Do We Have a Chicken Thread Here?

[Thefishguy77]

You just heat the water and it radiates that much heat? I might try that the water freezing is the most annoying part

Fuck yea, If you have them trained to drink a bucket with nipples. Then throw the heater in that as well. Just dont let it run dry

edit its not a big green house and its packed full. Not a lot of empty space by design. It was only to get me through this winter. The real one get built this summer and I will probably be looking at maintaining the heat stored by the large water barrels I am going to use as heat sinks. Plumb them together and use a external pump to circulate the water and heat it during the night. Hoping I can get enough solar power storage to do this. Also might experiment with the washing machine power generator setup as I have a non fish bearing full time creek. That would probably give me enough to do most of what I want in the greenhouse. Lights during the day in winter and heat at night.

 

[Thefishguy77]

Anybody thinking of selling chicken crap to be used as garden fertilizer?​​​​​​

Nope dont have enough to spare. It also need to age a while so it wont burn shit. When we get alpacas I will sell my alpaca shit for yuppie fertilizer.

 

[M92PV4U]

Nope dont have enough to spare. It also need to age a while so it wont burn shit. When we get alpacas I will sell my alpaca shit for yuppie fertilizer.

You are promoting yuppie growth?

 

[Thefishguy77]

You are promoting yuppie growth?

A hustle is a hustle

 

[Emiller22207]

I buy grade A large chicken eggs for $0.99 per dozen. Chicken leg quarters for $0.79/lb. just last week on sale. WTF would I raise chickens? I grew up on a farm with livestock, including chickens. I don’t get the yard chicken thing. You gotta feed them and keep every day predators from eating them. A good rooster can do a lot from keeping them from getting preyed on, but never been around a rooster I did not want to beat to death with a shovel.

 

[PAE]

Im done with chickens and ducks, will donate my stock of hardware cloth and chicken wire to anyone local that wants it.

 

[Hooligan]

Have had a good size flock for 7 years. We have raccoons, possums, coyotes, and skunks. Haven’t lost a bird to any of them, but my dogs have taken a few. We raise them for eggs, yes store is cheaper but there is no comparison in taste.

Ours free range, open the door in the morning and they go home at night if raised properly, before bed I close the door. Here in Sac cold isn’t an issue, but one week a few years back I did run a heat lamp since it was mid-20s for the week.

We/I do butcher the roosters but meat sucks, like I feed it to the dogs bad. Since I raised the bird I can’t just cull it and throw it away, too cheap for that.

Id like to try some meat birds but would need a different setup to provide different food supply.

Coop is a 5x10, fully wood that came with the house. Floor is rotten wood, I throw in wood shavings and fully clean it out a few times a year.

Most of our lay eggs in the coop, but I do find random piles. Have one hen laying under the deck for the last week or so, sitting on a nest.

 

[Wheelin66bronco]

Ducks are easier than chickens, won't ruin your garden, and lay year round. Only downside is they have to have some sort of water they can get their heads into to clean their bill which equals dirty water all the time.

 

[VG SERE]

Dogs, chickens and predators.

No problems at all. My GSD ignores them completely and my sons Aussie only cares if they're not in their run. Then he herds them into a corner or stands over them if they stop moving, even the rooster. If I new shit all about training a herding dog, 100% Dipper the super Aussie would herd them right into the run.

Don't know if it's the smell of the dogs, location near the house or a combination, but the predators haven't even tried. 3 years, haven't seen a predator, tracks, or scat anywhere near the coop.

 

[dwygrsshpr]

Not sure it was mentioned: sign up for Murray McMurray's catalog. Even if you can buy hatchlings/chicks locally, the catalog is good for information on breeds. We chose a local feed store to buy from vs Tractor Surprise because we wanted a variety of sexed birds (and healthy).

https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html

We are one year in with ten birds chosen specifically for our climate and they are still laying in sub-freezing temps (albeit less). We are getting regular production and at peak it was about 7 eggs per day. We specifically chose a couple Ameraucanas just for the blue eggs. They are wicked cool.

We free range them as long as it's not pouring and they put themselves up at night, I just have to go shut the coop door.

We do not refrigerate the eggs. They live on the counter until ready for use. Note, don't wash them until ready for use. I will upload some pictures later....

 

[Thefishguy77]

Have had a good size flock for 7 years. We have raccoons, possums, coyotes, and skunks. Haven’t lost a bird to any of them, but my dogs have taken a few. We raise them for eggs, yes store is cheaper but there is no comparison in taste.

Ours free range, open the door in the morning and they go home at night if raised properly, before bed I close the door. Here in Sac cold isn’t an issue, but one week a few years back I did run a heat lamp since it was mid-20s for the week.

We/I do butcher the roosters but meat sucks, like I feed it to the dogs bad. Since I raised the bird I can’t just cull it and throw it away, too cheap for that.

Id like to try some meat birds but would need a different setup to provide different food supply.

Coop is a 5x10, fully wood that came with the house. Floor is rotten wood, I throw in wood shavings and fully clean it out a few times a year.

Most of our lay eggs in the coop, but I do find random piles. Have one hen laying under the deck for the last week or so, sitting on a nest.

If you gwt the randoms outside the coop try stashing a few small cat litter bixes with covers in the areas they lay outside the coop. Worked for a few different friends of our.

edit: if you have a bigger garden you can make a small contained run along the garden border. Just a few birds will keep all sorts of pests out of your garden. Have a slug problem, not only will the chickens solve it but they will convert your pests to breakfast for you

 

[bigun]

edit: if you have a bigger garden you can make a small contained run along the garden border. Just a few birds will keep all sorts of pests out of your garden. Have a slug problem, not only will the chickens solve it but they will convert your pests to breakfast for you

Saw that in a 1980s Mother Earth News they had a 6 foot wide run around the outside because they claimed a grass hopper couldn't jump that far

 

[WTF?]

In two and a half years with a hobby flock, we’ve lost free ranging chickens to possums, coons, foxes, feral cats, & dogs. I think we finally have the coop secured pretty well and combined with also regularly setting traps, we have proactively controlled the local possum, coon, & cat population before they have a chance to dine on our remaining poultry.

Fawk baby chicks; we Tried raising a dozen baby chicks and had half of them die within 6 weeks, and only had 2 out of the dozen make it to egg laying age. So you’re way ahead of the game to buy mature birds for 15$ or so.

the city-girl wife loves those stupid birds; she’s a chicken lady akin to the cat lady stereotype. I will admit that having so much practice losing them has been good for her and toughened her up a bit, and she recognizes them more as livestock and finally doesn’t cry (much) when they die... and she has grown quite proficient at dispatching the trapped predator varmints.

While it makes 0 financial sense, I will say that free range eggs are much tastier and the taste of store white eggs is noticeably bland since the few remaining birds are only laying about weekly during the winter.

 

[McCracken]

We had birds for about 5 years. All kinds of birds as that I got some of them for free. The best birds I had were Barred Rocks, Golden Comets, and Buff Orpingtons. All pretty mild tempered and not skiddish. I built my own coop out of scrap but it actually turned out really nice. I even put asphalt shingles on the roof for that classy touch. Here are my tips:

1) If you build your coop, put linoleum down on the floor. It makes clean up a hell of a lot easier
2) Don't go wild on the nest boxes. The birds usually share anyway. Put a golf ball in the box to get them to start laying there.
3) Clip their wings if you don't put a cover over your run. Also, make the fence at least 6-8' high
4) Auto waterer or nipples from a 5-gallon bucket keep things nice and clean
5) If you're looking to boost egg production, put a light in the coop on a timer. Adjust it to mimic the longer days of the year.

 

[dwygrsshpr]

Continued from above...

We raised our flock of 10 from chicks at two different stages about two months apart. We didn't have any issues; they lived in the garage in rubbermaids under heat lamps until they needed bigger quarters in the way of horse troughs (still in the garage and under hardware cloth stretched over frames. Tractor Surprise will have everything you need depending on whatever age you start at and they figure it out pretty quick.

We started right before Covid and the school lockdowns so it actually turned into a project with my 8yo. We would socialize with them a couple times a day and chart their weight by week as a science activity and observe their gains.

Once they were old enough/hardy enough to live without the heat lamps, I assembled a pre-fab coop ($300 on clearance? Can't remember - could not buy materials for that cheap). Built a foundation out of cinder blocks, lined the bottom with caps and the run is filled about a foot deep with cedar mulch (my take on the deep litter method). The roost is filled with pine shavings but is easy to clean with doors and pans on each side. This has to be done about every 2-3 weeks but it's not critical. Waste goes into a special compost heap. Allowing them to free range also helps keep the coop run and roost cleaner.

They roam our 100x100 fenced in area and the Malinois leave them alone once we came to an understanding that these guys are part of the pack. Our highest prey-drive Mal is wary of them - I think she mighta gotten hen-pecked or at least the shit scared out of her that these aren't squeaky toys. We have plenty of fox, coon, hawk, owls, etc on property but I think they stay out of the fence line based on dog scent. Haven't had an issue yet. We clipped everyone's wings because we have some adventurous ones but they can still manage to buzz over the split rail. If they go rogue and get snatched, I am not going to shed a tear. I have tried to keep them in the fence by bringing them back in, but they haven't gotten the message. I am not a chicken herder. Prefer they free-range and forage anyway - great in the summer for bugs/pests as stated.

Egg production started about 5.5 months from week old chicks which is about right for our climate. So far this winter they have not seem to be bothered by temps but they prefer not to be in the snow. I have walled off three sides of the coop for wind with an old tarp cut to fit and they are happy every night to return to the roost. We generally just have to latch the coop door after dusk. I don't have to shut the roost door. My 5-gal bucket with the nipples has been a pain - the nipples will get jammed open or otherwise leak. Also noticed that if the lid is on tight, it can cause a vacuum seal as the water is depleted and then nothing comes out. Again, free range to the rescue. They like the little creek where my sumps dump into.

They get all the produce scraps and man they can go through some blueberries, grapes, and strawberries! We have more eggs than three people can consume and give loads away to family and friends. We probably have about a 100 in the deep freezer - just crack an egg into a silicone mold, freeze, than ziplock. Did that for when winter production slows down, but we have enough back log that I think we will be fine. Current pic of the counter-top (about 100 +/-)... The camera washes out the blue, but in the sunshine, straight from the nesting box, they are a spectacular shade.

I had to register with the State because chicken farming is one of our largest ag outputs here. The reason is to keep all owners notified of disease outbreaks or other topics of interest like sanitation, cleanliness, and knowledge and care. Fun fact: you can determine the color of the egg that a hen will lay by examining her earlobes. I did it by breed, and the hen I tried it on was not too happy about the idea.

I recommend it for anyone that has the space and enough care to consider it a hobby (or at least work) and not necessarily cheap/free eggs - no such thing. The quality and self-sufficiency of the effort is also worth something. Doubly-so if you have young children that can help out by learning and chorin'

edited for image re-sizing

 

[M92PV4U]

Continued from above...

We raised our flock of 10 from chicks at two different stages...

Dude, I totally thought that was a blender.

 

[bigun]

Dude, I totally thought that was a blender.

So did I

 

[det107]

...Only downside is they have to have some sort of water they can get their heads into to clean their bill which equals dirty water all the time.

We had ducks as pets & Pops used to feed them dried dog food (cup or two) in a small trough & top off with fresh water-

 

[Austin]

I built the wife this over last winter, copied a popular, insanely overpriced chicken coop builders design....


predator apron under the rocks, french drain under the sand, lights on front and back to keep predators away at night

A rain barrel for water, trough heater and small pump kick on below below 32*



outlets for water heater, pump, and extra outlets. ....... all powered by Alexa lol






room for 13 large birds, hemp bedding (no smell and 1.5yrs between changing) and a light to keep the girls laying a bit past sunset in the winter.




All of which has produced this:



The wive and kids are nuts about the chickens. I thought I'd be the one that would end up taking care of them but even my 3yr old loves to get eggs from the hutch for breakfast. Only thing l did for the cold was wrap the bottom of the run in plastic to keep the wind off them.

We've lost 2 to hawks and had one sliced open pretty good from one of the attacks. That damn bird lived in my dining room while the wife nursed it back to health :rolleyes:. Almost had me some chicken wings.

 

[Grnd93]

I built the wife this over last winter, copied a popular, insanely overpriced chicken coop builders design....
filedata/fetch?id=314028&d=1613538750

predator apron under the rocks, french drain under the sand, lights on front and back to keep predators away at night


A rain barrel for water, trough heater and small pump kick on below below 32*


filedata/fetch?id=314025&d=1613538746
outlets for water heater, pump, and extra outlets. ....... all powered by Alexa lol



filedata/fetch?id=314030&d=1613538752

filedata/fetch?id=314033&d=1613539336
room for 13 large birds, hemp bedding (no smell and 1.5yrs between changing) and a light to keep the girls laying a bit past sunset in the winter.


filedata/fetch?id=314029&d=1613538752

All of which has produced this:
filedata/fetch?id=314027&d=1613538749




The wive and kids are nuts about the chickens. I thought I'd be the one that would end up taking care of them but even my 3yr old loves to get eggs from the hutch for breakfast. Only thing l did for the cold was wrap the bottom of the run in plastic to keep the wind off them.

We've lost 2 to hawks and had one sliced open pretty good from one of the attacks. That damn bird lived in my dining room while the wife nursed it back to health :rolleyes:. Almost had me some chicken wings.

curious what it ended up costing you to build that. I saw some of the pricing from the company you used for inspiration. The make nice coops, but are pretty spendy

 

[dwygrsshpr]

Dude, I totally thought that was a blender.

So did I

HA! I never saw that until now - fawkin hilarious, and now un-seeable. I love this place.

I built the wife this over last winter, copied a popular, insanely overpriced chicken coop builders design....
filedata/fetch?id=314028&d=1613538750
.

That is NICE! My project this spring is to hook up a rain barrel similar to what you've done to collect the rain water from the roof. I have hose bibs close enough, but it would be even nicer to be self-watering. I would like to have power at the coop for a ceramic heater and perhaps some lights but I don't have a convenient way to get it there without a major project to bury some conduit. I do have some shitty HF solar panels, but they can't keep a 12v deep cycle charged in the winter. Might look into some of the RV/remote cabin solar set-ups that pop up from time-to-time in other threads.

PS - Sweet chandelier in the roost 🖕

 

[woods]

I built the wife this over last winter, copied a popular, insanely overpriced chicken coop builders design....
filedata/fetch?id=314028&d=1613538750

predator apron under the rocks, french drain under the sand, lights on front and back to keep predators away at night


A rain barrel for water, trough heater and small pump kick on below below 32*


filedata/fetch?id=314025&d=1613538746
outlets for water heater, pump, and extra outlets. ....... all powered by Alexa lol



filedata/fetch?id=314030&d=1613538752

filedata/fetch?id=314033&d=1613539336
room for 13 large birds, hemp bedding (no smell and 1.5yrs between changing) and a light to keep the girls laying a bit past sunset in the winter.


filedata/fetch?id=314029&d=1613538752

All of which has produced this:
filedata/fetch?id=314027&d=1613538749


The wive and kids are nuts about the chickens. I thought I'd be the one that would end up taking care of them but even my 3yr old loves to get eggs from the hutch for breakfast. Only thing l did for the cold was wrap the bottom of the run in plastic to keep the wind off them.

We've lost 2 to hawks and had one sliced open pretty good from one of the attacks. That damn bird lived in my dining room while the wife nursed it back to health :rolleyes:. Almost had me some chicken wings.

If I were to build something, it'd be this. Nice work.

 

[Austin]

curious what it ended up costing you to build that. I saw some of the pricing from the company you used for inspiration. The make nice coops, but are pretty spendy

I didn't keep tabs but I'd bet near $3k. I had most of the wood, biggest expenses were the roof, food grade polyethylene for the roost, hardware cloth, 20' copper treated 8x8 footings & porch, sand & pretty rock.

oh and $1,500 in tools I really really needed for the project

it would be even nicer to be self-watering.

PS - Sweet chandelier in the roost 🖕

Blows my mind how much water one side of that little roof collects, in the spring that rain barrel is usually overflowing.

We needed a daylight bulb in there to keep the chickens laying eggs in the winter, wife picked that out for her "gaggle of bitches"

 

[rockota]

I built the wife this over last winter, copied a popular, insanely overpriced chicken coop builders design....


A rain barrel for water, trough heater and small pump kick on below below 32*

Overachiever!!!

More details on how the rainwater is provided to the birds?

 

[Grnd93]

I didn't keep tabs but I'd bet near $3k. I had most of the wood, biggest expenses were the roof, food grade polyethylene for the roost, hardware cloth, 20' copper treated 8x8 footings & porch, sand & pretty rock.

oh and $1,500 in tools I really really needed for the project



Blows my mind how much water one side of that little roof collects, in the spring that rain barrel is usually overflowing.

We needed a daylight bulb in there to keep the chickens laying eggs in the winter, wife picked that out for her "gaggle of bitches"

$3100 was a price I saw for a similar one. Yours probably has some features that would be extra from them.

I need sleepy joe to send us more stimulus checks so I can build it.

 

[Austin]

\n\nOverachiever!!!\n\nMore details on how the rainwater is provided to the birds?

\n\nI don\'t have pics on my phone but its this rain barrel. In the summer pressure pushes water out the bottom into a standard braided stainless hose which connects to the end of a 3\' 2.5\" round PVC pipe on the inside of the coop. The PVC pipe has 5-6 of these chicken waterer nipples in it and the pipe is higher at one end than the other to put the nipples at various heights for the diffrent sized chickens. For the winter, the other end of the PVC pipe has another braided stainless hose that leads up to 1 of the two overflow spots at the top of the barrel There is a submersible pump in there and circulates the warm water in the barrel through the lines to keep the nipples from freezing. Nobody likes frozen nipples ....... for too long \n

 

[Austin]

$3100 was a price I saw for a similar one. Yours probably has some features that would be extra from them.

I need sleepy joe to send us more stimulus checks so I can build it.

Yea I think this one all priced out would have been in the $7-8k range. Also they did not do kits back then, you bought it, they built most of if in house and they came out to finish it and set it.

 

[EHeye]

We have 40 layers and did 25 meat birds last summer. -40, no heat lamp, no losses this year. Stop treating chickens like house animals. We have only lost 2 birds to predators and those were from hawks and the birds were small and dumb when it happened. We produce in the cold (-20) about a dozen butt nuggets a day, when temps get above zero we get close to two dozen. They are a big part of our farm as they eat bugs and fertilize our land / turn up the crap. They do have two Maremma LGD's on there side for our sheep protection. They have bonded to the chickens as well.

 

[surpip]

I have 9, they are pretty entertaining. If I had more land I'd do meat birds too.

 

[Lil'John]

How sensitive are meat birds to loud noises? I have two neighbors who love weekend shooting.