The link EVERYONE is talking about...

http://www.backyardchickens.com/

:92:

thats a cool site and that forum is probly the biggest one that ive ever seen.

Sadly, I go there often... I told you I had hobby farming issues! Chickens are a riot. Dumbest animals on the planet.

Elkrun wrote:Sadly, I go there often... I told you I had hobby farming issues! Chickens are a riot. Dumbest animals on the planet.

Hello.....Kettle.....Pot......

Dude, I'm sorry I didn't notice your attempt at humor! Better late than never... good one girly-man!

Damn, checked in there today and there were 458 people online. AT A CHICKEN SITE!!

bahahhahaha damn thats alot of folks online at once cool site thanks for sharing! we are looking at getting a few hens in the next week or 2.

I think Im gonna go for building a Tractor Coup so that we can move it around for new ground alot for them. I also have hopes that moving them around the yard will chase off the moles we have, I hear they do NOT like being in the sae yard again, thanks for the share!

My chickens have a summer home and a winter home. During the summer, I have a fenced area around my little orchard. They get to run around and eat the bugs and new weeds that grow in there. During the winter, I drag the coop into the fenced garden area and let them go nuts on the garden leftovers. By the time spring has sprung and it time to move back to the summer range. They have completely eatend every scrap of vegatation, pretty much rototilled the garden, and shit/fertilized everywhere. The worst part was moving the coop the 100 feet back and forth, but now that I have a quad, its a breeze.

Chicken tractors are great when there is limited space. My neighbor built his to look like one of those aluminum teardrop campers. Its hilarious. Chickens are great to have, easy to care for, and make breakfast for you. We're up to 15 hens, 1 rooster (but he lives with the goats...long story.)

we got 4 girls last night and on the way home stopped and got the stuff for a pen for them til we get the hen house done. its 8x8x4' tall and they seem to like itmade the damn thing in 2 hours. spent all night cooing and been goin nuts piggin out on bugs and worms all morning damn wood costs too much

Just watch them around any annuals you may have... its like candy to them. Its doesn't take much to make chickens happy, an 8 x 8 hen house is plenty big for 4 hens. I thinks its supposed to be something like 3-4 square feet per hen or they'll peck the shit out of each other. Chickens like to eat chicken too. My hen house is 4 x 8 and has 10 hens. It seems smallish, but its on stilts so theres the same amount of covered space for them underneath when its raining. Use 2 x 4 for your roosts and remember they shit the most while roosting so you can control where most of the mess will be by placing your roosting areas appropriately. the 2 x 4s allow the birds to stand flat footed. That way when its freezing outside they can hunker down while roosting and cover their toes with their feathers. I guess its common for them to get frostbite and lose toes on small or round roosting bars.

How old are the hens? Were they laying already?

The guy said they are 2 years old and were laying. He had about 11 or so in his pen and he had collected 13 eggs that morning. What size did you make your nesting boxs? Its been a long time since I had chickens and the wifey had some growing up but cant remember how big their house was. They had free roam of her parents back yard with their duck and dogs.

the pen / scratching yard is 8x8 but the hen house is small, basicly a 5x5x5 hutch with nesting boxes in it while i build somethin better. its a extravagant rabbit hutch that ended up being so huge for them that we couldnt catch them so its sat so today i modified to to a nesting house.

I used a rabbit hutch modified into a hen house for 4 hens a few years back. No problem. As for the nesting boxes, I dont know about an exact size, but you can view them at the backyardchickens.com site to get an idea. Just keep them lower than the roosting spot or they choose the nesting box to sleep in and they'll shit all over it. Your eggs will be a mess. Did the dude tell you how long to leave a light on for them? If they were laying good this time of year, he had a light on them. they need about 12-14 hours a day of light to lay consistently. I use a light with a timer set to go on about 4:00am.

Elkrun wrote: Just keep them lower than the roosting spot or they choose the nesting box to sleep in and they'll shit all over it.

did you mean to say "dont" put nests under roost?
i am lost! i thought the nesting box / sleeping box was the same? dang i thought roosting was sleeping
<--------- chicken newb
oh and he said he didnt use any light at all and they laid great. from last night when they got here til today they were in a small dog playpen and they dropped 2 eggs in the grass