Hi all,
I lurk and read your chicken threads (and view your pictures) with a great deal of interest. I am very envious of everyone's fun and delight in the world of poultry. I live on 5.5 acres in semi-rural Iowa. I work an 8 hour day and I am also attending school part-time (for another 3 years), so busy busy busy. I do a lot of gardening too, in my not-so-spare time. Later next month is the Iowa State Fair. Always I like to go and see the rabbit and poultry displays. Sometimes, they have chicks and/or chickens for sale. I would really like to have a chicken or 2, but I don't want to create this huge extra amount of work for myself. DH would probably be happy to build some kind of coop - he is a woodworker. I have some questions:
1. Am I crazy to even consider doing this?
2. How much time (seriously) does it take to care for a couple of chickens?
3. How much time to I need to socialize with my chickens to make them comfortable?
4. What extra precautions do I need for Iowa winters?
5. What else should I know about before I make this decision.
Note, I have a rescued greyhound who would probably eat the chickens if he got near them so they will have to be in their own area.
Cost is not really a concern for me. Time is the big concern, but I would love to have some of my own eggs. I don't want a rooster, I couldn't handle the noise and I need my sleep as much as possible to handle my busy days.
Thanks for any and all advice & thoughts.
Claire
A lurker who wants a chicken, or two
I can answer a few questions, i spend about 30 minutes watering and feeding my "flock" of about 250 give or take a few. I usually spend the evenings watching them about maybe an hr, trying to see their traits and stuff like that. I just go out and call to them .............chicky chicky and they start a dance for me. you winters I have no idea someone else would have to answer that. protection from predators.
Welcome!
I was in your position quite recently. I work full time and am planning to go back to school next year. I also garden a lot, manage to find time to work out and ride my horse most days and am generally too busy. I got 3 chicks about three months ago, and the chicken fairy brought me one more quite recently. Although the initial time investment was significant (we built a much more elaborate coop then is really neccessary), my chickens are now my most accomodating pets. I spend a bit of time with them every day giving them treats (read 10 min, more if I have time), but other then that they don't require much. I make sure they have food and water, which doesn't actually need to be refilled more then once a week, stir the bedding in the hen house and maybe add a bit more (deep litter method doesn't require regular "mucking out") and once a week I move the coop on its wheels over ten feet so the girls don't kill the grass. I'm sure someone with more experience will pipe in about your other questions, but I am quite happy to have gotten my girls, and don't find them to be much trouble at all. I have found them to be so much more fun then I anticipated, and I love to let them out to play while I am working in the garden.
Good luck, Myrrh
Thanks to both. Another dumb question from a newbie, given some of your comments....
If you let them out to play, why don't they just fly away when you let them out? How do you catch them again to put them back in the coop?
I would love to see the chicken dance. :-)
How often do they need to see a vet? Do they need shots?
We have river otters, possums, coons, maybe red foxes. I know the fox and coon would be predators. I presume not the otters or possums?
Thanks again,
Claire
mine do the "chicken dance" when they want treats. they run back and forth in the pen, then it is a frenzy when they get their treat. It is so funny. I dont know about shots or taking a chicken to the vet.
Luvs - what kind of treats do they dance for? I would love to have them do that. Sounds hilarious.
A sturdy secure pen and coop with wire on top and under the dirt are a must for preditors, the rest is easy.
Once chickens are used to their coop an dpen as home, they will return to it to roost if let out to play.
I've never in my life taken a chicken to the vet. They are very hardy birds. That's not saying that you don't occasionally loose one once in a while, but normally there isn't any warning. A preditor gets one or one just dies and you never really know why, but I look at it as a chicken costs about 2.50 and vet 45. I can replace the chicken a lot cheaper. I love my chickens, but they're, well.....chickens.
We didnt have much table scraps left over last night so it was just corn husks today, I might boil up some eggs for them today. They just love scalloped taters and mac and cheese. They love old bread soaked in chicken broth or milk. I think that is what I will give them this evening I have a 1/4 loaf of homemade bread that is old, will cut it up and soak it in milk. I no longer have waisted food in my fridge. Me and hubby dont like leftover that much. you do gardening, they would live garden scraps, I am thinking of going out and getting a couple of corn stalks that have done their job and give to them. It is just to funny, they were like 3 or 4 days old when I gave them boiled eggs and now they expect it every day. I am a slave to my chickens. I made fried green maters and okra and squash the other night hubby said dang hunny its just us 2, I said nope I have to give the babies some also, then last night he went to dump his plate (just a cob and the skin of a baked tater) in the trash and said dang almost forgot the babies.
yea like Jy said, no vet here.
How deep under the dirt does the wire need to go? If the wire is under the dirt, how is it that Myrrh can move the coop on its wheels. Now I'm all confused!
Maybe Myrrh's coop has a special floor? I was thinking of getting one of these:
http://www.omlet.us/products_services/products_services.php?view=Chickens
I really like the cube version but it doesn't seem to be in the US yet.
http://www.omlet.co.uk/products_services/products_services.php?view=Eglu%20Cube
Claire
So funny, I had no idea they would eat scraps. They'd have to compete with the greyhound. Plus I just ordered a NatureMill in-kitchen composting unit, which I'm really excited about. But I figure I can add chicken poop to my gardens, right?
It's kind of funny that they eat eggs or chicken broth. Hmmm...
Silly me, I thought they'd have to go to the vet every year for chicken shots or something. I really am a newbie!
I generally don't have much trouble luring my girls back into their house with a bit of scratch. They like to chase each other around and can fly a bit, but the yard is home, so they would rather not go far.
I live in a pretty major city, but the second night they spent outside I went to check on them right as dark was falling and a fox jumped up to the fence behind me to check out potential dinner fare. I'm pretty sure that my coop is secure, but just in case I got an eletric net to keep the foxes and raccoons from trying too hard. I figure the peace of mind is worthe the money I spent.
With respect to treats my girls love corn, and adore it when I bring them those long blades of grass with the seed heads still attached. Their favorite however is cheese. When they were little I gave them lowfat cottage chesse a bunch figuring it was low fat and high protein, so good for them. Recently I have started making my own cheese and they get a bit of leftovers, and are quite happy with my failures. They will do anything for cheese. Since they are not the tamest (they were about a week old when I got them) I insist they eat their treats from my hands while I pet them. They have gotten a bunch easier to handle doing that, and are generally pretty willing to sit in my lap.
Claire
I'm gonna jump in here and say I think I am about the biggest clown on this forum.. I was so worried about time and commitment... did I want pets or food.. could I someday eat my friend.. can I eat eggs knowing.. I mean really everyday seeing, knowing where they come from.. same with even grocery store chicken.. And I am not even talking about the flavors.. I am just starting with the mental visions you get..
I think It is, or at least was for me, a hugh mental step, do I take my farming to serious.. maybe.. but I am learning and I do want to do it right, I don't want anyone to end up sick.. human nor animal. I think I am very lucky to have a food handle background, good common sense and I do read.. in fact, I read just enough to make myself insane and realize "I CAN"T DO THIS", then I do it anyway and usually end up doing ok.
so to try to end this storybook and tell you.. should you?? do you have the time??
You can put as much or as little time into it as you want.. same with the money for the houseing..
The funny thing is.. I have seen some of the cutests... little doll like houses.. little southern chicken tara's for just 2 hens... that were treated like queens... better than grandma's Chihuahua .. and they don't bark..
My money is on.. if you do this.. you will find yourself out back, sitting in a lounge recliner with a tall glass of iced tea, reading a gothic novel, while your hens are nestled on either side of you.
I have what is called a tractor coop. It has no bottom and sits directly on the grass. Periodically I move it so my girls can have access to new pickings. There is a bit more risk of things burrowing underneath. In order to deal with that people often set them ontop of a strip of wire that reaches outwardfrom the wall. I doubt anything could dig through my lawn (I had a terrible time trying to do just that with a shovel trying to put in my garden bed), but just in case I put in the electric net. I've heard great things about the egglu products, and I know they are made to be movable, I just wanted a bit more.
Hmmmm...you all are making me much more liable to buy a chicken at the fair....
I thought everybody would jump in and say "Oh no, you can't possibly have the time, they are a lot of work...etc"
Nobody is saying that!
:-)
Well, I think everyone here can be assumed to be some sort of chicken lover.
Here are some bad pics of my tractor coop if you are interested. I keep meaning to take some better ones, but I haven't had time
nope we are all chicken slaves and for me i can say i love it. i dont even cook for my dogs, but i do for the chickens. I think if my dogs would lay an egg i would make them steak. The dogs do get most of the meat scraps that is if hubby is not overly hungry.
The back view:
Myrrh i just love that, how many chickens will that hold?
Hi Claire. First off, I think the only truly dumb question is the one not asked.......even if we feel a little dumb asking it! Two chickens hard work? No way! It doesn't take that long at all with so few....now if you were asking about a couple of hundred in all different ages like I have....several of us have.....I would have a lot more to say about how much time it can really take, especially in this hot weather. We share about the same climate conditions....you are about 150 miles from me.
Just a thought for winter time.....you will need to get a heater thingy to put in the waterer if you are not around to break ice. I'm telling you, I think you will love having them! They really are a lot of fun to watch......and eggs to boot! I have found that the first couple of times you let them out you might have to herd them into their house or pick them up and take them....but they figure out very quickly where home is and will go in on their own when it gets dark....then you just have to shut the door. When you do let them out, can you chain up your dog during that time, just in case? We have had an opossum in the chicken house......lucky for us our dog found it before it got a hold of any chickens!
Happy to 'meet' you!
Christy
Wow myrrh......your coop tractor is fantastic! That is really nice....I bet your chickens love it!
Christy
I waited... we moved out here to our farmette in 2001.. and I was planning on a few animals and veggie gardens.. and all the things that come with country life..
But I did procrastinate for a long while.. thinking a lot of what you are.. time, money, emotional investment, help.. help.. would they help??
You know what... who cares if they help.. seriously.. everytime I go out to do something, I see something even more interesting and amazing than the time before.. and most times it has nothing to do with the chickens.. I have notice this week, we have a butterfly that has been antaganizing the chickens.. he hangs out in the same area.. and swoops the same chicken everyday.. I know this because now it has become my 3 pm "story" I have to go out and sit on the log and watch. I know it won't last for long, but for now.. what a hoot... whoda thunk it.. a terroist butterfly??
I am very much enjoying myself, spending way to much time outside, some of the gardens are screaming for a weedin.. my tan looks great.. dh is tired of dinner at 7.. but hey.. I am not a grouch. oh yea... I can speak chicken, and I have learned what a lemming is.. lol
I am a mother, student, worker, and zookeeeper!!! You too can do this! The chickens will be a great way for you to unwind at the end of the day : 0 ) Enjoy!
This message was edited Jul 17, 2008 12:22 PM
Yeppers, I call it chicken therapy. Frans LMAO at a terroist butterfly, I have a frog they share the pen with.
Thanks luvs2garden and ladybugs. I have 4 chickens in my chicken barn. I made it using the measurements from the Storey guide. I think I am at about capacity, though I could probably squeeze in another if I really had to (don't even think about it chicken fairy where ever you are). I have a lot of head room which is why it looks so big, but the floor space is pretty much about right.
CMoxon- Another thought on cold winters- some breeds are more suited to the cold then others. I sure that if you are going to get chicks at the local fair the locals will probably have mostly breeds that are cold hardy, but you might consider doing some research about which breeds you like in advance. Some breeds are also known to make better pets, and some are happier in more confined spaces. There is also the egg color consideration. My four chickens are all different breeds and all lay different color eggs. For me the main considerations were good temperment, moderate to good egg laying ability, interesting egg color, and interesting plumage. I have an Americauna- blue green eggs, a Blue Andalusian- white eggs, a Black Jersey Giant- brown eggs, and a Marans- reddish brown eggs.
Here are a couple of places to read about chicken breeds:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/breeds/
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/category/standard_breed_chicks.html
This message was edited Jul 17, 2008 10:33 AM
This message was edited Jul 17, 2008 10:34 AM
ha ha ha a terrorist butterfly. Too funny! I wonder why it has picked one chicken?
Tia....I was wondering about your frog...your babies are just so small they probably can't do it much damage....I just surprised he stuck around.
I love watching all of mine....there are just so many things to watch. I really love it after dark though with our 2nd to smallest group. It has been chilly here in the evening, so they get a heat lamp still and all the moths are attracted to it. The chicks and poults are having a ball catching them and then chasing the one that caught the moth.....and we get the biggest laugh watching them. So funny! Really fantastic therapy! : )
Christy
talking about at night, we went out there last night well after dark and the crested and surprise about 130 chicks without a light were sound asleep, but the bantams about 90 or so were with a light and running around. I am thinking about not turning their light on tonight. It is warm enough at night and I do have a blanket over the brooder.
Oh the moths... hehe... has anyone sat and realized that must be what the auther of Chicken Little and the sky is falling really saw and gave him the idea .. I mean originally..
Some doofased chicken was chasing a nearly invisable to the human eye moth and those pscyco chickens truly look like the world is coming to an end... hide here.. no here.. oh wait.. over here.. nooooo here... nope.. here... LOL.. yep.. I do fall off my log every now and then..
and yes, this butterfly.. I will try to see if I can get a pic today.. even if its blurry.. I will try.. and yes it is the same chicken.. a few of the others always mossey over to see if there is something to eat, but usally they get bored and wonder off.
And myrra, I too love you coop... very nice..
oh gosh yes that is the dance mine do, here over here no wait not there over here............ it is to funny. Now that is what I call chicken therapy. I laugh till i am crying
luvs, if you are worried.. go with a smaller watt red bulb.. I don't think I will ever use a white bulb again.. after seeing how calm they are with red..
I am even putting in a larger regular red bulb for a light for me.. it just doesn't startle them.. and it's not like I am looking for the needle in that haystack. so reading lighting isn't neccesary.
Our local amish proccessing plant, will come and pick up the birds, for a fee of course.. and they come after midnight and use red headlamps. Taks them 30 minutes to round up 1500 cornish, humanly, with no harm to the birds.. they are asleep, it does not rile them up and the guy says they process much nicer with a better taste.
If red is good enough for them it is good enough for me.
My light isnt red but the package said infra red. I dont think i am worried about the warmth of them, they have been outside for what 5 days i think now. They should be ok. they are growing real good. I will try and will check on them before i go to bed to make sure they are not huddling to bad.
Wow...you all just make me want to run out and buy my chickens RIGHT NOW!!!
A few comments and questions:
Myrrh - I love your tractor coop. Fabulous. Would it be possible to make one with a metal grid floor also, using the same wire grid that you did on the sides, so that the grass/weeds would poke up through it, but the birds would be doubly safe? I bet I could convince Kelly to make one like that if I go to enough antique tractor shows with him. I also like your recommendations re: hardiness, egg colour, etc. For my first couple of chickens, I will be just happy to have them be a good temperament and lay a few eggs, any colour will do. If I enjoy it and decide to have a few more, I will think carefully upon other characteristics. Interesting plumage would be a nice-to-have but not essential.
BTW, I am happy if the chickens would eat cheese treats because cheese is my favourite "food group" as Kelly would tell you. I have one of the veggie drawers in our fridge dedicated to cheese, which I order like a fiend from igourmet.com.
Frans - I think I can handle the eggs. I don't think I could eat the chickens. I will just let them live out their life with me, even when they stop laying. If I get a couple that are slightly different ages, then maybe as one dies, I can replace it and always have 2, or maybe 3. I like the picture of me in the lounge recliner with nestled chickens. I did sit in a garden chair under the patio umbrella last week reading "Corporate Responsibility in the Food and Agriculture Sector" which isn't exactly a gothic novel, but oh well. And I didn't have an iced tea, I had an icy glass of sauvingnon blanc instead! LOL!
Ladybugs - thanks for the heater point. Excellent. I have a bird bath with a heater so I am sure a similar device is available for a chicken waterer (right?). I will definitely have the chickens in a different area to the dog. I don't think I would ever let the chickens out to wander freely unless I am in the vicinity. It would make me terribly nervous. I spend much of the weekend out in the yard, and numerous evenings. The dog is an indoor dog only, except to go do his thing. He doesn't like hanging out outside. He is afraid of box elder bugs. But he did kill a bunny once. As a greyhound, he can only be in a fenced area or on a tie-strap. Right now he's on a tie strap to go out because we haven't installed a full fence yet, but either way, the chickens and dog shall not meet!
One problem is that when I get into something, I get in head-over-heels. I began growing heirloom tomatoes about 5 years ago and now I have 78 plants (for the 2 of us). I grow about 5 different kinds of parsnips, in large quantities, because they are my favourite veg. I am scared that I will love my chickens and get 50 of them or something. Some of you seem to have a very large number of them. Is this because you are commercial operators or do you just love your chickens?!
I sent a message to the Eglu people and they got back to me that they expect the cube sometime next year. I really like the cube. Maybe Kelly can build me something until I get a cube. I also learned that they supply from Iowa so instead of paying $170 shipping, I can go pick it up if I want! Yay!
I am going to check out those chicken breed sites in more detail this evening. I would have liked to get some of the preservation breed chickens from Sand Hill Preservation here in Iowa, but they only sell in 25s, and I can't do 25 chickens. Not to start, anyway!
Thanks again all, I am fascinated by all I am learning!
Claire
Claire, thanks for posting this thread... I too am learning lots!
We built our coop last weekend, and are starting on our chain link pen this weekend :o)
I want chickens now! yesterday would be good too! lol! and I also have a tendency to go 'overboard' and well, lucky for me my city has a 2 fowl limit.... I'll be pushing it with 4 :o) anyhow! lol!
Here's a pix of the coop we built cost us about $100 so it better last a real long time :o) lol!
Lots of good info on this thread :o) I'll keep watching ! lol!
This message was edited Jul 17, 2008 2:25 PM
Nice coop, oneanjl! It is so cute - just like a real barn. I love that look. I think the red colour is fun too. Your chickens ought to be really happy in there. Does the roof lift up for easy cleaning?
Glad you are learning from this thread, too!
Claire
ya, roof lifts up....wish now tho that we had put a door in rear for easier egg collecting :o) but may add one later.
I'm still deciding on what kind of chickens...and if I want banties or fullsize.... may do several diff kinds like myrrh...
Myrrh....where did you get your chickens? here locally or mail order?
Well I took a few minutes to check out the first breeds link that you sent. My favourites so far are:
Araucanas
ISA Browns
Delawares (I like the idea of an endangered breed!)
Orpingtons
The Easter Egg ones are nice too.
Which ones of these are friendliest, or at least more likely to be a lap chicken / "nestler" while reading in the lounge chair?
Claire
Oh, (she said, with a quizzical look), now I have to go look up Banties, which I think is short for bantams.
Oooohhhhh, the sebrights! Ohhhhh!!!! Wow!!!
I love my little bantams, they are sneaky lil things tho look at my last post on the P&L chat thread here. I think they are pretty and egg layers and broody. They are small so you could get 5 or 6.
hmmm 5-6 bantams would equal 2 full size right? tee hee....