"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[Ron Skekel]

Almost all hens are easy going except for the head hen. She rules the roust. You want a breed with a non aggressive rooster if you even want a roosters. If you go with RIR get the heritage not production. Easter eggers are muts that lay blue to light green color. Other colored layers are Crested cream legbars, auracounias, arcunias these lay various shades of blue. Green layers are Isbars now being called Silverrudds Blues they lay all shades of green. The ee'er can lay a pale green. Then there is the olive egger like a Easter egger it's a mix of a blue layer and a brown will give you the olive. Marens are the very dark egg layers. You have plenty to think about. Pam

 

[mixedUPturk]

Okay I guess I'm just being unnecessarily worried haha. do those breeds have a good disposition? I have a 7 year old and almost 2 year old and ideally I want them to be involved but don't want to have a breed that's more likely to be grumpy and scare the kids hahahaha! My 7 yr old scares easily.

! Your concern is Good, you should be concerned about what critters u bring around your young family! Thank goodness chickens are sweet pets congrats on getn hubby to go along with it your getting some great info, lots of good people here, and they wont stear you wrong!

When i decided i wanted chickens i knew id have extra males as a result of growing out chicks, So i immediatly imbedded it in my head how the extra boys will hurt the girls and i started preparing myself for proccessing extra boys. Its helped me let go of them (starting with this mind frame i mean) and im always glad i dont have 10 roosters hurtn the girls and/or disrupting neighbors or attacking me, my sweetheart or my guests! Any breed rooster Can be mean, with your eggs desires and safty concerns, i think you shouldnt buy straight run until your ready to eat mean or extra cockrels. Go for some pullets and learn about keeping them first

Almost all hens are easy going except for the head hen. She rules the roust. You want a breed with a non aggressive rooster if you even want a roosters. If you go with RIR get the heritage not production. Easter eggers are muts that lay blue to light green color. Other colored layers are Crested cream legbars, auracounias, arcunias these lay various shades of blue. Green layers are Isbars now being called Silverrudds Blues they lay all shades of green. The ee'er can lay a pale green. Then there is the olive egger like a Easter egger it's a mix of a blue layer and a brown will give you the olive. Marens are the very dark egg layers. You have plenty to think about. Pam

theres so Many choices!

 

[mishka]

! Your concern is Good, you should be concerned about what critters u bring around your young family! Thank goodness chickens are sweet pets congrats on getn hubby to go along with it your getting some great info, lots of good people here, and they wont stear you wrong!

When i decided i wanted chickens i knew id have extra males as a result of growing out chicks, So i immediatly imbedded it in my head how the extra boys will hurt the girls and i started preparing myself for proccessing extra boys. Its helped me let go of them (starting with this mind frame i mean) and im always glad i dont have 10 roosters hurtn the girls and/or disrupting neighbors or attacking me, my sweetheart or my guests! Any breed rooster Can be mean, with your eggs desires and safty concerns, i think you shouldnt buy straight run until your ready to eat mean or extra cockrels. Go for some pullets and learn about keeping them first


theres so Many choices!

I've only been on here a day and the plethora of information is mind blowing! I thought I had done sufficient research till I got on the site haha. I have no problem I have no problem knocking off a rooster for some chicken and sausage gumbo but he would be a nuisance to the neighbors while we fatten him up.

I've given immense thought to the chickens safety and I'm starting to formulate what may be a good route. I'm going to use zinc plated hardware mesh to combat the Hawks and opossums and snakes. Someone advised extending the mesh down on the ground and laying it flat out about a foot around the whole cage and partly burying or coving with dirt to discourage animals from digging to get into the cage. All openings/doors to access the hen house and cage with have some sort of locking system on it to keep the crafty predators from opening the doors and letting themselves in. I was also thinking about a barrier of moth balls around the cage to keep snakes away. I'm not sure if this is not enough or a little over kill but I really don't want to put forth the work and effort only to find that my chickens became another animals dinner.

 

[mixedUPturk]

I've only been on here a day and the plethora of information is mind blowing! I thought I had done sufficient research till I got on the site haha. I have no problem I have no problem knocking off a rooster for some chicken and sausage gumbo but he would be a nuisance to the neighbors while we fatten him up.

I've given immense thought to the chickens safety and I'm starting to formulate what may be a good route. I'm going to use zinc plated hardware mesh to combat the Hawks and opossums and snakes. Someone advised extending the mesh down on the ground and laying it flat out about a foot around the whole cage and partly burying or coving with dirt to discourage animals from digging to get into the cage. All openings/doors to access the hen house and cage with have some sort of locking system on it to keep the crafty predators from opening the doors and letting themselves in. I was also thinking about a barrier of moth balls around the cage to keep snakes away. I'm not sure if this is not enough or a little over kill but I really don't want to put forth the work and effort only to find that my chickens became another animals dinner.

your gna b a great chicken momma! Im glad your not squeamish about offing a bad boy! Thats great news, not like im sayn chop everybodys head off But, boys are a problem for alot of people. I currently have 6 getn to the 5-6 month stage that i proccess them at and theyre not real noisy at this stage Yet, another month or two though and theyll start getn real bad as the hormones finish kicking in.

The way i see your plans you want the whole 9 yards, hardware cloth is a great way to start! That stuff will keep out everyrhing, snakes and mice included if u use the 1/2 inch. Ive heard of laying it out along the bottom of the run/coop, but IMO you want to dig a six inch trench, six down, six out. At six down bend your hardware cloth into a 90* angle and then bury it at that six inchs under, six inchs out. That way even if a Large dog was to try and dig under theyre encountering harware cloth every direction and think its impenatrable. Use that same cloth over ever inch that isnt solid wood. BUT the cloth is only as good as its fasteners! Beware if u use somthing flimsy to fasten it it cant do its job. Im sure you will just putin Everything i Can on the table Being here in LA we get alota rain so IMO a tin or greenhouse type hard plastic covered run makes a huge difference.

 

[mishka]

Certainly not going to go 'Bloody Mary' and start beheading them all haha! Seeing as how I rent rather than own I won't be able to dig a trench and bury the mesh. I have to keep my coop plans fairly nonpermanent and moveable if needed. Is there any other way to deter digging animals other than digging a trench.

 

[rlcrow]

Hatched a small batch today and the first 2 olive egger eggs hatched! They are a legbar rooster love a black maran hen. They hatched black with a yellow dot on their head. Do any of you who breed olive eggers with legbars and other varieties of Marans see this? I'm sure it's not an auto sexing trait, but it's easier to tell them apart from my black Langshans! It will be interesting to see how they look, they are also huge in comparison to ask my other LF that hatch.

 

[mixedUPturk]

Certainly not going to go 'Bloody Mary' and start beheading them all haha! Seeing as how I rent rather than own I won't be able to dig a trench and bury the mesh. I have to keep my coop plans fairly nonpermanent and moveable if needed. Is there any other way to deter digging animals other than digging a trench.

"bloody mary"

Im sure there are ways! Electric fence line comes to mind immediatly but idk how to work with that where theres a will theres a way

Honestly i am upgrading, but my first pen was made from 2" x 3" gauge wire and whereas it holds birds in, it doesnt hold babies in, And it doesnt hold rats out. Your plans are better than Any coop and run that i have

 

[rlcrow]

I've only been on here a day and the plethora of information is mind blowing! I thought I had done sufficient research till I got on the site haha. I have no problem I have no problem knocking off a rooster for some chicken and sausage gumbo but he would be a nuisance to the neighbors while we fatten him up.

I've given immense thought to the chickens safety and I'm starting to formulate what may be a good route. I'm going to use zinc plated hardware mesh to combat the Hawks and opossums and snakes. Someone advised extending the mesh down on the ground and laying it flat out about a foot around the whole cage and partly burying or coving with dirt to discourage animals from digging to get into the cage. All openings/doors to access the hen house and cage with have some sort of locking system on it to keep the crafty predators from opening the doors and letting themselves in. I was also thinking about a barrier of moth balls around the cage to keep snakes away. I'm not sure if this is not enough or a little over kill but I really don't want to put forth the work and effort only to find that my chickens became another animals dinner.

Welcome! Good job researching, you're going to be a great chicken mom! There is nothing more frustrating than losing a chicken to a predator! The rule is here if we ever have an aggressive rooster he becomes a roast! I got rid of my Bresse because they were the most aggressive of my breeds and they were definitely the yard bullies! And I didn't think they tasted great either (My Marraduna Basque tasted the best). So far the rest of my roosters are sweet as can be and my 18 month old daughter goes in the coop all the time. I would never have a rooster that would hurt my kids, even though I have rare and heritage breeds.
I agree with lakones venting on the coop will help a lot with heat. Chickens are the best, you'll have a blast

 

[Ron Skekel]

Certainly not going to go 'Bloody Mary' and start beheading them all haha! Seeing as how I rent rather than own I won't be able to dig a trench and bury the mesh. I have to keep my coop plans fairly nonpermanent and moveable if needed. Is there any other way to deter digging animals other than digging a trench.

I didn't dig the trench. I made a hardware cloth floor attaching it to the framing lumber. Then backfilled With dirt and sandy clay so there feet only touch the mud and shavings. I also have coops that are built like a shed with a floor. Some are in the albums in my profile.Pam

 

[Ron Skekel]

Okay I guess I'm just being unnecessarily worried haha. do those breeds have a good disposition? I have a 7 year old and almost 2 year old and ideally I want them to be involved but don't want to have a breed that's more likely to be grumpy and scare the kids hahahaha! My 7 yr old scares easily.

The breeds I have that are docile are Easter eggers, Biefelders even the roosters are easy going. My Neiderrhinders are the same both are German in origin. Thee breeds if handled enough when chicks will be more like a pet. My husband has trained one of my Neiderrhinders roosters to sit in his lap. When he goes in the chicken yard he comes to him wanting to be held it's funny a man and his Chicken. Silverrud Blue Isbars are docile but prefer not to be held. Then their are flighty breeds They aren't aggressive will come around you when you are out but don't want to be picked up. A lot of how they turn out is how much time you handled then as chicks. Their are exceptions the barbazeaux are the most flighty chicken I've ever had even as chicks. Just starting I would get a few cheaper breeds that way if something happens you aren't out a lot of money. I still have most of my hatchery hens I started with. The sex-linked, Astralorpe, and barred rock lay very well and their eggs are jumbo size now. I would add my Easter egger to that too. Pam