Let's talk Chicken.. The pets, not the food..

Kevin B.

Big hippy
Moderator
Location
Vehicular limbo
You watched Clarkson's Farm Season 2 didn't you...

I have considered chickens as well, and I know several of my buddies have them. Having eggs and some pest control sounds nice, but also don't want mice issues.
I'm dealing with mice issues right now. They plowed up a big field near our house for a new development and everybody on the block suddenly had a mouse problem. I had to run around the house and find all the ways they were getting in and put a stop to that, then a couple snap traps with peanut butter and poof, no more mouse problem.

For now anyway...
 

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
I have 13 chickens right now and we are getting about 10 eggs a day. I'm not a huge pet person but I married one. The chickens are the best pets we've had. They crack me up just watching the little feathered dinos. We feed them just about any left over food we have and it is entertaining to watch them eat about any food.
We have cats to keep the mice and smaller birds at bay, they get along well with the dogs too. I guess I'm more of a pet person than I think. Chickens are cool though.
 
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nnnnnate

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Location
WVC, UT
Do you guys really go through that many eggs? Are you selling or giving them away? What about everyone else? What do you do with your surplus eggs?
 

DesertRam

Active Member
Oh no, we don't eat that many! We sell as many as possible; my youngest daughter runs the egg project as a fundraiser for her 8th grade trip coming next May. When we get a surplus, we may give them away. If they get too old, we scramble them with shells and feed them back to the chickens. Dogs love them too, so right now each dog gets a raw egg on its food each morning.
 

jeeper

Currently without Jeep
Location
So Jo, Ut
Ok, looks like we are getting more specific and real at our house. Thanks to you all, I have changed my plan.
We have a 10x10 garden area that will be turned into the run/coop area. I want to maximize space and minimize costs, obviously. Especially as this may end up at the end of summer as a bad experiment.

Do I need to worry about chicken wire vs hardware cloth?

To save space, I wanted to make the coop elevated at half the height of the run, so it wouldn't be a walk in.. It would have a way to easily keep it clean, but no walking in. Is that a mistake?
 

DesertRam

Active Member
I have both chicken wire and 1/2"x1" hardware cloth in my installations. I prefer the hardware cloth because it's easier to work with, easier to replace if you need to, and looks/ages better. If you can access the full interior to get eggs, clean, retrieve dead chickens (they're just looking for a place to die), then you should be okay without walk-in capability. All of ours are walk-ins now, but when they weren't we did okay. Just give yourself plenty of access and cleaning options. The smaller volume a non-walk-in will be easier to heat in the winter if the experiment doesn't turn out so bad. Our walk-ins are lighted, so in the winter I just replace the regular bulbs with heat lamps. Though maybe not necessary on most nights (it's not real cold here usually), it takes the chill off and keeps the birds happier and healthier. The backyard flock is not in an enclosed, lighted coop, so they don't get the cushy treatment.
 

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
Do you guys really go through that many eggs? Are you selling or giving them away? What about everyone else? What do you do with your surplus eggs?
I eat two eggs every morning for breakfast and my wife usually does the same. We do the same as DesertRam and also feed one egg per dog per day. Their coats have been much healthier and they shed less. Now that our larger flock (we had about 6 last year) are laying, we will be giving away or selling some eggs.
 

jeeper

Currently without Jeep
Location
So Jo, Ut
According to IFA the chicks are sexed prior to being shipped, so in theory they should all be female. But I guess we’ll see 🤷🏼‍♂️
 
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