I want chickens

[Deleted]

I want chickens, but don't know the first thing to do. I have lots of land and very little $$$. I live alone, so whatever I do, it needs to be able to be done by one person. I want chickens mainly for eggs and manure, tho later I might learn to kill them for meat. Any suggestions?

[Deleted]

Try your local feed/farm supply. Oftentimes they sell chicks in the spring. That way, you wouldn't need to order at least 25 like you do if they are shipped from a hatchery.

Kaza[/size]
~The Angelic Mod~

[bergere]

Do you have safe night time housing for them? If you do not, I would wait until you can. Other wise you would loose your whole flock. Every predator loves free chicken dinners.

[Deleted]

I like free chicken dinners to.... does that make me a predator to?

[Deleted]

bergere said:

Do you have safe night time housing for them? If you do not, I would wait until you can. Other wise you would loose your whole flock. Every predator loves free chicken dinners.

Yes, therein lies the rub. No nighttime housing for the ladies nor any kind of chicken yard nor any know-how (or much $$$ for that matter) to git 'er done.....

Still, I'd like just a few, 3 or 4 ought to do me..... We have one feed store in town and they might give me advice, but I'm wondering if there's any way one person alone can get these structures built.....

I've heard of chicken tractors too, I'd like to have one of those as well..... make those dang chickens multi-task, LOL


Yes, Kazaleenah, but you're my kind of predator..... birds of a feather, so to speak.... LOL

[bbird]

Memaw- An idea might be to get bantams. I say this because our bantams are free ranged all the time. We live in a forest with raccoons, bobcats, cougars, coyotes...and whatnot, lol. They roost in the trees at night and are able to fly for long distances, and to great heights. We started out with 9 bantams five years ago, and 5 of them are left. Granted something got the other four, but in 5 years you would get thoughs odds in a chicken coop.

What we did was kept them in a closure for a couple weeks until they realized who fed them and where they could get food then let them out during the day. After 4H was over, and my son was done with them we let them free range all the time because we realized they liked to roost high in the trees. We took a chance that they would survive and they did. Now that might only be our experience, but ask around and see if others with bantams have had that experience too.

For only 3-4 chickens you could use a dog house, buy some chicken wire and make a little run for them. Even use pallets to cage them in, and throw some kind of wire or netting over the top.

[Deleted]

Thanks bbird!!!! All ideas that I can actually do!!!

Have you eaten their eggs? I imagine they must be pretty small....



edited to dink with smilies....

[bergere]

I raise bantams and their eggs taste just fine. In baking you just use 2 eggs instead of one large one.

You can also use a large Rabbit hutch to keep them in at night.
But if you are going to go that route,,get 15 to 20 of them. Because you are going to loose at least half.
Even with a night time hen house..and let me tell you it is the most ugly thing on the planet... I went from having 30 fully feathered bantams to having only 9 of them. Two being roosters. Hens went broody went into the woods..and the wildlife had chickens dinners on my best hens.

The young chicks will have to be kept in the house until fully feathered and they will need some kind of protection for night time until they are full grown sized...wither you use a giant dog kennel or rabbit hutch. Other wise you will loose the whole lot.

I have known people to go around to the lumber places and pick up the free scraps they have out, to build small hen houses...one even used palletsfilling in the gaps with scrap wood and close knit wire. Might check out Freecycle..or such web site to see if anyone is giving away material that you can use to make a wee hen house.

[Deleted]

I have some game banties but they're wild as march hares. I don't care for them much really as they're "twitchy" and not very personable. However, ifyou just want eye candy and eggs they're great.

Tractors are easy to build. About $40 and household stuff can get you a bang up model. Have you ever gone to www.backyardchickens.com ? They have pics and tutorials and LOADS of ideas. Their forum is a little intense for my taste...Most of them show their birds, but they're great when you have a problem and need an answer.

Remember though...Hens can be noisier than roos when laying. Fortunately they don't lay at 2 in the morning but they're still noisy.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the link! All I want is eggs and manure...