Chickens 101

[Stacyc]

And that they an growl. Freaked me out first time I saw and heard it. Had to google growling chicken. I thought she was in a weird trance. And last but not least I wasn't expecting to actually witness my rescue RIR to jump to the top roost and squeeze out an egg. I saw this weird body posture, she was standing and then holy crap! I thought something was wrong with her till I saw her back end expand and low and behold! I saw the egg crowning and out it popped. Fell to the sand below, did not break but it landed right in front of another hen, scared the crap outa her as well. I was horrified and fascinated all at once. I am still slightly disturbed from the experience. This happened after having my three girls for less than two months.

 

[QueenofKings]

Whatever you do, don't turn your back on the roosters - those sly little buggers!
If s/he is bleeding, take her/him out of the coop.
Chicken wire is the worst, ever.
Make sure to have room in the garage for emergencies.

 

[MarcoPollo]

I will repeat what others have already said. I wish I would have been warned about how attached you can get to chickens. You will probably have a favorite one (or 2, or 3, etc) and it will be extremely sad when they die

 

[3KillerBs]

1. Chickens love pizza. (My "spare kid" is a shift supervisor at Domino's. burned, mis-made, and half-eaten pizza comes home for the chickens).

2. Chickens are the only force on earth that can readily turn pine straw and live oak leaves into compost. I re-bed the run about every 2 weeks. Come late winter or spring I'll pull a bunch out to age properly for the garden.

3. Chickens have distinctive personalities. One of my hens has, from hatching, loved to be picked up and petted. All the rest are more skittish. One gets absolutely hysterical if I try to catch her.

4. Chickens favorite weeds are the beggar-ticks that infest my garden!

5. Nipple waterers are great in warm weather but the first hard freeze at night blows the pins out of the nipple and you're back to the galvanized can thing.

 

[Peep_Show]

1) If you MUST use chicken wire make sure chickens cannot stick their necks through it.... Otherwise, you'll have your own flock of naked necks in no time flat.

2) Straw is not good for deep litter. It compacts and you end up needing a chainsaw to get the mat out of your coop.

3) Befriend and train one bird in your free range flock as it makes it really easy to call in the whole group if they're following the one hen.

4) Chickens are the ultimate scavengers bar none. If they were really big they'd be scarier than Velociraptors.

5) Unsupervised chickens can destroy landscaping quicker than you can imagine...uprooted plants, gravel all over the place, dirt craters.

6) Pipping time at the incubator means your next 24+ hours are spent watching a Styrofoam box. Forget anything important...you can not turn away.

7) There is nothing flatter nor sadder than a dead chick.

8) There is nothing funnier than a tomato worm scrimmage in the chicken run.

9) You will never get over how superior your homegrown eggs are to store bought. Instant egg snob!

10) No matter how hard you resist you will become thoroughly addicted to them.

 

[Pillow]

Great thread!

1. Just do it. We didn't know squat when we picked up chicks this spring. So far we have done pretty well, lost a few, got a few more, and have really enjoyed the experience. Pretty much an impulse decision!

2. The first egg is priceless!!!

3. You cannot handle them enough. It is easier to own tame friendly chickens than it is skitish ones.

4. Chickens can be mean to each other when establishing a pecking order. Mean I tell you!

5. Don't trust your children to count the chickens at night. If any are left out, good luck being alive in the morning.

6. I never thought they would be this fun to own!

7. It is an expensive hobby. Don't do it just to save a nickle on eggs, ain't happenin'. The break even point is probably 20 years! LOL

8. There is probably a better chicken support group in your area than you first realize! And chicken people are friendly

add: 9. It blows your mind when you see a hen killing a mole!

 

[suebgbr]

Killing moles and tarantulas. Wow, who needs the Army? Just stick chickens in Khaki. They already have their own ranks!

 

[heatherRapperMo]

thank you guys!

 

[Stacyc]

That must of been awesome on the mole kill. This is my first months with chickens and have TONS of moles and shrews and every other tunneling creature known to man. Can't wait till spring. One more thing comes to mind on stuff you didn't find in a book, and that is how far frozen chicken poo can roll!. Things keep popping into my head on this topic, when they turn their head to look up at you with "The Eye"

 

[heatherRapperMo]

Quote: MarcoPollo if that is your chicken in your profile photo then we have the same kind! Also I completely am attached to my chicken too!