Chicken questions

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I'm planning on getting some laying hens this summer after I get out of school, and I have a BIG BUNCH of questions. Can chickens live on just sunflower seeds and corn or do I actually have to buy feed? How much room do they need to run around? I have a killer dog so they have to be penned up. Is it OK to keep them near rabbits? Are their droppings good fertilizer? How do I keep predators away? I've had chickens before but I fed them store feed and the dog was in a pen.

-- Jessica (jaywig86@psknet.com), April 11, 2002

Answers

Check the archives at the bottom of this page-tons and tons of info in there.Dave

-- Dave (duckthis1@maqs.net), April 11, 2002.

Jessica, as well as the Archives on this forum I would suggest (1.) You get a good book on raising chickens. There are other concerns than just feed. i.e, vaccines, dusting for lice 'n' mites etc. and (2.) checking out some of the dozens of poultry forums available. You might want to start with www.poultryconnection.com and the LINKS there will take you to many more. TPC has a link(as do some of the others)to Vets who specialize in chickens and has a lot of other neat info as well as some spectacular photos. I don't have chickens and I love to research these sites with their wealth of information. Have fun, LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), April 11, 2002.

I don't think just sunflower seeds and corn would meet all the nutrional value chickens need. You could check with your county extension agent on that one.

Only way to keep preditors away is to keep them penned up. We have hawks like crazy here and so we have a great big run enclosed with chicken wire on the sides and top. The bigger you can make it the happier they will be. We have it divided in 2 sections so we can alternate it. I plant rye or a grain grass. When one side is eaten up, then I switch sides. It keeps the chickens busy, attracts bugs (which chickens love!), and is the next best thing to free ranging. If you really want to free range, then you could build a chicken tractor. We are going to be trying one next year.



-- Karen (mountains_mama2@hotmail.com), April 11, 2002.


You can keep your chickens penned up but the eggs will not taste a whole lot better than store bought eggs. The main reason I have chickens is to let them free range and have excellent tasting eggs. Exception: if you feed them corn only the yolks will be very orange, but you need to feed them some type of an egg pellet for a strong egg shell.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), April 11, 2002.

sounds like agreat diet. Free range is the best. Rooster will protect from predators - and take te first one your dg kills and sceam and holler at him with it all over him - and save afew good parts to do it again, and he, or she will NEVER kill snother one. Had free roaning chicks for 20 years and rots, dobbies, Labs, & sheps. NO problem.

-- Elizabeth Quintana (rockshelter@webtv.com), April 11, 2002.


Jessica, We use feed pellets, scratch grains,garden and kitchen scraps for our chickens. But if you are trying to keep your costs down a chicken tractor is the way to go. From what I understand you still supply the feed pellets, etc. but you move a portable pen every day to fresh range this cuts down on you feed costs. As for the dogs, our cats and dog only bother the chicks, once they are mostly grown no cat, or dog is stupid enough to get pecked more that once. If you live near a natural water source watch out for minks they decimated almost our entire flock last summer. Have Fun and God Bless!

-- Eli (bpullen1@juno.com), April 12, 2002.

In the sumer when we have the garden, we keep our chicekns penned up. As I am weeding the garden, I throw all of the weeds and chunks of dirt that come out into a bucket and throw it into the chicken pen. This gives them a variety of "stuff" to choose from. If I am not working in te garden that day I just pick a bucket of grass from around fences etc... This combined with a little cracked corn seems to make them happy enough, and they lay a good many eggs still. My chickens will not eat the "laying mash" I bought, they avoid it...

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), April 12, 2002.

With just sunflower seeds and corn, the birds won't live very long. Corn goes right thru without leaving much nutrition. Scratch is good for a treat, but there's not much nutrition in it. If you want them to produce eggs with a hard shell, they need a proper diet. The feeds made for chooks have been formulated after many years of studying the breed. If you cut corners, you get what you give!

Roosters might try, but they won't succeed in protecting the hens from predators ~ they'll also be eaten. Hawks, owls, coyotes, etc. will take off with a roo just as easily as a hen.

If you have to keep the birds penned 24/7, three square feet per bird is recommended. If you can give them more space, even better ~ you'll have less problems with fighting, etc.

The way you build your pen/coop will determine how well you protect your birds. Chicken wire is only good to keep the birds in; it's no good at keeping predators out. Weasels can easily get thru one inch chicken wire. So can snakes. 'Possums and 'coons can reach through the wire and grab a bird, which is why they only get the head/neck. The rest of the bird won't fit thru the wire. Coyotes/dogs can rip apart chicken wire like it was melted butter.

Life would be so much easier if there weren't any predators!

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), April 12, 2002.


I am 90% through constucting a chicken run. Like ROGO says, chicken wire is NOT the way to go. Use hardware cloth (Wonder why they call it "cloth"?) 1/2 inch mesh. Cement, sand and pea-gravel along the bottom to discourage digging predators, birdnetting on top. To buy birdnetting try 800-99-shade, or 800-328-8456.

-- Buddy in e. Ga. (Buddybud@csranet.com), April 12, 2002.

Dear Jessica,

The best book I ever found on raising chickens is "The Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable" by Juliette de Bairacli Levy. Great book. You will fall in love with Juliette.

The book includes information on several common farm animals. She gives very good instructions on diet, including how to make your own organic feed; recipes and instructions on medicine and on pest control. I've had chickens before, and this time, after reading this book, I, too am building an outdoor run that will be divided into two pens. When they eat all the green stuff in one side, I'll move them over to the other side, where fresh green stuff will be waiting.

Their droppings are great fertilizer! I'd keep them safe from predators. I love to let my chickens run free, but in some places you can't do that. If you give them plenty of room and keep lots of leaves, grass, kitchen scraps and stuff in their pen, they will be happy and healthy.

We have bobcats, cayotes, and mountain lions here, as well as snakes and who knows what else. I am going to put heavy gauge deer/rabbit fencing around my chicken yard, with chicken wire on the inside. I thought of putting the deer/bird netting on top, too. I always put my chickens inside at night, in a good, strong, critter-proof house. Good luck to you!

-- Christine Baillie (towanda515@yahoo.com), April 13, 2002.



We couldn't afford bird netting so we criss-crossed twine over the pen. Worked great - no more hawks.

-- Bonnie (stichart@plix.com), April 14, 2002.

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