I'm thinking of raising chickens that lay eggs, page 2

reply to post by seagrass

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Maybe they'll take a lot less for JUST the roost.
the rest should be pretty easy to build.
Also, like someone else said, you don't need a rooster for eggs.
We had about 7 hens at a time.

reply to post by dgtempe

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Hey dgtempe
Maybe I can help you out a bit. Me and husband have raised chickens for years. It is very easy. No more than taking care of a domestic animal like a cat or a dog.
First off , if you are wanting to breed little chicks then you have to have a rooster. Last year we had around 36 hens to about 2-3 roosters.
And yes they mate, some people think you cant eat the eggs after they are fertilized but that is not true. roosters and hens mate just like any animal. You just have to make sure that when the hen lays the egg, you collect it and refrigerate it.
If you want chicks then leave about 5-6 eggs under the hen and she will lay on them until hatched. It takes about 3 weeks for the chicks to hatch.
We feed ours ground corn that we get at a mill. If the shells on your eggs ever start to get alittle thin, then you need to feed them oyster shells. This helps to harden the shells . Make sure they have water also.

And no need to buy alot of expensive stuff. If you have a outbuilding, that will work. Build you a ladder in the building and just set it up against one of the walls. This is wear chickens like to roost at night. Make laying boxes and fill it with some straw or hay for the hens to lay in.
Thats pretty much it. Its really cheap to raise chickens.
If you want a chicken for supper, grab you one and wring its neck. lol
Remember if you want to eat one of the chickens make sure they are young ones because the older hens make tough meat. Good Luck....

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic

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Cool! I'll be sure to read up on everything you guys have provided me.

Craigslist, huh???
I need to look there too!!!!! Thanks for all the encouragement guys!

I have to do something with myself and during times like these, it just sounds like a great idea- the thought of for years doesnt appeal to me.

Wish me luck!!!!

reply to post by LiquidCrystalz

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Roosters huh?

I hope i dont get in trouble although this is a farm i still have neighbors in back of me....

Let me ask you this, i have a barn which was rented to horses but they are gone now, would such a place work for raising chickens?

reply to post by Clearskies

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Wow! That;s awesome!!!!! Check it out, looks more like a resort for chickens!!!!!

Please let me know!!! Good luck!!!!

Originally posted by dgtempe
reply to post by LiquidCrystalz

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Roosters huh?

I hope i dont get in trouble although this is a farm i still have neighbors in back of me....

Let me ask you this, i have a barn which was rented to horses but they are gone now, would such a place work for raising chickens?

Heck yeah! just make it safe for them at night... critters you don't see love eggs too. If you can secure the barn it would be a perfect thing to do with an empty building. Oh and offer your neighbor some free eggs once in a while...lol

Originally posted by Fathom

Originally posted by seagrass
She sold it to someone else while we were driving there this evening... which is nice because I never would have paid that for this coop. It was worth about $150 tops. So we will make up some plans for building in the spring and raising them from chicks so they are more friendly to us. There are some really nice designs out there to glean from.

aw man! i would have loved to have seen some pictures of the inside of that coop it looked really neat.

I can tell you what it looked like.. she let us look at it even though the lady was there who bought it. It was just about 4x4 square with dollar store tiles that looked like rocks on the floor to make it easier to clean. It had a string attatched to the pop door to close them in (at the top of the gang plank) There were 6 nesting boxes on the back with doors that open so you can reach into the nests. One door on the side to scoop the sawdust into a wheelbarrow. And old windows for light and ventilation. The run was 8x8 and was a little small I thought for 7 chickens. They had no where to go to get out of the rain, so the ground was a muddy stinky mess.(My coop will have a roof over it because it rains so much here.) I think I will actually use the area under the coop for them too, that's a lot of wasted space.. this is the design I like the most right now from backyard chickens... we could put something like that together if we scrounge the bargain building supply stores. I can find old screen doors and windows at junk stores.. we have a place like that about a mile from here.

reply to post by seagrass

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^^^^^^^
Nice!!! That's the best I've seen.


Roswell;
I didn't know that about NOT feeding the birds eggshells!

It didn't seem to affect ours too much, but, I didn't give them shells often.

Originally posted by seagrass

Hey sea, why don't you rent that chicken house to me. It's nicer than where I live now.

How much? I'm quiet and well behaved and have good references.

[edit on 11-10-2008 by whaaa]

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