| Author | |
Angel
Forum All-Star
Joined: April 22 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2293
|
| Posted: March 03 2012 at 8:32am | IP Logged
|
 |
|
In the Seed Talk thread Jen mentioned she was getting chickens. I thought that, along with our seed talk, maybe we could also talk poultry. 
Is anyone else getting chickens this year? What breeds? Chicken tractor, dedicated coop, or...? And what I would really be interested in hearing, if you live in a neighborhood, do you plan to have them in your garden? We're trying to figure out a way to get our chickens out of the barnyard and into the garden to eat bugs. But you can see our garden from the street, and our neighbors across the street are not big chicken fans. Although the covenants don't say anything about chickens, the man across the street is sort of the "Godfather" of the neighborhood. (Long, long story.) But last year squash bugs decimated my garden, and I'd like to put my chickens in it to keep the bugs down. Don't want them wandering out in the front yard or onto the street, though.
We have 9 chickens right now -- down from the 23 we ordered last spring -- due to dog problems mostly, but we also had to give away some roosters that were making a ruckus. We ordered 30 to come at the end of March, including a few we're "hosting" for one of our neighbors down the street.
Breeds we have:
Dominique (our favorite) - 2, adding 5
Welsummer - 1
Salmon Faveroles - 2
Black Austrolorps - 3
Ameracauna - 1, adding 5
Adding 5 Buff Orpington, 5 Silver-Laced Wyandotte, 5 Patridge Rocks. I think. 
I'm feeding a family of 9 and we eat a lot of eggs. I hope we don't lose half of our chickens this year, too!!
Here's an old thread on starting chickens with a lot of helpful information if you're new to chickens!
__________________
Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
CrunchyMom
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 03 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6385
|
| Posted: March 03 2012 at 8:53am | IP Logged
|
|
|
We would like chickens some day (but will have to formally ask our neighbors to change the deed restrictions, so we're pacing ourselves), and we talked to my cousins when visiting their farm. She raises chickens for "show" and collects eggs, of course, but when I suggested chickens *in* the garden, they all immediately nixed that because chickens scratch and would likely dig up your garden. Not sure if it would be a problem with raised beds or not. I think guinea hens don't scratch like chickens do but are good for pests, but then, you don't get eggs like you would with chickens.
I actually saw a garden plan that had a chicken "moat" all the way around the perimeter. This let the chickens get a lot of bugs before they made their way to the garden but still kept the chickens out of the plants. It also meant that any deer trying to jump the short fence ended up in the chicken moat and didn't have space to make the second fence, so they just ran them out of the chicken moat but they never got into the garden!
Anyway, I'm not speaking from experience, but when I looked into it casually, the consensus I found was to keep chickens out.
__________________
Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mackfam
Board Moderator
Non Nobis
Joined: April 24 2006
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 14656
|
| Posted: March 03 2012 at 8:54am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Oh, I just posted this on the seed talk thread.
Mackfam wrote:
Pilgrim wrote:
Jen, at the risk of sounding ignorant(I guess, because I *am* ignorant of this  ), why do you call your chickens your "garden girls"? We have chickens, and I'm curious as to if there is another use for them we aren't employing.  Our oldest dd and I really like our chickens, or I should say our oldest TWO dd's. Our twin dd last year, when she was only 2, would go right up and pick them up, no fear at all, and she'd hold right on to them wing flapping and all, just keeping her eyes shut 'til they stopped, too cute. |
|
|
That is a really cute image I have of your sweet 2yo holding onto that chicken in earnest!!!
Why garden girls? Not an ignorant question at all! I should have explained better!!
Because we'll have ours in and amongst our gardens, composting for us. We wanted the chickens to range and not live in a fixed coop, but can't for a number of reasons. Our solution is to put them in a charming little mobile chicken coop. (The common term for this is chicken tractor, but it's not really a tractor....and it doesn't sound pretty to me. ). Anyway, for this year we're going with a kit which will ship UPS and we'll build (coop with roosting boxes attached to a small, enclosed yard). It's all self contained and we'll put them within the garden to work and do their happy-little-chicken-thing....and then....once they've worked one area, we'll move the garden girls to another area - coop, enclosed yard and all. It doesn't take up a large amount of space, and allows us to keep our small number of chickens and keep them working in fresh areas. This also allows us to move them to a sheltered side of the house in the case of tornadic weather, which we clearly have to deal with regularly every spring. 
So that's the story of the garden girls. Girls because they're hens. Garden because they'll work in the gardens. |
|
|
I probably should have added a link to our little chicken tractor we're getting. We recognize that the kits are going to need some *amending* to make them more durable, but this will be good enough for us to get started and we'll build our own chicken tractor with more durable, quality materials in a couple of years.
This is the page of chicken coops. I can't link to them individually so you'll have to scroll through, but we're deciding between CC-01 and CC-18-R1 (both will have modifications to include adding wheels from Tractor Supply for ease of moving).
Our requirement was that the coop needed to look charming, and not scream ** chickens live here** since our garden and our garden girls will live in our side front yard....and some neighbors MAY have delicate sensibilities to these kinds of things.
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Aagot
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 06 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 649
|
| Posted: March 03 2012 at 8:59am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I would build a portable cage that you can move from place to place in your garden. If you have raised beds, make the cage the size of the bed, or a portion of the size if too big.
ETA i do let our chickens run freely through our garden for a couple of hours a day. We don' t have any trouble with them tearing up the established plants, they do steal downed cherry tomatoes. However for newly planted seeds and seedlings, I cover that bed with bird netting. Mostly the hens hate stepping on it.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mackfam
Board Moderator
Non Nobis
Joined: April 24 2006
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 14656
|
| Posted: March 03 2012 at 9:00am | IP Logged
|
|
|
CrunchyMom wrote:
| they all immediately nixed that because chickens scratch and would likely dig up your garden. |
|
|
They won't TOUCH asparagus, so they're great to have in the asparagus patch.
CrunchyMom wrote:
Not sure if it would be a problem with raised beds or not.
I actually saw a garden plan that had a chicken "moat" all the way around the perimeter. This let the chickens get a lot of bugs before they made their way to the garden but still kept the chickens out of the plants. |
|
|
We'll have raised beds, and our chickens will not be ON OR IN the beds because they WILL consume almost anything green. The garden girls will be right next to the gardens...sort of like your description of chicken moats. I like that! Our primary goal for having them is to let them compost near the beds - tossing compost materials into the chickens and letting them compost for us, then, when we move the chicken tractor we'll rake up their droppings and what they've left and add that to our beds.
Technically, our garden girls will be "pets in an enclosure".
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
CrunchyMom
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 03 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6385
|
| Posted: March 03 2012 at 9:17am | IP Logged
|
|
|
We plan to build rabbit hutches over our compost bins. This way the rabbits can add to compost and the compost can help keep the rabbits warm. Not necessarily pertinent to the chicken discussion But, it is an option for pets that help you compost. We hope to get the rabbits next Easter just because Easter seems like a fun time to get pet rabbits (or chicks).
__________________
Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Angel
Forum All-Star
Joined: April 22 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2293
|
| Posted: March 03 2012 at 9:24am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Those are nice coops, Jen. I think the one with the triple run might have more room, but it's hard to tell from a picture! They look well-built, and hopefully dog-proof?
Our chickens in NY would sometimes try to scratch up seedlings, but they left all the other garden plants alone after they were established. We were able to free-range without restriction on our old land, so there was no keeping them *out* of the garden, really. And the asparagus did much better with the chickens around! They ate asparagus beetles. Also, my rose bush did much better with the chickens.
Mostly I would like to get them all out into the garden beds in the fall to clean everything up! Then maybe we wouldn't have so many bugs going forward.
__________________
Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Angel
Forum All-Star
Joined: April 22 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2293
|
| Posted: March 03 2012 at 9:32am | IP Logged
|
|
|
CrunchyMom wrote:
| We plan to build rabbit hutches over our compost bins. This way the rabbits can add to compost and the compost can help keep the rabbits warm. Not necessarily pertinent to the chicken discussion But, it is an option for pets that help you compost. We hope to get the rabbits next Easter just because Easter seems like a fun time to get pet rabbits (or chicks). |
|
|
We have our rabbits in a hutch with a wire floor, so the droppings fall through onto the ground with a pile of chicken straw. The chickens scratch through that, too. Then we shovel everything into our garden beds.
Now if we could either figure out how to keep the babies alive (we had more rabbit babies die last night) or decide that we didn't want babies and build another hutch for the male... sigh.
__________________
Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: March 03 2012 at 11:27am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Angela I was just reading at St. Clare Seeds that planting morning glories with your squash helps deter the squash bugs.
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
CrunchyMom
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 03 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6385
|
| Posted: March 03 2012 at 11:41am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I read that too! I just worry that putting morning glories in my beds would be a mistake since they can be invasive.
__________________
Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: March 03 2012 at 12:35pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
yes they can be, I did decide to chance some moonflowers.. I think I had some of those in my front flower bed and they only lasted a couple of seasons without trying to get rid of them.
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Angel
Forum All-Star
Joined: April 22 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2293
|
| Posted: March 03 2012 at 12:41pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
JodieLyn wrote:
| Angela I was just reading at St. Clare Seeds that planting morning glories with your squash helps deter the squash bugs. |
|
|
That's interesting - I might try that! Maybe if I planted the morning glories in a pot and sunk the pot in the soil they wouldn't be so invasive?
__________________
Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: March 03 2012 at 12:53pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I don't know if that would be necessary Angela.. apparently they are prolific reseeders rather than growing suckers from the roots. Pulling out the vines before the seed pods open is apparently the way to control them.
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
lapazfarm
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6082
|
| Posted: March 03 2012 at 2:33pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
It's been a few years since we had chickens, which we kept in an established henhouse and yard, then let them out to free range during the day. If I were to do it over again, I'd probably do a more mobile set-up.
We lost a few chickens to red-tailed hawks, and a bunch of eggs to a couple of rat snakes who set up housekeeping in the henhouse for awhile. Once we caught and relocated the snakes, that particular problem was solved.
As far as breeds go, our favorite hands down was Rhode Island Reds. So docile and reliable layers of large beautiful brown eggs. We liked our buff orphingtons as well, they lay very large eggs--huge, in fact. We did not care as much for the wyandotes or the aurucana. The wyandotes were not as reliable layers, nor as friendly as the reds (important when you have littles wanting to feed them and collect eggs and pick them up, etc.) and the aurucanas, though their blue-green eggs were lovely, the eggs were small and the birds were not at all friendly, even with the other hens.
I think if I get the chance to have chickens again I will go with straight Rhode Island Reds. A reliable, all-around good bird. Though I might be tempted to get more buff orphington as well. They got along well together.
__________________
Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
MaryM
Board Moderator
Joined: Feb 11 2005
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13104
|
| Posted: June 28 2013 at 12:27am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Angel wrote:
Is anyone else getting chickens this year? What breeds? Chicken tractor, dedicated coop, or...? |
|
|
Since it is bump Thursday (in this time zone anyway) thought this one would be a good one to bump. I followed this thread last year but as a meer observer. Lo and behold we ended up deciding to do the urban chicken thing as well - mostly due to prodding of dd. Got our chicks mid-May. They are about ready to leave the brooder and settle into our coop (which is almost finished...). So now we are chicken farmers, too...and I have heard there may be other newbies in the 4 Real ranks.
So to re-ask Angela's question from last year - is anyone getting (did anyone get) chickens this year? 
We have 6 - one each, Australorp, GL Wyandotte, Speckled Sussex, Easter Egger, Barred Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red. My dd wanted pretty/variety - as well as good layers (or interesting layers in the case of the Easter Egger - who has been dubbed Dr. Seuss or Suessy in hopes she will lay green eggs...). All hens - no roosters allowed as per our city ordinance - can have 8 hens.
We have a dedicated coop with run. Will let them out into fenced backyard if we are around. We live in the city/suburbs near open space with coyote, fox, raccoons, and skunk, so have predators. Hoping everything is secure enough.
Would be interested in everyone's experiences since last year. Updates???
And also mentioning this thread as a bump that Angela pointed out last year.
__________________
Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
herdingkittens
Forum Pro
Joined: May 28 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 210
|
| Posted: June 28 2013 at 8:18am | IP Logged
|
|
|
We have had 3 batches of birds over the last 6 years. Last year we had 15 chicks, living in a shed that we converted into a coop, in a yard for a while, and then free to roam, resulting in the destruction of the remaining mulch beds in our yard . Although I didn't mind, I love seeing those birds roaming around, however, my husband...not so much.
All hens, only for eggs. We ended up losing them to various hungry animals: my father-in-laws dog (that was kind of funny, in a way - happened at t birthday party at our house - we ate that one!), someone's random pitbull tearing through our yard a couple of times  , raccoons (? I think) in the middle of the night, and there was a opossum that kept stealing eggs, although we got him. ANyways, we were down to 3, and just gave them away to a friend because are moving to the city  .
One time this year, one of ours went across the street and lay an egg for our neighbor! He returned the bord and had the egg it for lunch!
My children really enjoyed having them - great experience. They are fun pets and did not mind being picked up, carried around, kissed by the baby, etc. Plus, there is nothing like a box of peeping baby chicks.
We had buff orps (my favs!), barred rocks, and two other kinds - I cannot recall, but the kiddos would know. All brown egg layers - we used to have more of a variety, and that was really fun - green, pink, bluish, speckled, and it was always hilarious getting one of those enormous ones (although I always winced a little thinking of the poor hen who had to get that thing out  !)
I'll miss them, and if we end up staying here, I'll be getting some new ones in the spring and build a HUGE yard for them.... 
__________________
my peeps: girl('02), boy('03), girl('05), twin boys ('07), boy ('11) and sweet baby boy ('13)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Pilgrim
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 28 2007
Location: Wisconsin
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1286
|
| Posted: June 28 2013 at 12:58pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
We have loved having our chickens, but this year have decided to get rid of them, as we are paring down our animals so they're easier to keep up on while we build our house.
The really funny thing was dh and I had just decided to get rid of the chickens, and the very next morning dd comes in bearing a freshly hatch batch of 8 baby chicks!!! We knew we had a crazy hen who would not stop trying to go broody, but had had forgotten!
We hated getting rid of our lovely two roosters, They were very nice AND beautiful, never crabby or mean. They were down to only 3 hens between them tough, due to a very well fed fox who kept stealing our hens!
We hope next spring to acquire another batch of chicks. dh wants silver-blue dorkings, dd and I want some buff orpingtons, buff brahmas, amongst numerous others.
__________________
Wife 2 my bf, g14,b8,g&b6,g4,g3,g1 1/2,4 ^i^
St. Clare Heirloom Seeds coupon 4Real 20% off
St. Clare Audio
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Michaela
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 25 2005
Location: Washington
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2052
|
| Posted: June 28 2013 at 4:35pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
We are back in chickens this year. Actually, I just came inside from painting their coop. We started with four, but one was recently killed and the other turned out to be a rooster. He had to be returned because no roosters allowed in city limits. Thankfully, the store paid us well for him (we paid $2.50 and they credited me almost $20 for the feed and work)
The girls are Black Austrolops. Mrs. Puff is always broody and Lolo is the sweetest, quietest chicken we have ever had.
I hope to get an Orpington (lavender would be nice!) a Polish for fun, and who knows what else.
I have turned into the crazy chicken lady. I took a trip to Goodwill today and found the cutest picture of brown eggs in a basket to hang on the coop and hit Lowes for a $2 flooring to make a droppings board and picked up sand, both for easier cleaning. (Getting rid of shavings in coop for sand.)
__________________
Michaela
Momma to Nicholas 16, Nathan 13, Olivia 13, Teresa 6, & Anthony 3
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SuzanneG
Forum Moderator
Joined: June 17 2006
Location: Idaho
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5465
|
| Posted: June 28 2013 at 5:31pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
We got 6 chicks the beginning of March.
:: 2 Buff Orpingtons
:: 2 Leghorns
:: 1 Rhode Island Red
:: 1 Bantam
They are SO FUN! I love having chickens! They totally make me laugh.
One particular daughter isn't so fond of them ....but the others just love them! I'd say the 7 and 5 year old love them the most and the chickens go right up to them.
Can't wait for the eggs!
__________________
Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
MaryM
Board Moderator
Joined: Feb 11 2005
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13104
|
| Posted: June 28 2013 at 6:44pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
 Suzanne!
You will be 2 months ahead of us on those.
Michaela wrote:
| I have turned into the crazy chicken lady. I took a trip to Goodwill today and found the cutest picture of brown eggs in a basket to hang on the coop... |
|
|
That is too funny! So we aren't the only ones decorating the coop...I've got a few ideas - Hobby Lobby has all kinds of chicken themed outdoor decor. And we already had a few chicken/rooster items in our dining room - for the Portuguese rooster theme. But now they definitely catch my eye and I likely will be adding more.
__________________
Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Chicken talk
