Chickens 101

[blackswamp]

Chickens can get spoiled.
Build the coop Bigger.
Chickens are poopen machines.
A poop board with PDZ is a MUST HAVE in your coop.
If your kids tell you they will help clean the coop & run they are lying.
If a chicken gets sick separate it from the rest of the flock.
If you have a predator problem, set traps.
Chickens are noisy.

 

[suebgbr]

1. The egg laying song is noisier than any rooster.
2. If you quarantine a sick rooster in your bedroom in a plastic crate for 3 months and have him watch tv in bed with you every night, he will be your friend for life.
3. All the clothes in the dirty hamper will have chicken poop on them.
4. You will have more pictures of your flock on your mobile than of your kids.
5. Putting newspaper under the shaving/ bedding in the coop means that you can roll up the poop and everything at once.
6. Paint the inside of the coop and use corking along joints to deter redmites and make it easier to hose down.
7. When the earth is wiped out redmites will kick cockroaches butts!
8. Chickens can't fly but no-one told them.
9. If you treat yourself to an incubator that holds 300 eggs don't get giddy and fill it up when you are keeping the chicks in rabbit hutches and dog crates in the dining room.250+ chicks at once!
10. BYC is addictive.

 

[MyPaperMoon512]

Throw a cherry or plum into the run and kick back as they play rugby.

What about the pits? I don't want to kill my chickens....lol.

 

[SunnySkies]

What about the pits? I don't want to kill my chickens....lol.

They won't eat it.

 

[Tednchickens]

1. Chickens are therapeutic. Sit and watch how self - important they are as they waddle around pecking at things, and your problems shrink a bit.
2. Chickens are funny!
3. My cats never bothered my grown chickens. It was the other way around.
4. Even a bird dog can be trained to leave chickens alone.
5. Everyone is glad to get free or cheap eggs.
6. Chickens are very curious.
7. Chickens are expensive!
8. Seramas are so small, every other animal thinks they would be good to eat and easy to catch.
9. The coop/ run isn't big enough once they grow up.
10. It's been so much fun, and lots and lots of work. Especially for DH, who made 2 coops and 3 runs since April.

 

[buchfan]

-A chicken uses its beak to explore new things. This means that they will peck at your shirt, try to eat the bedding, and even try to eat a scab that's on your knee. Gross and painful.
-If you want to be able to pick your chickens up and pet them, you have to start doing so right away and on a regular basis so they get used to it.
-Chckens are great garbage disposers, but they DO have preferences.
-Having a poop board under your roost will save you a ton of work.

 

[SweetSilver]

I don't know about 10, but here's a few:

1. Agree about the bigger everything.

2. Rain does not fall straight down where I live, sorry. Every single one of the "featured coops" on this site would not keep anything dry. Terrible, terrible designs. Make the covered part of the run wide enough with at least one side that shields it from rain (and sun).

3. There is no good way to move a broody hen with a clutch of eggs. You'd think they would stay with the eggs, but jeez louise are they stubborn.

4. Give them plenty of hidey spots in the run, some extra perches, a little extra shelter where you have food and water.

5. Don't fix the roosts with the supports underneath. They will roost right over the supports and poop on them. Try to secure them in between the supports and poop is not a problem.

6. Oh, yeah, hatcheries are not useless. Do not feel guilty about picking up some healthy birds at a feed store or in the mail. Along the way you will start meeting breeders and whatnot, but get to know them. As a beginner you are likely to get taken in by ads for "rare olive eggers" for $100 (actual ad, BTW). Just wait until you meet the good folks. Meanwhile, go ahead and buy birds from a feed store that treats the chicks well and don't feel one bit guilty. Just know that breed standards are... aren't.... standard.... from a hatchery.

7. well, heck. Ran out of ideas.

 

[Christabelle]

1. My non-broody white leghorn hatchery hen hid eggs and raised three broods of chicks this spring- she was supposed to lay eggs for me not her! Don't believe all breed descriptions.

2. Chickens are way smarter than you ever thought. Birdbrain is not the insult I used to think it was. Guinea Hens really are pretty dumb though.

3. Stock tanks and chickens don't mix

4. The more you like the chicken, the greater danger it is in.

5. Roosters are silly and proud creatures that are easily embarrassed.

6. Free range eggs really do taste better

7. Free range eggs are often hard to find. The free range hens hide them.

8. Addictions happen. I have spent more money on chickens then I would ever admit to my family.

9. Chickens can make a bad day, better, just by watching them. We call it "chick flicks".

10. If you like chickens- try a peafowl or two. I love em!

 

[e-chickenmom]

Love this thread. Ten things I have learned:

1) I posted daily and then weekly pictures of my flock from day 1 hatched to laying on Facebook. They had more followers on Facebook than my human children or any other topic. People still ask after them more than my humans.

2) Chickens are at least as intelligent as dogs, you can see it in their eyes. And problem-solving skills.

3) Of chickens, children, dogs, and cats, chickens are by far the least amount of work as a parent.

4) Chickens have taught my youngest wiggliest 9 year old children patience when the kids want to hold them and pick them up (which they have done since they were chicks) which the chickens LOVE

5) Chickens have taught my middle schooler about responsibility and thinking beyond just herself -- she feeds and waters them before school -- and has come to understand that they need her to live... (i still check behind her...)

6) When my high schooler is too busy and important and full if teenage angst to contribute to the family, cleaning out the chicken coop is a good way to bring her back to reality. Also I like that she is embarrassed by us being "a chicken family."

7) My chickens are so attached to me and like Interaction so much that they prefer to eat out of my hands over eating something on the ground

8) cherry tomato chicken rugby is one I'd the funniest things I have ever seen

9) my husband has a soft heart for chickens and is proud if the coop and huge run he built -- so far predator proof knock on wood -- which has been dubbed Guantanamo Bay by my sister for its security level lol

10) I am glad I have chickens who lay blue, green and pink eggs, makes every day an Easter egg hunt. My family and neighbors love the eggs, they are

always well -received good will offering.

 

[Eggnleg]

Good posts and question - here's my take, into chicken husbandry for all of seven months:

1. Chickens are a delight to watch and interact with, as are well behaved roosters.
2. They have individual personalities, moods and behaviors.
3. Chickens are extremely curious and as someone else noted, brave creatures despite the widely held perception to the contrary.
4. They have habits, such as visiting certain parts of the yard, or roosting in a certain spot in the coop.
5. Chicken feathers are really pretty, but rooster feathers, particularly around the neck and tail, are gorgeous.
6. The pecking order is an amazing and remarkably stable hierarchy to observe in action.
7. Roosters will not only protect the flock, but also share food they discover with the hens.
8. The mating dance of roosters is quite a funny show, but serves a purpose, alerting the hens to certain intentions.
9 They love to peck at apples, tomatoes, bugs and grass, and even the odd gecko - whatever comes across their path.
10. Old fashioned oats are their favorite treat in the world.