Poultry

Nice. I'm still months away from my first eggs, but they'll be the brown ones. Congrats!

My baby chicks might be a little spoiled. My grand-daughter's playhouse and panels from 2 $150 colossal dog crates to give them yard room too.

Very innovative use of materials!

Here's ours. Most is from a friend who was selling his house, so we adapted those materials, added our own, and came up with this. Mesh is 1/4" x 1/4", and there is no opening or gap in the coup bigger than that...so hopefully will keep out any possible predators. Biggest worry is snakes, but we made it to keep out cats and dogs, etc. too.

They are sitting on the nesting boxes, (8 openings). Inside, it's about 6' high, so we can walk around in it. This was taken just prior to getting the chickens, right after we finished it.

The building behind it is used for hay and feed storage for the horses (and usually the lawn mower, when we aren't boarding any horses). It's concrete, so we had to build up to the part of the building that is wood (starting around the top of the coup).



Looking at the pic, I really need to paint it! (dark brown to match the buildings)

Mine is only temporary. The big chickens have the run of the side yard with a coop at the end of it that is also fitted with panels from the same colossal dog crates. I'll shut the baby chickens in the playhouse at night for now. I may not keep them. Chickens seem to be a large expense for little return.

I let my Wife go out and shut the chickens up last night she came back in fast and said there is a Skunk in the chicken house . I took a .22 rifle and sure enough the skunk dug under and ran a hen off her nest she had been sitting over 2 weeks and he ate all the eggs that would have hatched in a few days . I shot him and had the bad job of getting rid of it . As he lay dying he let out that terrible skunk spray .

Wow, dug under it huh? Guess I could run some wire fencing down about a foot around it. Luckily, there's someone out there at least 3 times a day, so hopefully, we'd catch it before a critter got that far, but yikes. Good to know. We did sink the entire coup a couple of inches into the ground, but yeah, we'd need something all around it to prevent that.

Mine is only temporary

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Still clever. I'd love to let mine free range, but simply too many predators around here to get them. Including my own pets.

Oh yeah, my son's Corgi would love to have some tender chicken nuggets for dinner. I definitely play musical animals here.

No doubt it drives our outside cat crazy. He prefers it out there, so we let him. He keeps the stables mouse free, but come dinner time, he comes in, eats, then wants back out. Other cats are indoor cats.

I had two more eggs hatch in the incubator this morning. I'm going to try and sneak them with my one brooder while she has young chicks with her. I didn't realize how important the imprinting of them with their mother is. I still have two chicks that are terrified of the other chickens, even after a couple weeks they are still having a rough time. The other chickens see this as a weakness and can attack them, so I have them in a separate cage inside the coop. I think if they were free range they could avoid the larger ones better, but it's not a good option here yet. Maybe after the yard is finished being fenced and a couple good outside dogs, but too many predators so far. I still have about five more eggs in the incubator but should have enough hens for a while now. I have 9 large hens, and 10 chicks, plus a few unhatched eggs, so I'm pretty good for now. I think I still have three young roosters in the freezer still too.

I've had hens that would take in other chicks and some that would kill chicks that they didn't hatch thierself . I had one game rooster that raised a bunch of chicks after something killed thier mama hen .

psalm 7 said:

I've had hens that would take in other chicks and some that would kill chicks that they didn't hatch thierself . I had one game rooster that raised a bunch of chicks after something killed thier mama hen .

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I took the two new hatchlings out to my brooder tonight. They ran right over to her and the other chicks! The two older chicks were milling around with the others for the first time finally as well. That makes 11 chicks in my new nursery area of the coop. I still have 5more eggs 'cooking' in the incubator, so I hope they hurry up so the others won't be too big to hurt them. It takes exactly 21 days for the chickens to hatch, but I didn't write the date on these eggs. I think there pretty close. I also figured out that the rooster ratio to hens is just about 50percent. So I'll have 5 or so more birds in the freezer before long.

Pastured eggs versus caged eggs:

• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/tests-reveal-healthier-eggs.aspx#ixzz37JURsUuQ

QuietH3art said:

Pastured eggs versus caged eggs:

• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/tests-reveal-healthier-eggs.aspx#ixzz37JURsUuQ

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Thanks, I had never read real numbers before, but I can look at my eggs and tell a huge difference. The shells are way thicker, and the yolk is much deeper yellow. I honestly can't taste a difference, but I certainly feel better about mine.

I as well love my hens dearly for not just for the eggs. They as did a nice touch to the farm yard. My ducks are kind of a I like them thing. A good friend of mine has ducks that lay eggs which we trade and they are delicious. So unless you're using the ducks for meat or eggs they're not really practical to just have around for no reason. They eat a lot of the feed. Also another kind of bird that is highly useful for weed control and bug control are guineas. I love mine greatly, hardly any nuisance bugs (ie. Ticks, Japanese beetles in the trespass and garden) they also a key a great warning system. If they don't know who is in the driveway or yard they are LOUD. Definitely don't want them in a town. Hopefully I can have helped anyone and I know I've learned from the other posts.

I just found this. It's a supplement for your chickens that will help them stay healthier. Makes sense to me.

http://www.littlehomesteaders.com/2014/07/garlic-oil-supplement-chickens/

I can't eat duck eggs . I think they are like shelac . I've got lots of chickens and am thinking about turkeys .

It always depends on the type of duck, Psalm7, Muscovy ducks are best for meat rather than eggs. White Pekins have a very fluffy egg that's best for making cakes and breads. I've never eaten a scrambled or fried duck eggs, just used them in baking.

My chicks actually look like almost grown chickens now. Love the way these gals come right over to you when we go out to the coup.

I'll have to do some Duck homework . I think the ones we got eggs from one time were scoveys or mallards . That was a long time ago and I had decided aginst duck eggs . I have a pond started and may get some ducks . The last time I tried to have turkey's they were very dark almost black turkeys and went wild and moved to a creek next to our yard and owls got them .

psalm 7 said:

I'll have to do some Duck homework . I think the ones we got eggs from one time were scoveys or mallards . That was a long time ago and I had decided aginst duck eggs . I have a pond started and may get some ducks . The last time I tried to have turkey's they were very dark almost black turkeys and went wild and moved to a creek next to our yard and owls got them .

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The Muscovys are considered a nuisance bird, but their meat is excellent. It's a red meat and when you cook up the breasts on the grill, people will ask you where you're hiding your cows. It tastes like a tender sirloin steak.