The Chickens have been evicted.

Sp00ks

Sp00ks

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Our first try at chickens. We had them in an old dog kennel as a brooder. We only used the bottom half and it's a large plastic crate. They are either 5 or 6 weeks on Tuesday. We had them in our spare bedroom with hardwood floors so it wasn't to bad keeping it cleaned up. Our Garage is detached and not temp controlled.

We got 6 chicks from a local hatchery. blue laced red wyandotte. Of the 6, I believe we have two roosters and the hatchery said they would take them back. Of course I contacted them and haven't heard anything back.... I am considering keeping a rooster, haven't decided yet. Any opinions on that subject would be appreciated.

Anyway, this morning I'm sitting at my desk and hear something that I've not heard before, I get up to investigate and one of the roosters is walking around the room. I knelt down and picked him up then the other rooster jumped up on the side of the crate. Ok, it's time....

The coop is only 4x4x4 and originally I wanted 4 chicks but when they couldn't sex them, I decided to do 6 and we ended up with 4 hens. I build the coop so it would be expandable. So it would be pretty easy to enlarge it.

This after noon I moved the food and water out to the coop and started moving the chickens. This will be their first night outside. I will keep them in the coop for a couple of days before introducing them to the run. I know they have eaten, I can't tell if they are drinking yet though. They have not quite feathered out yet but I think they will be fine with the low times this week in the 60's. The house is probably 65 and I haven't run their heat plate in over a week.


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Tailhunter said:
Wait, you kept chickens in your house?
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Yes, I didn't have the coop ready. We have hard wood floors and they were in a large dog kennel.

We actually enjoyed messing with them and watching them grow. I couldn't protect them outside yet and our garage isn't temp controlled. Did what we had to do.
 
wow....
this reminds me of an old story (which is true)
about one of my second-cousins inheriting
a really nice double-wide which he moved
and turned it into a chicken house.
for some reason, they liked to nest
in the closets.
 
I like having a rooster around just to hear it crow.
We had 5 hens and a rooster years ago, plan to have at least that many sometime next year after the move.
Researching the deep litter method for hen house design.
We made the mistake of not having the run/hen house as predator-proof as it should have been.
 
Snal~ said:
I like having a rooster around just to hear it crow.
We had 5 hens and a rooster years ago, plan to have at least that many sometime next year after the move.
Researching the deep litter method for hen house design.
We made the mistake of not having the run/hen house as predator-proof as it should have been.
Click to expand...
We are going to try the deep litter method as well. They won't go out into the run, they hang out by the door looking out.

This afternoon or tomorrow, I'm going to put thier food and water in the run for awhile.

The run is temporary, I still need to build a secure run, just haven't had time. They are secure in the coop at night.
 
kcult said:
We brood chicks in a spare room, then move them out when they're ready.

And by spare room, I mean the junk room.
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Yeah, if we hatch from an incubator they certainly stay in the house until they are ready for the "transition tractor".

Generally if they hatch outside we leave them alone unless the mother hen is a little weak in the matronly department.

Same thing with the rabbits. We leave em alone unless we are dealing with extreme heat or cold.

This approach has really helped us train our dogs to not kill the fowl. There are other ways but it does make it easier.

The ducks are the funniest. After a while inside the wife will move them to a kiddie pool on the front porch. Cute as all get out.

The wife and I function in a really "traditional" gender role type marriage. As such, there are other things that go along with that kind of arrangement. Like me NOT randomly busting up in my teenage daughter's rooms. So one day I came in the living room to see this giant angora looking rabbit snuffling it's way across the floor. Seemed really tame compared to some of the rabbits outside. About the size of two basketballs, looked like something off Star Trek from the 60s or Star Wars from the 80s. I half expected it to stand up and challenge me with a little spear.

I asked if we had it inside because it was inured or what? My wife looked at me like I was a little slow and explained that it lived in my youngest daughter's (15 years old at the time) closet and had for about 2 years. Cool, I guess. But how was I supposed to know? They (the women) live in the house and I live in my shop. I sleep in the house, and use the bathroom facilities, but my meals are brought out to my shop. So that would be like me looking at my wife like she's crazy when she notices the "cute green shotgun" and I have to explain that I have had the 1301 for a year now. I get it. But yeah, there are "stock" animals that spend more time in my house than I do. Not even gonna get into the baby goats. And then there are the "rescues" that end up in the house.


Baby wild rabbit. Black snake was attached to it's left ham and had cut a gash about 2 inches long in its hide. They rehabbed that one in the house and successfully released it.

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Baby chick on the end of the guitar in the living room.

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Baby turkeys on the dining room table.

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Another "rescue" in the kitchen.

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Now, why the rabbit is in with the ducks I have no idea.

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thrillhill said:
Yeah, if we hatch from an incubator they certainly stay in the house until they are ready for the "transition tractor".

Generally if they hatch outside we leave them alone unless the mother hen is a little weak in the matronly department.

Same thing with the rabbits. We leave em alone unless we are dealing with extreme heat or cold.

This approach has really helped us train our dogs to not kill the fowl. There are other ways but it does make it easier.

The ducks are the funniest. After a while inside the wife will move them to a kiddie pool on the front porch. Cute as all get out.

The wife and I function in a really "traditional" gender role type marriage. As such, there are other things that go along with that kind of arrangement. Like me NOT randomly busting up in my teenage daughter's rooms. So one day I came in the living room to see this giant angora looking rabbit snuffling it's way across the floor. Seemed really tame compared to some of the rabbits outside. About the size of two basketballs, looked like something off Star Trek from the 60s or Star Wars from the 80s. I half expected it to stand up and challenge me with a little spear.

I asked if we had it inside because it was inured or what? My wife looked at me like I was a little slow and explained that it lived in my youngest daughter's (15 years old at the time) closet and had for about 2 years. Cool, I guess. But how was I supposed to know? They (the women) live in the house and I live in my shop. I sleep in the house, and use the bathroom facilities, but my meals are brought out to my shop. So that would be like me looking at my wife like she's crazy when she notices the "cute green shotgun" and I have to explain that I have had the 1301 for a year now. I get it. But yeah, there are "stock" animals that spend more time in my house than I do. Not even gonna get into the baby goats. And then there are the "rescues" that end up in the house.


Baby wild rabbit. Black snake was attached to it's left ham and had cut a gash about 2 inches long in its hide. They rehabbed that one in the house and successfully released it.

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Baby chick on the end of the guitar in the living room.

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Baby turkeys on the dining room table.

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Another "rescue" in the kitchen.

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Now, why the rabbit is in with the ducks I have no idea.

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So danged awesome!
 
Maybe it's easier because we don't have a nice house? I dunno. LOL!

Lot's of pics over the years. Hard to pick out just a few.

We quickly learned to get rid of carpet with animals around. Or for that matter, our lifestyle in general doesn't lend itself to having carpet.

It's not unusual to walk into our house and see any number of animals in different stages or as pets. It's also not unusual to see tubs full of fruits or vegetables in different stages of being processed. Bundles of garlic and herbs hanging from the ceiling. Canning jars by the multiple dozens cooling off on tables or any available surface.

Yeah, not a fancy house at all. We rented for 18 years and then bought it and the land outright. It's ours, paid for, and the wife and I have neither EVER had a mortgage. It's just a box we sleep in. None of us spend much time at all in it while we are awake. Sometimes there are animals in there too. We LOVE it!


Ducks in the living room? Sure!

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Chicks almost year round:


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Then there was the time the girls brought one of the cheap pools for the ducks into the living room, invited the neighbors, and had a "tea party" for some rabbits.

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So, maybe sometimes I wish our house was a little nicer, and we are kinda working on some aspects of that now. But we are all happy with what we have. I don't know if I wanna live in a house where I would hesitate to care for animals until they were ready to go back outside. Or where we didn't wanna process our canning foods or air cure our herbs. Our outdoors setups are really cool and somewhat nice. I ain't trying to have it all!

Exception to the rule? Maybe. Throwback? Probably.

Sorry for the sidetrack @Sp00ks


The wife indoors with an injured hummingbird.

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Not indoors but my youngest has some kind of crazy skill with animals. Several years ago I come out on the front porch and she was about to bring this dove inside. Don't know if it flew into a window or what. But she carried it around for about 15 minutes and then it just flew off!

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The girls got into sewing a while back. My oldest "repurposed" a pair of my worn out overalls so she could carry little critters around while she was doing other things. I thought that was too cute. But I had to show her what it was really for! LOL

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I didn't set out to make a conscious decision about "animals in the house" at any point in the past years. Just came natural. Maybe it is not normal nowadays. But it seems to fit us, and the family has certainly grown into and embraced the lifestyle.

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We have raised chicks and ducklings in the house until they were old enough to be outside.

I would recommend getting some coon cuffs and keeping them set near your chicken run; it will keep the raccoon and possum traffic thinned out.

Dry cat food with a drop or two of anise extract on it for bait, or a tiny bit of black licorice... don't know why but raccoons love it.
 
Car0linab0y said:
We have raised chicks and ducklings in the house until they were old enough to be outside.

I would recommend getting some coon cuffs and keeping them set near your chicken run; it will keep the raccoon and possum traffic thinned out.

Dry cat food with a drop or two of anise extract on it for bait, or a tiny bit of black licorice... don't know why but raccoons love it.
Click to expand...

Coon cuffs.

I probably should have never known that was a thing.

Maybe I won't be fired from work before December.
 
www.minntrapprod.com

Freedom Brand Dog Proof Raccoon Trap (FB1) - Out of Stock-Minnesota Trapline

Freedom Brand Dog Proof Raccoon Trap.The Freedom Brand Dog Proof Raccoon Trap is loaded with innovative features. The full back plate and quick set design make setting this trap fast, comfortable and easy without the need to reach down with your fingers to insert a dog into a trigger notch...
www.minntrapprod.com
Always heard them called coon cuffs...

Have some like this and a slightly different model. Use wire cable or chain to secure them to something a raccoon can't drag off. Also... make sure your garden hose is out of reach; one of the little darlings couldn't get loose so he chewed up about 5 feet of hose; dozens of holes.
 
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We got 5 guinea keets and a rehabbing Polish chicken in the house right now, in addition to the normal pet type animals. We have had other chickens we have incubated, and exactly one baby pygerian (Pygmy/Nigerian mix) that Jill bottled raised from a day old kid. He is like a dog now but stays with the other male goats in our pen.

Those guineas were eggs that someone gave us, and we got them hatched by a broody wyandotte hen. Wife found the first one getting pecked at by another chicken so we brought them into the house in a sterilite tub. We call it 'cat tv' because our youngest cat will sit and stare at them all day
 
@thrillhill No need to apologize, I missed all this somehow. I think I have caught up on all the replies.

I haven't built a run yet. I have some 4' plastic garden fence to form a run. I couldn't get them to come out of the coop so I started putting their food and water outside in the morning and talking them out of the coop.

This afternoon.....Free Ranging the entire back yard. I see the 110# German Shepherd jump so I ran down there expecting to find a snake, nope it was every single one of the chickens outside the run.

Opened it up so they could get back in. I guess it's time to build them a real run. Might be fun corralling them tonight but I think I can get them back in with mealworms of necessary.
 
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We have good chickens. I've been working on the run in between hospital visits with our son and they have escaped numerous times but always return to the run and are in the coop before sun down.

I made the run modular so I can expand it easily. I built the coop the same way, hence the large roof overhang.

The door is built, I just have to hang it. I'm not sure if I am going to build a roof to the end of the run or just run wire fence so predictors cant get in.

I bought a 1/4" crown stapler and that thing has been a godsend on this project. It's secure and so much faster than hammering in horseshoe nails. Harbor Freight for the win. $55 for the Pneumatic stapler and a box of staples.

I told my wife not to name them but that was like pissing into the wind. Left to right in the foreground is Beetlejuice, Buster Brown, and Hazel. Back row left to right is Nugget and Eva Joe. The one in the middle that you can only make out the feet is unnamed. I've been appointed the task of naming that one. Still thinking on it. I am open for suggestions.....

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Got in a couple hours of work and hung the door and started under pinning the coop so I can give them another shade spot and 16 sqft more room. I got rained out, just a sprinkle but had my air compressor and other tools out there so I called it quits.

My wife figured up our expenditure on the chickens so far to be $560, Not including food which I have paid cash for. Those better be some Fantastic butt nugets for years to come.....

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Sp00ks said:
Got in a couple hours of work and hung the door and started under pinning the coop so I can give them another shade spot and 16 sqft more room. I got rained out, just a sprinkle but had my air compressor and other tools out there so I called it quits.

My wife figured up our expenditure on the chickens so far to be $560, Not including food which I have paid cash for. Those better be some Fantastic butt nugets for years to come.....

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This article may be helpful.

babylonbee.com

Dad Builds $3,000 Chicken Coop To Get 16 Cent Eggs For Free

BIRMINGHAM, AL—According to sources, local dad Dave Manheart recently completed a project that will help enable his family to save money on groceries. After much research and 10 weekends of hard labor, Dave has succeeded in constructing a backyard chicken coop. With a small investment of just...
babylonbee.com babylonbee.com
 
Chickens will lay eggs profligately for 3 to 4 years and then taper off. Depending upon the breed you can expect 270 to 300 eggs per year per hen.

(Plus, when the hens age out, you can stew them. More return on your investment)

In addition if you get a good broody hen they will replenish themselves (presuming you have a rooster). Your investment in the structures is a one-time cost; you will have a food source you control.

I'd say it is worth it; particularly with the way things are these days.
 
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Car0linab0y said:
Chickens will lay eggs profligately for 3 to 4 years and then taper off. Depending upon the breed you can expect 270 to 300 eggs per year per hen.

(Plus, when the hens age out, you can stew them. More return on your investment)

In addition if you get a good broody hen they will replenish themselves (presuming you have a rooster). Your investment in the structures is a one-time cost; you will have a food source you control.

I'd say it is worth it; particularly with the way things are these days.
Click to expand...

I have about a grand in my enclosure. That surprised me, once I tallied it up. I think I built it in 2017.

In the time since then, we've gotten a ton of eggs, but I've only put two birds in the freezer. A couple of roos.

Currently, I'm getting 7 to 8 chicken eggs and 8 to 10 quail eggs each day.

I feel certain I'm nowhere even close to breaking even, moneywise, yet.
 
kcult said:
I have about a grand in my enclosure. That surprised me, once I tallied it up. I think I built it in 2017.

In the time since then, we've gotten a ton of eggs, but I've only put two birds in the freezer. A couple of roos.

Currently, I'm getting 7 to 8 chicken eggs and 8 to 10 quail eggs each day.

I feel certain I'm nowhere even close to breaking even, moneywise, yet.
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But what is the price of the fun and knowledge you've gained?
And you've provided us with some good reads on your adventures and misadventures.
 
I did the math once; all fancy and stuff. Amortized capital investments over 10 years, feed costs, all that.

Don't.

Look at the value of the intangibles and all, etc etc etc.

Then ask yourself if you enjoy having chickens; screw all the financial analysis and do it or don't.

We sold eggs to friends and acquaintances; and the local organic market. On average we were able to break even on our feed costs, so for my labor I got free eggs and the occasional chicken.

We did a few batches of meat roosters to butcher; couldn't come close to breaking even. However, I knew they were not treated with hormones or antibiotics so thats a plus.

And, to quote Dr. Who, life is nature's way of keeping meat fresh....
 
kcult said:
No regrets here, brother man.

In fact, I wish I would have done it a decade earlier.
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I planned and schemed for 8 years before pulling the trigger on getting set up with chickens. Just fell into place in 2020.
 
We started two years ago. Chickens, or rather chicks, and a small coop were a 20th anniversary gift. Unfortunately, we’re down to one of the last of those hens, but we’re securing the coop better as something (?) got in and ate the others. I suspect opossum as I captured and killed one.

Still, it’s peace of mind. You have a source of food that turns vegetable scraps into protein,
 
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thrillhill said:
So, maybe sometimes I wish our house was a little nicer, and we are kinda working on some aspects of that now. But we are all happy with what we have. I don't know if I wanna live in a house where I would hesitate to care for animals until they were ready to go back outside. Or where we didn't wanna process our canning foods or air cure our herbs. Our outdoors setups are really cool and somewhat nice. I ain't trying to have it all!

Exception to the rule? Maybe. Throwback? Probably.

Sorry for the sidetrack @Sp00ks


The wife indoors with an injured hummingbird.

View attachment 517033


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Not indoors but my youngest has some kind of crazy skill with animals. Several years ago I come out on the front porch and she was about to bring this dove inside. Don't know if it flew into a window or what. But she carried it around for about 15 minutes and then it just flew off!

View attachment 517036


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The girls got into sewing a while back. My oldest "repurposed" a pair of my worn out overalls so she could carry little critters around while she was doing other things. I thought that was too cute. But I had to show her what it was really for! LOL

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I didn't set out to make a conscious decision about "animals in the house" at any point in the past years. Just came natural. Maybe it is not normal nowadays. But it seems to fit us, and the family has certainly grown into and embraced the lifestyle.

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Click to expand...

How many of those animals have ended up on the grill? Seems your family also has a skill at processing and cooking game. Is there ever any tension about that with the girls?
 
CZfool68 said:
How many of those animals have ended up on the grill? Seems your family also has a skill at processing and cooking game. Is there ever any tension about that with the girls?
Click to expand...

A great many have.

The girls hunt and fish as well as clean animals. We always have so many on hand, if they get "overly" attached to a particular one, they can keep it. Later on it will scratch or bite or peck them in a not nice way and they'll tell us to cook it. LOL! But there are a handful they have kept for "breeding stock" or pets.

Heck even I have a particular hen that I don't want to eat as well as the rabbit we just picked up from @Cluck Norris
 
I keep threatening to get rid of our chickens, or at least most of them. Heck, I gave 8 away and they came back. Then I read something on the internet and decide to keep them. We give away what eggs we don't eat, which is most of them. Feed has crept up and it makes me think about what I am doing.

I keep telling myself, what ever happens, we'll have some food, I might be tired of chicken and eggs, but I won't be hungry.
 
Lost a chicken today, Hawk.... I haven't seen or heard a Hawk in two years. The flock is traumatized and in the coop. I got them out for some treats and they went right back in.

I had 6, 4 were in the coop. I looked for the missing chicken for a while and resolved that she was gone and about that time she runs over to an area they seem to like. It took me probably 15 mins to get her to come into the run.

I Probably missed the act by a minute. The hawk was on the fence, dead chicken 15 ft away. Beheaded. I found the head about 3 feet away from the carcass.

I plan to expand the run to give them more room since I have to keep them cooped up. (pun intended) I bought a plastic owl, LOL. Just happened to see it at Wally World and figured why not. I really want them to be able to free range the back yard under the canopy. I'm not sure if I'm going to run strings in the trees or what. I'm open to suggestion on that.

Our son is still in the Hospital, my wife told him we lost a chicken. He is having a really good day today and replied "WHAT!!, when I get out of here, I'm going to sit on the back porch with my .22 and wait for that hawk to come back".
 
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I know it sucks but it's part of the game. We couldn't do things the way we do here if there wasn't someone around pretty much all the time.

After a while, with a diverse flock (multiple ages and sexes) you'll come to recognize the sounds the chickens make that will indicate a predator nearby, and sometimes you'll even be able to tell what kind of predator it is based on the flock's sounds and movements (ie, they'll rush underneath cover like tables and vehicles when it's an aerial threat vs. getting on top of things when it's a ground based threat).

But the flock itself can sometimes take a couple or 3 generations to learn how to respond themselves. If you are gonna have chickens for the long term, do not wipe out a whole crew and then start over. It lessens their viability if any free range at all is desired.
 
thrillhill said:
So, maybe sometimes I wish our house was a little nicer…..
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Really?

From where I’m sitting, looks like you got yourself a slice of heaven, right there and you’re giving those youngins a childhood that very few get to experience. I’d imagine every one of ‘em are gonna look back one day and realize they had everything…then again, they probably already know.

You’re a good man, Charlie Brown.👍

Oh…and your wife’s “moonshine” shirt?

LOL…priceless!
 
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