- Jun 16, 2013
- 8
- 2
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Hi all!
My name is Kate, and I am from MN.
Just recently, I decided to try to get into raising chickens!
I am growing 8 birds right now. 3 Cornish Cross, 3 Rhode Island Reds, and 2 Toulouse Geese. They are happy, healthy and spoiled rotten.
'
I do not have a professional type set up for them, but I have them in a garage, in an old plastic livestock water tank, with all the chicken raising necessities on hand and set-up for them. I am going to look at a coop this evening, and will most likely bring it home and get it set up in the front yard for them.
A little about my past with foul.
My family has tried to raise foul off and on for the past several years, but have not been successful because of our predator to chicken protection ratio. When I was about 11 or 12, my dad brought home a fully grown chicken that had "jumped off the chicken truck" in front of his work place. Within a week or so of getting the chicken settled (I believe that this was a Cornish Cross), we figured "she" was more of a "he", so we didn't expect much for eggs.
After about a month of an ownership, we went out back to his "coop" and only found lots of feathers, but no bird. We assumed it was a fox or coon that took him. He was more of a pet, so the family was pretty upset he was gone.
Fast forward to a couple years later, and add four peking ducks to the mix. They lived well for two months, but one week they started getting killed off. We would find them laying dead in their enclosure with all the feathers off their necks. Someone suggested weasel problems. The last one we had, lived, but had been chased and consequently contracted a broken leg. We brought him to my great aunts where he is apparently thriving and is her pet.
Now I am attempting at foul once again. While I am aware that I will still probably have predator problems, I am also more aware of how to raise chickens (from reading helpful webpages and joining forums like this), so I am hoping they will thrive under my watchful eye. If not, I will take up trapping and start selling the predator pelts.
Might have to do that anyway! LOL
Well, I am off to post about warding off chicken predators and hope I will get some helpful tips and tricks! Anyone who took time to read this gets a cookie!
My name is Kate, and I am from MN.
Just recently, I decided to try to get into raising chickens!
I am growing 8 birds right now. 3 Cornish Cross, 3 Rhode Island Reds, and 2 Toulouse Geese. They are happy, healthy and spoiled rotten.
'
I do not have a professional type set up for them, but I have them in a garage, in an old plastic livestock water tank, with all the chicken raising necessities on hand and set-up for them. I am going to look at a coop this evening, and will most likely bring it home and get it set up in the front yard for them.
A little about my past with foul.
My family has tried to raise foul off and on for the past several years, but have not been successful because of our predator to chicken protection ratio. When I was about 11 or 12, my dad brought home a fully grown chicken that had "jumped off the chicken truck" in front of his work place. Within a week or so of getting the chicken settled (I believe that this was a Cornish Cross), we figured "she" was more of a "he", so we didn't expect much for eggs.
After about a month of an ownership, we went out back to his "coop" and only found lots of feathers, but no bird. We assumed it was a fox or coon that took him. He was more of a pet, so the family was pretty upset he was gone.
Fast forward to a couple years later, and add four peking ducks to the mix. They lived well for two months, but one week they started getting killed off. We would find them laying dead in their enclosure with all the feathers off their necks. Someone suggested weasel problems. The last one we had, lived, but had been chased and consequently contracted a broken leg. We brought him to my great aunts where he is apparently thriving and is her pet.
Now I am attempting at foul once again. While I am aware that I will still probably have predator problems, I am also more aware of how to raise chickens (from reading helpful webpages and joining forums like this), so I am hoping they will thrive under my watchful eye. If not, I will take up trapping and start selling the predator pelts.
Might have to do that anyway! LOL
Well, I am off to post about warding off chicken predators and hope I will get some helpful tips and tricks! Anyone who took time to read this gets a cookie!
