skool me on chickens

Jordan Normark · **Posted:** Mon Nov 25, 2013 11:59 am

Does anyone here have chickens? I will be building a coup soon and getting some chickens. The idea is to have fresh eggs, attractive birds and have the kids involved in the responsibilities of caring for them. Living in Raleigh, we are not "allowed" to have roosters due to the noise, but it would be easy enough to make a stew if he became a nuisance. We were thinking Araucana's, but have friends that have both and they recommend Serama's since they are more personable and in the smaller varieties the roosters crow is almost muted. Any suggestions on breeds and care, coup building ideas etc?

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Mon Nov 25, 2013 2:03 pm

My neighbor has some chickens. Funny to hear them squawk, but nothing annoyingly loud. I can ask what he's done.

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Mon Nov 25, 2013 2:20 pm

An ITB friend of mine has been on this tour before...

http://www.tourdcoop.com/

Also raises quail eggs and sells them to local restaurants. They seem to enjoy it. I researched it some, and discovered people complaining about the illnesses/problems some chickens can have, including vet visits etc. I asked her about it and she said "A new chick costs like $1.50. Whole lot cheaper than taking a chicken to the vet." Their solution for the sick chicken usually involved fresh chicken for dinner, IIRC... :lol:

Jordan Normark · **Posted:** Mon Nov 25, 2013 2:52 pm

Monica has been looking forward to the tourdcoop after hearing about it from our neighbor, so I am sure we'll do that next year. The low cost of the chickens is a huge plus so no reason to ever take one to the vet.

Arthur McDonald · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 1:54 am **Posts:** 2052

Which breeds have the least salmonella?

steve remchak · **Posted:** Tue Nov 26, 2013 10:00 am

Arthur McDonald wrote:

Which breeds have the least salmonella?

Which breed craps the least? :lol:

clinehall · **Posted:** Wed Nov 27, 2013 2:07 am

my office manager has chickens and I love the eggs. I thought about this for a couple of minutes but I have lots of racoons and foxes around do I figured it wouldn't work. Maybe if I get about 17 other projects done I'll check it out some more.

Cash Davidson · **Posted:** Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:27 pm

We've had chickens for years. We keep 4 at a time and generally get 2-3 eggs/day. Here's the coop I built. Low maintenance - just clean out the upper roost and move it to a fresh spot every 2 weeks.

Both sides open and there is an upper and lower door on the end.

Do it!

Jordan Normark · **Posted:** Sat Nov 30, 2013 10:49 am

I like it Cash. Looks easy to clean which is a main priority, and I am guessing from the re-used siding, it was cheap to build. What kind of chickens are those? They look like a smaller breed. Are they noisy? Do they lay eggs in the winter?

Pete Guthrie · **Posted:** Sat Nov 30, 2013 4:27 pm

My TKD instructor has chickens. Julee Peck Tae Kwon Do America. She lives out in creedmoore north carolina, and drives her prius to raliegh everyday.
I will find out a email address you cna contact her at. Also... if you are interested in a good workout, come sign up.ages 5 or 6 ad up to whatever.

Cash Davidson · **Posted:** Sat Nov 30, 2013 5:29 pm

Jordan Normark wrote:

I like it Cash. Looks easy to clean which is a main priority, and I am guessing from the re-used siding, it was cheap to build. What kind of chickens are those? They look like a smaller breed. Are they noisy? Do they lay eggs in the winter?

Very easy (and cheap) to build - com'on over and measure it up if you like. I've been thinking about putting wheels on one end so one person can move it.

I'll have to check with my wife on the breeds - we went in together with a bunch of friends and bought 3doz chicks (all hens) of various breeds (some red, black, white, speckled). We raised them for 3 months (because we had the space) then everyone came and got theirs, leaving us with 4. In the pic they are only 3-4mos old, so they are twice that size now. They make very little noise, but then again, the coop is over 300' from our house and you can't see another house from my house.

The first 2yrs we got 3-4eggs/day during the summer and 2/day in winter. Over 4yrs, two have died. This past summer we got 1-2/day with two chicken and this winter we aren't getting any.

We've had to go back to buying eggs at the store - what a difference. We'll be getting new chicks again in the spring.

As for predators (we live way out in the sticks), we haven't had too much trouble. We've seen fox snooping around, but they haven't gotten in. We've got some pretty serious gnaw marks - I'm guessing from a raccoon or skunk - but again, they must have found an easier meal elsewhere.

Good luck!
Cash

Les Davis · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 2:04 pm **Posts:** 2059

Am I the only person who thinks it odd we are discussing chickens on the THSCC forum?

Pete Guthrie · **Posted:** Mon Dec 02, 2013 3:03 pm

cluck cluck . thscc has some interesting topics sometimes. I just roll with it .

BriceJohnson · **Joined:** Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:33 am **Posts:** 2230

No stranger than a guy from Florida trolling our forums. . .

Les Davis · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 2:04 pm **Posts:** 2059

BriceJohnson wrote:

No stranger than a guy from Florida trolling our forums. . .

I am still a member thank you very much, besides this is the internet, geographical boundaries don't really apply. You guys can't get rid of me that easily.

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