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Mr_Biggs
Oct 7, 2010
I'm a headstrong retard, and in my excitement to get chickens, I've built a coop without properly researching what is apparently required. I'll post a picture of it as soon as I can so you guys can get a clearer picture but basically what I've got so far is a coop with two nesting boxes (I'm only getting 2 chickens) and ample space on the inside, but no perches (which is apparently what chickens sleep on?) Have I completely messed up? :aaa:

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Alterian
Jan 28, 2003

Yes. Chickens sleep on perches.

Disco Salmon
Jun 19, 2004
Actually they sleep on roosts.

Perches, like parrots use, are too round for them to sit on...their toes don't wrap around the same way. Some smaller chickens can use thick tree branches, but dowels are going to be way too small to have them sit on, even if you used large broom handles.

They would do better using the flat side of a 2x4(for example)to support their weight.

Just FYI :)

Alterian
Jan 28, 2003

We have a 2x2 in our coop that connects the closed off part and the door and an extra stand we can put in the closed off part in the winter. They prefer to perch on the back of our wooden bench outside in the summer rather than sleep in the coop. :argh:

WrathofKhan
Jun 4, 2011
Well, that goes without saying. I mean, do you think that a mammal like yourself could come up with a satisfactory perch :P
This is more or less why I started just chucking in big chunks of straw and letting them go at it, when I scattered it around neatly they always rearranged it, since I obviously was doing it wrong or something.

meriruka
Apr 13, 2007

I tried 3 times to put some straw under my broody turkey instead of
a plywood, eggs, hen = uncomfortable stack. Every time I came back there was straw every drat where - not a wisp under the turkey.

Zeta Taskforce
Jun 27, 2002

Looks like the issue of chickens is coming up in Boston.

http://legalizechickensinboston.org/

quote:

Urban chickens: City board lays an egg on try at sustainability


Audra Karp of Roslindale will now have to go to her father’s home in Ashland for fresh-egg omelets.

Boston’s Zoning Board of Appeals yesterday unanimously rejected her request to keep her three hens at her Firth Street home. Karp was told by city officials months ago that she had to get rid of them because they were not allowed under zoning codes. They are now being cared for by her father.

“It’s important for us to grow and raise food and that we know where our food comes from,” she said during yesterday’s hearing.

While she said the outcome was disappointing, Karp’s effort to keep her chickens has not ended and she will work with city officials to change policy. Her effort is also part of a movement that has made its way across the country and Massachusetts.

Chickens are allowed in various cities including in Newton where city health inspectors regulate them. John McNally, a Newton environmental health specialist, said there are as many as 40 hens in that city, which does ban roosters because they make more noise. He said that requests to keep chickens has increased in the last three to four years because more people are raising them for their eggs and are keeping them as pets.

Robert Litt, who co-authored the book “A Chicken in Every Yard” said the vote “does seriously call in to question [Boston’s] green credibility.”

“Odor is rare and noise … they are less noisy than even a small dog,” he said.

City Councilor Rob Consalvo, who represents Roslindale, opposed the request and said it could set a dangerous precedent. However, he said he would work with Karp to possibly change the regulations.

http://www.metro.us/boston/local/article/915867--urban-chickens-city-board-lays-an-egg-on-try-at-sustainability

A flying piece of
Feb 28, 2010
NO THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING AS CHEX
There was actually a story last night on Baltimore's local news about urban backyard chickens. Positive story about how the number of people keeping them is going way up.

Disco Salmon
Jun 19, 2004

A flying piece of posted:

There was actually a story last night on Baltimore's local news about urban backyard chickens. Positive story about how the number of people keeping them is going way up.

Oh yes :) Wonderful no?

Seattle raised its limit from 3 backyard hens to 8 this week!!! Viva La Revolucion!! Hopefully more major cities and towns as well as smaller areas will get off this "Chickens are farm animals!!" kick and see that having your own personal flock is a time honored tradition.

Go Seattle!! /cheer

silicone thrills
Jan 9, 2008

I paint things

Amethyste posted:

Oh yes :) Wonderful no?

Seattle raised its limit from 3 backyard hens to 8 this week!!! Viva La Revolucion!! Hopefully more major cities and towns as well as smaller areas will get off this "Chickens are farm animals!!" kick and see that having your own personal flock is a time honored tradition.

Go Seattle!! /cheer

I live in Seattle and while my backyard is sloped and it's pretty much impossible to put a coop back there, my neighbors have a flat yard. I was driving home last week and saw they got a coop kit and have at least 3 chickens in there! I squee'd and said in a few weeks ill go by and let them know that ill buy any extra eggs off them.

Alterian
Jan 28, 2003

3 might not be enough for extra eggs to sell. You should just try to find a way to get your own.

silicone thrills
Jan 9, 2008

I paint things

Alterian posted:

3 might not be enough for extra eggs to sell. You should just try to find a way to get your own.

Even so, I figured it would be a less creepy way of letting them know I support them in their endeavors and they don't have to worry about complaints from us.

Alterian
Jan 28, 2003

Tigntink posted:

Even so, I figured it would be a less creepy way of letting them know I support them in their endeavors and they don't have to worry about complaints from us.

Feed them earthworms through the fence!

GenericOverusedName
Nov 24, 2009

KUVA TEAM EPIC
Depends on how well you like your neighbors, but maybe you could convince them to share your yards and chickenwork and chickens?

silicone thrills
Jan 9, 2008

I paint things

GenericOverusedName posted:

Depends on how well you like your neighbors, but maybe you could convince them to share your yards and chickenwork and chickens?

Maybe. I've never really met them. They've only been there for a few months and since we don't have yard work (natural northwest yard with ferns and trees yo) we don't meet the neighbors much.

Oh and I was staring through their fence and they have FOUR chickens! 3 buff and 1 black.

Chido
Dec 7, 2003

Butterflies fluttering on my face!

I don't know if this is normal or if I should be concerned. Roostroyer my brahma cockerel has been bullying Rusty for weeks, but today he decided to also chase and peck Godzilla, and it wasn't a light chase. They ran around really fast and I had to intervene so he'd leave her alone. He tried to crow this morning, so I know his hormones are going crazy, and he's tried to actually mount Godzilla, my biggest pullet.

The chickens are about 17-18 weeks old, Rusty may be 16 weeks, but I'm not sure when the pullets were born exactly. Godzilla has attacked Rosotroyer when he tries to mount her and she really beats the sit out of him, making him run away. On the other hand, Rusty has never shown any aggression and she always runs away from him, while Megatron at the beginning she'd fight him, but now she also runs away from him. I don't know if this is normal behavior for teenage chickens, but should i worry that he is attacking pullets, when he's the only rooster?

A flying piece of
Feb 28, 2010
NO THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING AS CHEX
My girlfriend had to chase the pitbull that got INTO our chicken run 2 weeks ago out of the yard again this morning because the bitch of an owner keeps letting the dog walk off of the leash. She and my grandmother both threatened to call the police if we ever saw the dog off of the leash again.

Anyway, over the weekend I picked up a new 4x5x4 two year old coop and a 4x10 half-roofed run for $350. It also happened to come with 3 2 year old hens to add to my current 3 young, as-of-yet-not-laying hens. I'll be attaching my current 8x3 run to the new 4x10 run.







Zeta Taskforce
Jun 27, 2002

How did you all acquire your chickens? Do you go down to the hardware store and if so, how many breeds were available? I was looking online and there are sources like

https://www.mypetchicken.com and https://www.purelypoultry.com

It looks like both have a huge selection of breeds, but shipping is expensive and I wonder how traumatic it is for the birds to be shipped long distances, and the shipping itself is not cheap. But it would be cool to have a flock of a bunch of breeds and have an assortment of blue, white, and brown of various shades.

Alterian
Jan 28, 2003

We found ours on craigslist. It was a posting for a feed and seed store way out in the country and they had the breeds we wanted so we drove out there and got a paper bag with 3 chicks in it.

Disco Salmon
Jun 19, 2004
Hey, A flying piece of, nice coop and run.

However, some advice? And you probably already know but eh...

The chicken wire on the runs are great for keeping the birds in. Keeping critters out tho? Not so great.

Might want to look into replacing with hardware cloth, and replacing or overcovering the existing wire, and then securing the hardware cloth to the wood very very well.

Not 100% foolproof mind you...but I know from sad experience that chicken wire can be gotten thru by dogs, and that coons can easily make short work of the run material unless fortified.

And both attacks were in the middle of the day as well, and we were both home.

Again, you probably already had heard it, but it never hurts to mention again just in case. Almost anything is better than coming out to see a headless bird that has been yanked partially thru a chicken wire run and eaten...or even worse seeing all your birds massacred and left around the yard as play toys cos SOMEONE thought it would be fun to let their dogs out.

Disco Salmon fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Jul 25, 2011

A flying piece of
Feb 28, 2010
NO THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING AS CHEX
Yea, I already had a pitbull work his way through the chicken wire on the other run... all of the chickens got into the coop, though. I'm going to be replacing it with hardware cloth soon.

Chido
Dec 7, 2003

Butterflies fluttering on my face!

Zeta Taskforce posted:

How did you all acquire your chickens? Do you go down to the hardware store and if so, how many breeds were available? I was looking online and there are sources like

https://www.mypetchicken.com and https://www.purelypoultry.com

It looks like both have a huge selection of breeds, but shipping is expensive and I wonder how traumatic it is for the birds to be shipped long distances, and the shipping itself is not cheap. But it would be cool to have a flock of a bunch of breeds and have an assortment of blue, white, and brown of various shades.

My three pullets come from the abandoned flock that roams my neighborhood(stupid neighbor is selling his house and he left his chickens here :(). My cockerel is from Velvet Sparrow, from this year's chickam :). If you live in Los Angeles county come to where I live, I'll help you catch the leftover chickens, some of them are very young still :(.

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

:allears: The city we're scheduled to move to next has a 6 hen limit inside the city limits, with a $35 annual permit.

Dr. Octagon
Aug 12, 2008

Ride or Die Bitch, Esq.

A flying piece of posted:

Chicken pics

Those are some warm chickens, it must have been a hot weekend where you were, too. I felt bad for our hens, but as it turns out, they really hate being spritzed with the hose.

Zeta Taskforce posted:

How did you all acquire your chickens?

We got ours from Moyer's Hatchery, which is about an hour and a half from where we live. They have a really extensive catalog, and I'm pretty sure they ship all over the US. They do "trim" the beaks of the chicks (it looks like they hold the very tip of the beak to some sort of heating element) so that they don't hurt each other during shipment, which I know some people think is cruel. All of our hens' beaks look normal now, for what it's worth. The local Tractor Supply had chicks this spring, but they were much more expensive than a hatchery would be.

A flying piece of
Feb 28, 2010
NO THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING AS CHEX

Dr. Octagon posted:

Those are some warm chickens, it must have been a hot weekend where you were, too. I felt bad for our hens, but as it turns out, they really hate being spritzed with the hose.


The heat index in MD was over 105 for 3 days this past week and it was upper 90s all weekend... today was the first 'cooler' day. I also tried misting them with the hose a few times which was met with lots of squawking.

Alterian
Jan 28, 2003

I think we got our chicks for $2 a piece. When I told a friend they were surprised they were at least $50.

Lyz
May 22, 2007

I AM A GIRL ON WOW GIVE ME ITAMS

Zeta Taskforce posted:

How did you all acquire your chickens? Do you go down to the hardware store and if so, how many breeds were available?

Mine have been through co-workers and family so far, but find your local grain seller and ask them. Some do a big batch of one breed of chick, like the little family-owned one down the street from me (and then apparently raises and eats the rest, kind of a strange family, but they took my egg-eating hens so I can't complain). Some of the larger stores will rotate breeds through, there's one up in Maine that has about 4-5 different breeds a week.

You can also order them online through the Murray McMurray hatchery and have them shipped to you, but those come as 25 minimum I think, so find some family/friends/co-workers willing to split what you get.

WrathofKhan
Jun 4, 2011
I've ordered chicks from Myer Hatchery and from My Pet Chicken, which ships from Myer. As I understand it, MPC leases incubator space and shipping services from Myer, and uses some, but not all of the same breeders for hatching eggs. Shipping isn't too traumatic on the chicks. Baby chicks don't need to eat or drink for the first 72 hours. This is because when a hen is hatching a clutch of eggs, there can be a few days difference in the age of the eggs, so the first chicks can hatch a few days before the last chicks are ready, so this way she can stay on the nest until all the chicks hatch without starving the older chicks. So, although it may not be the most fun thing for them, it isn't too traumatic. Certainly the birds I've had don't seem to have any long term mental or physical damage from spending their first couple of days in a box.

If you don't want to get chicks in the mail, you can also buy from a feed store (who probably ordered their chicks from a hatchery) or from a local breeder. Craigslist is an excellent resource, although you will pay more, $10-20 vs $2-$4, for a close to mature pullet as opposed to a day old chick.
Personally, I'd suggest buying 25 chicks from a hatchery (if you order 25 or more shipping is less expensive because the chicks can keep each other warm from body heat and don't need a chemical heater) and selling the excess on Craigslist. I've done that, and it took awhile to sell all of the chicks, which meant I ended up raising a few extra pullets to point of lay. This meant that I made enough money to cover the cost of the chicks and the food it cost to raise them to laying age.

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

Is it that noticeably different to raise 25 as opposed to say, 8 or so? Clearly there'd be more food and more room necessary, but is it a -ton- more work?

CoachBombay
Sep 13, 2010
I have 7 chickens bought as hatchlings in mid-may. I never feel the need to play with the chickens as they are more egg producers than pets in my mind and they seem plenty happy just sunbathing with each other. I didn't see a problem with this until a few days ago the biggest hen took a nip at someones finger. This is less than ideal especially if she starts nipping at people trying to get eggs once they start laying in a month or two. Any suggestions on what I can do at this point to socialize the chickens a little?

Alterian
Jan 28, 2003

Was the person wearing nail polish or rings or something else shiny?

My chickens try to eat my fingers or toes if I wear polish and try always try to eat my rings. :downs:

It never hurts, it just startles me.

WrathofKhan
Jun 4, 2011
Fluffy Bunnies The amount of work doesn't really change based on the number of chicks. Regardless of the number you're still going to need to change their bedding and give them clean water twice a day, and check their food at the same time. The only real difference is the amount of food and space it takes, although if you want super tame 'lap chickens' its better to start with a smaller number so that you can hold them and socialize them more.

CoachBombay: I agree with Alterian that the chicken was probably attracted to polish or a shiny ring. The next time the chicken does it, give her a little tap on the face, or push her aside with your foot. She'll get the message pretty soon.

CoachBombay
Sep 13, 2010

Alterian posted:

Was the person wearing nail polish or rings or something else shiny?

My chickens try to eat my fingers or toes if I wear polish and try always try to eat my rings. :downs:

It never hurts, it just startles me.

No, the big hen does a kind of a charge anytime anyone enters the run. With me she just runs up and stays a foot or so away from me, but I guess in this instance she pecked a finger.

A flying piece of
Feb 28, 2010
NO THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING AS CHEX
How long will it take for the new, older 3 hens to stop being mean to the old, younger 3 hens? They don't seem to be pulling feathers out, much less drawing blood, but the younger 3 hens seem to be in a constant state of fear on the opposite side of the run. The younger hens finding a place to roost for the night is like an hour long ordeal.

Chido
Dec 7, 2003

Butterflies fluttering on my face!

My babies at 18 weeks (more or less). they've gotten so big!



Specially Roostroyer :stare:, and half of his body is pure fluff.

Hellwuzzat
Nov 28, 2008

Chido posted:



Roostroyer really does look like he will roostroy anything that messes with him.

Just going to nth the "check the local feed n' seed for chicks" thing. Also, was talking to some dude today about partridge hunting, and he told me about a dude who raises partridge and pheasant that he bought from a feed store. So, there may be more exotic birdies for you to consider, if you just have to be different.

AcetylCoA!
Dec 25, 2010

Chido posted:

My babies at 18 weeks (more or less). they've gotten so big!



Specially Roostroyer :stare:, and half of his body is pure fluff.



Being that fluffy is clearly serious business. You should record him crowing!

Chido
Dec 7, 2003

Butterflies fluttering on my face!

AcetylCoA! posted:

Being that fluffy is clearly serious business. You should record him crowing!

I'm planning to do it :D.

Also, I don't know if my chickens are old enough to molt already, but Godzilla and Rusty (the big and the small brown ones), have been losing some feathers. Their tail feathers are growing back now, but poor things look funny.

Godzilla


Rusty and Megatron



I think Rusty and Megatron have some bantam in them, because thy are very small compared to Roostroyer. Seeing how they all do once they start laying eggs, I might try to get one more standard size hen to add to my flock. I don't want another brahma (even though they are so pretty), because my coop would be too small for two giant birds and 3 medium-to-small ones. I'd like a hen that would be about 6-8 pounds once fully grown, but I have no idea of what breed to look for if I end up getting another one :(.

Chido fucked around with this message at 07:01 on Jul 28, 2011

Chido
Dec 7, 2003

Butterflies fluttering on my face!

Aaaaaannnnd I got Roostroyer "crowing" on video! The beginning is very dark because, for some reason, the image darkens when I zoom in with my camera. He crows a bit at the beginning, and gain at around minute 3:40 or so. You guys can also see how he treats Megatron. He scares he and Rusty away from the food, so I have to spread it a lot. I hope that changes as they mature.

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Tasty_Crayon
Jul 29, 2006
Same story, different version.

Was finishing up my research paper and thought you'd all get a kick out of one of my references.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ohiUbQyDhk

God she cracks me up.

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