Backyard Chickens?

[Rits]

I can practically train my two to do anything with an ECollar with the exception of eating grass/acorns. They fricking munch and try to eat everything- ECollar or not. I think my biggest concern is them eating chicken poop.

Stupid questions alert:
I read that chickens do most of their pooping at night in the coop?
If the chickens stay in the coop/run most of the time, me letting them out after 4pm on week days and weekends- how much chicken poop with there be in the area they free range in the back yard?

The other issue I may have is the chickens flying over 6’ picket fence into neighbors yard? You think that will be a problem?

They poop all day long! They just do most of it overnight. I'd say if they are out between 4pm to 8pm they'd probably poop at least twice an hour, per bird. Watch your backyard turn even more lush and green though!

Don't have the chickens permanent area up against the neighbors fence. If they can land on it, they can easily hop the fence. They fly upwards of 10'+. If it's flimsy and they can't land on it, they arent as likely to fly/jump that high. Depends on the breed too, heavier breeds don't particularly like to jump. If they are occupied with plenty to do they are also less likely to want to seek newer ground. We use scratch blocks, scatter scratch (these are treats so sparingly) in the grass, tether whole cabbage or other veggies, kitchen scraps etc. and it gives the chickens no reason to leave!

 

[Gelcoater]

They poop all day long! They just do most of it overnight. I'd say if they are out between 4pm to 8pm they'd probably poop at least twice an hour, per bird. Watch your backyard turn even more lush and green though!

Don't have the chickens permanent area up against the neighbors fence. If they can land on it, they can easily hop the fence. They fly upwards of 10'+. If it's flimsy and they can't land on it, they arent as likely to fly/jump that high. Depends on the breed too, heavier breeds don't particularly like to jump. If they are occupied with plenty to do they are also less likely to want to seek newer ground. We use scratch blocks, scatter scratch (these are treats so sparingly) in the grass, tether whole cabbage or other veggies, kitchen scraps etc. and it gives the chickens no reason to leave!

This is some good info.
I’m revisiting this thread as my wife has hinted a couple times it may be time.
Which.
Pretty much means we are probably getting chickens

My two big concerns are dogs, eating chickens.
And hawks/falcons. Eating chickens.
Getting a breed that sticks closer to the ground may help against the predator birds.
The dogs, well? I suppose that’s training.
Neither are on auto-kill against all other creatures. Rodents are dead animals walking.
But some birds they seem to acclimate to.
Doves. They have a much higher tolerance of vs say a crow or a mocking bird or blue jay.
Not sure why.
If we can teach them to leave the doves alone I think we can do the same with chickens.

 

[Rits]

This is some good info.
I’m revisiting this thread as my wife has hinted a couple times it may be time.
Which.
Pretty much means we are probably getting chickens

My two big concerns are dogs, eating chickens.
And hawks/falcons. Eating chickens.
Getting a breed that sticks closer to the ground may help against the predator birds.
The dogs, well? I suppose that’s training.
Neither are on auto-kill against all other creatures. Rodents are dead animals walking.
But some birds they seem to acclimate to.
Doves. They have a much higher tolerance of vs say a crow or a mocking bird or blue jay.
Not sure why.
If we can teach them to leave the doves alone I think we can do the same with chickens.

You could always look into fencing the chickens off with electric poultry fence if you dont build a permanent covered run. Advantage is that it is easy to move. Charged by a solar Energizer. Ripley has been nailed by it and she doesn't desire to go anywhere near it unless we encourage her to jump it lol. When we first moved in we had a lot of stray dogs and one night I heard two to three big "YIKE"s. Pretty sure a stray dog got nailed. I've been hit by it by accident when I was trying to feed the chickens a corn cob through the fence, I forgot about the fence being on and well, the cob is quite conductive Not flying won't make them less of a target to birds of prey. Only protection against that is bird netting overhead or a rooster.

 

[Gelcoater]

Corn cobbs are quite conducive...noted

We can’t have roosters here, need to think on this a bit.
Yard roofing.

 

[Ravenbird]

The other issue I may have is the chickens flying over 6’ picket fence into neighbors yard? You think that will be a problem?

Short answer: No. The two I mentioned above as being "wild" the Fayoumi and Ancona could fly well, but they still didn't stray from the flock. All those "heavy's" you have on your list wouldn't try to hit a 6' fence unless being attacked. From my experience anyway. IF you want eggs, I was going to say that the Ancona I had laid 6 - 7 days a week her first year and 5 -6 days/week her second year. I'm talking 300 eggs a year for that little cray-cray thing. I'd NEVER get a flock of them, you'd never find them or their eggs if you let them out. But if you want one (ONE) they will go where the flock goes and roost where the flock roosts for the most part.

 

[Ravenbird]

If I decide to do chickens again with these girls around it is going to require some retraining and constant supervision. I can see them associating chicken feet with duck feet and getting confused as to 'why' they are not to be thought of as treats now.

Rest assured, I bet the girls would be fine with chickens. They just don't associate that way. Reckless & Asha both get raw chicken feet on their food several times a week, but they don't associate the live chickens with their dinner. Like you could feed lamb to guardian dogs, but they know the live sheep are not dinner.

Daily raw meat toppers for the dogs:

 

[EricA]

I can practically train my two to do anything with an ECollar with the exception of eating grass/acorns. They fricking munch and try to eat everything- ECollar or not. I think my biggest concern is them eating chicken poop.

If your dogs value grass more than chicken - Something is wrong with them!

 

[EricA]

Rest assured, I bet the girls would be fine with chickens. They just don't associate that way. Reckless & Asha both get raw chicken feet on their food several times a week, but they don't associate the live chickens with their dinner. Like you could feed lamb to guardian dogs, but they know the live sheep are not dinner.

Daily raw meat toppers for the dogs:

View attachment 133967

That settles it then.

I am sending them to YOUR house for dinner!

You definitely got it going on better than we do here!!!

 

[Ravenbird]

I am sending them to YOUR house for dinner!

Ha! They love their raw toppers, but the $$$ is insane. Chicken feet are $3.69/pound at Walmart and nobody else in town sells them. That's crazy expensive for something I thought nobody would buy.

 

[MyBuddy]

This is some good info.
I’m revisiting this thread as my wife has hinted a couple times it may be time.
Which.
Pretty much means we are probably getting chickens

Love it!

With the economy the way it's been so many people are getting on the chicken bandwagon! And actually if it's just for your family and it's not a big family I don't think it takes a lot of chickens.

I'm glad that my friend is the one that decided to do it. I have enough animals to take care of but I did consider it. When she announced it I was like Yay! And she has two married Sons and one still at home, mother-in-law across the road and her mother in town. So she's supplying a lot of free eggs. I told her I was paying her just because she's doing all the work and giving away so many to family members. So she doesn't get paid for anything. She'll only take $2 for a dozen or two. And I think it's only fair to give her something even though we are good friends. She said even the feed has gone up. And even though they had the big Fiasco about eggs getting expensive, last time I went to Aldi's I saw them for a $1.97. Not bad. But mine are fresher!

 

[Ravenbird]

With the economy the way it's been so many people are getting on the chicken bandwagon! And actually if it's just for your family and it's not a big family I don't think it takes a lot of chickens.

Spoiler Alert: It does.not.save.money. But the eggs are way better and the chickens are happy. Layer hens on egg farms live in a cage the size of a milk crate their whole life.

 

[MyBuddy]

Spoiler Alert: It does.not.save.money. But the eggs are way better and the chickens are happy. Layer hens on egg farms live in a cage the size of a milk crate their whole life.

Well, I can see that to be true! BUT...you have constant supply, you know they're fresh, you know what's "in them" cuz you control what they eat, they are a stress reliever to watch (until they get sick or die!) and you can be self sufficient and control your food as much as possible. It's like paying more for organic. It shouldn't be that way...all our food should be organic. But until then, this works.

 

[Rits]

Spoiler Alert: It does.not.save.money. But the eggs are way better and the chickens are happy. Layer hens on egg farms live in a cage the size of a milk crate their whole life.

Oh ya, definitely not. That's why when I was selling mine, I wasn't worried about charging $3/doz when the commercial eggs at the store were cheaper but $3/doz from my free range chickens was cheaper than "cage free" eggs (chickens don't see the sun but not in a cage) at the store. Had one or two huffaw at the price, saying they could get some from someone else for $2/doz and I shrugged and said "Well, then they aren't even breaking even with the cost of feed, bedding, and the labor that goes into caring for them." I understand those that want to give eggs out for free as charity, we did too but it wasn't even expected. Some seem to think eggs should just be free and that its cheap for the chicken farmer when it is not! I didn't have enough eggs to keep up with the demand which tells me many appreciated what I was selling. Those that bought from me have seen how my chickens were cared for. I had to up the price to $4/doz during the pandemic and no one had any issues with that either.

 

[EricA]

Spoiler Alert: It does.not.save.money. But the eggs are way better and the chickens are happy. Layer hens on egg farms live in a cage the size of a milk crate their whole life.

Can tell by the pictures of the coops that you are correct for 'most' of the people posting here. They are spending BIG money for some 'free' eggs.

Big $$$ on coops, big $$$ on fancy birds, big $$$ on feed most likely. Yeah, the majority are paying ten times more for those 'free' eggs AND they get to clean up the poop!

FWIW - Your honestly (in darn near every post you make) is something that I really appreciate. Have read enough of your posts here now to know that you don't 'candy coat' anything and pretty much just stick to facts and 'telling it like it is'.



I went the opposite route when I did my chickens and yes I DID save a good bit of money on my eggs.

The coop in my case was free thanks to spare building materials from work and my spare time putting it all together. No doubt it 'would' have cost me several hundred dollars 'if' I had to pay someone else for something similar. It is ungodly what places like TSC charge for a tiny little rinky dink coop these days. Most people don't have the skills, tools or the patience to even try to build their own so they are stuck paying those rapey prices for their coops. They are way in the hole as far as the dollars are concerned long before they ever see the first egg.

My birds were the cheapest red pullets that the local TSC had. (didn't care about 'pretty' birds - I wanted egg layers and that was all)

The feed was not nearly as expensive as it could have been either. People pay a lot more for those bags of whatever at the TSC when in a lot of cases they 'could' have asked around and found a local co-op where they could have bought in bulk for a good bit less money. Not to mention free ranging the things in the yard. Chickens will pretty much eat anything. (including your yard)

I used to think that when I peeled an onion, peeled some potatoes or diced up a green pepper that the left over bits were garbage. Hell no, That stuff is tasty chicken treats! No such thing as vegetable matter going to waste! Have a big rain and notice a lot of worms on the driveway? Ohh yes, my butt was out there with a bucket picking up those worms collecting chicken feed for FREE! Have a piece of meat that sat around in the fridge too long to where you can't even consider it fit for doggie disposal? THAT same piece of meat can go off in a chub bucket and will produce piles of maggots (chicken treats) for several days. (chub bucket - a bucket with holes drilled in the bottom to allow the maggots to drop out but not the nasty meat hung high in the chicken area)

I never gave away 'free' eggs to anyone. Any and all eggs that did not go in MY tummy were dog food for my girls at the time. (saving me $$$ on kibble)

A chicken of mine past egg producing age was not 'kept around' as a pet either. That joker was destined for the crock pot or dog food. Was never bought or intended to be any sort of 'pet'. No way, no how. They were bought to inexpensively produce FOOD for me and the girls and nothing more.

 

[Rits]

Can tell by the pictures of the coops that you are correct for 'most' of the people posting here. They are spending BIG money for some 'free' eggs.

Oh, I know our coop is "eggstra." You can call me out. My hubby and I wanted to build something that would last for many, many years. You are right, the store crap is crap. You could punch it and it would break open they are so thin for $600? I wanted something very functional to hold more chickens than I planned, I could walk inside during bad weather to sit with my chickens, it could hold and store any excess materials, supplies etc. they could be locked in on bad days or during vacation and they wouldn't be negatively affected. I could hold both my flock and young chicks or spare roosters separately. Plus, we envisioned if we ever got out of chickens, this would convert easily to a shed. The landing gear is not necessary for most, but was for us so we could take our coop with us when we moved. Lastly, I wanted it to be pretty! If I wasn't thinking about any of that, I would build a cheap and small mobile chicken tractor that could only fit the chickens. It was a wonderful project between us and I don't regret spending the money for the long term investment.

 

[Kswoodssue]

@Ddski5 thought this was an idea for you

 

[Ddski5]

Hahaha!!!
That made me laugh!!!

 

[Ddski5]

Really like your coop! I started gathering wood and am searching the internet for coop ideas and plans. Jeesh, this is harder than buying a house. I am being sooo picky. It’s like I have an idea in mind but don’t fully understand the purpose of everything.

Questions:
1. Why do you have the coop separated in half with wire mesh?
2. What kind of flooring do you have and is that sand on top?
3. Do you free feed chickens?
4. Are the scent trees necessary? If so, what kind is the best?
5. Should you have a nest for each chicken? 8 chickens=8 nest?
6. What are the things you did wrong?
7. What are the things you would change?
8. I see some folks have outside doors to open to get into the nesting areas to retrieve eggs. The hen won’t get out if you open the door to get the eggs?
9. Did I read somewhere that the roost bars should only be 1’ off the ground to decrease risk of bumble foot?
10. How big is your coop?

 

[Rits]

1. Why do you have the coop separated in half with wire mesh?

I did this so I could introduce new chickens, raise baby chicks etc. so they could be separated if needed. The door opens and stays latched open if I want the entire coop available to all the birds.

2. What kind of flooring do you have and is that sand on top?

Linoleum. It is animal bedding/pine shavings on the floor on top of the linoleum. There was sand on the poop trays under the roost for easy scooping/clean out but I moved to coffee grounds for same effect but better.

3. Do you free feed chickens?

Most people do. I keep gravity feeders in my coop same with water. Some have theirs outside the coop to avoid rodents in the coop but I've never had issues with a well built coop that was locked up at night. I like mine inside the chickens always have access even if I'm late letting them out or if they stay in because it's a really crappy day where I know mine won't go outside anyways lol! (-windchill/raining sideways)

4. Are the scent trees necessary? If so, what kind is the best?

No haha. I had read on one of the chicken forums that flies don't like the vanilla ones. I haven't found that to help much. Fly strips work great.

Should you have a nest for each chicken? 8 chickens=8 nest?

No. One nest per four. The joke is you can build 10 nest boxes, but they'll still only use one. They all have a favorite nest box and another could be available but they want the one that is occupied! Still, you want to be sure there is one available. They don't lay all day and they all have their own schedule. So one per four is enough.

. What are the things you did wrong?

We originally did not have the poop trays and the chickens pooped on the floor in the bedding underneath the roosts... Omg what a mess... The amount of bedding we went through was insane. Smelt like a barnyard too. Adding the poop trays not only collected their poop and kept it out of where they walked but also gave them way more floor space! We put their feeders under neath the poop tray/table and they can walk under the roosts without getting pooped on by any roosting above because of the tray. We also originally did not have the coop divided and it was one giant coop with just roosts. The division has been so so nice. For introducing new chickens until they are acclimated to the flock, to separating one that may be injured. To letting chicks grow up until they are about as big as the hens. Right now we have an egg eater separate in there with 6 wooden eggs and collecting her one egg daily is a lot easier than her having access to them all. She pecks the wooden eggs, nothing happens so no self reward. She's been in there for a few weeks now and no broken eggs either on her side (yay) or the other side so we know it's just her. This is basically her last chance...can't have egg eaters. We are really happy with the coop now besides those things that we changed early on. I'd recommend not using cheap linoleum. The chicken group recommended it but it tears so easily that either a shovel or the chickens scratched up one corner. Need to rip it out and put thicker stuff down next time. Could have bare wood but we wanted something easy to clean and disinfect.

7. What are the things you would change?

Umm, maybe having the nest box lid be made of lighter material. It's a little heavy for me haha but doable. We have it so it splits in half so less weight and then I can prop up a support post that's connected to the lid to hold it all open.

8. I see some folks have outside doors to open to get into the nesting areas to retrieve eggs. The hen won’t get out if you open the door to get the eggs?

I would definitely recommend a way to collect eggs from the outside. Also a door to clean the entire coop if you don't make it large enough to walk into. Open the door, park wheel barrow next to and scrape all the bedding in the wheelbarrow. Usually the hen wants to stay in the nesting box if she's in there with the intent to lay. So she won't typically make a break for it. They are easy to push back inside if you have one trying to do that. If one does get out, don't panic, they want to be near safety/the coop so you can just get some scratch or mealworms and shake a tin with that inside and use a recall (if you go out and do this daily, they WILL come when called, almost better than the dogs!) Shake tin, it makes a noise, "here chick chick chick" while walking into your run and sprinkle scratch on the ground so the chicken sees. They run in you can close the door to the run and now easily catch them. If your chickens get tame enough you can walk right up to them and catch them anywhere.

Did I read somewhere that the roost bars should only be 1’ off the ground to decrease risk of bumble foot?

Heavier chickens are more effected and if you don't have enough bedding down this is more likely to happen. More height to drop down does add more force to the impact. The height of our poop trays is probably 3'. I had only one chicken that had issues with bumble. I think some are more prone to it due to individualism. The one I had that would get bumble off and on had softer skin on her feet. She wasn't a super heavy bird but wasn't light either. I have heavier birds and they never got bumble. I just think she was more prone. You want the roosts to be higher than the nest boxes so that the chickens want to roost there over sleeping in the nest box at night! If they are the same height or the nest boxes are higher, the chickens will sleep in the nest box and poop all over it. Getting poop in your nest boxes and on themselves. So while yes have the roosts lower vs higher so less impact when jumping down but also keep them higher than the nest box! Chickens like to roost high up to feel safe.

10. How big is your coop?

8x12 then the height is like 6' on short side, 8' on tall.

 

[Rits]

I'll share the coop build pictures in a separate thread later if you would like! Looking at sooo many coops helped me invision what I wanted, taking pieces from different coops and then we made it our own. I told Derek what features I wanted and with pics of other coops from the net he just kinda built it on his own. There weren't any build plans for our specific coop.