hi all iam new here

[mrflames]

hi my name is anthony.
we are looking to start raising are own chickens for eggs. the problem is i dont know very much at all about this. so this look like a good site to start out at. we live in peck ks just outside of wichita. we have a few horses a dog an a rabbit. for forgive me if i ask some dum ?.
i have always like the big brown eggs they seam to taste better. i was wondering what kind of chickens best produce these eggs.
i was alos wondering if a old dog run would make a good places to keep the chickens. we where just wanting to get three are four birds

any help would be great

thanks anthony

 

[Simple Chick]

Hi Anthony.
I live in KS too. Just got my chicks yesterday. I'm no expert, but I'll share what I learned. I would start at your local farm supply store. I'm sure you have an Orscheln's or something similar near you. From the research I did, it seems like really anything you can by locally will do well in KS. New Hampshire Reds will lay nice brown eggs, as will Rhode Island Reds. Black Australorps are hardy and will lay brown eggs. I also picked up some Buff Orpingtons (brown eggs), Black Sex Links (brown eggs), and Ameraucaunas - which lay a bluish-green egg.

Chicks need some pretty intesive care for the first couple months. I don't know about how your dog run will work as a yard. I don't have my yard fenced in yet. I would guess that if it keeps out predators and they have a safe place to roost at night it would be OK.

Have fun with your new adventure. I would advise you to go to your local farm supply store and ask lots of questions. They were very helpful when I was there!

Simple Chick

 

[mrflames]

yep i have an Orscheln's right up the road plus an atwoods. i was going to us the dog run its a chain link. i was planning on putting some chikcen wire around the bottom of it. and then building a rooting box with a llittle ladder going up to it. like i said before i was not wanting to get to many birds i was think maybe 5 at the most. would each bird need its own rooting box are will just one big one work.

 

[Simple Chick]

From my understanding, a couple or a few birds will share one box. You might want to build a couple of them. I think you can expect an egg every day or every other day per bird. They will also need something to roost on at night and you will want your chicken house to close securely so critters don't get them. There are lots of great ideas for small chicken houses online.

 

[birdlady58]

Two nest boxes should be enough for 4-5 hens. If you use the chain link kennel, you might be able to put a wooden rabbit hutch in it as their "coop" or safety place at night. (add a little ramp)The wire buried around the chain link is a good idea.

 

[mrflames]

thanks for the help

 

[pegbo]

Welcome mrflames! How recently has your dog run been in use for dogs? Mainly I'd be a little concerned about worms[internal] fleas, ticks. Before putting your chicks in there I would put some sweet lime down, and keep animals out of there for a couple of weeks. That should take care of any parasites that infest the ground. But other then that it should work fine.

 

[soonerdog]

The dog run sounds like an excellent place for the chickens!

I was just wondering, what is the floor of the pen....dirt or cement?

If a dirt floor then I would recommend when you place the chicken wire around the bottom that you either dig around the bottom and bury some wire, or leave a flap of wire atop the ground around the bottom of the pen to discourage wild critters against digging under and into the chickens. Also, you may want to consider covering over the top of the pen with wire, if that is possible. Wild critters like oppossums, raccoons, and skunks will climb right in and kill and eat chickens.

So think prevention from the start of your chicken project!!! Often times people are absolutely unaware that wild critters are around and they give no thought for preparation against them. You might consider spending some time on this sight reading topics pertaining to predators........a lot of good information has been shared in these topics!

Good luck and have fun with your chickens!

Johnny

 

[mrflames]

the dog run iam looking at useing is an old one that my brother has at his place. when i move it to my house it will be on drit and not cemment. i was already thinking about the wire on the top and then using some chicken wire to out around the bottom. how far into the ground should i bury the wire.

 

[Servant]

I did my that way I dug down 2 feet and bent the wire out 3 feet and it to is 2 foot deep. So if any dog or animal tryed to dug under it. They will for the most part dug at the fence line they are standing on 3 feet of wire under them. So to get in they have to start diging 3 feet out and dig 3 feet down or more and then dig 4 feet in just to make it in the pen. Not to many will dig that track. So feel pretty well my birds are safe. And with the wire covering the top well they to are safe from climbers and flyers.