Does anyone here have chickens?

[oregonpachey]

I have been considering getting some chickens for our backyard to raise.  We can have 3 hens (no rooster) per city code.

From the research I have done, they are easy but do take work (duh).  Be honest, are they "hard"?  People who have never owned chickens that they are hard to take care of.  I know I need a good coop with a nesting box and places up off the floor to roost.  I have an area of our backyard to put their coop and we have a full fence.  I plan to free range them during the day and put them up at night.

I don't want to get chicks but larger almost adult birds to raise for eggs - probably Americaunas because I have read they are good egg layers and sociable.

I love the Backyard Chicken website by the way.  Super cool!

[fezzik]

I don't have chickens, but people I know who have them say the worst part is that they poop a lot, so the coop isn't exactly fun to clean.

ETA: that being said, I've thought about getting some of my own someday, but I'll probably just continue to buy fresh eggs from my neighbor instead.

[Deleted]

CheshireGrin

[mala]

I don't, yet, but I want some SOBAD. I just about have H convinced. From all I've researched, they aren't that difficult to take care of. You will have to consider birds of prey and cats if you are going to free range in the city/suburbia though. Raccoons might be a problem too.

[Deleted]

textbookcase 

I think this is such a cool idea

[sineadorebellion]

I have a chicken. She wandered into our yard one day and stayed so... we built a coop Honestly, it's super easy and chickens are very smart. I go out there in the morning and let her out to roam around the yard and when it starts to get dark she follows me right back to her coop. If for some reason I forget, she'll stand by the back door and wait. I check her feeder and waterer every other day. She's very much our spoiled pet and the egg she gives us daily is just a bonus.

[hamster]

Yep. 8. We may be over committed...

They are in fact very easy. They need a secure coop and run, food and water. They have a roost in their coop with essentially a litter box under it do it's easy to clean and not wasting limbs shavings. We add straw to their run, let them wander the yard a couple hour a day, and eat delicious eggs.

As far as breeds, we have two adult Americaunas and two adult Barnevelders. Love the Americaunas. Good layers and very friendly. The Barnevelders are too loud to live in the city.
We got two more Americauna chicks, and two Barred Rocks. So far the BR are better than the Americaunas, but only time will tell.

[FastHands]

@meepmeep

[jane6672]

It's work to set up (get the coop, etc.) but not much work at all once they are established.


If you're going to have a stationary coop, look into using sand for the bedding, with Sweet PDZ (odor/moisture absorber used in horse stalls) mixed in. It's so easy to clean because you just rake it like a giant litter box, and then change the sand 2x a year. Plus, the chickens love it because they can use it for dust baths, and it helps keep their feet and nails trimmed and clean.

[Blueper]

I had them growing up, I considered getting some illegally (shh!) when we bought a house, but I'm in a less-pets-the-better mode so I'm glad that never happened. I think that they are fun and low-maintenance if you are in a warm climate, but if it is a COLD winter I would rather pay someone for their eggs than have to brave the outdoors to feed and clean up after them.

[jane6672]

Oh, and yay for green eggs!

[oregonpachey]

May 12, 2014 12:25:58 GMT -5 jane6672 said:

It's work to set up (get the coop, etc.) but not much work at all once they are established.


If you're going to have a stationary coop, look into using sand for the bedding, with Sweet PDZ (odor/moisture absorber used in horse stalls) mixed in. It's so easy to clean because you just rake it like a giant litter box, and then change the sand 2x a year. Plus, the chickens love it because they can use it for dust baths, and it helps keep their feet and nails trimmed and clean.

Ooooh, thank you!  I will definitely look into this.

[katb]

We have chickens we share with a neighbor and are getting another coop this summer. Even with free range, depending on your area, you really need to have a dedicated run space. Many predators you don't think of could get your hens. Also, in bad weather, a covered run will offer them a place to still get outside. Also you want to keep them contained when you first get them so the chickens learn to lay in the boxes and not all over your yard. Larger coop = easier to clean. Make sure you can easily walk into it to clean it.

Backyard Chicken site is a good one. I also highly recommend the Chicken Whisperer. He is on facebook and you can link his digital articles for free. Check out the Chicken Whisperer from the Library.

Not too much work, but they do need care.
We clean the coop about once a week (rake shavings). We do a really thorough scrub down 2 -3x a year. We also rake the run once a week or so.

I add shavings to the nesting boxes as needed.
Food and water daily although we have feeders/waterers that my husband made using some of the ideas on backyard chicken.com We clean out the waterer about once a week in the winter, it will be more in the summer.

We let our chickens out in the yard while we are out there and the dog is in the house. More in the summer. They love to eat all the bugs

[textbookcase]

Hey! We have 14 hens and a rooster. Agree with PP, the getting everything set up and established is the hard part, but it's all pretty simple after that. We built a chicken run with fence posts and chicken wire. There's a coop (the kind you buy and assemble, from Costco) in the middle of the run. The coop has 3 nest boxes, and then I built additional boxes elsewhere in the run because we have a ton of chickens. We had this old metal frame that held our old AC unit on the roof that we repurposed as a roosting spot in a corner of the run, some sleep there at night, some sleep in the coop, and some sleep on top of the coop. They are also able to free range in the yard during the day. We use sand in the run and cleaning it isn't difficult at all, plus the sand helps them cool down in the summer. We have all Rhode Island Reds but Americaunas are great. Let me know if you have any questions!

[housegeek]

We just got chickens. I have 6, in a 4'x8'x7' coop. We have straw in there now, dusted with DE, and there isn't any smell after two weeks but there is a ton of ventilation, a large 2x2 foot window on one side and hardware cloth wire screen 2x7 foot door open on nice days. The straw is just a temp solution though, Im going to order sand/shell mix from the local landscaping place, and from experience at my aunts, its as easy raking the poop out every week or so.
They are the easiest animal Ive ever owned, I let them out in the AM and close the pop door at night, super low maintenance.

[spitforspat]

No. No one here has chickens.

[sugarbear]

We have three chickens. They are super easy! We have to buy feed once a month or so (and they eat most of our table scraps and other food waste), and we have to muck out their coop. Otherwise, they are super low maintenance. And the eggs are awesome.

[iamali]

We talked about this a few weeks ago!

My thoughts are pretty much contained in this thread.

pandce.proboards.com/thread/317737/ok-gonna-ask

[sonrisa]

OMG I hate roosters. We specifically avoided any houses where the neighbors had chickens. Not worth the risk or smell. Too much time in developing country cured the romance of chickens for me.

[zzuvet]

I have about 25 chickens right now with 25 more comimg tomorrow. If you get after they have feathered out they are very low maintenance. I suggest an automatic waterer using poultry nipples. We have ours on a 5 gallon bucket. It keeps the water much cleaner than the regular poultry waterers. We put in an aquarium tank heater in winter.

We used PVC pipes to make big feeders that are easy to fill and dont need to be done every day.

I think you will have better luck with easter eggers than americanas. Most people selling americanas are probably not selling true to type birds anyway. If you are looking for good layers our rhode island reds were very prolific. We also have white rocks but they are pretty mean. My barred rock is very nice.