Do you have chickens?

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Permalink Reply by Irene on September 9, 2008 at 7:37pm

We do indeed have chickens, hens only. There are 10 of them in a long narrow chicken run with a shed at the end for shelter, sleeping and laying eggs. They are an important part of our homestead. They eat all the weeds I through over the fence to them as well as food scraps that don't go to the dogs, and they make a significant contribution to the richness of our compost. Soil dug from the chicken run and added to planter boxes and hanging baskets gives those plants a big boost. We feed only organic feed so we know that we're getting the best eggs possible, and as we are vegetarians, once the hens have stopped laying they just hang around and enjoy their golden years. I hope you decide to invite some hens to join your garden!

~ irene

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Permalink Reply by Lauren on September 10, 2008 at 7:09am

Chris,
I do have chickens! I adore my girls. I have hens only and I bought Buff Orpingtons because of their calm demeanor. They lay well so I routinely give extra eggs to friends and they love them. I keep the girls in part of my horse barn with a opening to a large dog kennel outside. I have never thought of using the droppings because I use horse manure which I have plenty of! I got them in October and provided a heat lamp and they wintered well. By spring they were ready to lay. This is my 4th year. Best of luck with them!

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Permalink Reply by Penelope on September 10, 2008 at 9:03am

I used to raise chickens and miss them very much, so I am going to lurk on this site.

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Permalink Reply by Clarence on September 10, 2008 at 4:39pm

Chris,

My daughter tells me I have 35 chickens.... I do seem to loose count after awhile. Most are hens, but at the moment we are keeping a few roosters.

Roos are a lot of trouble, but my youngest has tamed two to the point that she can walk them around on a leash. Much to the shegrin of my wife who really dosen't care for the birds at all.

We have two stationary coop/pens and tree moble (yard arc type).

I enjoy the eggs, their composting abilities (i.e. they eat a lot of weed seed, kitchen scarps, etc), and I just really enjoy their antics.

Their manure gives my winter and early spring hot beds a jump start on warming up, but the heat doesn't last as long as rabbit manure.... kind of like soft wood vs. hard wood in the wood stove. So I mix the two and end up with a long running heat source to start plants early in the hoop house or cold frame(I guess once it's heated I should call it a hot frame....)

Chickens deffinitly are a big part of my garden!

~:>

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Permalink Reply by Diana on March 25, 2009 at 6:56am

Just HOW does one go about training a chicken to leash? Where does the leash go, around the neck or leg? We just got our first ever chicks six weeks ago, and am vastly curious!

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Permalink Reply by Clarence on March 25, 2009 at 12:42pm

Diana,

Leash goes around leg.... you need a little crooked stick to teach them to turn on Gee and Haw as well as stop. My dd did a pretty good job in just a few lessons...

If you go the ''The Pecking Order'' group dicussion on what to feed baby chicks I posted a photo of dd walking P'Zilla. The photo is on the second page.

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Permalink Reply by Roger on September 11, 2008 at 1:08pm

Chicken in your yard is a great idea,, I was planning to have a few too, but not sure how easy they are to take care of

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Permalink Reply by Jacki on September 12, 2008 at 5:26am

see if you can save a few battery hens .I did and it proved to be a great move!

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Permalink Reply by Tracie on September 13, 2008 at 3:31am

i dont know what i would do without my chickens! I am always using their hay bedding in my garden. They are invaluable. same for my horse! love that poo. LOL

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Permalink Reply by maria on September 13, 2008 at 12:02pm

My husband and I are looking to get chickens next spring as I hear that thats a good time. He's had chickens before and our friend in Northeastern PA have several and are very happy with them. They did originally have some trouble as the bought too many and it was a little crazy for awhile. I think 10-15 is a nice number and seems manageable.
Question: Any good suggestions for where to purchase? and....
Do you really need to heat their home in the winter, my husband says you only have to keep them out of the wind, but honestly PA gets pretty cold.

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Permalink Reply by Penelope on September 13, 2008 at 1:28pm

You don't have to heat the building they're in, but you do need to make sure they have fresh water. There are apparatuses at the feed store that will dispense water and/or heat it in cold weather. And you must be dilligent in gathering eggs so they don't ffreeze and crack. And they won't lay as well in cold weather, but will start up again in spring. And of course, as they age, they give fewer eggs. Leghorns are the egg machines, but for home use, I find breeds like Barred Rocks, New Hampshires, Rhode Island Red (my favorite) are easier to get along with. Leghorns are flighty and will pile up and suffocate each other when startled, and they startle easily.

Hens that have stopped laying make great chicken noodles./chicken and dumplings -- lots more flavor than a storebought fryer. You can tell which chickens have stopped laying by examining their vent (at night when they're roosting with a flashlight) -- a layer's vent will be moist and healthy looking.

Or you can merely trade out your stock every three years or so. some people do it annually.

And there's an intersting breed called a "sex link" in which the males are one color and the females the other (and it carries on generation to generation, like Pitcairn Islanders -- the males look British; the females look Polynesian because of genetic distance). They're pretty easy to get along with too.

The advantage also is if you plan on buying a mix of chicks (cheaper that way) and want to butcher the excess roosters for fryers before they are fully developed and still tender, they are easier to identify. Full rooster combs and wattles take a while to fully mature and by that time, the meat is a bit tougher.

Keep the henhouse tightly closed at night. Skunks, raccoons, mink/weasels, and stray dogs will get them.

AND if you have a dog that has killed a chicken, forget training it out of him/'her. I haven't known anyone who has been able to shake a dog from a chicken killing habit. You'll need a good chicken yard, bury the wire a foot deep all the way around to discourage animals from digging in or out. Hawks and owls will also try to sample the goods.

About chickens in the garden. They scratch and they eat seedlings and tear things up pretty badly. I wouldn't let them in until the plants are pretty mature if at all. But if you have the garden fenced, they can keep bugs down by eating them around the perimeter.

They don't eat potato bugs. My kids picked a bunch off our spuds one year and we dumped them in the chicken yard. No dice. We had to squash them all. The bugs, not the chickens.

Cats will go after young chicks by the way, but generally leave grown ones alone. Imagine a chicken the same size as you!!!

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Permalink Reply by maria on September 14, 2008 at 5:16pm

Thank you so very much for all the information...I love it. You have so much knowledge. i really appreciate the time you took to answer me.

Thanks - maria

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