Checking in from Owings, Maryland

[Shutter Up]

Hello there!!!
Quick intro on us, we are a family of 6 (4 children and hopefully more to come!), 2 dogs, and we just bought a property (back in March this year '12) that has an acre of fenced pasture, 1870's historic tobacco barn (no tobacco in it - horses previous owner), and plenty of property.

We grow our own veggies, & peaches (didnt know the tree out front was a peach tree until recently - love it!). Now we are thinking of raising chickens. Friends of ours have chickens for both eggs and meat.

We are looking for a spring launch - trying to get all the research and a good bit of education planning for the spring launch!

But I am a newbie with A LOT of questions! Many super elementary I'm sure but I just dont know!

• like, do chickens fly? I have this great pasture area - can they be let out of a coop and stay in a yard without flying away?
• I've seen hawks flying around - are hawks a threat?
• been reading up on mobile chicken coop tractors - would this be enough greenery for scratching or would they need more space outside of the coop?
• Would I keep them in the barn or in the coop?

lots more of questions coming soon...

See you soon,
Jason

 

[Kevin565]

1. Yes chickens can fly but this depends on the breed. Either way most will stick around once they are trained

2. Yes hawks are a major threat

3. As long as they still have supplemental feed and the tractor is moved often enough that should be fine.

4. Either one would be fine.

5.

 

[Red Barn Farms]

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, Shutter Up, and

! Happy you joined us! I agree with the advice of Kevin565! Best of luck to you!

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Hi and from Ohio. So glad to have you aboard.

 

[Fierlin1182]

Hi and

1. You can let them out of the coop as long as there's a good fence to keep them in. Chickens can fly, but not over a big fence. You can also clip their wings (well, one wing) which kind of hinders them from flying so high.

2. Yes. You'll probably want to keep your chickens under cover if you have hawks. Or at least watch them carefully when you let them out of the coop.

3. That would be enough greenery. The recommended space for scratching is 10 sq ft per bird. Then again some people don't let their birds out of the coop at all, and they do okay.

4. Either. It doesn't matter, as long as they have enough space and ventilation.

And that's awesome that you have a peach tree. When we first moved in here, we had no idea that almost every tree in our garden was a fruit tree. Pear, apple, figs, loquats, grapefruits... but no peach. lol.

I hope you find all the info you need here, and enjoy the site.

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

 

[weimarmama]

&

from Alabama. Glad you joined us.

 

[sumi]

Hello and welcome to BYC

Glad you joined us!