Things You Wish You Would Have Known?

[cream puff]

Always buy chicks don't buy chickens that are a year old or older. When I did that the older birds never got over the stress of the new environment.
Raccoons are evil and they will kill your favourite chickens first
don't have favourites
don't name them (raccoons kill all the ones with names first)
a cat can kill a chicken and eat it
mink can sneak in and kill everything

To keep my chickens alive I have built a fly in coop that a cat, mink, and RACCOON can not climb into, it's on stilts (which also keeps it dry in winter) and the chickens fly in at night and fly out in the morning, but I still close the door. The best defense against raccoons is a Great Pyrenees dog or two in the yard, or a pig - one of the small breeds.

Heavy breed chickens are the best defense against birds of prey because they are too heavy for the birds to lift off the ground.

Broody hens sometimes kill their chicks, don't count them before they are 3 months old because mericks disease

feed the raccoons and they wont eat your chickens

If I had known all this I would still have all my favourite chickens...

 

[TerryH]

Hmm....

Reading about raising chickens and actually raising chickens are not the same thing.
Baby chicks are a lot tougher than they look.
They progress from supposed farm animal to part of the family really fast.
They never, ever, ever stop pooping and if they do it's bad.
Catching a tiny chicken in a cardboard box is way harder than it should be.
The cost of the chickens is nothing compared to the cost of all the chicken things.
Sitting with them is one of the most peaceful things I have ever done.
They all have unique personalities.


I'll add more as they strike me.

 

[nposluszny]

I wish I had known:
How addicting chickens are, chicken math is REAL.
How much pride and enjoyment my children get out of selling the eggs and hearing people complement them on what a good job they are doing.
That even if you have never seen certain predators around your property, they are there, waiting for you to come home late or for you to miss a quarter sized hole in the back corner of your coop. (I had a weasel come in and behead each and every one of my chicks and hens, then leave their bodies for my small children to find in the am).
Importantly, that chicken wire is not designed to keep other animals out, simply to keep chickens in. I use welded wire mesh for everything now.
I have learned that they easily live with other animals, I know keep three meat rabbits, and 3 koi in their water holding tank at our "Chicken Complex". They keep the rabbit manure to a minimum, and clean up any dropped feed from the rabbits, reducing the mice and rat problems that are everywhere on the Oregon Coast.
They are destructive! They will destroy a young garden in a blink of an eye. And they are very smart about how to get to it!
They do poop everywhere! Especially in front of the door, so watch your step
They are brutal to each other, especially during the rainy season here. It is so long and they spend so much time inside during the wet months, they get mean, keeping them occupied can be challenging but fun also.
You may build what you deem to be the perfect coop, but they may not like it. Relax, and adjust on the fly. We have moved nest boxes, reconfigured entire coops, changed litter methods and added new coops. They will decide what works best for them and we will happily accommodate.

Chicken math example : 6+3= 15 chickens.

 

[crealbilly]

LL horizontal surfaces will need to be scraped daily for poo poo. Limit horizontal surface areas as much as possible.

Drop box feeder big enough to hold at least 100 lbs of feed - you'll be glad you did.

PVC pipe nipple waterer big enough for 5 gallons of water - again you'll be glad you did.

Hartiage RIR although good layers have rotten temperaments. Hens stay tore up...

Shade, shade and more shade - did I say shade? I think I did.

Deep bedding and barn lime - a must have... barn lime is cheap - keeps the smells under control. Bedding is the best garden fertilizer there is...

Dust bath area that stays dry... still working on on this.

A little DE in the dust bath does wonders.

Flies - must have fly traps - 2 liter sada bottles with a little ACV and a drop of Palmolive (green) does the trick.

1 TSP Bragg's Organic Apple Cider Vinegar per 1 gallon of water does wonders.

18% All flock feed... 16% layer is a sham - my chickens and Turkey's do so much better with 18% all flock feed.

Oyster shell... always free choice but only after hens lay first eggs.

Electric fence out of reach of chickens - I don't know how many preditors I've taught a lesson or two about electricity. And a chicken or two... oops.

Have shot gun ready at all times - to shoot over top of chicken Hawks (not at them though). You just aNt to scare them off is all not kill them.

Chickens are more addicting than crack cocaine - how is it that 15 - 4 = 36? Chicken Math I guess???

Don't look at all those brooding chicks at the farm store unless you have a fat wallet and are prepared to give the wife some sob story about how these "baby chickens" were being "abused" at the farm store and how your grand daughter fell in love with them. Baby Chickens and Abused are the key words to use here.

Store bought Chicken and Eggs are nasty.

A chicken will poop where they **** well please and there is nothing you can do about it.

 

[bullrunslabs]

Well I know that now, only my chicken math is more like 12 + 7 = 43 with three dozen in the brooder. I think that makes about a dozen per child.

 

[Ballerina Bird]

I wish I had known how much pleasure, joy and unconditional love they give!!

I would have got them so much sooner had I known this.

x2; I really agree with this.

I also wish I knew how much you need to know about DIY and building stuff; for me the hardest and most stressful part was figuring out how to modify and add on to my coop and run without any of that kind of experience. No matter what, you will end up needing to change and adjust things, so you really need to be confident about that stuff or have someone who is and who will be willing to help you when you need it.

 

[Ballerina Bird]

Quote: I have never heard anyone suggest a guard pig before -- that is an awesome idea!

 

[BFarmCluckers]

A good stiff broom and a hard plastic dustpan will be your best friends.
Hang a poop hammock to save your broom.
Prepare to loose your heart and your mind, which will save you from over thinking the details and let you love a fluffy butt even when she tears up your garden.

 

[Sir Chicken]

Chicken Math

 

[cream puff]

I have never heard anyone suggest a guard pig before -- that is an awesome idea!

I have 5 acres and multiple flocks, the birds that are on pasture with the pigs are completely left alone by the raccoons, the birds that are in an orchard have just been decimated, when I had my GP there were no problems with the raccoons.