Raising chickens?

[Duck]

Once you eat some free range chicken eggs, store bought just aren't very good anymore. Hard to describe, but they have more flavor. The yolks tend to have an orangish-yellow color as well. Most likely tied to the variety in their diet, but I don't remember there being a huge difference in winter vs summer eggs, so who knows. But they are very good.

@Road Dust lives in the same town in TN as my grandma. I was down there last summer & stopped in & she gave me some eggs from her chickens. My grandma scrambled 6 of them. I noticed they were better than store-bought eggs & they were a more vivid yellow in color. But I left the rest of them in my grandma's fridge so I didn't get to try them cooked other ways.

It's the smaller critters that are hard to keep out, Duck. There's plans for coops without chicken doors, they have a window like opening, and charged wire mesh below that comes on at night. It saves having to go out and close them in at night while keeping the critters at bay. And will keep a 'yote from having chicken dinner if you forget to shut the door.

If "free range" means letting them roam all over the place and then rounding them up every night at dusk, that's not gonna work for me. I'd rather just give them a fenced-in area to roam around in, with a coop they can shelter in at night.

I'm kinda thinking a big chain-link dog kennel would work. Something maybe 15x15 feet with an 8 foot ceiling, also chain-link. That'll keep cats & owls out. The bottom can be open but I'd have to get a bunch of sticks of half-inch steel electrical conduit, cut them into 2 foot sections & pound them into the dirt just inside the perimeter to prevent canine burrowing, maybe space them out about 6-8 inches. The area I'm thinking of has lots of tree roots so "plan A" which would've been to dig a narrow trench about a foot deep & putting paver stones in there sideways wouldn't work for most of the line.

Having the coop up on stilts with bottom-entry only (except for a large door on the side that opens for access for humans, but seals up pretty good when closed) is best for protecting them from wind. When the door is on the side, wind will always get in there even if the wind is hitting the side opposite the door. Being up by the house & trees & next to a shed will slow the wind down, but also cause turbulence so wind direction will always be random anyway. If the only opening is at the bottom, wind passes freely underneath from one side to the other & doesn't end up creating a draft inside the box. But that's assuming that it's a dog house. Dogs can jump up through a hole from the bottom but chickens would need a ramp. And the problem with a ramp is that it'll direct the wind up into the hole too. Unless the ramp is nothing but some steel tubing with some kind of wire mesh over it. But I don't know if the chickens would be able to walk up something like that.

 

[Hammer166]

@Duck you don't have to round them up, they'll be roosting well before dark all on their own. And there's not a lot of worry about how they get back in; mine used to go over the top of a dutch door to get in and out if they had to. (The wind could blow the bottom shut if the kids didn't do it right.)

 

[midwestbound]

You will need fine mesh wire or something to keep the rats from getting in the coup at night.

 

[Rigjockey]

What about getting like a million chickens, Lock them in space made for a half million chickens so they cant move around and get skinny. Then keep them in the dark so they think it is eternal nighttime. Feed them growth hormones and never enter the place to clean out all the dead chickens. Let the chickens live in their own feces.

Has this ever been tried, I would say it would yield some giant chickens and huge eggs.

 

[midwestbound]

I think that has already been done...lol! ^^^

 

[Duck]

You will need fine mesh wire or something to keep the rats from getting in the coup at night.

We don't have rats around here. Just mice.

The rooster won't kill the mice or chase them off?

 

[Rigjockey]

I think that has already been done...lol! ^^^

Oh, Ok. lol.

 

[midwestbound]

We don't have rats around here. Just mice.

The rooster won't kill the mice or chase them off?

Not if he is roosting too. They do sleep.

 

[Rigjockey]

Roosters the little peckers.

 

[midwestbound]

^^^^^you mean a little p? @rigjockey

 

[Hammer166]

We don't have rats around here. Just mice.

The rooster won't kill the mice or chase them off?

The mice are no issue. I've seen chickens eat a mouse.

 

[ironmanwife]

We currently have 25 chickens and 8 bahams..we strted with 30..we do loose a lot to foxes and coons..trap constantly ..
NOT all chickens will sit to hatch eggs..and than there are always 2 or three that just love to eat eggs..we have a hen sitting all summer and everytimes she sits a week or two some other chickens eats her eggs..so she starts over..poor creature..all ours are brown..so I don't know which one is the cannibal..I would shoot this witch!

 

[Road Dust]

I worry about mice, squirrels, and other small critters sneaking in and eating the chicken's food, but so far haven't found a way to completely secure it, unless I close their door at night and get up early every morning to open it. I'm much to lazy for that so I imagine I have some fat happy mice on the property somewhere.

They do all head to the coop by themselves just before dark just like clockwork and they sleep very sound.

 

[Duck]

We currently have 25 chickens and 8 bahams..we strted with 30..we do loose a lot to foxes and coons..trap constantly ..
NOT all chickens will sit to hatch eggs..and than there are always 2 or three that just love to eat eggs..we have a hen sitting all summer and everytimes she sits a week or two some other chickens eats her eggs..so she starts over..poor creature..all ours are brown..so I don't know which one is the cannibal..I would shoot this witch!

I worry about mice, squirrels, and other small critters sneaking in and eating the chicken's food, but so far haven't found a way to completely secure it, unless I close their door at night and get up early every morning to open it. I'm much to lazy for that so I imagine I have some fat happy mice on the property somewhere.

Probably best just to allow it to happen. It'll keep the mice out of the house.

 

[8978]

Interesting reading.

I've had fresh eggs and yes, they are orange and the yoke sits high and sturdy. Tastes really good!!!

Just watching these Alaska shows I just wonder why they don't raise chickens. I know it's all drama on TV and centers around getting food but I would think chickens are easy to take care of and require a few 50 pound bags of food. Just feed them, take their eggs and eat them. Have maybe another smaller coop to raise chicks to replenish the heard...)Heard? What the hell is a bunch of chickens called?

 

[Hammer166]

What the hell is a bunch of chicks called?

Groupies.

 

[8978]

Groupies.

Shoot, my own post went right over my head

 

[Injun]

Interesting reading.

I've had fresh eggs and yes, they are orange and the yoke sits high and sturdy. Tastes really good!!!

Just watching these Alaska shows I just wonder why they don't raise chickens. I know it's all drama on TV and centers around getting food but I would think chickens are easy to take care of and require a few 50 pound bags of food. Just feed them, take their eggs and eat them. Have maybe another smaller coop to raise chicks to replenish the heard...)Heard? What the hell is a bunch of chickens called?

It's too bleedin' cold for them to last through winter. It get's under -50 in many places. Unless you keep them biddies in the house, you'll have to start over every year.

 

[8978]

It's too bleedin' cold for them to last through winter. It get's under -50 in many places. Unless you keep them biddies in the house, you'll have to start over every year.

I honestly didn't think of that. Good point.

 

[8978]

Its a flock

So, it's a real cluster flock?