Things You Wish You Would Have Known?

[ChickNanny13]

Check out the website Ameraucana.org There's the history of the birds coming about and clarifies the differences.

ARAUCANAS = Tufted & Rumpless - Blue Egg gene however the Muffed gene is lethal
AMERAUAUCANA = Bearded, Muffed & Tail - Blue Egg gene & specific colors
EASTER EGGER = Mixed and carry the blue egg gene, colorings varied.

I bought what I thought were Ameraucanas (hatchery) which BYC readers informed me were EEs. They do lay greenish colored eggs and are so very entertaining! One EE lays a darker green/blue egg than the other (although looks white in the first pic), my 2 RIR lay different shades too so I know who lays when. They just started laying, getting 4 a day!!!!

 

[Notaneggspurt]

How well does hardware cloth work for keeping predators out of the pens and coop?

@MultipleAnimals

Hardware cloth usually comes in two sizes, I think 1/4" and 1/2". It's what we have in the coop windows and will be burying it a foot deep along the run to hopefully deter digging critters. It's also thicker than chicken wire and most predators would have a hard time getting their teeth into it to chew through. There are some really great plans all over and advice on using hardware cloth. The smallest holes can keep out most things including snakes.

 

[rubyred77]

I live in a cold climate..Got the chicks too soon.. We had to keep them in the house for weeks..Lucky for me my husband meticulously cleaned cages twice a day and rigged up a fan /vent in our ceiling for air circulation.. Now they are full grown and outside in their beautiful coop my husband made..Never lost one of the 12..all healthy and happy. I would advise new chicken owners to wait until they are able to go outside right off the bat.

 

[dionicio]

I wish I would if build my coop bigger, and my run too!!
They sure are addictive!

 

[10AcreChick]

Chicken math.

I wish I had known about chicken math. Though I probably would not have listened or believed it if someone had told me. I expanded my coop three months ago and realized last night (as my broody Australorp sits on 12 more eggs) that it is not big enough!

I thought DH was going to steam out his ears when I broke the news to him. Though I think he secretly likes them and is proud of the knowledge I have gained by keeping them.
I also wish I had had the nerve a year ago to do the bumblefoot surgery on my RIR rooster's feet that needed to be done. He was a fantastic rooster and I haven't had a good one since. He succumbed to the disease (after having it for a year) after I segregated him from the hens for a little bit until I could provide him with more hens (a little overzealous was he). We say he died of loneliness.

 

[JK2PC]

I wish I would have known how much I would laugh and how happy they make me, that my cats, large dog, hens, and roosters can all live happily with one another. Just like humans they will have a favorite food. Finding it can take a while. Quail and chickens are not friends. They LOVE crickets, and will sample every plant in your yard. Lastly how trusting they become once you have proven your good intentions

 

[AmberSchmieg83]

I wish I had known the proper way to introduce new chickens to an already existing flock. It would have caused a lot less trouble and heartache.
I wish I would have known how much they poop - because it's a LOT!

And if you are in the yard with bare feet or flip flops, you will find it!
I wish I would have known how fast they can destroy things. Particularly freshly planted flowers and gardens! And that they will find any way they can to get in. Little boogers

I wish I had known how much I would enjoy hearing our rooster crow everyday. If he wasn't around, I would miss him!
I knew I would like having chickens, but I didn't realize how much I would LOVE having chickens. They are the best therapy and I love to just sit and watch them.
They are little stress relievers!

 

[Deleon98]

There will be lots of flys... and chickens can and will be predators. I wish i wouldve been born knowing how to build stuff too

 

[AllynTal]

I wish I had known that it's a crapshoot whether chicks from a hatchery will have the traits and characteristics that the breed is supposed to have.

I spent a lot of time researching chicken breeds to find the one that has all the traits and characteristics I wanted -- heat tolerant, good foragers, docile, proper dual purpose (good meat with decent laying), large eggs, et al. I found the breed available at a hatchery and ordered my chicks........only to find out later that traits and characteristics that the breed is supposed to have may or may not be in these hatchery birds. I got chickens that look like the breed, but may or may not perform like the breed.

If you pick a breed for breed traits, get your chicks from a breeder, not a hatchery.

 

[coltssuperbowl83]

Do not buy chickens at a livestock auction, ever.