Do I want chickens?

[TengoFive]

I should read further down, but we've never had a RIR go broody, but ours were full size. I think as a rule, most bantams go broody easily. However, some people see this as a plus. You can keep your hens laying instead of sitting for 3 weeks.

 

Strange. I did the survey. And while RIRs are winter hearty, excellent layers, about the best for non-production (read: not-stupid) breeds for egg-laying (and lay brown eggs), are docile and easy going, they didn't come up because My Pet Chicken list them as "not setters/broody." HUH?

 

May experience is limited to the "bantams" but ours always go broody, and make great mother hens. So I'd disagree with the "assessment" of steer/broody of this strain.

 

Bill (RIR bantam fan)

[Spy Car]

I should read further down, but we've never had a RIR go broody, but ours were full size. I think as a rule, most bantams go broody easily. However, some people see this as a plus. You can keep your hens laying instead of sitting for 3 weeks.

 

We've found the RIR bantams to be about "perfect" in the broodiness department. If we want them to sit, we leave eggs in the boxes. One will go broody. If we don't want them to go broody collecting the eggs will (usually do the job). If they go broody and we want them to stop, we put them outside to run around for a few days and they quickly snap out of it.

 

But we do enjoy the "natural aspect" of seeing a hen hatch out chicks, and watching "mother hen" tend her young. It's part of the fun.

 

Bill

[TengoFive]

Oh, Iagree wholeheartedly. I specifically looked for broody breeds, because we wanted hens to hatch chicks and guinea keets for us. I greatly prefer chicks who are born at home :D However, some people do find broodiness to be a detriment, and I wanted to point that out.

 

I finally got everything read in this thread and had a few more comments. We follow the deep litter system and haven't had a problem with stench or bugs in our coops yet. With 5, soon to be 6 kids, I don't have much extra time and the deep litter works perfectly for us. Gail Damerow's book mentions it and says that it cuts down on flies, etc. due to good bacteria that form and prevent larvae hatching. I can't remember if that's exactly right, but that's what I'm remembering. I guess I need to read the book again. It's been recommended before, and I second the recommendation. Great information, easy read.

 

 

 

 

We've found the RIR bantams to be about "perfect" in the broodiness department. If we want them to sit, we leave eggs in the boxes. One will go broody. If we don't want them to go broody collecting the eggs will (usually do the job). If they go broody and we want them to stop, we put them outside to run around for a few days and they quickly snap out of it.

 

But we do enjoy the "natural aspect" of seeing a hen hatch out chicks, and watching "mother hen" tend her young. It's part of the fun.

 

Bill

[susankenny]

I have 3 baby chicks and we're thinking about keeping them as pets (4H project). We have a large backyard and it has a privacy fence. There is a section I'd like to set up for the chicks, so my question is, can they fly over the 6 ft fence? We are making a coop currently, but does their free space need a "top"? Does that make sense?

 

Thanks,

Susan

[MamaSheep]

I have 3 baby chicks and we're thinking about keeping them as pets (4H project). We have a large backyard and it has a privacy fence. There is a section I'd like to set up for the chicks, so my question is, can they fly over the 6 ft fence? We are making a coop currently, but does their free space need a "top"? Does that make sense?

 

Thanks,

Susan

 

I am (obviously) not an expert, but from the reading I've been doing here and there the last few days, yes it needs a top. Evidently backyard chickens can fall prey to passing hawks, owls, and fence-climbing four-legged critters, and many kinds of chickens can and do fly, especially when they are young and spry and haven't got their full weight yet.

[MamaSheep]

Thanks, everyone for your input on my whimsical flights of poultry fancy. I think we probably will be getting chickens, but not for a while yet, maybe another year. We have some improvements and repairs that really need to be done before we start messing around with a new project.

[kokotg]

I have 3 baby chicks and we're thinking about keeping them as pets (4H project). We have a large backyard and it has a privacy fence. There is a section I'd like to set up for the chicks, so my question is, can they fly over the 6 ft fence? We are making a coop currently, but does their free space need a "top"? Does that make sense?

 

Thanks,

Susan

 

At least one of ours made it to the top of our six foot fence once or twice when she was younger, but the full grown chickens definitely can't make it over (nor would they want to; my observation is that chickens are very much creatures of habit; once they know where "their" area is, they have no interest at all in leaving it and freak out if you try to make them).

 

And FWIW, we've had no trouble whatsoever with hawks even though we see them all the time. I'm not sure why; maybe it's the fact that our chickens sometimes share the yard with our dogs, maybe it's the heavy tree cover reducing visibility, maybe it's how close the chickens our to our house or the fact that they have our deck to hide under?