Archive for September, 2009
Hi everyone,
I am designing a chicken house and my plans are that I have roosting poles that are all on the same level, like if you took a ladder and laid it on its side. My question is, can I put two levels of this and put one above the other as long as I leave room for them to fly up there from the one below. Or would there be problems from some being above the others?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
MusicMan
many people have "stacked" roosting poles, One tip, situate upper poles a little behind the lower poles so birds on top don’t leave their droppings on the lower birds.
I want chickens as pets but have no intention of hatching eggs. What type of chicken is a friendly, good layer that doesn’t often go broody?
I have 4 Red Sussex hens they are great, you have to teach them to be friendly – it took ours about a week..
Austrolorps are also good.
Silkies too but can be broody which really shouldnt matter you collect the eggs so they wont be broody with nothing to sit on.
here is a link for pet chicken breeds.
http://www.gomestic.com/Pets/Pet-Chickens-What-Breeds-are-Best.93603
my girl friend says the hemlock trees are toxic and will kill the birds, I dont think the birds will be eating the trees and should be fine
please settle this for us
the tree hemlock is a pine. just like any other pine. she is thinking of poison hemlock different plant. it is fine to use hemlock boards to build you coop. and enjoy them home grown eggs. yummy.
Hi,
I was considering buying some chickens, but I would prefer multiple different breeds of chickens, instead of a flock of the same breed, is it possible to do this? The chickens I was intending to buy would be one silkie, one light sussex, one buff orpington and one black cochin chicken. They would all be hens and egg quantity and quality doesnt bother me too much. Also I was planning on raising them all together from a young age. Thanks for all your help
No problem. The only thing you need to keep an eye on is when they are brand new day old chicks. The larger breed chicks can trample the smaller breed chicks. Once they are a week or so old, they’ll be fine.
I am thinking of building a small pen area or tractor for some egg layers, the eggs don’t have to be big or super-regular, but they have to be tasty. I already have a pair of Barred Rocks, and was going to expand the flock, but they are HUGE and I can’t afford the space nor the money for feed on a flock of 20 or so birds. I am going to keep the BR’s, but I am not going to get anymore, I diddn’t realize how huge they are, just the two of them eat a half gallon of food a day, think of 20 more of them, theoretically that would mean they would go through a 50 pound sack of feed every 10 days!!!! And since I am not going to be getting too much returns from the chickens besides breakfast every morning and maybe like 75 cents a dozen for fresh eggs, I just want a small flock of smallish birds to enjoy for myself and my family. They don’t have to be bantam-small, just smaller than br’s. And I want 5 breeds so I can research and pick the breed I like and that fits my needs better.
And no, I did not research Barred rocks before I got them, which is how I got into this situation, my great uncle was going to cull them because he had thought they were peacock eggs when he put them in the brooder, and when it turned out they were chicks, he was going to kill them, and I didn’t see why he should kill them just because they aren’t one species or another, so I took them, neither of us knew what breed they were because all his fowl are pretty much free range all togheter except his broilers. But anyway, he lets all the peafowl and duck and geese and laying chickens live together because he either eats the eggs no matter what they are (except peafowl) or hatches and sells the peafowl. I know that peacock eggs are WAY different form chicken eggs, but my great uncle gets into a hurry sometimes because he has a 20 acre farm with all kinds of animals and he always has to watch for predators and donkey fights and his sons are always all over the place, he is just very busy)
yeah, he gets THAT distracted, you don’t know him. He literally has something (fights, births, breedings, hatchings, attacks) going on all the time and the only ones who help him are his sons and they aren’t all that reliable. He is one of those old fashioned farmers. He put the two chicken eggs in the back and I guess he forgot about them, it’s a wonder they even hatched and weren’t deformed because the only turning they got was when the tray was pushed in and pulled out. At least that’s the whole story, so he claims, I think he was taking care of them, but just didn’t want anymore chickens after they hatched and it was too late to just toss the eggs over the hill….
no no… they only eat a HALF gallon of feed a day 1/4 in the morning and 1/4 in the evenings, I had to adjust this a little, I started out feeding a lot, 1/2 gallon 2 x daily and there was a lot left over, so I tried a lot less, like a cup, ;but they were so ready for food they like attaqcked me so I tried the 1/4 and it was just about perfect, there is either a little bit left or they are hungry again…
Here are some breeds of good chickens for laying eggs that are smaller-
Leghorns-
Weight: 4.5 pounds (standard) 1.75 pounds (bantam)
Eggs: One of the best layers you can find of medium white eggs (lay the eggs you buy in the store.)
Maturity: Very early
Mothering: Doesn’t brood at all
Temp: Not cold hardy does better in heat
Looks: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGK/Leghorns/BRKLeghorns.html
Americana-
Weight: 5.5 lb
Eggs: Great egg layer of medium sized blue/green eggs
Maturity: Moderately early
Mothering: Great brooder and mother
Temp: They are cold hardy
Looks: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/Arau/BRKAraucanas.html You have to scroll down past all the written things to look at the pictures on feathersite.
Dorking-
Weight: 6.5 pounds (standard) 1 pounds (bantam)
Eggs: Good layers of medium cream eggs.
Maturity- slow to mature
Mothering: Great moms
Temp: More cold hardy
Looks- http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGD/Dorks/BRKDorks.html
Rhode Island Red-
Weight: 6.5 pounds (standard) 2 pounds (bantam)
Eggs: One of the best layers of large brown eggs
Maturity: depends on the strain. Some people say that there’s grow very quickly but mine tend to start laying eggs around one year of age.
Mothering: Does happen but very rarely
Temp: Cold hardy but some roosters can have trouble with their combs
Looks: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Reds/BRKRIR.html
Black Austrop-
Weight: 6.5 pounds (standard) 2 pounds (bantam)
Eggs: Great layers of medium to large brown eggs
Maturity- Early
Mothering: Good
Temp:
Looks: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/Lorps/BRKLorps.html
(This is one of my favorite breeds. My Black Austrop pullets are so sweet.)
Silkes-( I don’t consider this a good laying breed at all I just listed it because a few people did and you may want to know more about them. They are known to be very sweet birds.)
Weight: 2.2 pounds
Eggs: Very tiny and not laid that often
Maturity: Slow
Mothering: One of the best you can get
Temp: They have feathers on their legs and feet so they shouldn’t be walking in mud.
Looks: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Silkies/BRKSilkies.html
Polish-
Weight: 4.4 pounds
Eggs: Depends on the strain that you purchase but they are small and white
Mothering- They are commonly known not to go broody but, it isn’t unheard of.
Temp-They have lots of fancy feathering so they shouldn’t be kept in muddy or foul weather.
Looks: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Polish/BRKPolish.html
Champine-
Weight- 5 pounds
Eggs: Okay layer of medium white eggs
Maturing: Fast
Mothering- They don’t brood
Temp- Are known to get frostbite easier then other breeds
Looks: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/Camp/BRKCampine.html
Pendesenca
Weight: 4 pounds
Eggs: Small to med. Great layers of chocolate brown eggs
Maturing: slow
Mothering: Good
Temp: Good in extreme heat
Looks: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Penes/BRKPenes.html
Great websites for getting info on chicken breeds-
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html#Chickens
All about feeding-
I was a little concerned when you said your two chickens eat 1 gallon of food a day. I also have Barred Rocks but they don’t eat nearly that much. My chickens each get a handful (Closed palm) of food in the morning and at night. (My birds are very healthy.) If you give them any more then that they will eat it very happily. Chickens are pigs and will eat every thing you give them. They are also great beggars and act like they are starving twenty for seven. I know that it is hard but don’t fall for it. Smaller breeds of chickens will eat less food but, no two chickens of any one breed should consume a gallon of feed in one day even if they are not left out to roam.
If you want to change your chickens diet here is a plan.
Take away any mechanical feeders or feeders where food is scooped into. Give them a little less food every day. Eventually just take two handfuls of food and give them to your chickens in the morning. Do the same thing around seven o’clock at night. If you are worried about them being hungry and you don’t have any grass you could give them another handful in the middle of the day if you wish.
You should be able to feel some food in their gullet at all times but it should never be full to the point where it seems like it is bursting. To find a good feed schedual for my birds I would feel their gullets and determined if they have had to much food or not. If it is bigger then your hand or feels extremely hard and large then it is a sign of them getting feed too much. Remember larger breed chickens are usually more likely to get obese and when this happens they can have difficulties passing eggs.
Hope this helps and good luck with your birds,
I know that some people go through the hoopla of putting heaters in hen houses etc. but I know I’ve seen someone just leave them be and they did just fine… and that was 6 feet of snow for 2 or 3 months! They stayed in his unheated tool shed… I thought for sure they’d freeze but they clucked around just fine. So, need some advice on the cold and chickens. Thanks
The primary concern with chickens and freezing temperatures is that toes freeze and combs freeze. This problem is caused not by the cold so much, as by dampness. The best solution is the right chicken house for your birds. I have a "City Biddy Hen House". It is a really cute chicken house that is designed for folks just like us who have a few chickens in our backyards. The City Biddy is easy to build and easy to use. It keeps my hens (3) warm and very comfortable in the winter months, even through below zero temperatures. I have never used any heat for the coop, only a night light bulb on a timer to help with egg laying during the long dark winter. Since the City Biddy has wheels I move it to a sunny spot for the winter and to the shady north side of our garage during the summer. My hens stay nice and comfortable even when temps are in the 100′s. (Home Sweet Missouri!)
You can find out more info at http://www.ubuilderplans.com
They also have a lot more info on the site about chickens, pictures of the houses, and info on urban homesteading as well.
Good luck!
I want to build an easy chicken coop, for fresh grass fed eggs, this weekend. I want it to hold 2 chickens at first, maybe more later, but not necessarily.
There are so many chicken coop building plans on the web; does anyone have any ideas about an easy starter one that can be built by a mildly handy person?
To raise them for eggs, you’ll need a couple of hens from your local farms. They’ll lay an egg a day, so 2 hens will keep you in eggs pretty well.
They’ll lay eggs their entire lives, but production does decrease as they age.
Keep the fencing around your hen house buried at least 12 inches to keep out burrowing predators.
I found some good chicken coop building plans with an easy design online. I built an a-frame design and wired up so I could keep a fan in it.
If you’re looking to build a chicken coop, you must prepare yourself, as with anything. Not gaining the necessary knowledge up front, will likey cause you to be dissatisfied down the road with the chicken house you’ve built. This stress could cause you to rebuild, or worse, abandon your chicken raising dreams.
Avoid these chicken house errors up front and you and your chickens will be much happier.
Error #1 – Not Having a Physical Chicken House Plan – Make sure you have a paper drawing of the chicken house. This will alleviate any guessing on your part because everything from building materials and dimensions should be spelled out exactly. If you’d like to see a great example of chicken house plans, click here.
Error #2 – Forgetting Insulation - Chickens don’t like cold weather. They can become uncomfortable or worse, sick. This will affecting the eggs that they lay so make sure the chicken house is properly insulated. Even if you live in a warm climate, basic insulation will still be needed.
Error #3 – Not Putting the Water and Feeders in the Correct Place - While a small chicken house might not pose too much of an issue, a larger chicken house should have their water and feeders centrally located. You might want to consider multiple feeders so none of your chickens gets crowded out. Finally, make sure they are at the correct height. Typically, right around their back level will work best.
Error #4 – Forgetting a Light Source - Make sure to incorporate at least one window into the chicken house. This is an excellent source of natural light and will be cheaper than running electricilty into the chicken house. Windows will also increase the ventilation as well.
Making sure to avoid these costly errors will insure a better built chicken house. Failure to consider them now can and will cost more later.
