# Starting Chickens...



## PurpleHeartJarhead

My wife and I are getting ready to build a chicken coop and begin raising a fewchickens on our homestead. I've been looking at the discussions here and there are some good, general pointers for raising yard birds. We are beginners and have never raised chickens. So please forgive my ignorance.

We have been to a number of sites, back yard chicken, grit, mother earth news, etc., and gotten a lot of good info. But I have a few specific questions for anyone raising chickens in small numbers in _cold climates_.

We live in Minnesota and this has been one of the coldest winters (and longest it seems, too) on record.

-What is a cold hardy breed to consider?

-How do you keep them from freezing during extended cold snaps? (We had a stretch of more than 40 days with temps below zero.)

-Do they need to come out of the coop in the winter?

-Is egg production reduced in those conditions?

-Is coop cleaning essential in the winter? With small coops, I'd be concerned about the shear volume of mess. I ask because we are entering our 7th month of below normal temperatures, dating back to October. (Freezing rock solid would obviously have been a concern this year.)

-Is it wise to maybe wrap the small run I will have attached to the coop with plastic? The thought process being it would reduce wind, keep snow out of the run and allow them to be out of the coop, even if just for cleaning the coop?

-Finally, our coop. I'm thinking I will not have a mobile style coop for one big reason. I can't let our chickens completely run free. We have an above average, active eagle population here. Does anyone else have this issue? We want to give them as much room as possible and I am thinking of building something out of PVC that I can move easily in and around the garden, near the coop, so they can sort of range, but not be bate.Any suggestions?

FYI...It is quite common to find half eaten or simply dropped from the sky fish on our property a couple times a year. Although we are not on a lake, there is one less then a mile from our property.

Now, I can imagine some of you seasoned chicken (pun intended) folks are probably chuckling a bit regarding some of my questions, but that's okay. It's not the first time I've been the source of someone's amusement. Certainly not the last.

Thanks in advance for your responses.


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## goshengirl

We're on our second year of chicken ownership, I'll answer what I can.



PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> -What is a cold hardy breed to consider?


We raise buckeyes, which are supposed to be cold hardy. One thing to look for is small combs (like a pea comb) - the smaller the comb and therefor closer to the head, the less likely it will get frost bit.



PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> -How do you keep them from freezing during extended cold snaps? (We had a stretch of more than 40 days with temps below zero.)


Chickens are hardier than we think. In general, I don't like to provide artificial heat for them, as I think that takes away from their natural coping structure - and we didn't provide anything beyond a draft-free coop the previous winter. However, like you, we had some extended post-0* temps this past winter. So we rigged up a heat lamp in the coop on a long extension cord (same lamp as we used when they were chicks but this time attached to the ceiling way above them). Not ideal - the light messed with their clocks and the rooster was serenading with the owls at 2 a.m. - but it got the job done and we only turned it one when the temps were below 0*.



PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> -Do they need to come out of the coop in the winter?


They like to come out. Leave the little pop door open and they'll make up their own mind. You might be surprised at how much they come out in cold temps. (They also have their own personalities - some love the snow, some hate it.)



PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> -Is egg production reduced in those conditions?


I can't say what regular winter egg production is like. The first winter some of our girls were just starting to lay, and by the second winter they were molting and egg production ground to a halt. Then we got some new girls just starting to lay and had the light on at night and got all sorts of eggs...



PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> -Is coop cleaning essential in the winter? With small coops, I'd be concerned about the shear volume of mess. I ask because we are entering our 7th month of below normal temperatures, dating back to October. (Freezing rock solid would obviously have been a concern this year.)


Look into the deep litter method. The more chickens, the more often you need to add new bedding, as they really tramp it down. I also add a bit of DE periodically, and it's worked well for us.



PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> -Is it wise to maybe wrap the small run I will have attached to the coop with plastic? The thought process being it would reduce wind, keep snow out of the run and allow them to be out of the coop, even if just for cleaning the coop?


Our coop (4'x8') is up off the ground about 2ft so there is an enclosed sheltered place under the coop. I keep a couple plywood panels leaning up there, in one corner, and that blocks the wind. That makes a big difference, and that's been sufficient for us.



PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> -Finally, our coop. I'm thinking I will not have a mobile style coop for one big reason. I can't let our chickens completely run free. We have an above average, active eagle population here. Does anyone else have this issue? We want to give them as much room as possible and I am thinking of building something out of PVC that I can move easily in and around the garden, near the coop, so they can sort of range, but not be bate.Any suggestions?


I built our coop on skids so that it can be moved with our Suburban, but generally it stays in the same spot. Attached to that I built a run that's 8'x18' that is covered with wire. The run can be taken apart and removed in the event that I need to move the coop. We don't have an eagle problem, but we have a hawk and owl problem, so I understand your concern.

Raising chickens has been fun for us - a pain in the butt sometimes, too, but we're glad we have them.


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## Hooch

Chickens will eat just about anything too..save your leftovers, even from eating out. Also save your egg shells, i pput mine in a old loaf pan in the oven. When its full i bake them for like 20ish minutes ..cool, crush them down n feed them back to the hens. They will eat them n make really hard shells. I really gotta smack mu eggs to open


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

goshengirl said:


> We're on our second year of chicken ownership, I'll answer what I can....


Thank you for your insights. I appreciate it greatly. I am not familiar with buckeyes. When they stop producing, are they adequate fryers? Or is that not a consideration for you at this time?

I've seen a lot about chickens and personalities; breeds that like to be held; how attached people become to their birds. We are looking at the prospect of raising them purely from a food production and harvesting their meat when they are no longer producing. I can't say that a few birds will provide much in the way of meat. But we may, as lovers of chicken as a meat, increase our flock eventually to provide both eggs and meat.

Since posting my original questions, I looked in to a few more things and found there are a few breed that are decent producers of eggs and provide a good meat harvest later on. Dang research, just leads to new dilemmas.:gaah:

Now wondering if we should look at a good dual purpose bird and be swimming in eggs or, limit the amount of layers and have a larger flock of fryers as we grow the production of our chickens?


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## partdeux

8 sex links. Heated water dish, 250w heat lamp, and of all things an office desk leg warmer all tied to a thermocouple plug. Egg production never slowed down, but they are only one year old. Let them free range as much as you can, them bugs really turn into tasty eggs. Backyardchickens.com and chickenchick on facebook are two sources SWMBO references.


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## goshengirl

PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> Thank you for your insights. I appreciate it greatly. I am not familiar with buckeyes. When they stop producing, are they adequate fryers? Or is that not a consideration for you at this time?


Buckeyes are dual use. We got a straight run of chicks and sent the boys to freezer camp when they were old enough. They were tasty (although not as meaty as I'm used to, but previously I'd only been familiar with chicken from the grocery store). I learned about them on Livestock Conservancy, and the idea of getting an endangered heritage breed appealed to us. We enjoyed them so much right off we couldn't imagine getting another breed. Then a couple months ago we ended up with some Barred Rocks, and we love them, too. Chances are, you'll really enjoy whatever breed you get. 



PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> I've seen a lot about chickens and personalities; breeds that like to be held; how attached people become to their birds. We are looking at the prospect of raising them purely from a food production and harvesting their meat when they are no longer producing. I can't say that a few birds will provide much in the way of meat. But we may, as lovers of chicken as a meat, increase our flock eventually to provide both eggs and meat.


Sounds like we're of the same mindset. Our birds are not pets - which isn't to say that we don't enjoy them, we do, but we don't hold them or give them names (unless it's _Dinner One_, _Dinner Two_, etc.) We are primarily enjoying the eggs right now, but we plan to expand more for meat production (we picked up a free rooster off craigslist and will hatch some eggs when it warms up - when he's done siring a new batch of chicks he'll go into the pot, and we'll get a new, genetically unrelated rooster next year for siring).



PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> Since posting my original questions, I looked in to a few more things and found there are a few breed that are decent producers of eggs and provide a good meat harvest later on. Dang research, just leads to new dilemmas.:gaah:
> 
> Now wondering if we should look at a good dual purpose bird and be swimming in eggs or, limit the amount of layers and have a larger flock of fryers as we grow the production of our chickens?


There will always be more to learn. At some point you just jump in. You can always change things up as you learn what works for you and which direction you want to go.


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

goshengirl said:


> Buckeyes are dual use. We got a straight run of chicks and sent the boys to freezer camp when they were old enough.


:laugh: Wife and I got a good laugh from this.



> ...but we don't hold them or give them names (unless it's _Dinner One_, _Dinner Two_, etc.)


That's about how I see 'em.



> There will always be more to learn. At some point you just jump in. You can always change things up as you learn what works for you and which direction you want to go.


This is true. Thank you so much for the information and insight, very helpful.


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## HardCider

Agree with what was said above. Just jump in and you will make out fine. We had aracanas but they were kind of flighty. When we switched over to Rhode Is Reds, they were a better fit for me but not real broody. I think if I wanted a self sustaining flock I would mix it up a little more. Nothing like farm fresh eggs. When ever you feed them grain, shake the can and call to them. It can come in real handy to have birds that you can call back in if needed


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## cnsper

People clean their coops way too much... lol

When I was a kid we had a coop approximately 4 feet wide and 6-8 feet long. A person could only get to the first 2 feet of the coop. On the left we had 2 nest boxes. Right in front of the door was the feeder hanging. Behind the feeder was a slanted roost for night time.

We only had to clean under the roost and we did that every spring. We had around 8-10 hens. We did not have to clean under the nest boxes or around the feeder. We never put sawdust or anything else on the floor as they were on dirt. Water was outside and we did have to break the ice. They don't need a lot of room and many people think that they sleep in the ground. They will but they would prefer a roost.

Basically we never even stepped foot inside the house unless we were cleaning it. We could get the eggs and put in feed right from the door.

We NEVER fed oyster shells to them. They did get all the egg shells and lots of scraps from the garden.

Chickens are the easiest food that you will care for as long as they have shade, water and food they are good to go.

One thing that I do now is get whole wheat, cracked corn and whole oats and mix those together and we had the advantage of allowing them to free range. I do the same thing with the ones I have now.


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## LincTex

PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> We are looking at the prospect of raising them purely from a food production and harvesting their meat when they are no longer producing. I can't say that a few birds will provide much in the way of meat.


Geez, when our gals get old enough to quit laying, they are such a small and frail bird they weigh barely enough to make it worth the time and effort. "Meat Chickens" they sure ain't.



HardCider said:


> When ever you feed them grain, shake the can and call to them. It can come in real handy to have birds that you can call back in if needed


Absolutely. This is important.

They love grain, but *only* for dessert.

Plain ol' "scratch grains" are _yummy_... but just like candy, do not provide all the nutrients they need.

I have seen chickens fed only cracked corn (very cheap), and they were VERY malnourished.



cnsper said:


> When I was a kid we had a coop approximately 4 feet wide and 6-8 feet long. A person could only get to the first 2 feet of the coop.
> 
> We only had to clean under the roost and we did that every spring. .....but they would prefer a roost.


Mine is similar: 6 feet wide by 4 feet deep, raised about 2 feet off the ground and no floor. I rake the poop out from under their roosting area (they poop a lot at night) and it mixes with the dirt.

No heat provided, but the coop is insulated (from a house I tore down) and draft free (the biggest thing). They will keep themselves warm, but ONLY if they can get out of the wind.


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

Wealth of Knowledge!

Thank you all for the first hand info.

LincTX...don't know what they'll look like when they stop laying, but, waste not want not. They'll make a meal for something. 


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## LincTex

PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> .don't know what they'll look like when they stop laying, but, waste not want not. They'll make a meal for something.


Mine feed the worms in the compost pile 

I lost one two weeks ago. For now, chicken in the store is so cheap I couldn't justify taking the time to butcher it... for as small as she was.


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

It's not cheap in MN, at least not on my family's budget. 

I get what you're saying though. Worms need to eat too!! 


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## TheLazyL

PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> ...breed that are decent producers of eggs and provide a good meat harvest later on....


Buff Orpingtons AND they are cold tolerate.

Mine made it thru a long winter with highs of single digits and lows in the negative numbers. No heat in their coop, two south windows leaned in (open) and the chicken door left open.


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

TheLazyL said:


> Buff Orpingtons AND they are cold tolerate.
> 
> Mine made it thru a long winter with highs of single digits and lows in the negative numbers. No heat in their coop, two south windows leaned in (open) and the chicken door left open.


I have been leaning heavily towards a mix of buff orps and Rhode Island reds to get started.

Thank you.

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## mosquitomountainman

Our favorite is Barred Rock. They've withstood some incredible cold and very long winters in NW MT. Good layers, decent brood hens. We've had Rhode Island Reds and they seemed to have a difficult time making it through our winters (we lost three out of four the first winter) and like Uncle Joe said, they have no interest in sitting on eggs.

We feed them scratch or layer plus whatever else we have on hand. I've hand ground wheat, barley, corn, pasta, (and other outdated ... rancid) food stores, and egg shells to feed them. We feed them garbage and especially stale bread, rolls, etc. The better you feed them the better they lay. When it comes to eating laying hens they aren't normally worth the effort. There's very little meat on them and by the time they are old we've become good friends anyway. I put our last batch down out of pity for them.

We've raised meat chickens and if you want eating chickens that's the way to go. Food has gotten really high the last few years. The govts. push for alcohol to mix with gasoline has driven the price of grain up and feed has gone up as well.

Try doing some gleaning of harvested grain fields for free grain. Go to "day-old" bakeries and food banks to see if they'll give you stale or moldy bread.


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## goshengirl

What breed of meat chickens do folks recommend?

(sorry for the hijack, PHJ, but I'm guessing you might be interested, too)


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## cowboyhermit

I don't think you could go wrong with buff Orpingtons to start with. 
Where we are at in Canada (-40 is to be expected, heck we had below 0F last week) they do fine in an uninsulated, unheated coop. They do have a bit of a comb and that might get frost nipped, particularly the roosters but it is a variable trait and has not been much of an issue for us. Chickens need a dry, draft free but ventilated coop, given that it is amazing how they handle the cold. On the coldest days of the year they still wander around in the snow a bit, hard to believe they don't freeze their feet off but neither do the chickadees :dunno:

Eta; Though it is not a necessity I do like to provide a hover or some sort, basically a place where they can roost with a low ceiling that still allows for ventilation.

A dual purpose like Orpingtons will give a decent amount of meat, especially if you get a heavier strain, and they make a great soup. 

Nothing like a Cornish giant for meat and of course they won't lay like a Leghorn either but they can be a good compromise, especially for a small flock in cold areas. 

Aside from those mentioned there are a few other cold hardy breeds that tend to the meatier side, Jersey Giants have a lot of meat, Brahmas were an(the most?) important meat breed in the past. These are all calm/docile birds that tend to make good mothers.


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## mamamouse

PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> ...
> -How do you keep them from freezing during extended cold snaps? (We had a stretch of more than 40 days with temps below zero.)
> 
> -Is egg production reduced in those conditions?


Putting crisco or petroleum jelly on their combs and wattles keeps them from catching frostbite, and helps them retain heat.

And the cold won't reduce their egg production as much as the diminished daylight will. Chickens lay the most when they have at least fourteen hours of light per day.....we use an electric light in the wintertime to keep egg production up


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

Well, getting started. This lingering winter is giving me time for what would be garden prep to start building our coop. 

Nothing fancy, copying one I saw on backyard chickens. Hope to be done in a couple weeks. 




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## lazydaisy67

I love Buff Orpingtons. They seem hearty through Iowa winters and will sit on a nest if you let them. My next favorite would be Barred Rock. Both seem good in the cold and are pretty, which is a bonus.
Don't fret too much about the coop. Chickens don't care nearly as much about how their home looks as you do, lol. We don't let them out in the winter much, if ever. Clean it out in spring and put it all on your compost pile. We just use straw, so I don't know about shavings or any other kind of bedding. 
I'm sure you'll enjoy your chickens as much as we have.


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## jeff47041

The two granddaughters and I went Friday afternoon and finally got our chicks!

We got 3 Buffs, 3 Rhode Island Reds, 3 Barred Rock, & 3 of something else that I just cannot remember what they are. I asked the girls if they wanted to get 12 Cornish crosses too, for eating when they grow, and they asked if we can just get egg layers for now. So, that's what we did.

The girls spent a couple of hours with the chicks Friday night, and most of the day with them yesterday. I told them that they need to spend some time with them, so they get used to being touched and handled. So, that's what they did. Of course, next Friday, when the girls come back, the chicks will be bigger and uglier, so they probably won't be so willing to get in there with them.

So, I finally have some hens (Well, 6 day old chicks) which I have always wanted to get. YAY! 
Sorry for the highjack PurpleHeart, I didn't want to start a thread just to say YAY!, I got some chicks.


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

jeff47041 said:


> Sorry for the highjack PurpleHeart, I didn't want to start a thread just to say YAY!, I got some chicks.


No worries...it's nice to hear from you, others, how things are going, what you've learned etc.

I'm glad you did post, because it's also nice to hear someone else's "excitement" as they are getting started for lack of a better adjective at the moment.

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## txcatlady

As soon as one of my hens gets broody again, I plan to add some chicks to her nest after she has been sitting awhile. Did it a few years ago and she raised up all 13. Sadly for them, 7 were roosters and I only needed 1. Good for my pantry though. Down to 11 hens and they are getting older. I want a big body chicken that is a good layer as my rooster is a big sex-link. Good looking boy and great disposition. Love how he tends to his flock. Won't go into pen unless all the girls are inside fence. Don't know about how fertile he is. None have hatched out yet.


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

Very excited...the hatchery notified me today, I'll get my order a week earlier than originally thought! My wife is, quite honestly, a little giddy over the prospect. Haven't seen her so excited since she "got" to marry me!
Lol.


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## *Andi

PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> Very excited...the hatchery notified me today, I'll get my order a week earlier than originally thought! My is, quite honestly, a little giddy over the prospect. Haven't seen her so excited since she "got" to marry me!
> Lol.
> 
> Sent telepathically through my thumbs to my iPhone using Survival Forum


Congrats!

Time to get the brooder ready... Chicks are cute and fun! :eyebulge:


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## TheLazyL

PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> Very excited...the hatchery notified me today, I'll get my order a week earlier than originally thought! My wife is, quite honestly, a little giddy over the prospect. Haven't seen her so excited since she "got" to marry me!
> Lol.
> 
> Sent telepathically through my thumbs to my iPhone using Survival Forum


What are you planning on using for heat until they feather out?

Brinsea EcoGlow worked for me. Low power consumption and no fear of a coop fire.


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

TheLazyL said:


> What are you planning on using for heat until they feather out?
> 
> Brinsea EcoGlow worked for me. Low power consumption and no fear of a coop fire.


Heat lamp. I'm setting up an area in the coop I am building, since I have no garage at the moment.

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## LincTex

TheLazyL said:


> What are you planning on using for heat until they feather out?


We've been using 250watt heat lamps for over 80 years with no problems. Here in Texas, a 100 watt bulb is plenty (ours are in the laundry room - unheated)


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## TheLazyL

LincTex said:


> We've been using 250watt heat lamps for over 80 years with no problems. Here in Texas, a 100 watt bulb is plenty (ours are in the laundry room - unheated)


Brinsea only uses 18 watts 

Add no concerns about a heat lamp falling into the dry bedding...


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

How come "Eco-xxx" always means more $ for something?

No offense, I'm sure it's a fine product, but that is 7 or 8 times the amount I was planning to spend, and that's only because I don't have a lamp holder not doing something.

I understand the concern about a heat lamp falling into the bedding, but really, how often does that happen? 


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## LincTex

PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> No offense, I'm sure it's a fine product, but that is 7 or 8 times the amount I was planning to spend....


Yikes, that is a lot of money!



PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> I understand the concern about a heat lamp falling into the bedding, but really, how often does that happen?


Speaking for my entire family.... not once in over 80 years. So, about 25,000 or so chickens later, I'm not up for new gimmicks.


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## Hooch

When I find cheap protein like hotdogs, beef ravoloies, meatballs n pasta, even spagittos (sp) but mainly whatever canned meat cans of or packs of hotdogs I get on sale or clearance or just really cheap I buy a few for the hens. 

Since I only have 4 laying hens its not expensive and I do this for 2 reasons mainly...

They love it and it has helped me socalized them to me. I have four hens but only one left that I raised myself. I have a crazy work schedule sometimes and I need to put them up in their coop at odd hours or at a moments notice. I want them to mostly free range my huge back yard and they do but they need to come in when I call them. If Im the treat master...they have no problem comming into the coop early for a hotdog or handful of grain, or half a tortilla. As soon as I walk outside, they hear the door and come half flying half running to me for their treat. I walk with them to inside the coop, they follow and get a yummy treat. I realize this might not be a great idea with a huge flock of hens but it works for us. 

The first year I had hens I lost 2 to raccoons. I had a weak spot in my coop and sure as poop..the ***** found it before I did. Also, I lost 2 hens to my dog the first year as well. They were always in the coop or their fenced in area but now and then a hen would fly over the fence to the dogs area. The first few months was a learning process for the dog to figure out the hens were part of the pack. He always respected thier space and never tried to break in but if they came over to his space...game on. He is good now and the hens and him live together peacefully but my barred rock hen and white rock hen didnt surivie the early adventure. When I bought replacement hens they were all a 7 months to 1 year old and not socialized well to people. So feeding them treats has enabled me to be able to get them to where I need them to go and I can now catch and handle them eaiser. The RIR hen I raised will hop in my lap if I let her. My other big White rock hen I can catch n handle fairly easy, she was 7 months old when I got her and just started laying. My two others Ive had alittle over a year now were about a year when I got them..a gal was thinning out her flock and sold them to the feed store. Anyways, I can now catch and handle them only if I corner them, but once caught, they dont throw too much of a fuss. They will both sit and hang out with me, eat out of my hand when Im reading in the yard but prefer not to be touched. 

OH...When I first got my last tow hens, one freaked out and flew over the fence to the neighbors yard. Luckly, no one lives there..but both thier wings were clipped and comming back over to my yard..she flew over a 6 foot fence and to the top of the coop..about 8 feet high with clipped wings. I didnt know they could do it. She has never dont it again either..but man..it was quite a little flight...


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## simplymom

I am in Northern Iowa so I certainly understand the cold winter. This was our first yr with laying hens. No heater in coop which is in the corner of our barn. I have Americanas and Barr rock chickens. They tolerated the cold very well with no heater and layer well. They would not go out in the snow and cold. I eventually just let them run the interior of the barn with access to go outside if they wanted. I just used a water heater from December thru March.


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

*We are just a week away now...*

A week from tomorrow our chick will arrive and we are getting pretty excited for the day.

We settled on Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks and Ameracaunas (wife was tickled with the idea of ready made Easter eggs.)

The coop is nearly done, I am admittedly behind schedule. The weather has been a big hindrance, cold and rainy for the better part of a few weeks.

I'll have 10 nest boxes to start and my coop will support about 20 mature birds, although we won't have that many right off. No roosters planned either for the first year.

On a down note, we've lived at our home for 7+ years now and never have seen a fox on our property. Two mornings ago, a rather large red fox was seen 20 yards out from my front door. Do they have some sort of instinctual sense of a pending chicken flock coming in? Geez.

Anyone have recommendations on how to attract and trap that fox quickly? I'd like to dispatch it before it does the same to my chicks.


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

They've finally arrived! :2thumb: So, here we go, into the chicken game. Wifey is uber excited.


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## *Andi

Congrats!

And so the fun begins ... :wave:


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

Wife came home with two more chicks this morning. Local fleet supply store had two silver laced wyandotte chicks left. They were straight run, so who knows if we got a rooster.

From a vid on YouTube I watched, I tried to sex them. If am right, I think we got one of each. If not, we'll see soon enough.


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## LincTex

Watch out for those wood shavings. 

If they eat them, they will die.


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

LincTex said:


> Watch out for those wood shavings.
> 
> If they eat them, they will die.


Well I hope not. McMurry Hatchery, where we got the chicks said shavings were ok, but not saw dust.


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## TheLazyL

LincTex said:


> Watch out for those wood shavings.
> 
> If they eat them, they will die.


I respectfully disagree...


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## TheLazyL

PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> ...I understand the concern about a heat lamp falling into the bedding, but really, how often does that happen? ...


Only takes once. In my case I'd lose the coop and my 30' x 40' shop.

Friend was raising theirs in the attached garage. Fortunately they were home and smelled smoke. Suffered only a charred garage wall stud.


























And then there is the imported red heat lamp bulbs that have a Teflon coating. When the bulb heats up Teflon fumes kills the chickens. What makes it worst is nothing on the bulb packaging indicates the use of Teflon.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/632786/heat-lamp-bulb-alert


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## LincTex

TheLazyL said:


> I respectfully disagree...


That's fine - you were lucky.

We were not.


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

Running "free" now in the coop.


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## jeff47041

Several of you said that you feed eggshells to your chickens. I did it yesterday, for the first time, and they attacked them and loved them.
But, wont that make them eat the eggs in the nests once they start laying? Or is that not something that happens?

A week ago, I finally got the outside pen ready so the chicks can be outside during the day. They love it and there's lots for them to discover. I'm so glad I covered the top with chicken wire. A hawk sits on the roof of the storage shed, that's next to the chicken house, trying to figure out how to get the chicks.


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## TheLazyL

jeff47041 said:


> Several of you said that you feed eggshells to your chickens. I did it yesterday, for the first time, and they attacked them and loved them.
> But, wont that make them eat the eggs in the nests once they start laying? Or is that not something that happens?
> 
> A week ago, I finally got the outside pen ready so the chicks can be outside during the day. They love it and there's lots for them to discover. I'm so glad I covered the top with chicken wire. A hawk sits on the roof of the storage shed, that's next to the chicken house, trying to figure out how to get the chicks.


Crushed the shells into small pieces before feeding them to the chickens.

Chicken wire is only good for keeping chickens in not for keeping predators out.


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

*Getting so close*

We are almost done with the chicken coop (castle).

Tonight after work, I made two window screens that mount on the outside wall. Inside wall will have chicken wire over studs so the fine screens don't get shredded. Got one of the windows hinged and installed over one of the screen frames.

Tomorrow, second window goes in. Then work resumes with installing the permanent roosting bars and some additional habitat tweaks and then, finished! Well, my part anyway. Wife still needs to paint it.


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## LincTex

PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> Running "free" now in the coop.


My chickens like to lay in "Private" nesting boxes... 
The ones they prefer are quiet, secluded, dark, surrounded on all sides with just a 6" wide slit to get in the front! I have one nesting "area" that has the ability for two chickens to fit in at the same time (with no wall between them) and NONE of them will lay they eggs in there EVER! I need to make a wall in the middle; maybe then they will use it.

Ours absolutely will NOT lay "out in the open" unless it is an emergency (door to the coop blew shut, etc.)


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## TheLazyL

PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> ...two window screens that mount on the outside wall. Inside wall will have chicken wire over studs so the fine screens don't get shredded. ....


Window screens. Typical nylon insect screens used on house windows?


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

LincTex said:


> Ours absolutely will NOT lay "out in the open" unless it is an emergency (door to the coop blew shut, etc.)


We have nesting boxes ready for ours, but they are just 6 weeks old now. By "running free" I simply meant that we just let them do their thing now. We didn't see the point keeping them cramped up in smaller quarters.


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

TheLazyL said:


> Window screens. Typical nylon insect screens used on house windows?


We have the metal screen, but yes, the type used on houses just the same. I have those between the heavier wire inside the coop and the windows outside the coop to mitigate flying insects.


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

*A couple of pictures of our chicks...*

...finally out in the finished run.


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## PurpleHeartJarhead

*Getting so very close...*

Nearly complete. Just some roof work left to do.


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## medicme

Very nice. The one I had a couple years ago was similar. Wasn't as wide and I cut a sliver moon in the door. I planted gourds across the front which provided insects and shade...and gourds. A certain orange butterfly species enjoyed them and left their cocoons for the kids to enjoy.

If you haven't already, you may want to place a ladder type roosting area inside so they keep their business in one place. 

I saw your post in March and you mentioned raising chickens for eating also. I would get the poultry hens like we raise in 4 H. You only feed them for 6 weeks and then they are ready to dress out. If you keep the larger breeds for eggs also, you have to feed them alot more. It's better to have a smaller breed for eggs and they would make tasty soups when they stop being productive.
___________________________________
“Better to arrive late and ready, than early and unprepared.” 
― POB Bismar


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## crabapple

It is my understanding that if the chicks pile up on each other under the heater lamp, then the heat is to low/far away.
If the chicks spread out away from the center of the box then the lamp is to high a setting or to close to the chicks.
Never had a heat lamp on grown chickens in a hen house.


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## TheLazyL

PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> We have the metal screen, but yes, the type used on houses just the same. I have those between the heavier wire inside the coop and the windows outside the coop to mitigate flying insects.


I understand now, thank you.

I have read too many, "Something ate my chicken(s)" when the coop's nylon insect screen was ripped to shreds by the predator.

P.S. Nice Coop!


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## jeff47041

My chickens turned 4 months old yesterday, and we have eggs! 4 little eggs were in three of the nests. YAY!


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## LincTex

jeff47041 said:


> My chickens turned 4 months old yesterday, and we have eggs! 4 little eggs were in three of the nests. YAY!


They start off small, and get a little bigger when the chicken gets used to the idea!


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