enough I think it should go through okay..

# ¿ Aug 18, 2012 12:05

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 13:56

UltraGrey: Feb 24, 2007; Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Chido posted:

There you go

Awww, poor Turkey

I can't help but be proud of her for biting you for your teasing. Big meanie!

# ¿ Aug 19, 2012 16:50

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