How do I get started with chickens!?

[Beekissed]

Roosters don't "tend to be aggressive" at all. They just are what they are...I've only had one attempt to flog my egg basket once and he wasn't one that I had raised~and I've had roosters and chickens for a long, long time. Even the roo that tried to flog once was corrected immediately in his behavior and never tried it again...and he was the largest chicken I'd ever seen in my life, seriously.

Roos react to people's fear and will learn they can intimidate those who run, scream and flail, whenever roosters come near or whenever they attempt to do a rooster dance. Imagine the power a roo must feel to be able to scare a huge, predator-like creature...of course they will if they can.

One just has to be smarter than a 2 ft. tall bird and not allow him to feel empowered.

 

[Limecat]

I would enjoy a rooster, but I don't think my neighbors would.

 

[Rvl Rookie]

That's some good advice. I'll try to plan my coop so that its in units of 4' x 4' so I'm not cutting odd shapes out of my plywood. Thanks!

Edit: If I sketch out a plan for a coop, can I post it here for feedback before I start construction?

Someone recently posted that they were building a coop, and made it 4'x8' so that they had more room inside, and also to minimize cuts required.

(4x8' plywood, 8' 2x4s etc.)

 

[snooptwomey]

A rooster is great. I didnt want one, and where I live really couldnt have one. But one pullet I got turned out to be the roo in my avatar. He is awesome. Very friendly, watches over the hens real good, finds food for them. I just make sure to grab him up everyday and hold him for a min so that he is used to it, and he isnt aggressive towards people, or our weimeraner. He just needs to know where we are at all times when we are in the yard where the hens are. I def will not get rid of him. I am moving in a few days to a place with a bit more land, and am anticipating a 2nd rooster, I have 2 jersey giant chicks and I hope for 1 pullet, 1 roo(this boy should be HUGE)

 

[7L Farm]

I said I'd never get a roo. But I wanted more hens & protection for my flock so I got a roo. Got more hens & protection for the flock but the big drumstick started trying to attack me.I had to put him down. Again, I wanted more hens" when will it stop" probably never . Got roo number two & so far he's doing fine & its good to have another roo crowing everyday.

 

[debid]

It's also cost-effective. No waste and best value for board sizes. There are lots and lots of 4x8 and 8x8 coops in the coop section for exactly these reasons.

Someone recently posted that they were building a coop, and made it 4'x8' so that they had more room inside, and also to minimize cuts required.

(4x8' plywood, 8' 2x4s etc.)

 

[QuiltinChick]

THANKS for the info on roosters. My hubby had chickens as a kid and they never had a rooster around because it would fertilize the eggs. I guess his parents didn't completely understand that one could be around.

We do live on an acreage, so having a rooster would not be a problem, just that DH says we shouldn't have one around. If we happen to get one, we'll maybe give it a try for a while and see what happens. We have a 4 year old daughter and a 7 year old son and will have no tollerance for an aggressive bird no matter if its male or female.

THANKS again for the info. Wonderful people on here willing to help us newbies. It's great to be part of such a helpful group.

I apologize to the original poster, I did not mean to hijack your thread. Carry on!!

 

[Egghead_Jr]

For ease of build and material I'd go with a 4X4 coop. Cut sheathing in half. It's plenty big enough for 6 chickens. Those that use 4 square ft per bird usually are those that lock the chickens in coop all winter. Honestly, with access to a good size run or free range they will only go to coop to lay eggs and roost at night.

For the two areas to place the coop I'd go for the dirt instead of gravel/rock. Chickens like to dig and dust bath, they wouldn't be able to do that on a hard surface.

 

[Limecat]

Are there blueprints of chicken coops anywhere on this site? Most of the coops that I've seen are photos of finished coops.

Also, do my chickens need to be let out of the coop and run each day so they can scamper around the backyard?

 

[OldGuy43]

Okay, I'm expecting to get grief for telling you this but...

If you live where the climate is the least bit mild you don't have to have a coop. Here's what we use:



The white thing passes for a shelter from the worst of the weather, The tall open thing was supposed to keep the rain out of their feed. (Didn't work even after lowering the roof.

) The nesting boxes are in the background and I went way overboard building them. The chickens would have been just as happy with a couple of cardboard boxes with wood shavings in them.

My advice; don't obsess about it. Get some chickens, some feed and a fence. You may not know a lot about raising chickens at first, but not to worry. The chickens know all about it. Raising chickens can be as hard or as easy as you want to make it. Just enjoy them. They are fun to watch and interact with.

You'll probably make some mistakes at first. Again, not to worry. Chickens don't carry a grudge for long. If one dies, they're easy and cheap to replace.