Newbie Chicken Raiser

[Gmasandy]

I am new at this, but what fun to watch my 5 girls in their new coop and run. Things I have learned so far.....1) Yes, they are messy. Thats why they live outside! 2) They DO have distinct personalities! All of which are cute! 3)They HATE the neighbor cats even looking into their pen! and 4)now I know where the following slang phrases come from....PLAYING CHICKEN, they run towards each other full blast till they almost hit, then veer off. BEING A CHICKEN (scared)... any loud noise or neighbor cat in the area, sends them scrambling for cover in their coop.

 

[clarkechick]

Thanks for the insight! I am about to pick up my first 3 chicks. Im curious... just how messy are they? I am hoping that 3 of them wont totally cover my half acre lot with poo if they free range for a couple of hours each day. I am happy to maintain their enclosed run and coop, but I have a little girl and a dog who will no doubt find any poo that is there to play in or poke at. If it really covers the yard I may have to fence off a corner of the lot for just their roaming.

 

[awesomefowl]

&

! Glad to meet ya!

 

[Mr.Beginner24]

They are pretty messy for sure! But I think that just a few chickens in a huge lot won't hurt it at all. It takes my 17 chickens about a week until I start to see a difference between the new bedding and the poopy bedding. Welcome to raising chickens! I hope I helped a little bit

 

[kcwazzu]

When I first had my chicks in the brooder I was amazed how much they ate, drank and especially how much they pooped. Fortunately i'm using the deep litter method in the coop so it's not too bad. The run on the other hand is going to need a good raking soon.
Keith

 

[JoePa]

That was the first thing I noticed when I started raising chickens - man do they poop - it seems things continuely go in one end and out the other in different form - I had a number of dogs in my life time and cleaning up after them was always a chore - when my last one died I didn't get another because of all the work - then I ended up with chickens - and I think they are a lot more work - sometimes I wonder if they are too much work - time will tell - so far I'm doing ok and hanging in there - if only someone could invent a chicken that didn't poop -

 

[kcwazzu]

Quote:
I would definitely pay a premium price for those, but then again where else would I get free fertilizer.

edited for typos.