I think Im in way over my head...

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MoniqueNicole

MoniqueNicole

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7 Years
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Sylmar, CA
Hi, I live in Sylmar CA and want to raise chickens for there eggs.. But I see some of the coops and how elaborate they are and all the information about raising the animals and with a 4 month old I feel like this may be too much for me but Its something I really want to try.. especially since Im a SAHM.. Help! What do I need to know?
 
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from Modesto! If you just want eggs for yourself, 3 or 4 hens should suffice. Prebuilt coops/runs are more expensive than building your own in some cases, however with a 4 month old baby it may be your best bet. Lots of people sell pre built coops on Craigslist or even on My Pet Chicken. It may seem scary at first but chickens are pretty easy to take care of most of the time. Good luck hope I helped you.
 
hi and
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take your time, do some research, there are plenty of ideas in here and on other web sites. plan and start getting set up a little at a time. after all rome wasn;t built in a day
 
Hey there MoniqueNicole,
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From SC.

Hey little one, is it a boy or a girl? This little one will grow up loving chickens!
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You know what they say if you want something bad enough you will get it!

I feel like you are determined to do it! And, you will get what you want! ;-)
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DeSey Bulldog
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Raising chickens takes just as much time, effort and expense as you chose to put into it.

I'm lazy. I just want to watch some cool birds and have eggs. I work full time, have two kids and a honey who think they need a lot of my time, several other animals, church, other family..........you get the idea.

I use an old greenhouse for a coop. Cut out a couple window holes, put in reused windows from an old travel trailer. Our run is timbers my honey cut while cutting firewood, with field fence and chicken wire.

I have large feeders and waterers. I feed once a day and top off water every few days. Rinse the mud out of the bottom of the waterer once a week or so-----darn ducks!

I collect eggs every day or so.

I use the deep liter method and clean my coop maybe once a year.


Look around, it's like anything else......raising your baby, for instance. They'll always be someone else spending more money on their baby, doing more for their baby, having more babies...........but you're doing just fine and your baby will be just fine, too. You'll find your own way. Read around here, a good thread it the old timer's thread in the managing your flock section, lots of good no-nonsense advice and folks don't make too much fun of you for asking questions.

My Ozark grandma raised chickens while also raising 8 kids and farming............it's not rocket science. Chickens are remarkably tough and forgiving.
 
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I always wanted chickens but lived in the city and figured it was a no way, until I came across this site! I now have 8 girls, and eggs under a broody ( hen who wants to raise baby's ) I will be giving babies to a friend, but keeping 2. It's easy to do, go onto Craigslist and get a coop built for as many chickens as you want, try to go buig enough, you will want to add more believe me lol. I had mine built for 5 chickens, but this year had to add on another half for more. Birds. It's easy to care for them, feed, water, love and keep clean. I let mine roam my yard and let them eat grass and bugs, I also have a large pen in case I need to work and go some where and they go back in until I get back. Keeping a coop clean longer is easy as you put a big board under the girls roost, the poop they do at night falls onto this board and you just scrap off and dump. It's best to save and add it to your dirt, next summer you got wonderful fertilized dirt for growing . I change my litter ( shavings ) every two weeks, it's clean because of the poop board so not much cleaning is had. I pick the poo in my yard each day so the yard looks clean . My girls give me lots of eggs, and in turn I spoil them terribly ! My kids love there birds, and love the egg colecting. You staying home can get eggs all through out the day. It's fun believe me. Food is 15.00 a month for 8 girls ( my estimation) but I also give them watermellon yogurt and other fun stuff.
No roosters in the city, I get my fertile eggs from a local farm ( friends) not sure where you live, but you can buy pullets that are almost grown and give eggs in a few short months!
 
Hello and welcome to BYC
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You got some good advice here, enjoy!
 
I'm really new to chickens (just got ours in April) and so far I have found that chickens aren't any more difficult to care for than any other type of pet (much easier than a new puppy actually).

The overall routine isn't that time consuming for me. Once a day check/fill food and water (5 minutes). Once a week clean the poop under the roosts (5 minutes). And once a month I rake the hay out of the coop/run and hose it out (45 minutes). I do spend whole lot more time than I used to just hanging out in the backyard enjoying their company, but you could do that with a baby in tow.

For the coop, regardless of whether you decide to build, re-purpose or buy one, It would probably be a good idea (meaning: I wish I had) to go ahead and get your coop built/assembled prior to getting your chicks so you don't have such a time pressure to complete it. If you get it put together in one weekend, yay, you get chicks next weekend. If it takes two months, you don't have to worry about having half grown chickens still living in a dog crate in your foyer.
 

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