Chicken thread

[Buzzie mcnugget]

We started 10 months ago with 10 chick's.
1 died within a few days.
Since around June we pull an egg a bird daily.
Save for a recent decline to 6 a day and earlier a couple of the hens went broody for a couple weeks. 
Just after the Christmas deep freeze one of the ladies became a red tailed hawk snack.

We have since shut down all free range time.  I built a fairly large covered run for them and have an electric poultry net for ground predators. 

I'm trying to convince myself to do a run of about 50 Cornish cross meat birds next.

[Trub Lou]

Seven dollar eggs may be what finally pushed my wife into not complaining so loudly about how horrible it would be to have chickens.

[Mexas Joe]

I had no idea so many of you guys have birds. Awesome.

So I have about 1/2 acre that is fenced back "pasture" separate from my pool and groomed back yard. I was considering free range birds but putting them up in a hen house at night. For those that don't free range, are you moving their run? How do you keep the run "fresh?"

[Buzzie mcnugget]

For 9 birds 12 x 30ft doesn't really smell.

I made it so its easy to replace the shavings and turn that into composte for the garden.

[TxBrewer]

One good trick in your hen house is to cut the area under your roosting bars out and replace it with good chicken wire. Most of the droppings occur in that area and it makes clean up in your coop far less work. The ground underneath your hen house where the droppings are makes good fertilizer as well and is easy access on the ground.

Another good if you can make it work is to give you access to the nesting boxes from outside the coop by a door or access panel. My current hen house does not have this but the one I built at the last house did and I miss it.

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I'm trying to convince myself to do a run of about 50 Cornish cross meat birds next.

We have discussed doing a smaller run of 12 meat birds but I remember, I think it was, Scott's posts about the plucking process and it just seems like suck an ass beating that we haven't done any.     I thought about doing a few turkeys but was recommended against it by some chicken people due to some diseases turkeys can passively carry that are really bad for chickens.

[Buzzie mcnugget]

I don't think layers are very much work.
But without scale meat birds is hard to justify.
Gear like the pluking machine etc..

[Mexas Joe]

I’ve been looking at small 3-4 hen pens that are enclosed and have a set of wheels where you can scoot them around the yard. Apparently it’s called a “tractor.”
This appeals as easier but I like the idea of free range during the day and hen house at night.

Feed store has chicks in tubs for cheap cheap.

[TxBrewer]

I’ve been looking at small 3-4 hen pens that are enclosed and have a set of wheels where you can scoot them around the yard. Apparently it’s called a “tractor.”
This appeals as easier but I like the idea of free range during the day and hen house at night.

Feed store has chicks in tubs for cheap cheap.

Free range is all I have done but a guy down the road does the tractor around his yard.    Chickens will take care of alot of bugs if they are free range, when the grashoppers get thick they gorge on them.

[Buzzie mcnugget]

This spring I intend to build a chicken moat around our garden.
The idea being the girls will have a tunnel around the perimeter so they have variation of habitat and can guard the produce.
I have so many hawks, coyotes, feral cats, et all no way the flock would survive without protection/containment.

Additionally when we did let them free range, they got into places I didn't want them.
Front porch, my cars, places I use herbicides for grass control.

It's just simpler to deal with if they are contained.

[Mexas Joe]

Tucker had a special about hens not laying and people are suspecting Purina chow because when they switch feed the hens begin to lay again.