CHIMBY - Chickens in My Back Yard

[IZ]

 

My dad picked up a half dozen a few months back.  He's down in Tucson.  If you ever make it down South for a run to Mt. Lemon or Kitt Peak, we can stop by and you guys can talk poultry.  He made them a nice resort!   


The s/o and I had a dozen "Easter eggs" for breakfast when we went down for a visit on Christmas morning.

I'll see if I have a few pics to post.

[Randimus Maximus]

Why you selfish bastard! I sent you those great steaks and you fed me greenery with them instead of getting up with the sun and making me steak and fresh eggs??!! Stella, kick him in the shins and have Bryan bite him for me! 

The farm was not operational the last time you were here.

And Brian has authority to bite you wherever he wants for misspelling his name.

[Adamm0621]

Well that actually sounds pretty cool.  Although I wonder since I'm in Kentucky now if they would have to be fried? 

[akmnstr]

My wife has bugged me about getting Chickens for years.  I could hold her off while we lived in Alaska, as I had no idea
how keep them alive during 6 months of winter.  Now that we live in rural Texas I am out of excuses and it looks like I'll be building a coop soon.  My neighbor keeps fighting cocks.  He says he doesn't fight them anymore but I wonder why he has 30 or so roosters.  Seems they bring in some money.  He says he sells a dozen fertilized eggs for about $100.  They must make one hell of an omelet.   

[Monsterlover]

How much to the chicks cost and what does the feed cost?

[The Architect]

I just saw a local fox again this morning.    I'll have to build a real fence to keep him out.  Also to keep out Duke (black lab.)  Not only will he eat the chicken eggs but he'll also eat their coop.

Totally of subject ---->  When my oldest daughter was 3 we had a few friends over.  We were all sitting around our table.  My daughter spots a fox outside across the street.  She says "oh fox!"  Of course everyone thought she said something else.  I was the only other person who saw the fox.  So it's a bit of a joke in our house and amongst friends.  

[triangleforge]

I just saw a local fox again this morning.     I'll have to build a real fence to keep him out.  Also to keep out Duke (black lab.)  Not only will he eat the chicken eggs but he'll also eat their coup.

Totally of subject ---->  When my oldest daughter was 3 we had a few friends over.  We were all sitting around our table.  My daughter spots a fox outside across the street.  She says "oh fox!"  Of course everyone thought she said something else.  I was the only other person who saw the fox.  So it's a bit of a joke in our house and amongst friends. 

Foxes (and black labs, for that matter) are prodigious diggers, so in addition to the above ground fencing you'll need to bury wire mesh all around the perimeter. It's not that difficult in the overall scheme of things, but it does mean you'll want to think through the spot you pick for the run pretty carefully, because moving it "just a couple of feet" isn't going to be an appealing prospect.

And if you've got hawks & owls in the area too, you'll want to put some sort of wire screening along the top of the pen as well.

I was lucky in that we had eight of the 6'x6' framed chainlink panels on hand from an unused dog run; the chicken run is 12'x6' with the remaining two panels on top for hawk protection. We've got a few foxes in the neighborhood, but a LOT of skunks, raccoons, hawks, owls & the occasional coyote so they'd be snacks if we didn't enclose them pretty well at night.

Several of the backyard chicken folks in our neighborhood lost a bird or two last fall to a raccoon or raccoons that had learned an interesting technique -- the raccoon would find a bird sleeping too close to the chainlink fence, reach through and POP! pull the chicken's head right off. Usually the head & some neck was all the critter got, but apparently it was worth the effort because stories of headless chickens were a staple of neighborhood gossip for a while there.

[lauramonster]

My cousin has chickens (and roosters - and even a peacock!) in Hilltown, PA.  They roost in the pine trees.  We went over Christmas eve, and there amidst the snow were a few of the chickens in the pine branches!  They like to stay above the foxes and predators.

[kopfjäger]

Chickens of Fire DQ | by Aeva

[tcspeedfreak]

a friend of mine's whole neighborhood inculding him has chickens.  they do something really cool i guess ive never seen it but sounds like fun. they have chicken shit contests.  i guess it consists of a 8'x8' box  drawn out like a tic tac toe board and they bet money on the square that the chicken shits on.  its something that id like to see some day because i guess the bets go into the 100's of dollars

[triangleforge]

Well, now it looks like I've got the featured entertainment for our next neighborhood party all lined up. 

[tcspeedfreak]

Well, now it looks like I've got the featured entertainment for our next neighborhood party all lined up. 

 

[mstevens]

Chickens are fun. I didn't want to get them, but my wife insisted. She was right.

[The Architect]

So it's time for chickens. 

I have the birds lined up but no coop.  I just can't find the time to build one.     So I've reached my last resort.

http://www.hayneedle.com/

I can't believe I've ordered a chicken coop.  Just doesn't seem right? 

[triangleforge]

So it's time for chickens. 

I have the birds lined up but no coop.  I just can't find the time to build one.     So I've reached my last resort.

http://www.hayneedle.com/

I can't believe I've ordered a chicken coop.  Just doesn't seem right? 

Which one did you order? Our homebuilt one does the job OK, but I must admit that I cast the occasional envious glance on our friend's store-bought coop, especially when I put my back into it and heft the hinged panel (basically one whole side of the A-frame) to gather eggs. One of these days, I'm going to replace the 1"x6" lumber that makes up that panel with some light plywood. 

How many birds are you getting?