- Mar 24, 2014
- 4
- 0
- 7
Dear All:
My name is Farmer Jo and I am new to this group but am trying to learn alot about having chickens. I want to have them for the eggs. I have a dog pen 10x10 with a tarp on half of the top. I was going to purchase several dowels to go across the pen for roosting purposes and a few wooden nesting boxes along the sides for when they begin to lay eggs. I am not going to have roosters because of the noise level. I have a dog crate off the floor of the pen to use as housing also.
I was going to put wood shavings for the flooring over concrete patio squares and hay inside the dog crate for warmth. I live in Florida so it does get warm here but right now its about 50 to 60 degrees overnight, will that be warm enough for Rhode Island Reds to start in? I will be letting them loose to run around the yard to peck and graze while I am there, so no predators get them.
I live in an hoa development that says no livestock raising of any kind, I'm not raising I'm using for food. I know I'm taking a chance but I have wanted to have chickens for a long time and I'm hoping they are not louder then barking dogs. I will use the same excuse, I have them for pets and not commercial use. They will be located directly behind my house not in sight of the front of the house and I figure if I give my neighbors eggs they won't complain. The city limits now allow for chickens for food use, I think its 4 per acre. I am only getting 2 or 3.
I was thinking of smaller bantams but I need to make sure I just get hens, is there anyway to do that? So far I only see them as straight run unsexed ones being sold. I figure if the board makes a stick I will re-home them, but my husband and I are on the board, and so far they are pretty lenient, at our last meeting the president said that there is only 1 neighbor that fits into the rules perfectly everyone else has at least one item or more that break the rules, so I might have luck on that one.
Please let me know what is a good, calm smaller hen I should get and can I put them out in April overnight if Florida.
Thank you.
Farmer Jo
My name is Farmer Jo and I am new to this group but am trying to learn alot about having chickens. I want to have them for the eggs. I have a dog pen 10x10 with a tarp on half of the top. I was going to purchase several dowels to go across the pen for roosting purposes and a few wooden nesting boxes along the sides for when they begin to lay eggs. I am not going to have roosters because of the noise level. I have a dog crate off the floor of the pen to use as housing also.
I was going to put wood shavings for the flooring over concrete patio squares and hay inside the dog crate for warmth. I live in Florida so it does get warm here but right now its about 50 to 60 degrees overnight, will that be warm enough for Rhode Island Reds to start in? I will be letting them loose to run around the yard to peck and graze while I am there, so no predators get them.
I live in an hoa development that says no livestock raising of any kind, I'm not raising I'm using for food. I know I'm taking a chance but I have wanted to have chickens for a long time and I'm hoping they are not louder then barking dogs. I will use the same excuse, I have them for pets and not commercial use. They will be located directly behind my house not in sight of the front of the house and I figure if I give my neighbors eggs they won't complain. The city limits now allow for chickens for food use, I think its 4 per acre. I am only getting 2 or 3.
I was thinking of smaller bantams but I need to make sure I just get hens, is there anyway to do that? So far I only see them as straight run unsexed ones being sold. I figure if the board makes a stick I will re-home them, but my husband and I are on the board, and so far they are pretty lenient, at our last meeting the president said that there is only 1 neighbor that fits into the rules perfectly everyone else has at least one item or more that break the rules, so I might have luck on that one.
Please let me know what is a good, calm smaller hen I should get and can I put them out in April overnight if Florida.
Thank you.
Farmer Jo
