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Trapick posted:What's the total cost like for bedding/feed/whatever, on a weekly/monthly basis? I'd love to do something like this when I have property. Do you plan to eat them at any point, or are they strictly for eggs? What's egg production like, and what do you do with the extras? Chickens are super cheap, especially if you let them free range and they can eat bugs and seeds and stuff. I buy a bag of food maybe once a month for my 12 chickens (it's under 20 bucks) and a Huge bale of wood shavings from Agway every few months. They lay 1 egg every 36 hours or so, I currently have 5 dozen eggs in my refrigerator =/. I give extras away, trade them for coffee and stuff at work. I have a Bantam Mille Fleur/Old English rooster who has the most adorable little crow ever. The big ones can be bullies or rough on the hens so I really prefer the little guys.
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Jun 9, 2011 03:36
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ZoneManagement posted:How do they react around cats? I'd guess the majority of cats would be too small to go after a full grown chicken, but my cats enjoy just about every small prey that enter my yard. And aren't birds of prey an issue? My chickens are under the assumption that cats and dogs bring them treats because when my husband and I go out to feed the chickens, the dogs and cat usually tag along. I have seen the dogs wandering around the yard with a trail of 8 chickens following them everywhere begging for food. We have hawks around once in awhile but they've never really been a problem, we have a much worse time with foxes and weasels. We had a weasel get into our brooder last year (we still can't figure out how) and wipe out a dozen chicks in one night.
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Jun 13, 2011 01:57
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Silkies are the cutest things ever. I really want to cross breed a silkie with my mille fleur bantams and try to get a puffy, speckled mini chicken.
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Nov 2, 2011 15:16
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Peas and Rice posted:We tried separating her for a few days and I let her out yesterday afternoon. So far she seems more prone to wandering around than sitting in her nest box, but I had to go into my office today and can't keep a close eye on her. If she goes back to being broody, I'll probably go this route, although it's already down into the 30s at night here (Seattle) and I'm not sure this is the greatest time to introduce a chick to the flock. We have one chicken who goes broody constantly. You have to really be diligent about collecting eggs because some switch goes off if she gets more than 2 in the same spot. My broody chickens usually come out of it within the week if I take the eggs away and chase them out a few times a day. I've never had problems with them losing too much weight or anything, they DO get picked on though. The other chickens don't like the crazy broodiness. And speaking of turkeys, trying to take eggs away from a broody 20 pound turkey was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.
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Nov 4, 2011 19:33
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Alterian posted:Has anyone ever dealt with people that don't understand the difference between the words chicken, hen, and rooster? I'm always amazed how many people don't understand the relationship between them. Didn't they have barnyard animal books when they were kids? It's amazing how many people don't understand that a rooster is a male chicken. One of my husband's co-workers thought they were different species completely, and we live in a fairly rural area of N.H. where there are lots of people that raise chickens. There's also tons of people who think chickens won't lay eggs if there isn't a rooster around.
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Nov 9, 2011 17:00
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I took pictures today for my mom, who likes chicken updates every once in awhile (she loves chickens) Polish Crested. Her name is Sparkle and she is schitzo  Hercules the rooster, he's a bantam with a club foot. Super sexy  The Buffs and Barred Rocks. The white one is a mutt chicken, part Polish Crested and part Rhode Island Red   Hercules' daughter. Also a bantam, she's more speckled than she looks in this picture.  I really need to rake my lawn...
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Nov 9, 2011 21:04
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hey santa baby posted:What do people generally do for the times when they're not at home? Feeding and watering I can see working with the proper equipment, but if the coop needs to be cleaned at least twice a week that two-week vacation and even that six-day business trip look to be impossible. I just clean when I get back, granted I have a pretty big coop for the size of my flock and they have a larged fenced in area (I only clean once weekly anyway). Eggs are my biggest concern since I have hens that get broody, but you can always find someone willing to come collect free eggs.
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Nov 14, 2011 19:55
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Chido posted:Yeah, he's pretty much done growing in height, he has to finnish developing muscle and more fluffiness. And if you think he's big, google Black Jersey Giant, the biggest chicken breed in the world My Jersey Giant hens never got that big...I actually think my Barred Rocks are bigger. The rooster on the other hand was as big as my dog, I had to get rid of him because he was seriously hurting the hens.
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Nov 15, 2011 20:38
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They like dry oatmeal and it's cheap. I actually make my chickens hot oatmeal during the winter once in awhile, they love it. I like to get marshmallows, throw 2-3 in with them and watch them play chicken soccer, it's more like chicken football really since they run around with them in their beaks. I know lots of sugar isn't great for them but really it's fine once in awhile.
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Nov 17, 2011 16:43
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I lost a chicken when it drowned in this kiddy pool I had out for the dogs (it was a big pool and a little chicken), I didn't think it was deep enough that they couldn't get out if they fell in. So yeah, they can drown.
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Dec 1, 2011 15:23
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spookygonk posted:We're going to be rehoming some more ex-battery hens on the 29th. Normally egg producing hens are kept for 12 months or so then sent off to the slaughter for pet food, even though they are capable of laying eggs for another year. Now thanks to groups like BHWT (in the UK) people can adopt them as pets or as an alternative to buying POL birds. I have an ex-battery hen, my sister in law had rescued a whole bunch from somewhere and I took a couple of them. They looked like yours when we got them, except the beaks were clipped back almost to the nostrils. We called them the horde...they looked like undead chickens. Once they got healthier they were awesome chickens, very friendly and calm. It's so sad to think of them living their whole life sick and in a tiny cage.
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Dec 17, 2011 03:07
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So apparently hens can crow?? I went outside this morning and heard crowing in the coop, which was odd since our rooster was sitting right in front of me. I went in the coop and it was just a couple of Barred Rock hens in there hanging out...so one of them has decided it's a rooster stuck in a hen's body or something. Has anyone ever seen a hen crow?
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Jan 26, 2012 22:08
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I have now seen one of my Barred Rock hens crowing, multiple times. It's very bizarre. On top of that she's started being really bossy, chasing some of the other hens and even attacking the rooster. Our only rooster right now is a bantam who is not terribly macho, I'm wondering if we got another rooster if she would behave herself. I hate to get rid of her as she's my favorite hen, she's very friendly and a good layer, but I can't have her terrorizing everyone else.
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Feb 1, 2012 15:09
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Velvet Sparrow posted:...One very rainy day Poof and Sugar were brought into the house--because of their large crests and the fact that many crested breeds have a hole in their skull, they can suffer brain damage from wet, heavy crests so keeping them dry is wise. In my experience Polish Crested are pretty much born brain damaged. I have never seen dumber chickens, they are interesting but not terribly bright.
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Oct 11, 2012 18:56
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Velvet Sparrow posted:tokomon, I'm surprised that Larry is a Barred Rock and is so damned weird. The Barred Rock roos I've known have been big, calm, sweeties. My original Head Roo, Jack, was the best rooboy ever and we had him nearly 9 years, his son, Phoenix, was an Americaunas/Barred Rock and he was just as sweet & calm. How old is Larry? I have a bunch of Barred Rocks right now and honestly they are some of the mellowest, friendliest chickens I have owned.
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Oct 27, 2012 21:15
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I really don't think any one breed is more quiet than any other, I think it depends on the individual chickens and the dynamics of the flock as well as where they are kept more than anything else. I have had a bunch of breeds, the dominant ladies are usually loud but the more docile ones are pretty quiet regardless of breed. Happy chickens are quiet chickens too...my girls get really noisy and upset when they are confined since they are used to free ranging.
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Dec 3, 2012 03:00
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There is nothing cuter than a box full of baby chicks =)
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Feb 25, 2013 15:50
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We had no less than 5 silkies go broody in the last week, it was getting a bit out of hand. They were just a giant ball of fluff crammed into a single nesting box for days. We decided to get a few chicks to let them mother. It's a bit of an experiment since I've only raised chicks in a box under a heat lamp. Anyway, the mothers decided to take the chicks on their first trip outside the coop today. It was adorable watching them teach the babies how to scratch at things!  
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Jun 5, 2013 02:28
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AcetylCoA! posted:D'aww :3 Are they raising the chicks as a single group or does every hen have her own chick? Its like a giant fuzzy commune, I haven't noticed any particular hen having certain chicks. They all sleep in a huge pile and kind of migrate around in a chicken herd right now, plus one of the silkie roosters has assigned himself as the overseer of the whole thing and watches for trouble. I know we will probably lose a few since it's not as safe and controlled as when you raise them inside and everything, I just wanted to watch the process of the mothers raising the babies...and the chicks are thrilled with their foster moms.
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Jun 6, 2013 01:54
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We just got some RI Reds and Barred Rocks since our laying hens are getting up there in age and they are both good reliable layers. We actually have 3 silkie roosters but the other two arent interested in babysitting chicks.
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Jun 6, 2013 23:34
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