# Chicks



## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

My husband & I along with our daughter & son-in-law have decided to try our hand at raising chickens (for eggs). We have 2 Buff Orpington and 4 Black Sex Link. They are still in DD/SIL's family room but should be moving to their coop in another 3 weeks or so.

Does anyone here have chickens? I've been reading all I can but any tips woild be apprreciated. Our biggest concern is predators. We have fox, raccoon, coyote, hawk & owl around here.

Here is a pic I took yesterday, they're around 3 weeks old...


----------



## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Member Cubbysan has chickens, hopefully she'll see your thread. 

My neighbors have chickens, they built a really nice chicken coop for them. She lets them roam freely too. Her yard is not fenced in, a hawk got one of them and a neighbor's lab mix got another one. Her girls lay eggs regularly and I've got some from her. It's nice having fresh eggs. 

Enjoy!


----------



## Carmel (Feb 9, 2015)

My inlaws had them, and I too am thinking of getting some as I feed my dogs fresh eggs daily. My big concern too would be predators. I was thinking a big dog kennel with a mesh top during the day, and put them away at night in the barn or coop. The night is supposed to be the worst for predators, and they will dig under fences or anyway they can get in there. So I guess putting them in an enclosed predator proof place at night is the best way to keep them safe. Also I have two nanny goats, who I think I could put the chickens in with during the day. The goats are pretty curious and protective, so I highly doubt anything would try to get in there with the goats. They are Alpine Dairy so full sized goats.


----------



## rabernet (Feb 24, 2015)

I would love to have chickens - but I live in an apartment and I don't think I would be able to butcher them after they passed their egg laying years, if my goal was to keep egg layers - otherwise, I'd be keeping all aged out hens with no production. 

My good friend keeps chickens and she's very attached to them, but also very practical about butchering older ones and bringing in new younger ones. 

Here's an article about the side of keeping them that I wouldn't be able to deal with personally.


----------



## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Good point *rabernet*! I also wonder what people are thinking when they buy children a chick or duckling for Easter with no thought what to do with it when it outgrows the box it's being kept in. We live on 10 acres, DH & son-in-law hunt, so not worried about thinning the flock in the future.


----------



## Our3dogs (Apr 3, 2008)

Definitely have a predator proof cage for them. The dog kennel with a top, as well as wire mesh added around the side (keeps the raccoons from reaching their arms through the cyclone fence openings) is really good. A friend we know who lives on several acres was putting in a chicken pen. He was asking the feed/supply store about how to build it to keep them safe. The guy told him many options, and then said "remember the predators have all day to sit around and think about how to get into the cage at night, so don't leave anything to chance". While you are trying to keep the chickens in, you are also trying to keep everything else out. Good luck!


----------



## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Yes, we have chickens! We are having a blast with them. We have a black sex link, Polish crested, frizzles, brahmas, cochins and silkies - plus some others. Mostly bantams. We are are raising 7 baby chicks. We have been doing this for about three years and have lost some to predators. We changed the mesh on the top of our coops to a heavier duty wire ( not chicken wire ) and that so far has done the trick.

If you have any questions, I'll try my best to help.


----------



## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Our chickens are pets first, then our egg layers - we will never eat them. My daughter raises them and does most of the care.


----------



## rabernet (Feb 24, 2015)

I love, love, love your coops!


----------



## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

rabernet said:


> I love, love, love your coops!


Thanks! My husband built them. The yellow cape was made all from recycled material.


----------



## ssacres (Sep 29, 2012)

I loved raising chickens. My soft spot was for the silkies. All of mine were pets with the advantage of fresh eggs and watching the hens raise there chicks. I lost a few to hawks and fox. Mine had the run of the farm but were put in the barn at night and locked up. I didn't much care for the roosters. They always wanted to attack me. I loved listening to them talk at night when they were going to bed and having them follow me around during the day. I miss them..


----------



## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

ssacres said:


> I loved raising chickens. My soft spot was for the silkies. All of mine were pets with the advantage of fresh eggs and watching the hens raise there chicks. I lost a few to hawks and fox. Mine had the run of the farm but were put in the barn at night and locked up. I didn't much care for the roosters. They always wanted to attack me. I loved listening to them talk at night when they were going to bed and having them follow me around during the day. I miss them..


I never thought I would enjoy them as much as I do. We have had to get rid of a couple roosters, right now we have about 6, been warning my daughter that they may need to be rehomed eventually too - but right now they appear to be living okay together. Some are very lovable, and others you can only go near at night time. 

We have hawks and an owl that actually sit right on the coops or in the trees, so the would never survive free range, which makes me so sad.


----------



## HovawartMom (Aug 10, 2006)

I Have 4 orpingtons and 8 marans


----------



## ssacres (Sep 29, 2012)

cubbysan said:


> I never thought I would enjoy them as much as I do. We have had to get rid of a couple roosters, right now we have about 6, been warning my daughter that they may need to be rehomed eventually too - but right now they appear to be living okay together. Some are very lovable, and others you can only go near at night time.
> 
> We have hawks and an owl that actually sit right on the coops or in the trees, so the would never survive free range, which makes me so sad.


Oh those roosters. I had one that really didn't like me and he would put his head down and run at me, feathers raised and spurs ready for battle. He did end up finding a new home. I couldn't take it anymore. The hens were just so sweet. I had about 40 chickens at one point. The good old days..


----------



## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

The chicks were moved out to the coop today. A 8' x 16' run is being built next. We have a small, temporary run we can use in the mean time. Here they are checking out their new digs...


----------



## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Our chicks are getting big! The run still isn't finished :doh: if only the rain would stop! And there is only so much free-time to work on it. Luckily the coop is large for them to run around in. We ended up selling the extra/temporary run, it was just too small and a PITA to get them out in the evenings. DH had to crawl in on his belly through the poop, something he wasn't happy about. :yuck:


----------



## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

I grew u on a farm and naturally we had chickens, mostly Rhode Island Reds and a few Bantams or "banties" as we called them. Our chickens were for eggs and meat. Ours were free during the day, penned at night. My one aunt and uncle had Leghorns and were in the egg business and had a few hundred. They were also free in the day and penned at night. Actually, he had two very long buildings they were put in at night. Uncle Millard got up at like 4:00 in the morning and turned on lights in the buildings to get the hens to laying. 

I use to love to help my aunt and cousins "candle" the eggs, as we called it. They were put on this little dal and passed over a light so you could see the inside to see if there were any blood spots in them. If so, they were removed. The eggs moved down and the heavier ones "fell" off first, (large eggs), the medium and then small. They wre not done by size but by weight.

About 20 years ago our next door neighbor bought colored Easter chicks for their two kids. Turns out one was a rooster, one was hen. When they got grown the rooster would go into the yard on the other side of them and for some reason the hen would come into our yard. The rooster got killed by the dog in that other yard, but my Irish Setter liked the hen. I would put her back over the fence (6' wood fence) and she would come back over. Sue tried clipping her wings but that didn't work. I told her I didn't mind having a chicken in my yard, I had grown up with them. So in the end she told me I could have the chicken and gave me the bag of hen scratch.

I named the hen Chuck Chuck and she could be anywhere in the yard and when I called her name she came running. She also loved to eat the hen scratch out of your hand. At the time I also had mini lop eared rabbit, Mr. Rabbit and the chicken, rabbit and dog were buddies. I could sit in the swing and the rabbit would come to be picked up and held and the chicken would hop up and sit next to me. E very morning I took Mr. Rabbit out of his hutch and he spent the day free in the yard and he and Chuck Chuck were always together--alone with Boots when he was out. Mr. Rabbit was put back in his hutch late afternoon.

One morning Chuck Chuck didn't come when I called her and we found a mess of feathers scattered around. Don't know what got her that night. Mr. Rabbit died peacefully in his sleep at age 10. Boots was lost to bone cancer in his knee at 12 1/2. Here is a picture of the 3 of them in the yard.


----------



## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

The girls are happy & healthy. We're anxiously awaiting for that first egg.


----------



## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

We used to have chickens and turkeys when I was a kid. Funny, we did not live in the country haha. 

I want to get them again now, but my brittany would go CRAZY trying to get them I think. I'm not sure if she would kill the chickens, but she has a big hunting drive and goes after wild birds all the time.

Most of the time it's just pointing at them, and then chasing the birds as they fly away.


----------



## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

For summer vacation my daughter bought herself a really nice incubator. Right now we have 12 baby ducks and 12 baby chicks in our garage all between 1 and 3 weeks old. She has been told that she will need to find a home for most of them. 

My golden retriever breeder mentioned that she might be interested, I had to tell her that Alyssa would be screening the homes.


----------



## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

I have thought about it for the eggs and meat. Seems like a lot of work though and one gets fond of them.


----------



## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Those little chicks are now all laying beautiful, delicious eggs. We share a lot of our eggs since we average around 40 week.


----------



## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Willow52 said:


> Those little chicks are now all laying beautiful, delicious eggs. We share a lot of our eggs since we average around 40 week.


Love it! Aren't they so much fun!

Where did you get that egg holder? I saw somebody else post one on FB, but never seen one in the stores.


----------



## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

That's great, know you're really enjoying the fresh eggs.


----------



## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

cubbysan said:


> Love it! Aren't they so much fun!
> 
> Where did you get that egg holder? I saw somebody else post one on FB, but never seen one in the stores.


It's called an Egg Skelter. Got it online from Omlet.US


----------

