THF CHICKEN Thread

We have a garden sticky I know there are a lot of guys here with chickens. Here's the place to share ideas and such.

We now have 18 hens and one rooster. Our coop is 8x12 and attached fun is a little over 20x30 but we let them run around the whole yard. I have finally found the permany spot in the yard we will keep the coop so now I have to make the run fence permeate and put the gate in so we can go in and out. Right now we are getting 9 eggs a day most of the time.



Here's most our chickens and the coop and run in the back ground.

Right now we use the cheap five or so gallon water and feeders. My next project is to make a water system and feeder so I don't have to lug them from the backyard to the back of the house every day for water.

Let's keep this thread going and everyone else feel free to kick in.

Walter

I wish we could have chickens....no livestock allowed in the neighborhood.....

Good idea for a thread! I need to get some chickens. What's the best breed for north Texas to get eggs year round?

Not sure we have a bunch of different breeds. But do get eggs year round. I like the mix of different breeds as well get different colored eggs.

Walter

Here's my coop

I like the lock on the door!

220-221, whatever it takes...

I like that run! We just now getting started and still got a run to build... picking up the chicks today

This one cost me $3500

Nice coops Nav & Nate

aint nothing like the Payne kingdom....

Payne I like that setup. We got 12 eggs today but one of them got smashed. Best lot yet. I was going to get some pictures of the inside but it got dark before I finished mowing and feeding. I'll get some tomorrow of the inside.

Love me some fresh eggs......

What do y'all do with all those eggs? We really only eat real breakfast (with eggs) Saturday and Sunday. Also, there's only 3 and I'm usually gone before breakfast 1 weekend day a week. We eat maybe 2 dozen eggs a month, if that. Would getting chickens be a waste of effort for us?

Chicken is tasty too!

I feed 6 on most mornings. we go through a dozen eggs in one sitting almost

We only eat eggs on sat and sun as well most times. We have chickens because they are fun the have running around the yard and the eggs are a bonus. We get many more eggs than we can eat, got nine today. So when we get a bunch we will sell them. I'll never make any money off them but it helps with the feed cost. We have been selling them for $4 a dozen. Wife sold five dozen today. Fresh eggs are so much better than the store bought.

Walter

Mixed flock. Still need to add. They're in a 50x50' area with a 5' fence. Wing(s) clipped. When it's warm, they have 1/2 acre to scratch. They are pretty cool.

You'll see a reduction in grasshoppers, ticks and snakes around the house.

What about chiggars, will they eat them?

Walter

Spread feed store DE in your yard to control chiggars.

The chicken/chiggar is like a hf/lf thread.

Im looking forward to this

Here is the outside of my coop 8'x12'




The whole right side is bars for the to sit on. And five nesting boxes in the back.



This is the run with a hole for them to get out into the whole yard. Just over an acre. Still need to make the fence a pipe fence like the rest of the place and put a real gate in. I have the four foot gate in the garage, just have to stop being lazy.




And here is today's haul, minus one I broke while trying to chase one of the goats out of the coop since I left the door open.




Walter

Nice setup Walter

Nav you ain't right in the head

Thank you sir. The little one sure loves going to get the eggs every night and feed the goats and his mini horses. He gets mad though if you don't let him have the feed scoop. He also loves giving the goats treats out of his hand. We spent thirty minutes out there tonight I just set there and let him run around and chase the chickens and goats.



Walter

Really? in freestone county? damn....

I'm probably in the only neighborhood in the entire county that doesn't allow it......

Good stuff right there.....

left over 1000 year old shingles











Tin 18" deep

That is a good looking setup east. only thing I wish is that our coop was bigger so that I could build a small room inside to keep the feed. We keep it in 55 gal drums but they crap all over the lids so we started keeping them behind the coop.

Walter

show offs

Great lookin coop's y'all. No chickens here. Yet. Fortunately we're pretty close to Mahard egg farm. $1.00 for a dozen of their super jumbo's.

SHOW OFF!!!!

Got the real fence started today for the run. Wouldn't you know it when I want to bring the welder home its rented out. So I got the post driven and the top rail cut and laid out. Also got the gate hung. I zip tied the panels up until I can get it all welded up.






We lost another chicken this morning. Not sure what they are getting into that is killing them but we need to figure it out. Got some lumber tonight to start a small raised garden so that is on the list for tomorrow.

Walter

How does one clip wings? Can you do it or do you need to have a vet do it? The clipped wing thing is one of the main reasons we don't have chickens....yet.

Hold them upside down and cut off a few inches of the long feathers. Very easy to do.

Thanks. Might have to see if I can watch that a time or two first.

Only 10 or so feathers to cut. Real easy.

Thanks. Do you do that while they're little, half grown, or adult?

From what I heard is that you'll have to redo it every so often. Some one smarter than me shall know, but I have a four foot fence on one side of property and five foot on the other and they stay in the yard for the most part.

Walter

I had over a 100 roosters and stags at one time. I loved breeding and fighting chickens before it was outlawed in the US. It was a great sport. It's a shame game chickens can no longer do what we bred them for so many years. It was a big money business that will never come back legally.
I think it would be cheaper to just buy your eggs and poultry at the store if that's all you wanted them for. That's what I tell my wife, but she wants some to mess with. She is a city girl transplanted to the country that's never had any to take care of. I may give in and get a few. They would have to be game and it would be tough not to find a fight if I had an interesting prospect. That's why she doesn't have chickens to play with.

Thanks, again. Back at the house in Val Verde County it wouldn't hurt for them to roam a little, But, we get lots of hawks and Kara-Karas that are always looking for an easy meal. Owls too, had one good owl that came and got a cat we had that I hated, so a chicken might not be too much of a problem.

If you have birds of prey and the chickens are free ranging, expect to lose some.

If you can keep them around trees or even cover an area with net, the hens will have a better chance. A dog out there helps too (not sure if you still have a GS or not).

I have not had an owl or hawk take any yet but most of mine have been large hens. Their "run" is 50x50x5' fence with 3 willows and a dog on the perimeter. A neighbor has lost 3 recently. His hens have zero protection though.

Here's the Coop I built with my daughter for her 4 hen's. I am surprised how low maintenance they have been. She has had them for a couple of years now. Average 3 eggs per day. Many days 4.

very nice coop

GREAT THREAD! Thanks for posting, Walter. Wife and I want to do this when we retire in a few years, so how do they do in the Panhandle with the pretty harsh weather conditions, etc.?



I was just about to ask about this as well. Lots of hawks, harriers, and owls in the Panhandle and I want to keep my chicks from getting smoked. Totally enclosed run, I guess?

I would if you can, I lost two flocks before enclosing the run. Besides the birds I had raccoons killing them, haven't lost one since. Just had the t posts holding the 4x4 panels and chicken wire on the panels. Welded some rebar on the t posts, ran the chicken wire on the sides & top then used j clips on overlapped chicken wire.

+1

Here is most of my flock. They'll be "free range" on 1/2 an acre until winter.

Thanks for the info, gents.

When you have chickens, you'd find snakes. This rat snake was dispatched by a python. All that yella is yolk from my eggs.

He does not feel very good it appears.

That is a bug eyed snake

surprising

Great shot. I've waiting for some additions to the chicken thread. We get lots of coachwhips and bull snakes in the panhandle, but are rattlers prone to egg snatching? That makes checking the coop a whole different ballgame.

Someone should have told that rat snake not to eat eggs! haha

yup; when you have chickens, EVERY predator (& egg/feed thief) finds you/them.
BUT, I now re-locate the GOOD snakes; I'd rather be 'pestered' by them occasionally than be overrrun by rats/mice and copperheads . . . .

I usually do. I'm not a snake killer in general. We have had a speckled king snake for a few years now. I hope its still around this year.

I say again, "Are rattlers prone to egg snatching?"

Yes and no. After searching about it some, it doesn't sound like rattlesnakes are big egg eaters.

Thank you for the info, sir. Raising chickens will remain on the bucket list.

new carpet for the girls

Finally got the chickens in the new set up until they ready to roam the yard... been letting them out in the pen every afternoon to scratch they are loving life compared to the old water tank they were in lol.. had an old frame I made use of for the pen

nice setup Nav

We picked up another dozen hens and one rooster last night. Hopefully they will integrate good they are still small.

Walter

Watch them, the bigger birds might kill the little ones while establishing the pecking order.

Old trampoline?

I have them in a little pen for dogs with a cattle panel over the top right now. Inside the chicken run. So they can see each other and still be safe from predators and the other chickens for a little while before we send them in to battle. There was three bigger chickens in the group so we put them straight in with the other and watched them for a few hours. They were in the coop up on the best bars last night and can't even tell which ones are new, so they found their place.

Walter

That is great Payne.

I need a better feeder in the run so they don't waste so much or it gets wet. I'm set on buying one of these. But they are 92 dollars each or 76 if you buy two or more. Shipping is like 80 bucks. So if I find someone else that wants one I'm getting it.

Holds fifty pounds of feed. Good for up to 100 chickens they say.

Between that and a waterer I'm working on that'll be made out of a 55 gallon drum. It will be much easier to take care of them and a lot less work which means more fun.

Walter

Mine always scratched all the feed out of feeders, I just hand feed what they'll eat in a day.

I use one like this in the coop, dump it daily for fresh water.

Yezzir

Birds finally learned how to use the perch.. I opened the hatch and thought they all flew the coop then 6 little heads popped out from the roof

Some one got in the coop. Dang thing ate three of my ceramic eggs, didn't walk away from this one.

Round one and two of coop protection. Cut some cattle panel I had and used fence nails to block under the coop. So the chickens can't get under there and also keeps other animals out. Then finished the fence around the run and finally welded it up.








I also have a trap set. Think we have a coon that has been getting some of the chickens at night.

Walter

Not sure why the other two pictures aren't working.










Grass in the backyard is starting to come in. Ready for it to fill out.

Walter

Did you retrieve your ceramic eggs.......

I wanted to, but I was at work and the wife freaked out so she had the neighbor come get it out and they didn't

Walter

Okay all you chicken enthusiast, how do you keep RATS out of the chicken coop? Thought about poison-nex it because of cats and other animals that might eat them. They are a nuisance crawling all over the place.q
HELP

Remove the food. Hand feed the hens once or twice a day.

If you have rats living in the coop, get them out and they shouldn't be back if you remove their food.

Had another culprit try to get in the coop tonight. After work I was out with the chickens checking their pen and giving them treats like every night and I caught this guy just on the other side of the fence headed to the coop had my wife bring my gun out but he disappeared before she got there. I knew he would be back so I ate dinner then came back out and caught him with a rake half way into the coop. I'm not a snake guy and with a little kid running around he didn't make it.




Walter

Walter you need some cats to keep them snakes in check!

Chicks are getting big and my rooster is starting to show some color

Nav, I have a stray cat that now calls our place home, it was someone's house cat because it has gotten in our house and does great. So it spends some time inside if we are home but most of the time outside. She is a snake and mouse killing machine most of the time. I was working in the chicken run in the back corner and have let the grass go too long behind the fence, there is also a big pile of rock back there. I saw the snake when I was bent down in the corner and it scared the crap outta me so I had my wife bring out my handgun but couldn't find it. So I got the cat to come back out there and I started to weed eat around the back. I knew the snake would be back. After dinner I came back out to lock the chickens up and check for the snake and sure enough it had come back around the other side and I caught it just as it was climbing up the side of the coop to go through the chicken wire and get inside. The cat was actually not far behind it and I had to get her away before I pulled it off with the rake and then we shot it.

Walter

Lol sounds like an interesting day!

trust me I hate snakes. Even knowing that it was just a rat snake I still wasn't a fan. The thought to burn down the back forty feet of my property with a torch sorta crossed my mind.

Walter

HA!

So I was always told you need a rooster so the hens will lay eggs. Recently, someone told me that's not true. So other than needing a new generation to hatch, why or why don't you need a rooster?

A rooster will give it's life to save the hens. They are very protective and will alert the hens to run for cover.

Roosters are loud. A neighbors rooster crows at 4am often. While they serve a purpose, hens will do just find without them. If you were to "free range" some hens, you may want a rooster.

Exactly that. I'm trying to avoid all that rooster mess, but the girls need to earn their keep too. Sounds like I can keep my girls pimp free.

Thank you, sir.

Our rooster is pretty good. Doesn't make too much noise and somewhat protects the hens. We've had two snakes get into the coop now and none of the chickens have messed with them nor has the rooster but he is cool to have around and is not mean to people.

Walter

It happens, found this one the other day. They keep the mice away.

Payne, so does my cat, but I feel a lot less like she will kill me.

Walter

Everyone send Payne a kitten!

It won't kill or even bite you if you leave it alone

cman sthu

I have a litter packed and ready to ship.

Not as much worried about it getting me as me stumbling upon it when I'm not ready and giving me a heart attack. And making me look like a girl as I'm running and screaming.

Walter

I only jumped a foot or so when I saw him...

Better than me. Thee last one we had was within a foot of me while I was bending down at the corner of the fence, I jumped up on the top rail. Four foot lol.

We had two hens go broody. We don't have a rooster, so we got 8 fertilized eggs from our neighbor. 6 have hatched since yesterday. Elizabeth bought boxes to put on the floor so the chicks wouldn't fall from our raised nesting boxes.

Caught a dominicker taking a dust bath.

[video:youtube]1JTIlwAW_W8[/video]

62"

We processed our rooster two weeks ago. We got two chicks from my wife's coworker, who's kid brought them home from school after the class raised them. One turned out to be a rooster and he crowed all dang day. I work from home and it was miserable. Plus, he was a mean SOB.

We bought two other hens, so now we have three. All three have been doing just fine since the rooster has gone in the freezer. Best eggs I've ever tasted.

Picked up 10 more chickens yesterday since we lost so many. Also picked up a pig to feed out and take to the butcher going to start raising a few pigs for our own pork.

Hope you have a strong pen, if you're building one think about a chute and loading gate. They're a pain to load when they get around 300#'s.

Eatin' him for dinner!

Here is the hen that showed up. Pretty bird. Not sure who had her before but she hasn't missed many meals.



My scratch eating dog thinks shes a chicken. It's the damnedest thing.

Does anyone put a heater in their coop, wife is worried her (poor chickens) might get cold?

I use heat lamps inside the coop, place them near the water so it doesn't freeze over.

I have two lamps running. Lamps turned off this morning around 5am I think. Lost 2 birds.

We went from 15 to 16 to 14 all in a few days

If you have some hay you could put some in the coop so they can nest.

I do. just got a bundle of straw. They have plenty.

Found my first frozen egg this morning. Have only had a few eggs laid outside of the coop and I missed this one last night.
Going to have to put a nesting box on the fence or outside of the coop to let them have an alternate nest.

I have 1 Americauna hen, 4 Barred Rocks Hens and 1 Jersey Giant rooster. We get 4-5 eggs a day. Rooster has been gentle so far but he is only about 6 months old.

This one will damn near jump in your arms. Weird bird. Overly social.






Our Phoenix will not lay in the coop. Unsure why other than its a really dumb animal.

Y - I now have an old oil-filled heater I set in there on low. No worries about catching anything on fire.

As long as they are protected from wind & rain and are well fed/watered, they can handle some serious cold without heater, but I keep mine full laying production thru much of winter (lights on timer) AND I have found electricity is cheaper than extra feed consumed by 30+ birds just to keep warm.

I m building a 20x20x10 chicken pen on skid

Where s a good place to get silky in Texas ?

Craigslist. Several sellers around DFW have them.

Thanks

For the record, you chose the ugliest breed in the universe. Maybe even in the world!

my wife likes the way they look, so it's for her

a co-worker said they produce great tasting eggs.... so I am going to give it a try

I will probably end up with several variety Rhode Island Reds, Bantams etc ....

will throw some quails in the mix

Good morning all,

I have a young rooster I need to get rid of, he is free to a good home. I live in Frisco/Little Elm area. Will travel short distance to drop off. He is what looks to be a Leghorn. Mostly white with black tail feathers and a slight blackish yellow collar.

I ll take it

I am building a 20x20 x 8 pen

If you can wait til I get everything welded up and wires stretched

Morning Cabo,

How long are you thinking before you can take him?

1-2 weeks
As soon as my contractor finish welding and hang wires

Thanks

Lost the wife's favorite hen this morning to a hawk. She would go outside and whistles it would come running. Free roaming has its downfalls. Might have to have her get some more chicks to raise, take her mind off of the tragedy.

Sorry about that Dalee, I have lost a hen and a rooster this year to hawks. I try to be outside the whole time they are out of their run now.
They don't get too far from cover anymore.

Not too long before the Mississippi Kites move in to Denton Co. They chase or push the hawks out of my area. Big birds are safe but not pullets.

Owls are bad in my area. Neighbor has had a few taken by birds, one of which was an owl.

This hen was 1 1/2 yr. old, large chicken. The hawk couldn't carry off. Just tore it up. Tried to do a set but didn't come back. Was going to kill it's a$$.

Anybody have any laying hens for sale close to Denton? Would like to surprise the wife since she lost hers to a hawk. Not looking to break the bank, both retried.

Finally got the thief!

In January we lost about 6-8 hens, all came up missing during the day. I normally close the coop door after the girls go to bed, unless I forget. I set some foothold traps and some dog proofs. Over the last year, I caught at least 10 possums and 8-10 coons.
The case of the missing hens during the day was a weird one.

We have a few hawks out here but they focus on my pigeons and will just buzz the chickens - I doubt they could carry one out of the 5 foot fence anyway.

Finally, one night I saw a bobcat. I took a shot but couldn't find him the next day, but the case of the missing chickens came to an end, so I assumed I shot him and just couldn't find him.

Roll forward to last Wednesday.

My wife woke me up in the middle of the night with her frantic screams of "something's getting the chickens!" So I stumbled around, put on my shoes and grabbed the .22 rifle. No critter spotted but 3 hens missing and one tore up pretty bad. (appears I forgot to close them up, sshhh...don't tell the wife).

Figured it was a coon, so made sure dog proofs were set and re-baited.

Got up the next morning, go out for morning p-p, shine light by one of dog proofs and there's a dang bobcat munching on cat food around the dog proof. He wasn't nervous, just looked at me - about 35 yards away. I slowly backed into house and grabbed the .22 rifle, sneaked back outside and shined the light - still there. I shoot, bobcat does a 6 foot double back flip and runs off.

Sounded like I hit him, I'll look when it gets light.

Looked but no blood and didn't find him following the direction he ran off.

Saturday, I noticed a buzzard fly off from the lot next door. Hmm... was busy Saturday so I didn't go investigate.

Saw the buzzard again yesterday, went to check it out. This is all that's left of that bobcat - serves him right! Maybe the hens can live in peace for a couple weeks, until the next one comes around.

Good job on the bobcat.
Got home today and my hens were inside the coop huddled up and scared. As I walked in to check on them a hawk flew by and then one took off out off an oak tree across the fence. They tried to get to them in their run and took my bird netting to the ground again. Going to try and put up chicken wire over the top of the run if it doesn't storm too much this weekend.

Well how did y'all spend Mother's Day. Wife and I had several chickens have upper respiratory conditions. Had to go find some penicillin and give them shots.
This was an experience.

Anyone heard of a hen that sounds like a rooster? My flock has been around for a long time except for my last three. All are hens. Every morning, a hen crows like a rooster. Not sure which one. Its not nearly as loud though. Maybe 25% of a rooster crow. Weird.

first cochin, this one likes to be picked up and petted like a puppy

I have another rhode island red that is doing the same thing

ran across this rare breed, cream legbar - lays blue eggs

15 hens and 7 roosters in the flock

You have seven roosters in Dallas?

Negative, that would cause quite a ruckus with the neighbors

they're at my ranch

I was going to say your neighbors must love you.

Payne, did you turn it loose?

Relocated him to a barn

Great. Pic

Its official. I am the owner of a transgender hen.

Our oldest Easter Egger (not a recognized breed) named Gilly has transitioned from a female cluck to a full grown rooster crow that starts around 5:35am. She/He/It no longer goes to coop at night, has stopped laying, and is becoming the dominate chicken in the flock.

She/He/It prefers to roost on the rotisserie of all places. Little does he/she/it know, that may be her final destination if she doesn't knock this crap off!

Somehow I am not surprised.

Did ya name it Rosie O?

Audio proof from this morning....

I once had a cow that lost her calf at birth, in a couple months she went from a feminine looking animal to a male looking and acting. Her neck got really big and acted just like a bull, vet said time to sell.

Just catching up with this thread, but now I'm thinking Beer-Can Chicken...

Chicken scratch feedin is a good time for the kiddos.

The Jones Family Chicken Rescue Society Foundation LLC picked up three free hens today. Not bad.

Viva Jones' rescue team

How well do new chicks integrate into the home fleet?

Never had an issue but the dogs like to antagonize anything new. A new or established member of the flock has to be in real bad shape for the pecking order to impact their day-to-day activities. So far, the new three have just been hanging around the coop.

Thanks for the info.

Okay chicken folks I have a sick chicken problem I need help with. I received 3 hens and a rooster from a neighbor that moved in June. About 2 weeks ago I had a hen get sick having problems walking, then standing and she died about a week later. Now the other Wyandotte it sick the same way. I have her isolated from the others. Her eyes look normal, breathing is normal and she is eating. Haven't looked at her poop yet but will tomorrow.
The whole bunch quit laying during the hot weather, I also had a problem with varmints and something go in the coop and killed a 12 week old pullet. I have eliminated a Skunk, Opossum and a Raccoon and fixed the run and door so nothing can get in.

What am I missing that she might be sick with? What type of treatment or antibiotics should I use?
Thanks Larry.

Hard to tell. Coryza maybe. See if its leaking/discharging snot. Its a bacterial disease transmitted through carrier birds, contaminated surfaces, and drinking water. Birds would have to be destroyed as they remain carriers for life.

Could be several things if the birds are coughing and sneezing and stuff though.

No gouging or sneezing or leaking when I checked on her late yesterday.
We have lots of song birds coming into their coop and wonder if they brought something with them. Looking at a treadle type of feeder to reduce their numbers.

Do you pamper your chickens? Only have 5, cut up kayle, spinach, carrots using peeler, corn, cooked rice sometimes, yogurt. This is morning feeding. Free roaming.

I pamper mine with fermented scratch. Really makes it go along way at they say is good for them.

I pamper mine with egg and flour sometimes.

Gilly, the only transgender hen in Denton County, was pronounced dead at the scene early 11/4/2018. It leaves behind 14 friends and 9 family members. Local self appointed law enforcement was able to dispatch the murderer tonight. It was hard to see because of all the tears in my eyes. #6 shot to the face.

RIP Gilly. Gone but never forgotten.

That #6 shot screwed it up, so what was it? We lost several to hawks during the day. Just can't get a bead on it, sneaky baster.
Sorry for your loss. RIP

It was a possum. My dog, Mercy the Destroyer, pointed it out by acting like an idiot.

Sorry to hear chickman

I lost 3 chickens and 10 quails to a snake

Caught one in a trap , killed it and
Fed back to the chickens

My pens are reenforced with 1/2� hardware cloth
Now

R.I.P. Gilly the transgender hen

Be strong in these difficult times

Condolences

#opposumlivesmatter

not in Denton county

Dam hawk got our golden, piss me off

Seems like the girls stay inside with heater going instead of outside today.

I lived in Austin and we had hens crow all the time. It must be in the water.

I moved early enough for the water not to affect me.

I have had chickens for over 35 years but this year was the worst, all because of a snake ( I didn't know it at the time but it was a rattler ) I had over 60 hatch-lings all the way up to teenagers and the snake was getting in through 1X2 inch wire and killing them right out from under the mother chicken/Guinea. The snake wasn't big enough to swallow the teenagers but it would try so it would swallow them half way then spit them out & try another & another until he got a small enough one to eat whole, Then the snake was too fat to escape the way he came in through the wire so he'd spit out that one too.... killing 3 or 4 in one night but staying hungry because he spit them out to escape and come back in a couple of nights and do the same thing all over again. I kept moving the coop, even moved it acres away right near the porch, hoping he wouldn't travel that far or I'd catch him on my middle of the night spotlight snake hunts. That snake pretty much wiped out all the chicks and bit 3 & killed 2 of my dogs & costing me a couple of thousand $ or so on vet bills. Until one night one of my random middle of the night spotlight hunts paid off.... Killed him with a shovel, I had to make the 1st hit count so he wouldn't get away, he was small only 3 ft long with 9 rattles, but he was the Plague and mean.
I found out all the predators including the snake preferred to go after the Guinea fowl and their noise was calling them in.

Yes. & a Rooster will call the girls when he finds something good to eat, like bugs and gives them 1st pick.

Had a male Guinea jump up and fly to hit a hawk in midair knocking the hawk to the ground to protect his hens & chicks.
Also seen him take turns taking care of the chicks, I've never seen anything like it, it's a real team effort 2 females, 1 sits on & hatches 20 or 30 eggs, the other 1 hen collects the hatchlings then she and the male take care of all the babies, the male is constantly with them helping & protecting.

Wow! Good info to know! Thanks for sharing.

I had collected the eggs this evening. One of the eggs was soft like it had no hard shell. Has anyone ever discovered this? Should i need to do something about this? Please help.......

Young hen? If not, it's most likely deficient in calcium. A good quality layer feed and oyster shells should offset the deficiency.

It happens from time to time. Unless it happens a lot don't worry about it.

First time it is an older hen. The first one I found they free range half the day. Yesterday I kept them in because of the weather. Thanks for the replies.

interesting ... my wife popped up last night asking if I wanted a baby chick for Easter. I said I would love to have a few chickens and raise our own eggs. the conversation kept going about how would we keep chickens, to which I said buy or make a chicken tractor, it would also be good for the yard. other than coons, foxes and other wild critters, I think my blue heeler would destroy a chicken unless we kept them tightly penned up.

my parents had a few chickens in the back yard when I was a kid growing up but I know absolutely nothing about them. just looking for pros/cons of having a few chickens (if my HOA will even allow).

You can buy or build movable chicken coops at the feed stores or on line. That way not permanent structure. They have the runs attached. Move with 4 wheeler or lawn tractor. We have four chickens they lay from 2-4 eggs a day. We give away what we don't eat.
They do get expensive, lost 5 to hawks while free running. Most time you have to buy chicks and raise them in the house, been there done that.

so I would need to let them out of the coop from time to time to free range? between my blue heeler and other critters that is likely a non-starter

My chicken coop has a automatic door. It opens about 8 am, and closes about 30 minutes after sunset. I loose chickens to critter, but I just have enough it doesn't matter much. About to switch from dark Cornish, to buff brahmas.

I never let mine out of the coop/run. They wouldn't last a day between my dogs, coons, skunks, hawks, buzzards and bobcat.

so if I had one of the "chicken tractors" that can be moved around the yard, I could possibly leave them cooped up all the time? that might work ... we have a farm supply place about a mile from us that has baby chicks for sale ... so I could get a few and release in the tractor and just move it from time to time and they would likely grow up and start producing eggs??? of course, I assume I would need to have water available.

Have to train the dogs. I have always had dogs and chickens, some dogs take more work than others. I lost a chicken to a coyote last week, got the bastard on video.

Can you do a coop like Nav's? I looked at Gtown's ordinances, they allow coops.













They're neighbors and have some issues......

You can legally deal with that, chickens are livestock.

They're my dogs, from left to right it's the coop, feed room, pig pen, dogs. Something is always going on among them.

I had one dog that was a real challenge about killing chickens. Had another that killed about 15 of my rabbits. But eventually I can get them to stop. My Anatolian shepherds never killed any of our animals.

This is their backyard, they run up and down the run. The run is 4" x 4" panel with chicken wire attached & tin 22" in the ground.






Did you ever finish your hydroponics system?

No, other projects got in the way. Building a shed this summer, then the greenhouse will be my next priority.

I understand that completely. Please start a thread when you're building the greenhouse, I'd like to follow along. Thanks

Will do, it is still looks like this right now.

I remember that, it's going to be awesome when you finish.

Feels like it never will be. There is some kind of government grant my neighbor was telling me about, I am looking into that now. You have to allow school kids and such to come by every now and then to see it, but the grant pays for it.

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/national/programs/?cid=stelprdb1046250

Cool, thanks. He heads up some kind of agricultural group here in Houston County. He is supposed to get back to me with more info. Going to read through this link you posted.

Just completed my new chicken house

30x60 10� at eave


I started with a 20x20 but flock is growing

Will house quails and chickens

Damn, that is a serious chicken house.

Absolutely, holy cow!

Dang skippy...

Da Fuq

Started Thursday with 12 or 13. Down to 8 yesterday.

How are you losing your chickens?

How are you losing your chickens?

Only evidence of one being destroyed in the coop. The others got carried off I assume. I guess I'm dealing with a fox or bobcat.

Could be a hawk I've lost 4 in the past 3 years. I found the torn up bodies.

One was destroyed in the coop. Pretty sure its a 4 legged killer Traps set daily. Chickens are locked up every night. We'll see....

Hope you get em

Lost two more last week. Big dog got a possum on Thursday. Doubt the possum was involved in the killing of multiple hens but its possible I guess. Not deploying the traps nightly. Maybe twice a week. Tuna is the bait. Maybe I should change that.

Reducing the chicken yard footprint. Its too much anyway since they have a 1/2 acre to roam daily and its never used.
Red box = chicken coop
White border = current yard
Yellow will be the new area



Reworked the coop cage. The door got moved from the north side to the west side. Easier to access. Its reinforced wire and really damn strong. Still have more work to do.

Do you have a mannequin in the yard?

I have two. Should I question them about the murders?

Are you closing the hatch doors to the coup?
I have a fence in area attached to the coup with wire over the top attached fence run. Run loose after 3pm. The coup gets lock down at 8 or 830 whenever they go in.

We do now.

Game camera. When I had chickens, coyotes were my biggest problem. They'd come in the yard even in the middle of the day. An owl got one that I know of.

I had 2 chickens and a 10x10 fenced off area for em.
#%@&$&@ Coons reached through the cage one night and killed em, left then laying there.
Coons are real buttholes
Never got an egg.

1/3 of the fence got taken down today. Excited. Tired.

GameCam is rollin. Need to move it to where I think critters are coming and going.

We just got some chickens. Bought one of those premade coops that supposed to hold 5-7 chickens, planned on putting 2 hens in there. Couple weeks later I now have 2 hens in the coop and 3 chicks in the house!

So I was thinking of fencing off an area of the yard for them to roam and/or building something else for the coop. The lady I bought the hens from had electrified "net" fencing. Any of ya'll use that? Does t keep critters away (other than flying ones)

New flock

Just found this thread

We had 8 acres (just sold) and bought a little more land down the road.

Anyway, the wife was hell bent on free range chickens

We initially bought I think 18, this was 2 years ago

And something would slowly but surely get them

I’d buy more, never see or hear anything.

Finally sat a trap and I caught raccoon after raccoon after raccoon

Anyway, that’s my lesson. We’re out of the chickens for now.

But we will for sure keep them pinned up next time and learned raccoons will plow thru chickens like know other

Chickenman, I’d get onto our kids about leaving the latch open at night

They’d swear they closed it (I had my doubts but I started believing them)

Raccoons are smarter that I thought.

They figured ours out. I never would have thought they would

I'm thinking about getting chickens again. I'm gonna take my time though attempting to coon proof a pen. If soon proofing is possible

I’ve saw several designs but I want to take 2” square tubing and wrap it with chicken wire

Idk build it about 20 foot long and 4x4

And I need to have a better latch actually goin into the coop

Anything simple, raccoons will figure it out. They did on me anyway

nice

Chicks move to the coop in a week or three. Added some free windows for natural light. Not bad! My oldest hen walked in and said WTH?

I have a chicken that is pulling her feathers out all over herself. Going to dust the coop with DE and her. None of the other chickens are doing this. This started about 5 days ago.
Any help out there?

Chicks first day in the run. All 23 ran out the door pretty quick.

They are beautiful. Do your children name them?

How is the hen doing? I wouldn't know what to tell you about the hen. I know parots pull their feathers when they get stressed out.



Every dam one of'em!

Still losing feathers. She is active with the other ones, no eggs for several weeks. When she shakes herself the feathers fall off. Have dusted with diatematious powder.

You children always put a smile on my face. Do they have the firewood stacked for this winter?

We have 3/4 cord to split but this winter is covered.

Chicks doing well.

I thought about you this afternoon Chickenman, I finally gave up on raising chickens after the Red-Tailed Hawks that nested above their coop stopped them from laying several times. I was out in the pasture today and had 3 of them circling my place. My neighbor lost several chickens last week due to them. The hawks brought them to my back yard to eat them so it is covered in feathers. Good luck with yours.

I have a large dog that doesn't like flying birds. She actually goes apeship. I think that's why we don't have a hawk issue but I could be wrong. The neighbors 2 houses down lost a few to hawks.

Turned out the new flock today. They were excited to get out of jail.

Introducing Gallo de Tormenta, my roo. He's a keeper so far.

N


He's beautiful.

Weekly sit down with the flock.

Are the eggs fertile? Ever incubate them?

Some info for you East TX boys.

Today I had a worker with the Texas Animal Health Commission help himself onto my property and order a hold on my 6 chickens until they test and get results back for Laryngotracheitis(ILT). We had a recent Massive producer come in less than a mile from my place...nother story.

Article:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kltv.com/2020/02/02/state-agency-finds-avian-virus-east-texas-poultry/%3foutputType=amp

Link no workie.

https://www.ktbs.com/news/deadly-bi...25daa94-47ab-11ea-b1c1-075911c3a39d.html

Anybody in the Northern part of Dallas county willing to sell eggs? Tired of those cheap Aldi eggs the wife brings home.

Thanks!!

i know youd rather get from here but if all fails check craigslist. Ive seen multiple post selling.

At what age can I move youg birds outside? Or maybe what temperature would be a better question. I have 2 ea. Barred rock and red sex-link. Bought at 4/5 weeks old and they are now 8/9 weeks old.
Last Couple days I've put them out in a pen till dark. Then back into the house. When could they stay out for good?

I used to have Old English Game Bantams. My four hounds paid them no mind so I was not worried to leave them out of the kennels. Then one day when we were not home. One of the walkers apparently figured out how to open the latch on the coup door and could not help himself. We returned to a blood bath. There were feathers and parts I swear in every square foot of our backyard. Blood was everywhere and all over that one hound. The poor chickens had clipped wings and could not get away. It did not look like the other hounds joined in. That hound must have really enjoyed himself running them all down and destroying them. He looked so proud of himself.

Any tips on dog proofing a coop ? Ive been looking to get some chickens or rabbits for years but recently brought a new dog home. The dog was given to me because he was killing the previous owners chickens. The dog is German Shepard.

I don't ever leave the chickens out all night to many critters to kill em. I don't mine free roam until around 2 pm or so. Seems the darn hawks are around earlier at least past experiences with them killing my other chickens.

When I said leave the young birds out I was referring to leaving them inside the coop all night and getting them out of my garage. I don't think I want them to free range at night. I bought 2 older chickens that are out in the coop now maybe 17 to 18 weeks old.

I just picked up 6 banis and 4 leghorns... hoping they can stay in the same troth until they are big enough because the leghorns are 2-3x the size lol

Get rid of the dog... or a hot wire

Is your coop varmint proof? Should be okay unless colder weather comes in.

Coop is closed in top and is just a 10x10 dog kennel. We are in middle of the city. We have 2 ducks in back yard for 6 years with no problems. On critters I've seen in 22 years is opossums.
I dont know if a opossum is a problem or not to chickens.
What temperature is good for a 9 week old chicken?

Moe, a possum will eat eggs and also kill chickens. You should be good with them being 9 weeks old. Put them in the coop after the older birds go to roost. That way when they wake up in the morning they will just think the new ones have been there all of the time.

Thats the answer I knew I was going to hear but didnt want to.

anything is a problem with chickens you will find... I had to dig half a foot down around the edge of my coop and set the chicken wire then cover it up. Im workin on covering my rigged up pen that I attached to the coop so I can have them a place to get outside but not fly out of while we are gone.. my last ones id let roam during the day though and they did fine. but we left for a week and the person taking care of the place would come to feed the goats and shut the coop when they would leave instead of wait for all of them to make it in... most got picked off that week lol

I can't get a hen to sit. What is a good automatic incubator/brooder that I can get?

I sell mine at $8/dozen

They re fed fresh greens fruits hogs tuna bass insects
Weekly

My price is high. But my feed bill is high

A Brinsea cabinet incubator $1500

I have a used RollX incubator
(Used one time )
Can hatch 89 chicken eggs
200 quails

$500 if within yiur price range

Glad you brought this back up. Been watching a lot of western movies since there is no sports on TV.

Always see those well mounted cowboys and even the rich rancher in their beautiful buggies pulled by a brace of horses. Watch The Vigerianm and you see that I'm making this up. They always have unfenced chickens in the yard. How do they keep the chickens in the yard?

Ever heard of yardbirds, Bill?

Made one in grade school for a science project. Plywood box and a light bulb. Farmer gave us a dozen eggs, with the stipulation if any hatched he got the chicken. We had one hatch and lived.

Any chicken health experts around?
My grandad has 2 Hens, Rhode Island reds.
They've slowed down on laying and he says their poop has been watery/runny and also not pooping much.... from what i read on a quick search, it can be because they're too hot/overheated....and It has been pretty warm lately...

Ours stay within sight of their coop (about 150-200ft max open space); only a bit further towards the house (which is 250ft away), and maybe 50ft in front yard, if we are outside.
They won't go more than 50ft behind their coop/pen, where it turns wooded, unless we are out there with them.
They avoid being in the middle of open fields (hawks), unless we are out there with them.

It's Easter every day here:

Do they have shaded areas (trees/bushes) to hang out in?
A coop in full-sun will get too hot in so.Texas

Got 6 production blue chicks. This breed is a Rhode Island Red crossed with a Blue Australorp. I guess our 20 chickens weren't enough.

Those are 3 of our 6 chickens, they started laying 2 weeks ago.

Anyone know what that gray is on the comb and waddle is? Finished a week of wormer in the water Friday.

I guess ashes are dry and powdery for dusting. They can be comical at times.

Speaking of comical.

Turned them out a few days ago. The Roo has treated them great. The older girls not so much.

One of the new pullets got had. Any idea what it could have been? Probably happened around 10am today. It was breasted out. Intestines, cage, head, and feet still there. Hawk I guess. Wishbone was intact even.

I'd go with hawk

That's why I quit having chickens around. I enjoyed having them but they were magnets for coyotes, hawks, owls and coons. I agree, it looks like an owl or hawk got that one. I had one that came with a messed up beak. the other chickens would bully her. I had to hand feed her. She would walk around on my shoulder with me.

Hawk would be my guess.

Chicken Hawk

So I didn't even know we had a chicken thread on the THF..

We have about 20. I'll have to get a video of our set up.

We free range during the day and lock up at night.

Currently we have

Buff Orpingtons
Lavender Orpingtons
Olive Eggers
Americaunas
Blue laced Red Wyandottes
Production Blues
Polish
Golden Sex Links
Crele Penadasenca
Cream Legbar

And maybe something I'm missing

Our biggest predator issue has been a bobcat and red tailed hawks.

We have a very secure coop but the Bobcat was snatching them in the middle of the day and even while we were outside.

I probably could have caught him quicker in a foothold but we have cats and dogs.

The hawks just come and go so not a lot we can do if we want to free range. In a year they've only gotten 3 I believe.

The bobcat killed 6 in just a couple weeks..







json error finder

What breed is this one?

Cream legbar

Beautiful.

Great pics

Can anybody in this thread tell me how to get my wife to QUIT buying chickens?

We have 8 that are a year old, so she bought 4 chicks the other day and then just sent me a video where she went and bought 4 more.

I think it's time to call Hoarders

buy a gun for every chick

Your wife has gone clucking crazy.

Does anyone put a heater in with their chickens for the next few days here in North texas?

I was just in my local feed store and they had heat on the chicks. Not sure about your hens. I know my momma had them years ago in a hen house without heat.

My chickens feet are cold even with an electric heater in their house.

You will soon have more eggs than you can give away.


I use to put a heat lamp in my chicken house.

Ceramic heat bulb in the coop for the hens.

For the crazy chicken lady, hang one of these on the door https://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Chicken-Country-Kitchen-12X8Inch/dp/B086WBBYFH

My wife keeps buying chickens too..

She just bought 3 frizzles and 2 silkies.

We already have around 25 and have eggs coming out our ears!

Thoughts on keeping chickens warm?

My coop is wooden frame with tin walls. The west facing wall is half tin, half chicken wire with a solid door.

We stapled cardboard over the the other half. It's not air tight by any stretch but keeps the wind out. They roost on elevated 2x4s. I've been hauling water from the house twice a day.

Not planning on putting a lamp out.

Long as they have plenty of food & water, out of wind, and dry, and healthy - they will survive.
I've gone both ways, and when possible I do give mine heat at night because I found the electricity is cheaper than the extra food they will devour to keep warm.

Well chickens have done just fine.

Hope everyone's chickens made it through the deep freeze.
Losing electricity for 2 days running small heater in coop with generator kept them warm.

Fingers crossed. Eggs are difficult to come by in my area.

I drove through your neck of the woods (Rosenberg right?) not too long ago and saw several signs by the road offering eggs for sale.

Miracles still happen. Approve amount.

I use a ceramic heat bulb for providing some warmth. Just have a 8X12 "coop" attached to a metal building on the Northwest side. 2X4 mesh dog wire on 3 sides in the winter covered with plastic roofing. Inside when I checked it 12 degrees outside 22 degrees inside, floor dry and chickens doing fine. Kept them in food and water all the time, There were times during the day when they were on the roost pole during the day. Of course they thought they wanted outside but one little trip and thy were ready to get back in the coop. Eggs did rop off a little but then picked right back up to the 5 or 6 eggs a day from 6 hens.

This extra hour a day and all our girls have kicked it into high gear:

This is like 3 days worth! more than a couple dozen a day - we have 29 birds I think.
Thankfully the clover has come in - they were going thru a buncha feed before with that cold & snow.
Now to call all my egg-buyers to start coming, before we get buried in eggs!

Your setup sounds a lot like mine - I haven't had time/money to build the wood coop I have planned, just a 10x20 covered kennel that came with this house when we bought it, used to be attached to house, but we moved it. I plan to build the wood coop on to one end of it, but haven't yet. I have 4 heavy-duty tarps that I enclosed a 8x10 section of it, with 10' 2x4's for roosts.

100% of our birds did just great and we got down to -3 degrees that one night. I hadn't been giving them any extra heat prior to this -3 deep-freeze, so they all had nice heavy/thick feathers. I did put an old oil-filled radiator heater that we use for them in there for the deep-freeze, but of course we lost power. We give them unlimited food/water in winter, and took water to them 3x a day during this cold snap. Also plenty of hay on ground too to keep them dry.

I have 5 dozen eggs on my kitchen counter. About to start giving them away.

Here are most of mine. They flocked to the straw.

Nice bunch!

What kind of rooster is that? I bought a bunch of mixed hens, one turned out to be a rooster that looks just like yours.

Red Ameraucana

Buy Roosters. For some reason, you will never have a problem with too many eggs.

*** Some food pantries will take your "extra" eggs.

Love fresh eggs! When I get back in the sticks I'll start raising my own again.

Usually get 4 to 6 eggs a day from the 6 hens, got 3 today with one being tiny. We did have a couple sever thunderstorms during the night so that might have something to do with it.

Norman Rockwell.

That's a pretty awesome pic

Talk about King of the hill and old mother hen.!!!!!

That’s a great pic

I saved it.

We got our first batch of the year done last week. Second batch in the incubator now. Also just got a frame for a new chicken coop , going to be a nice one when I'm done.

Love little baby chickens.

Bought five leghorns and five rir "pullets" from TSC for a quarter each. Probably all roosters.....

Foghorn Leghorn!

yeah...

I've raised rir exclusively for twenty years but at a quarter a pop why not

Putting in an order for rir hens from McMurray.

Do they eat good?

They're kind of average for meat production, above average for eggs

Most of my chickens are crossed between leghorns and RIR and are a little over a year old and for the last 6 months we are getting 4 to 6 eggs a day and from the 4 that are that mix rarely miss a day laying.

My momma called it egg and butter money. Big bucks.$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Ok looks like a couple of the chickens have mites, what is the best way to get rid of them?

Losing one a week during the day to a cat or fox. Pretty upsetting. About to trap I'm afraid.

I finally gave up when I got down to 2 hens left, it just wasn't worth the stress. I was outside walking our dogs this morning and saw the local Red Tailed Hawks setting up near my neighbors coops.

My trapping adventures have begun. Lost another hen today.

Sardines are 4 for $4 at kroger right now fyi.

best of luck

This thing got three of mine.
But he walked across my patio, big mistake

35 pounds male

Diatematious powder, sprinkle on floor and dust the chickens. Buy from feed store.

Dang - that's a big'un - looks like he was eating good!
gonna tan the hide?

yup - them wild kitties can make a mess of a flock, quick!

I had eight in my city yard for years. I usually had about 100 eggs in the fridge. When they stopped laying I gave them away. Too much work and expense. I like having my yard back...and my garden...and my time.

I have heard of an egg sucking dog. There is actually a Johnny Cash song about it. No where in my whole wide world have I ever heard of an egg sucking bobcat.

Now we're leaning towards a hawk being the offender. Have only trapped a possum and lost another between noon and sundown. I'm either going to expand their run and only turn them loose for a few hours a day or hope the hawk moves on. Seems like the kites push the native hawks out every year but they stuck around this year. I did move a scarecrow out where the killings are happening. Planning on doing some other hawk preventative stuff too. We'll see.

When chickens stop laying it's because they go into a molt thing.Put some hot sauce in their water and they will start laying again.

Lost another. Neighbor behind us saw the cat with then hen. Trap has been reset with cod liver this time.

This weekends attempt to trap the cat involves an old hen

Have had good luck getting a cat with that type setup. Used a rooster as they are more vocal while it is still dark. Worked well on bobcats that were hitting them at night.

Successfully trapped 5 coons and 4 possums. Zero cats.

Used two different hens before moving to a borrowed roo. Gave back the roo and using some bobcat scent that a neighbor lent us.

The flock has been contained to their coop and run. Since I am not growing a fall garden, we coach them into that area for a few hours before dusk.

Mission aborted.

I might expend their 80 sq ft run by 200 sq ft and they loose their 1/2 acre spread.

Here’s most of my mob. Pretty sure they all voted straight democrat. All they do is follow me around looking for handouts. We are big on diversity, though.

Great gathering.

Thanks Bill.

quite impressive sneaky

Between copperheads, various raptors, and just random death, it could be a lot more efficient.

Those girls lay some fine eggs, though. I love ‘em.

Subscribed!

My goofy rooster finally realized he ain’t a duck, so we are making progress. He’s still retarded, though.

My baby girl Madi (7) has been on my case for 2 yrs about having our own chickens and chicken coop.

It's about to happen.

I raised chickens when I was young but these are gonna be HER chickens

She really loves chickens, and she really wants chickens so ok. We gonna have some shickens.

King of the roost..

I think all kids should have chickens.

I think you're right.

Any experience with Easter Eggers?

That chick smokes the reefer

EEs are good hens. I like them Shinner.

Sneaky has some production blues I see. Mine have been a great addition.

My little girl loves to pick up & hold chickens, so looking for good layers that are easy going. Looks like RIR's & EE's are good choices.

Bobcat came back and damn near got another hen before it was scared off. Looking at other trap options.



I've been impressed with production blues too. Those are a Rhode Island Red / Blue Australorp mix.

Just politely ask it to get in the cage

We had those growing up. Those suckers were devil spawn and would attack at any given time. I also fed them our scraps from the table. I watched 2 of them fight over a piece of steak once. I’m still amazed at it. Ruthless bastages

Ever been spurred by a Rooster. Once was enough for me.

Yes. I used to raise fighting roosters.

Me too 40 years ago.

Been 30 for me, where has the time gone? LOL

Earlier this year my little girl got popped pretty good by my cousin's MEAN azz rooster, put a nice hole in her leg....then he popped me when I ran over there to grab my daughter. As they often do, every time I turned my back to walk away he would attack me. I kicked the chit out of him but he kept coming. My 380 pocket pistol was itching pretty bad, & I came real close to killing that bird. Not my bird and would have been wrong for me to kill it though. My cousin's wife finally got tired of being attacked by the dang thing and she finally beat it to death LOL. The new rooster is pretty chill with the kids.

I used to have chickens, till the hawks decimated and tormented them endlessly. Our last rooster was a Dominique (we called them Dominickers) and it was the meanest rooster I have ever seen. It would catch you with your back turned and attack. He had been knocked loopy several times and it slowed him down some, but he just kept getting worse. The last time he flew up my back and spurred my neck and head. The closest thing at the time was a light weight Tee Post. Well, we didn't have a roster after that day.

The rooster I was talking about was a Dominicker too.

Well I just went and did it. Ordered a starter coup from Tractor Supply for my baby girl, along with 40 chicks. I will add on to it, but don't want to build a real coup at this location. Figured I would lose half.

This otta be fun.

10 White Leghorns mixed sex.
10 Barred Rock mixed sex.
20 Rhode Island Red Hens.


I've got some planning to do........

Roosters get out of line they will go in the pot.

Hopefully will be more hens than roosters. We'll see.

Bought extra because predators....

You’ll certainly lose some. And if you bought straight runs, then you’ll be down that much more for eating the roosters.

I’ve got somewhere around 45 chickens, best guess, and I started with a hell of a lot more than that.

Well I finally got the email saying my chicks were shipped, guess they were waiting until all 3 species were hatched. They're coming out of St Paul Minnesota, hope they don't freeze to death.

Shipped from Iowa, only lost one out of 40.

Here we go!!

I dumped out the 100 gallon water trough I was using for my back yard deer, to use for a brooder. Will have to get another soon and split these guys in half. My baby girl is super excited.

Love looking at them at the feed store.

Do you have a heat lamp on them?

Yes Sir, sucker puts out some heat too. Watching close and adjusting.

Sure got some funny looks at the Post Office today when I picked them up.

did they have the chirping box on the counter?

If you have a sawhorse, you can clamp it on and it's about the perfect height. I drive a couple of nails/screws to make sure it doesn't move/fall.

So, I got the call that my chicks had arrived at the PO and went straight there. Walked in and told the lady behind the counter that I was here to pick up some chickens. She looks at me like I was silly and said "Um, Sir, we're not in that business". I said "Ma'am, I'm not sure if you're aware, but yes you are ". Two ladies behind the counter looking at each other like I was on drugs or something, then the man that called me walked in and said "Oh yeh, they are outside on the loading dock". Ladies looked at each other like WTH? So then he carried the chirping box inside to deliver to me and said "This is why they are outside lol". Other folks were looking at me like what in the hillbilly hell is going on here.

That's a great idea, thanks. Gonna brood them in the garage, but right now they are in my laundry room and the light is clamped onto a refrigerator handle lol.

The last straight run I got, they had them on the counter. I walked in and asked if they were tired of them, the lady looked relieved when I said they were mine.

I bet!

I'm curious to see how many roosters I'm going to end up with. I ordered 20 RIR hens, but the 10 White Leghorn & the 10 Barred Rock are unsexed.

I'd say 20 roosters

uuuuuuuuck

I'll be eating me some roosters then.

I wouldn't have put it that way

One rooster is loud enough lol.

I'm sure thinking about raising some peacocks, love those birds.

They like tomatoes

Awesome pics man. I grew up around peacocks, their call always stuck in my head.

I have tried many different whistles and calls to try and get a deer to stop running for a shot, my peacock call stops them every single time! It's actually like a cross between a peacock and a Mexican grieto, sounds crazy but it will absolutely stop a deer every single time. When my oldest Son shot his first deer I used that call to stop him in the road. "Son, here he comes....I'm gonna stop him on the road and as soon as he stops, shoot him." Drunk Mexican Peacock Call, deer slams the brakes....BOOM, deer down. My Son told me Dad what was THAT?? You scared the crap out of me and I almost didn't shoot.

So do you have a recommended place to buy peacocks from? I'm ready.

I got mine from McMurray. Day old, like your chicks and not much bigger. Don't get the whites, they don't live as long. The Blues live 12-15 years, they eat eat all the bugs and baby snakes you hate.

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

Ok cool, thanks for that. I will check them out now.

I love snakes, especially baby snakes......but I don't like spiders.

They run a guinea/peafowl deal, where they throw in 25 guineas. They eat every grasshopper and tick in your yard. They also crap everywhere.

They are sold out of birds, and holy crap the prices .

$1,500.00 for 2 greens.

Yeah, they've gone way up. You could hatch them if you could find some eggs. It's not hard and you look like you have most of the setup.

Checking it out.

Chickens are growing fast. Finally built a 7 x 20 hoop coop/run for them yesterday. 33 adolescent chickens were all crammed up in that little coop lol. Bigger coop coming next that will attach to the new run. Just thought I'd share some pics. Eggs aren't too far away.

I would have never thought to use cattle panels like that, good idea.. Chickens look happy.

Looks good Sir! Man those kids are growing like weeds!

Works really well.

Yes they are brother.

Have a little more work to do to it. Need to do more stapling & tie wrapping/cleaning up, and build some perches for them. Just have some temps in there now.

Nice run, you can use closet pole for roosts. Their feet wrap around the pole naturally.

Yes Sir, exactly what I'm going to use.

Well done! That looks great, and exactly like what I would have to use in the panhandle. Free range birds wouldn't last too long in my neck of the woods.

Bobcats still on the prowl so I expanded the run. Hope to increase the flock some. Down to 17 or so. We do let them out around 4pm until dusk. Dont tell those damn cats that though.

That's awesome chicken nugget

I put together an 8x10 metal shed from Lowes for a bigger coop, cut a hole and attached it to the hoop coop. Worked out well but was a whole lot of screwing by hand lol. I'm going to use the little coop for introducing new chicks and some ducks. Just need to cut some vents and mount another motion light. Put in some nesting boxes, built a ramp and some perches. I put a 30 lb feeder inside the coop with 16% protein laying pellets and a 5 gallon waterer, and another 5 gallon waterer outside. Also give them a scoop of cracked corn in the run every day. After the pics I put some new perches in the run for them. Chickens sure like it. They're free ranging now from noon until dusk. Biggest downer to them free ranging (besides poop everywhere) is they are hell on my toads, frogs, and lizards. I like having those bug eaters around the house.

Getting around 2 dozen eggs/day.

Pretty sweet skinner!

Thank you Sir.

We took some time off of the barndo build to work on a chicken coop for the kids!


Drew the plans up on sketch up
















Enjoy!

Looks great!

A friend that has chickens was having about one chicken a week killed inside the pen and the only thing missing on that chicken was its head. Said he found a small hole and got it fixed and the killings have stopped.

He is wondering what was doing that, what would kill several chickens and only take the head?

My guess is a raccoon. If the pen is chicken wire, the raccoon will reach thru and pull the chicken head thru the wire. I had to add 1/2" hardware cloth to the bottom 2' of the coop because of this.

Makes sense.

Starting my chicken journey.

A possum. A small possum can fit thru a small hole or gap. Seen it happen too many times to my own.

One solution for killers of livestock, large or small

What breed of chicken did you get?

Rhode Island Red's 2 of them are easter eggers. They're already getting BIG lol. Need to get started on that coop asap.

I bought the Tractor supply one. 349.
Daughter put it together for me.

Yea, I was going to do a custom one, but after looking how much materials cost we might just go with one of those. I'm already getting up to the $450-$500 dollar range on materials.

Yall check out "hoop coops" for a secure run. Made with cattle panels and 2x4's, easy and works great. Chicken wire goes over the outside.

Look on Facebook Market place I saw what appears to be a very good deal on one in McKinney.

A friend of my wife buys what is suppose to be free range eggs and gives us some periodically and we are very grateful for that.

When cooking quite frequently the yolk bust when cracking the egg, the yolk is just a light yellow instead of the darker richer ones that I was use too and the White is thin and runny.

So my question is, are the chickens not getting enough protein or??

I know you have already drawn blood building your new one but check this one out..

McKinney also!


This is well over a $1600 value! Slightly used. Housed some happy chickens for a year! The signs & metal Rooster included. Run easily detaches from coop! You’ll need a truck to haul!

Lol the one I’m building is gonna make that one look like a shack lol. It’s gonna be a chick mansion with rain catchment automatic watering system. 8ftx4ftx7ft.

This project is going to actually take me a while to complete lol.

Your backyard is going to smell like hell. I do not know how they do it but birds freaking stink.

I think that one was $600.00 and comes with no cut fingers

Lol I ain't skerd of no cut fingers.

It’s coming along nicely. Just need more time in the day and not to fall out from the heat.

I actually had it framed out but didn’t like how it ending up so I actually ripped it completely down yesterday and restarted. I worked on it from 9am to around 4pm and was starting to feel really bad and getting dizzy. I was drinking a ton of water but was sweating so much it didn’t seem to help. Today was much better and didn’t seem near as hot as yesterday. Still got a lot to do, but almost time for paint.

Looking good amigo.

Thanks, it’s about 8.5 ft from base board to peak of the roof. I wanted something I could walk into and give the birds plenty of space.

Coming along pretty good.

Looking good. Mr Kotter

Almost done, only thing left is cutting the small door for them to get in the coop and making ramp.

Lots of blood and sweat in this one literally haha.

Thank you sir, sorry I missed this. Idk who Mr Kotter is though lol.

Looking good amigo. It may not be an issue where you live, but I put a row of 12" x 12" concrete pavers around the bottom of my coop to keep the dogs/coyotes/coons/possums/snakes out. Works well.

Thanks bud, I don’t have any of those problems besides maybe possums, but my dog would get the possum before it got the chickens I’d imagine. I did build up the foundation with some left over decomposed granite. So should harden up a bit with some rain.

Good deal.

My little dog tried to tunnel under mine to get the chickens.

Really? No idea who mr kotter is????

Had snakes get in, but 2 American bulldogs that tried one night did not get in. They broke several parts of the heavy wire like used on dog pens but did not get in.

My BIL is the Mexican John Travolta, looked exactly like him in his younger days. Hairy green eyed Spaniard that my Sis fell in love with, and a damn good man.

We’ve been introducing our GSD to them when they were little and all the way up until now. While I’ve been outside working on the coop we’ve had the chickens running around the back yard my GSD just lays down and looks them. I don’t think he’ll mess with them.

Lol a bit before my time sir.

Vinnie Barbarino

Are you going to close off the gap between the rafters and the wall plate? I had a raccoon and a possum get inside of my roost area. I closed it off with hardware cloth like you have on the sides. It still left the vented area breath.
Good luck with you chickens and post up your first eggs.

Yea at some point I’ll be covering with the hardware cloth. I got plenty left over. But I’ve spent a lot of time on this already and need to catch up on some other projects. I’ve never saw a coon around my neighborhood and only 2 possums, one was dead on the road and the other dead in my back yard because my GSD got him. I’m not too worried about it but will eventually cover those areas though.

Can’t wait for my first eggs.

I think I was bamboozled. I bought 4 hens.

Looks like I had 2 hens and 2 roosters.

What’s y’all’s thought. One started trying to crow.

I thought hens do that occasionally?

My chickens are acting weird lately. They all stopped laying eggs (30 something chickens), and my roosters quit crowing (thank God). Before they would never shut up, strange.

My believed “roosters” are twice the size of the hens.

More meat!

I guess you roll the dice every time you buy birds, huh? Is there a way to positively identify chicks?

I bought them from tractor supply. They had a group that was guaranteed to be pullets. hens.
Maybe not.

If I see the big ones trying to crow, it’s lights out.

TSC is hit or miss on pullets, if you want a better chance buy from a hatchery. I use McMurray but you'll pay a lot more than TSC.

Check and see if you have predators around. We had Red Tailed Hawks nest above out chicken coop and ours did the same thing. We eventually gave up and re-homed them.

Yep. Have hawks and owls lately.

Of 6 hens are down to 1 or 2 eggs a day. 3 are molting, one did good to survive an infection, but she is the boss bird and Wife's favorite so she gets a pass. Last 2 days only one egg and looks like one of the 2 that were laying is now molting. These girls have been laying about 2 years though so expect them to slow down some time.

Anyone want a rooster. Collin county. Buff Orpington. Good chicken.

Wife is very pissed I killed one today for crowing and plucked it.

Lost one of my Hens tonight, had them out grazing in the back yard while we were by the fire having a beer and went out front to put some air in my wife’s tires because they were a little low due to the cold weather we’ve been having. 10 minutes tops, came back to the back yard and there was feathers everywhere and Hans was standing over one of the chickens.

So that sucks….

Owl ? Bobcat ?

German Shephard LOL

This. Every problem I've had with livestock has been from a domestic dog.

Yep, I knew it was probably bound to happen. We've found dead squirrels and possums that weren't fast enough to get away from Hans. We did put the chicks out to play when they were tiny and let Hans in the house to get used to them, and anytime we're outside and the chickens are out he doesn't pay them any attention at all like they're not even there. But I guess when we went out front he saw his chance and went full send on one of them.

Take the dead chicken and tie it around his neck for about a week and that should cure him from killing chickens.

My mom said the exact same thing.

Yep, my blood is boiling right now. Early this morning a neighbor's German Shephard came onto my property and killed at least 10 of my chickens and ducks, those are the one's that I've found anyway. Dead birds all over the place. He'd kill one, drop it, kill another, drop it etc. There are a few other neighbor's dogs that I've been running off chasing my chickens and have lost a few birds over the past few months, but this morning was a blood bath. I have a decent amount of money and a [censored] load of time invested in these birds, makes me sick. Killed my little girl's favorite hen, killed my favorite rooster. About to shoot two of my hens that I just found, they are hurt bad and not going to make it.... I try to be a good neighbor, but I am really running out of patience with these [censored] dogs on my property.

That's a real pisser Skinner. Neglected German Shepherds do cause lots of problems.
One played a small part in why we recently moved.

I don't want a war or a legal battle with one of my neighbors, but my give a damn is almost busted.

I have a feeling that dog killed more than 10, hard to tell right now.

Damn bud that sucks. I think I'd be camping out and wait for that dog to come back on my property and give it a lead pill and bury it. If they come asking if you've seen it just say nope haven't seen the dog.

You have every right to be pissed and protect your animals. These things aren't cheap to take care of and if you factor in your time you're losing money.

On a lighter note I finally got my first eggs from my flock. They just started laying. Boy do they taste good.

I'm gonna make every effort to do things right and contact the neighbor, first.

And now two more dogs chasing deer just now. They are collared family pets from down the road, already ran one of them off with a warning shot.

Enjoy those eggs amigo, they are good.

Body count is rising. So far it's 2 ducks and either 15 or 16 chickens dead if not more. Several limping around with broken wings and in bad shape. I just adopted 7 new Speckled Sussex and Easter Eggers, pretty birds. All dead.

That sucks. I’m generally a dog lover. But some things are inexcusable. Killing others animals is a death sentence.

You could report the attack and maybe authorities will talk to the dog owner. But these days people take no responsibility.

Bird shot is another option.

Personally, I would go with the SSS method.

Sorry to read about your chickens. When we had ours, they were my wife's pets so I know how much it sucks.
We had Old English Game Bantams including a rooster as I was going to raise and sell them. Neighbors loved the crowing once every morning and did not complain. He was not as loud as most Roosters. One day by accident a dog catcher in our alley after a dog looked over the fence and saw my rooster. The city ordinance at the time banned "crowing roosters" so I got a letter in the mail to remove it. My vet found two procedures to decrow a rooster and offered to do it for cost as a learning project and I was able to get approval from the city if it did not crow. First surgery failed to decrow it. 2nd one was successful, but complications from the surgeries caused the rooster to get pneumonia and died. We still had our egg laying Hens. but I also had a pack of Walker Hounds that had grown up around them and ignored them until that one day..... While we were away one of the hounds got the latch open to the coup. We came home to find blood, feathers, and chicken parts all over a back yard crime scene. And I mean blood everywhere, on the walls on the patio furniture, on the fence, on the water hose, on the bushes, and smeared all over the dogs. Those hell hounds must have had one heck of a time chasing, killing, and shredding those chickens. We gave up on chickens.

I agree wholeheartedly with SSS. Nobody needs know anything but you.

And now the hawks are catching up with the dogs, losing a BUNCH of birds. This is getting depressing.

Do you free range them during the day and then coop them at dusk?

Yes Sir.

Hawk just got another one. Coyote was after them yesterday. Everybody loves chicken.....

That sucks, may have to build one of those chicken tractor things. PITA but keeps the chickens

Yessr, I thought about that. I started with 45 chickens and 20 ducks, now I'm down to 22 or 23 chickens/10 ducks/and a big white momma goose that showed up here and made herself at home. That goose is a great watchdog but she won't fight, neither would any of my roosters. Worthless at protecting the hens. I built a nice coop and run for them, may have to just start keeping them cooped up more.

Was funny, when I came out the door today with that shotgun during the hawk attack all of my hens came out of hiding and ran straight to me bunching up all around me. They know I'm their protector lol.

And another one today.

Damn! Hate to hear it.

That's why I quit keeping chickens. Even with six dogs the coyotes would come in the yard in the middle of the day. Mine had a large fenced in coop but roamed free during the day. If it wasn't coyotes then it was hawks and owls. I liked having them, but after I lost the last one I said no more. Started with 22. I had one with a messed up beak that I had to hand feed. She would go around with me on my shoulder.

My wife wants chickens. I had hundreds of them growing up. I wasn’t planning on having any ever again, especially since there is no place to legally fight them anymore. With the price of eggs these days I may give in to a dozen or so as long as they are Game.

I only have 2. They produce all the eggs I need.

Mine like blueberries and bananas.

Anyone know about the accuracy of this?

I’ve seen this as well, we use the producers pride and we don’t have any issues. Only have 3 chickens but they all lay 1 egg a day like clock work.

We switched brands. Mine quit eating the feed. They do love blueberries and bananas.

Mine love all fruits and veggies. They’ve ate pumpkins, squash, zucchini, apples, oranges, tomatoes and lettuce. Probably others but can’t remember. Was hoping for some pumpkin spice eggs after how many pumpkins they ate after Halloween lol.

Does their feed (processed feed vs fruits, etc.) affect the taste of their eggs? Or is an egg is an egg is an egg? I suspect the meat is impacted.

I haven’t ate any of my chickens yet but will get back to you if they decide to stop laying and have to be slaughtered. As far as the eggs I haven’t tasted any deference just nice dark yellow yolk.

Thank you, sir.

I have read you can impact yolk color based on diet. From orange to red based on peppers, etc.

I've noticed that it seems the higher the protein content of their food, whether it's feed or natural forage, the darker the yolks will be and they will have a thicker texture and a richer taste.

The eggs we have been working on!

Should have more chicks soon if you’re interested, PM Me.

Our chickens free range during the day and we have a large very secure coop at night. However, hawks have become a major issue during the day. We are loosing about 1 a week. I’m really sad to have to keep them in a run but we will be out of chickens if I don’t.

How much space should I give for 16 chickens. I will build off the back of their coop which is about 16x8 feet.

Pictures for attention…

The crows in my neighborhood are all over the Hawks. Maybe you could find some crows.

Picked up 10 to replace the dozen I've lost this year. Only 2 reds left. Barnevelders, reds, and orpingtons.

Just got into the chicken business. My wife finally wore me down. She’s never had any!

Nice! We had 4 and our GSD got one of them but we just got 4 more.

We raised game chickens growing up. I loved watching them fight and training them. I texted a buddy of mine from high school these pics the other day. We used to take our fowl to derby’s in New Mexico to fight, and a lot of illegal Tx late night stuff. We once fought knife stags in a Mexicans kitchen in west Odessa one night.I said it’s a sorry day when you have a coop full of birds and not a single one would know what to do if you tied a short knife or gaff on their leg. Government interference killed the sport of kings in the US.

I’ll have to admit I enjoy watching the egg chickens running around my place chasing bugs.

Haha yea we have all egg layers and only chickens I remember from my youth was the ones my dad got me and my brother for pets then after having us raise them as pets he made us go chop their heads off and watch them run around literally like chickens with their heads cut off. He was a dick.

But yea watching these girls get after them bugs is pretty funny. We also have a neighborhood hawk. It’s funny when they see that hawk all 3 of them go running strait back to the coop. Weird though they’ll still peck around our GSD after seeing what he did to one of them. Of course I bet they wouldn’t do that if we weren’t out there. Almost like they’re taunting him haha. I see the look in his eye sometimes and I just say Hans… and he’ll lower his head back down.

But my son loves the chickens and they love him. First thing he does when he gets home from school is to collect the chicken eggs, brings them in then goes and lets them out for free range. they’ll be sticking around for a while until they stop laying. Then he’ll be eating some chicken nuggets.

that picture is awesome KR!

Ha yea it was timed perfect. He loves his animals. He wants a dwarf goat next.

Perfect!

Had one of my chicks killed last night...

So did a bunch of googling yesterday and I guess I didn't use the right keywords. Wanted to integrate the new chicks to the coop and pretty much everything I read yesterday was only focused on the weather and if it were warm enough for them. Since we're in the swing of summer and it doesn't hardly get below 80 degrees at night I figured this would be a great time to do it. Chicks are 5 weeks old and pretty close to being feathered in so I moved them to the upper part of the coop last night. This morning at 6am the big chickens were raising hell so I went out to see what was going on. On the lower part of the coop on the floor one of the baby chicks was lying there. It is a white chicken, but her head was completely bloody. Instantly I knew it was the big chickens had ganged up on her and killed her by pecking her head. So 6am I'm setting the brooder back up in the garage to put the remaining chicks back in.

After getting all that done I googled specifically what had happened and sure enough I totally botched that one. Live and learn I guess.

Also expect one or more of the big hens to get broody with the chicks around or they could become possessive against each other.

Wife wants me up this morning. Couple different places on the yard had feathers. Didn’t see blood.
Chicken gone.

I suspect it was a hawk or owl. Coulda been bobcat. Thoughts ?

Don’t know if this is true. But always heard aerial predators don’t get black chickens. Don’t know if that’s true. Or they think they are crows.

I got a 'mystery chick' from a hatchery in the spring. I know (or I think I know) it's a Cochin, but is it a hen or rooster? I thought it was a rooster, but it doesn't act like a rooster. Cochins are notoriously laid-back, but it doesn't crow, chase hens, or buck up to the dogs.

And yes, he hangs out in the house sometimes....

anyone hatching chic's this year? I got 7 of the 15 left from last year. I going to holds off till next year. Plan to make fryers out of the 7 I got and start over. decided to remove all of the bedding in the house and go to sand. Pain in the butt managing the wood chip bedding.