Coop Project: Maken the Plunge & Getting Chickens

[MrsMommaB]

First, I just want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU for this thread!! It has been a learning experience and fun to read! I look forward to continuing reading about your chicken journey!
Second, I have to say I especially appreciate the pecking order comment. I am new to chickens and I have 6, 6 week old chicks. One of them, a barred rock, has started pecking me when I reach for them the last two days!!! I didn't know what the heck had gotten into her! Last night, I reached into their coop and she pecked me and then one of blue andalusians behind her fluffed up all huge and started hopping up and down. Crazy broods. I am going to work on giving treats by hand more so they aren't so scared of me. Hopefully I'm not too late. Thanks again for this thread. Loving it.

 

[MrsMommaB]

Oh, I'd also like to ask something in regards to keeping the hens in your yard. It looks in some of the pics that you maybe share a fence with neighbors on each side in the back yard? Well, that's how my house is..... I'm worried my hens will be flying into neighboring yards on the regular. Advice?

 

[MrsMommaB]

Here's a better pic.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Oh, I'd also like to ask something in regards to keeping the hens in your yard. It looks in some of the pics that you maybe share a fence with neighbors on each side in the back yard? Well, that's how my house is..... I'm worried my hens will be flying into neighboring yards on the regular. Advice?

Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm glad that you have enjoyed the thread. I must say that it has been a fun journey, trying at times, but fun.

Yes I do have neighbors on both sides and behind me. My girls are large breed birds, Barred Rocks and Black Sexlinks. So they don't fly well, and I trim the flight feathers on 1 wing. So they can't really fly anyway and with one win clipped...they have to try really really hard to even get off the ground.

My next group of pullets are Welsummers, they are a medium breed. I have to say I have already seen several of them fly across the yard, so I may be in trouble...and if I am, you'll read about it in my thread.

For your birds, plan to trim each year right after they moult. If you wait to long they WILL figure out that their wings work and they WILL use them.

Hey...Isn't this a fun hobby?

I really enjoy keeping poultry and I really enjoy the people that I meet that keep poultry.

 

[MrsMommaB]

Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm glad that you have enjoyed the thread. I must say that it has been a fun journey, trying at times, but fun.

Yes I do have neighbors on both sides and behind me. My girls are large breed birds, Barred Rocks and Black Sexlinks. So they don't fly well, and I trim the flight feathers on 1 wing. So they can't really fly anyway and with one win clipped...they have to try really really hard to even get off the ground.

My next group of pullets are Welsummers, they are a medium breed. I have to say I have already seen several of them fly across the yard, so I may be in trouble...and if I am, you'll read about it in my thread.

For your birds, plan to trim each year right after they moult. If you wait to long they WILL figure out that their wings work and they WILL use them.

Hey...Isn't this a fun hobby?

I really enjoy keeping poultry and I really enjoy the people that I meet that keep poultry.

It is SO fun!!! I so look forward to seeing the cackling hens in the morning, lunch and evenings. They are entertaining just to watch. Foraging and dust baths are my favorite things to witness!
I will look for some youtube videos about clipping feathers. I'm a bit nervous about it but they do try to fly away when I pick them up already so I am definitely worried about them heading over to the neighbors yards.
I have quite a few bulb plants in my back yard which I've read are toxic to chickens. Will they stay away from them by instinct or is that an old wives tale?


I also wanted to say I'm sorry about the hens you've lost. I'm sure cha cha in particular was hard for your family.... How is Pecker these days? Or did I miss an update on him at his new home after he was beat up a bit by the other roo's?

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Poisonous plants are an issue, and my chickens have tried to eat everything in my yard at one time or another. The stuff they like, they eat everyday, the stuff they don't like I never see them try again. If you have poisoned plants, I would keep them out of areas where the chickens have access. I have a great book recommendation for you, "Free-Range Chicken Gardens", great book on plants and poultry.

I get attached to my birds, it's a character flaw that I have. Cha Cha was a good bird, she was the first to greet me everyday when I would go outside to do chores...and she was the first of that flock to mature and lay eggs. We always had poultry when I was growing up, ducks & chickens.

After I was married, I raised 13 turkeys when my daughter was less than a year old. Turkeys are such amazing birds, and they really are tuned into people. I won't go into all the stories, suffice it to say they are my favorite poultry. At any rate...fall came and we had to butcher, that was their purpose.

THAT WAS THE HARDEST thing I have ever done. That was over 20 years ago (my daughter is 24) and I will never forget it. They were meat birds, and I got too close to them. I knew each of them independently by sight, hard hard hard sadness that day. Those were the last birds that I had for many years, till I started this thread.

I much prefer layer hens to meat animals. Society is so sheltered, in my opinion. We've lost touch with what a food chain is and is not.

Sad statement as to what we have become...as a society. Too much do we let others do our dirty work.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

My daughter and her family are out of town for a few days, I just found out today. So I won't be able to see my grandson for a bit.

I love that little man.

Imagine my surprise when I walked into the house after a long day at work to find Sadie at our house. My wife made the arrangements, no one told me...doesn't anyone remember that Sadie Kills Chickens.

I greeted the dogs and then headed outside with visions of feathers and torn bodies. Thank Gawd everyone was OK, and even better they ALL came running when I stepped out on the deck, big girls and my little pullets.

The big girls got a treat.

I wanted to give my Welsummers a treat...because they were all ALIVE. They don't really like bread yet...so sadly they got grass. They loved it, they climbed all over me. They definately see me as the food provider. To them it doesn't seem to matter what the treat is, they'll eat it.

....well unless it's bread. :/

Silly birds.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Finished my chores today...funny thing...no eggs. Not one single egg today. These girls have been diligently laying 3 to 4 eggs a day for weeks.

Today...no eggs.

....did I say Sadie is staying with us for a few days?

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I have my own methods of taking care of and maintaining my little flock of egg-layers. My birds get a mixture of Whole Grains, recently though, I have gone back to adding supplementary rations.

Here is the traditionally suggested feeding of chickens.

Starter Feeds
Newly hatched chicks ages 0-10 weeks should be fed a chick starter diet with a protein level between 18%-20%. These rations are formulated to provide proper nutrition for growing baby chickens. Higher protein starter rations (22%-24%) are reserved for meat birds such as turkey, quail and pheasant. This higher protein level maximizes growth for broilers and roasters, but is not necessary or desirable for egg laying chickens.

Grower Feeds
At 10 weeks of age, a grower feed should replace the starter feed. Grower feeds are typically 15%-16% protein, and are designed to sustain growth to maturity. The higher protein content (20%), in starter/grower feeds is recommended for growing game birds. (and Turkeys)

Layer Feeds
Layer feeds are designed to provide optimum nutrition for birds laying eggs for consumption. Layer feeds contain 16% protein and have increased levels of Calcium, for proper shell development. Layer feeds should be fed starting around 18 weeks of age, or when the first egg is laid, whichever comes first.

 

[GardenNut]

What do you feed now? I have my girls on an organic, non-soy grower feed, but I think they're wasting a lot and picking out only what they like. After this initial bag, I may put them back on traditional feed. I wanted to feed organic, non-soy, since there's so much soy in everything we eat these days. But heck, if they're going to waste it, why bother?