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Post by woodyz on May 16, 2013 18:08:32 GMT -7
My opinon the trick to free range is keep feeding and watering them from inside a pen or run. Anytime you want to pen them up, with hold the feed until just before roost and they will all go into the pen and you shut the door until you are ready to let them out or not.
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Post by ColcordMama on May 16, 2013 18:14:11 GMT -7
I've had chickens for about 15 years now, and I LOVE IT! They come running when they see me approaching their coop/run. I feed them handfuls of healthy weeds (especially dandelion and dock) and keep regular crumble feed down all the time for them, plus fresh water constantly. Right now I have a repurposed kitty litter pan from the dollar store as the old hens' water pan out in their fenced run. It's fenced over the top too, so I lay the hose above the pan and adjust it so it just drips slowly, keeping the water fresh all the time. Now that it's getting to 100 degrees every day, my gals love to go and just stand in the water to cool their legs and feet. I also have 2 teenage hens in the new coop/run I sent for from Walmart.com. They also come running right up to my hand when I open the coop to add more crumbles or bedding. They drink out of a drip drinker bottle suspended from the outside fence wire of their run. I figure six months from chick to laying hen, but he's right, it depends on the breed you get. The old gals are Rhode Island Reds and the new kids are Barred Rocks. I love those two breeds, and White Rocks when I can get them. They all have very long laying lives, up to four or five years in my experience, and when they're young, for the first two or three years, mine lay an egg daily except when they're in molt.
I could go on and on, but it's dinner time and I gotta go fry up the swiss steaks.
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Post by Redneckidokie on May 16, 2013 23:16:19 GMT -7
Aw-some info folks. Thanks so much.  It seems I may not need ten Chickie's, for only me and the wife. Might give the kids some if they want. Mainly will be a good opportunity to learn for all of us. It has been over fifty years since I was around them at my grannies farm.  |
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Post by cajunlady87 on May 17, 2013 6:03:44 GMT -7
I let my ladies and gent freerange when I'm outside to keep an eye on them 'cause hawks are flying overhead and keeping an eye on them too. Just last week a hawk scooped up a rabbit in the yard.
I just open the gate and they go in and out to their leasure. When it's time to get them back in I round them up close to their pen. They know the routiine and simply line up one behind the other as I slowly walk alongside them leading them to the opened gate.
When it's time to lock them up in their coop for the night, I corral them in one corner and one by one they fly in. That's it.
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Post by Redneckidokie on May 18, 2013 9:25:21 GMT -7
CL you must be a chicken whisperer.  |
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Post by cajunlady87 on May 18, 2013 10:00:48 GMT -7
CL you must be a chicken whisperer. LoL! I'll take it, actually my chickens are easier to control than my shepherd. She is getting better though and is an absolutely loyal companion. |
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Post by rollerpig on May 19, 2013 21:23:51 GMT -7
Here is the home I made for my girls. Nothing real fancy or expensive but it keeps them safe and happy. There is actually another one right next to this one now that is 4'x8' that holds my wife's bantams and silkies.  It is 8'x12' with a 4'x4' loft type coop. There are only 4 birds in the pic but there are 10 birds in there now. 8 Rhode Island Reds and 2 Barred Rocks. If you like big eggs get the Barred Rocks. My RIR's lay eggs a little bigger than the large eggs in the store, but the BR' lay cartoonishly big. Here is one next to a pop can as a reference.  |
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Post by Redneckidokie on May 19, 2013 22:32:41 GMT -7
Man that is a huge egg! I may look for some of those barreds. Nice coop also.  |
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Post by ColcordMama on May 19, 2013 23:40:04 GMT -7
Totally agree on the barred rocks..! Great big eggs, and reliable layers too.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2013 23:42:48 GMT -7
I haven't read the responses, so sorry if I do some repeats...
On the chicken house. Both styles have benefits and drawbacks. You will have to decide whats best for you. I HAD a raised coop once. I had problems with the hens deciding ot lay their eggs UNDER the house instead of in the nest boxes. Made it a pain in the butt to get them out. In the winter time, I had to line the outside bottom with straw bales to cover any openings and stop cold drafts. It alos gave much less room for me to be able to manuver inside the house for cleaning and such, as hens WILL lay in the floor and other places. Nest boxes are nice and most hens will use them, but you WILL get hens that will simply stop adn drop an egg wherever she may be standing.
The raised house offers a shaded place in the summer that will offer cool dirt for dust bathing in and makes it easier for them to keep cool in hot weather. Dust bathes are important for mite & pest control as well. You will need to make sure they don't woller out a dust hole under the edge of the wire framework. A raised house also increases the area outside the chickens will have to move around in. If you add a few roost poles at different levels in the yard, this will add to their useable space as well.
Either way, unless you build it yourself, you will want to reinforce the wire where it is attached to the framework. I looked at one a few months ago, thinking to use it for broody hens with chicks. It looked great...but on closer inspection I realized the wire was only attached with giant steeples and any determined predator could easily get inside the yard AND the house. So be prepared to reinforce whatever you get AND lock your birds INSIDE the house at night, even with a secure yard.
As for the firing range. At one point in my past, we would shoot an average of 2500 rounds a week through assorted rifles and handguns. My hens were laying good when it started. It took about a month for them to get over the initial shock of the shooting...and we were shooting from about 20 yards away from thier house & yard. Then they just got to where when we started shooting, some would just watched for a bit and then go back to hunting bugs and such. It never stopped them from laying, but it did slow them down for a few weeks....but not very long. And by the end of the first month, they quit cackling like mad over it. They are really good at adapting and accepting things that are at least somewhat routine, especially noises, people and anything not posing a definite immediate physical threat.
I keep my layers locked up. They have a regular stationary house and secure yard, but on many days, I carry my girls, one at a time, and put them in a pen I move around. It is a simple chainlink dog kennel measuring 16x16, but with 2 people, it's a sinch to move, and they get fresh grass and bugs regularly. I also offer them free choice layer pellets & daily I hand toss a little chicken scratch (corn chops and millo mix) . They also get many of my RAW veggie and fruit scraps...at least what I don't give Miss Vernie Pigpig.
If you handle your birds regularly, as in EVERY DAY when they are little, when you feed, water and change litter, then they will get use to you and your voice. They will be very gentle and tame....to the people they are use to, not so much with strangers. This makes it easy for moving them and handling them in any way.
KEEP IN MIND chickens have an ingrained fear of moving shadows...such as from flying birds (IE: hawks). If you have chicks and you move your hand under the heat light and cast a moving shadow they will scatter then freeze and look around for whatever predator caused the shadow. I do this on purpose once in a while as they grow to keep them on their toes.
As they grow up you will hear a rooster make a noise that literally sounds like the word HAWK, all other birds will run for cover when he does this. It is a warning call. You can do it yourself and get the same response...make your voice gravelly when you do it.
In the evenings, when you have nothing to do, if your birds are at least semi tame and have spent months in thier coop, you can turn them loose while you sit outside with them. They will go back in when it is roosting time. Then you can lock them up and have enjoyed quite a nice evening of free entertainment!
Good luck, I hope you have success and lots of fun!!
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Post by ColcordMama on May 19, 2013 23:53:01 GMT -7
Dink just reminded me of a couple of things. If you find your hens have started pecking each other, especially when you coop them up at night, then change the light in their house to a red bulb. Hens peck at blood, and a red light makes blood look black, so they won't peck. Also, don't let anyone talk you into getting pelletized feed. With those pellets, hens can quickly eat as much as they need, then then get bored and start fights with each other. Get the crumbles so they have to stand there and eat longer and more often and they'll be calmer and less bored. I highly recommend Purina Layeena, btw.
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2013 4:02:08 GMT -7
Dink just reminded me of a couple of things. If you find your hens have started pecking each other, especially when you coop them up at night, then change the light in their house to a red bulb. Hens peck at blood, and a red light makes blood look black, so they won't peck. Also, don't let anyone talk you into getting pelletized feed. With those pellets, hens can quickly eat as much as they need, then then get bored and start fights with each other. Get the crumbles so they have to stand there and eat longer and more often and they'll be calmer and less bored. I highly recommend Purina Layeena, btw. Uh oh...we have to agree to disagree on the pelletized feed. Yes they eat their fill faster, but they waste a LOT less than with teh crumbles...or at least this has been my experience. This is why I give them a bit of chicken scratch thrown on the ground each day, so they can work the dirt a bit and have something to do to keep busy. This along with grass clippings, raw veggie scraps, trips to a fenced section of the garden to work the ground and yard in a chicken tractor or small portable pen keeps them occupied enough they shouldn't be pecking and fighting. If they still are with this much to keep them busy, you either have a bully hen, or to many hens for the area. Like the house, you will just have to try the different feed types adn see what works best for you. I do strongly suggest you feed the layer feed as free choice year around, even during molting, as it will help them stay nice and healthy and grow new feathers in faster and shorten the slacking off of laying during such times. |
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Post by cowgirlup on May 20, 2013 4:57:36 GMT -7
Great info for the total noob potential chicken owner! I will have to see if the Barred Rocks are cold weather hardy. Right now I am looking at:Orpington, Plymouth Rock, NH Red, Ameraucana RI Reds and Wyandotte as potential candidates. I was thinking of Guineas for tick control and because I could put them in the garden with the veggies. But I have heard they are really niosy and really won't be as tame as regular chickens.
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Post by orly152 on May 20, 2013 6:05:50 GMT -7
I like it roller pig, nicely done....I was wondering, do your chickens lay bananas too ? ;D Thanks for sharing.
Btw, I was also wondering how much more or less did it cost you to make your coop ?
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Post by rollerpig on May 20, 2013 8:04:43 GMT -7
As for cold hardy, my BR's do fine in Ohio winters. Thanks Orly, I think it cost about 140-150 to build.
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