I can't believe how many chickens you guys have

[KinderKorner]

My chickens are free range. And they eat mostly corn on the side. But they do get a little bit of crumle ever once in a while so I guess mine wouldn't be organic either. But mine do love getting into the garden. So much in fact that they ate most of my tomatoes last year. So now I have two large fenced gardens to keep my free range chickens and goats out. They still eat garden veggies but only the ones outcasted by the family.

 

[okiemommy]

My chickens are free range. And they eat mostly corn on the side. But they do get a little bit of crumle ever once in a while so I guess mine wouldn't be organic either. But mine do love getting into the garden. So much in fact that they ate most of my tomatoes last year. So now I have two large fenced gardens to keep my free range chickens and goats out. They still eat garden veggies but only the ones outcasted by the family.

KinderKorner, What kind of fencing do you use to keep your chickens and goats out of your garden?

I did it out of order and got chickens first, this year hopefully(

) will be the gardening.


I started out with 4 chickens, they got attacked by the neighbors dogs(who I might add have since done an excellent job of keeping them penned up properly) had bought 9 chickens when the first four were 8 weeks old (watch out for those Fancy Bantam Bins in the feed stores!!)and three of those are gone. Now I have 7 babies in the brooder, and will get up to 10 more in the next couple of days, and several more after that to add to my layer flock. I will eventually get meat chickens, and also Turkeys

May even get lucky enough to get them this season, b/c DH was eyeballing them pretty hard at the feed store.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

I send all my extras to Buster.

 

[Kezzie]

We will be selling the extras to our neighbors. My 9-year-old DD will be running the egg operation so she will be in charge of the bookkeeping, the production, and the sales. I think it's a great opportunity for her to learn some real world skills. Her best friend's mother asked me if I could let a little of it rub off on her daughter too!

 

[the_eagle69]

150+ chickens average 100 eggs daily sell what eggs i dont use 700+ babies to hatch out this spring(sell chicks also).

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
A year from now you will have at least 20!

 

[Shiningfeather]

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How do you get the nicoteen into the eggs??

I need some of those eggs.....then I can quit smoking and not be the devil in disguise when i quit!

 

[MoonbeamQueen]

Quote:
KinderKorner, What kind of fencing do you use to keep your chickens and goats out of your garden?

I did it out of order and got chickens first, this year hopefully(

) will be the gardening.

Right now our birds have the run of the 30x40' garden fenced in with 5' chain link. The coop is in there as well. We will soon be dividing it in half so the birds have their half and we use the other half for our garden. We'll cover the bird side with some netting to keep them where we want them. When the growing season is done, we'll open up the gate and the birds will have the whole area again until next growing season. I have NO weeding to be done this year prior to planting thanks to the chickens!! We've gardened a large part of this area for most of the last 13 years and our soil is getting really nice! Last fall we put in all our fall leaves and they are completely broken down and shredded by the chickens. When we start mowing this year, clippings will also go in on the chicken side of things.

 

[crzychicken]

How did this start well lesson for my son to be able to live a sustainable life, as did his great grand parents. We started when we went to the feed store they had 5 someone didn't pick up we had order 26 from MPC they came in Aud 08 put in a order for 30 more last week or so. Eggs.. we sell them to our neighbors, give to family, donate .50cents per dozen to breast cancer, and if we have extra food pantry in town so my son gets three lessons. take care of your family be charitable and give what you can to someone in need.
and yes we will be getting a cow this spring.

 

[bulldog-girl]

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You sell that many eggs a week? To regualr customers? Just wondering.