happyWImom Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Okay, maybe I should have worded that in a different way!:lol: I don't have chickens, so maybe people who have them are crazy & do need help, I'm not sure yet.:D Anyway, my dd really wants to get some chickens, and dh is all for it. I, however, have some concerns. We do live out in the country, and have the room for it. But.... There are coyotes here, lots of hawks, and other predators. We would want them to be free range, but how does that work? Our big yard is adjacent to my father's corn fields, and also we have a dog-a bird dog! (Brittany Spaniel) Our back yard is fenced in (for the dog), but dh says he's not having them there; doesn't want them to eat & ruin the yard. So, how would we even go about it???? Sorry if these are dumb questions, I'm a chicken newbie.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 You can build a fenced run to protect from predators (and the dog). If you build a run that can be moved, the chickens have nice fresh grass every time you move it, so it's a little like protected free range. Google "chicken tractor" and you'll find all sorts of moveable chicken homes. We do let our chickens out when we know we'll be home to hear squawking, but it's nice to know that they are protected when we aren't around. If you have a garden, you can fence it to keep them out while it's growing and to keep them in the garden from late fall to very early spring--they eat the snail eggs and weed seeds, and fertilize! ;) That's where mine are right now. Backyard Chickens is an excellent site for chicken newbies. :) Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 (edited) Many folks with predatory animals as nieghbors choose to use moveable runs. This allows the chickens to play and romp and scratch for bugs & worms in grass, but keeps them safe. You will also need a secure area, with a solid flooring and walls for night. I know some who converted an old metal gardening shed into a coop. You need one with a window or two for air circultaion. Edited January 31, 2011 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemongoose Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I second the backyard chicken site for lots of learning. We have the same predators as you, well minus the bird dog! One thing you need to know is that chicken wire does not keep out raccoons! So any areas that you would have accessible to your chickens at night need to have hardware cloth (aka 1/2"- 1/4" wire mesh) instead of chicken wire. This would be screens for open windows or if you make a chicken tractor that the roosting area is accessible from. There are lots of coop designs (including tractors) at the backyard chickens site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyWImom Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 Thanks so much for the backyard chicken site!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Another site with multiple articles is Mother Earth News. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 My ds is wanting chickens as well and I was able to check out a huge stack of books at the library about raising chickens. I am on mental overload at the moment but I think we can do it LOL. I also read several magazines at the local bookstore about chicken raising. Who would have thought! Learning about the different breeds has given me an idea of what we will need and what would work best for us. My next door neighbor has several chickens. His run is made from left over chain length fence gates that he picked up some where for nearly nothing. He has them connected together and more laid across the top. Raccoons can't break thru that. He also has a set time each day when he is working in his yard that he lets the chickens out. His are fairly tame and pretty much follow him all over the yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyWImom Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 My ds is wanting chickens as well and I was able to check out a huge stack of books at the library about raising chickens. I am on mental overload at the moment but I think we can do it LOL. I also read several magazines at the local bookstore about chicken raising. Who would have thought! Learning about the different breeds has given me an idea of what we will need and what would work best for us. My next door neighbor has several chickens. His run is made from left over chain length fence gates that he picked up some where for nearly nothing. He has them connected together and more laid across the top. Raccoons can't break thru that. He also has a set time each day when he is working in his yard that he lets the chickens out. His are fairly tame and pretty much follow him all over the yard. I am going to get a bunch of library books, too. We do have a friend who has chickens, so I can get her input. I am soooo not a country girl, and the idea of chickens doesn't totally thrill me. But, I know my dc would get a lot out of it, and it would be great to have our own eggs. I'm just trying to weigh the positives vs. the negatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I am going to get a bunch of library books, too. We do have a friend who has chickens, so I can get her input. I am soooo not a country girl, and the idea of chickens doesn't totally thrill me. But, I know my dc would get a lot out of it, and it would be great to have our own eggs. I'm just trying to weigh the positives vs. the negatives. I'm not a country girl either so I completely understand. 3 goats came with our house and 3 acres when we bought it last fall and that has been quite the learning curve for me. They are all fixed males so no chance of milk or babies and I must admit I have been relieved that they were all males. The easiest to understand book for me so far has been Barnyard in Your Backyard by Gail Damerow. The ISBN is 1580174566. I have had it checked out from the library so long that I have used up my renewals. I think I will just break down and buy it. There are also some books thru 4H about chicken raising that may be easier for your dd to understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyWImom Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 :001_smile: I'm not a country girl either so I completely understand. 3 goats came with our house and 3 acres when we bought it last fall and that has been quite the learning curve for me. They are all fixed males so no chance of milk or babies and I must admit I have been relieved that they were all males. The easiest to understand book for me so far has been Barnyard in Your Backyard by Gail Damerow. The ISBN is 1580174566. I have had it checked out from the library so long that I have used up my renewals. I think I will just break down and buy it. There are also some books thru 4H about chicken raising that may be easier for your dd to understand. Thanks! I just requested it from the library. I had thought about goats, also, but getting the milk was what appealed to me about it. :001_smile: Baby steps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5forMe Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 My DH built the coop on wheels, so that he can move them around the yard. We also have a solar powered movable fence that goes around the coop but gives them a HUGE area to free range. This fence is to keep out the foxes and our "free range" neighbors dog who helps himself to whatever he wants in the neighborhood. We have hawks, but knock on wood, we've not lost a chicken to a hawk. We have had the chickens for 18 months. We bought 12 of them as 1 day olds and have only lost two (one to the neighbor's dog and another succumbed to the oppressive heat we had this summer). We loving having fresh eggs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We've got 9 chickens in a big fenced run. the fence walls are about 6 foot high, that works well. plenty of space to do mad chickeny things but they are safe. Its worth knowing that the low electric fences that get sold aren't really high enough. Our wing clipped chickens can easily clear 5 ft and the odd one has done the 6 ft fence and a dog or fox can easily jump those 3ft ish electric fence. My friends springer spaniel does this regularly to their neighbours chickens and has grabbed chickens several times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 yeah you do need to dig the wire in. Or you could put heavy paving slabs around the wire bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleni Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We have the same predators as you do, in fact this morning the kids and I watched a coyote run through the field adjacent to our house. Quite exciting as we were waiting for the school bus to come. :001_huh: We have chickens, and I let them run around all day. Thus far the only death we have had was because when I noticed the side of the coop that opens to allow access to the eggs was not closing fully, I did not fix it. This happened on Christmas Eve. Dh came home and asked why the chickens were standing outside our door at night and making weird noises. I tried to shoo them in their coop but they refused, then I noticed we were missing a red hen. I then noticed feathers on top of the coop and blood smeared everywhere, and when I peeked in , there was my headless chicken. I got her body out and disposed of it, stuck everyone back in and closed the door. Or so I thought. I went in the house and took a bath, got out and heard a HORRIBLE racket, so I put on my robe, ran downstairs, and put on my boots and ran outside. The something had gone back into the coop, this time because I didn't close the door fully.:glare: I had 6 panicked chickens running everywhere, with me chasing them, in a robe, and boots, and nothing else...in the pitch black. I caught everyone and stuck them in the other coop. HAving chickens can lead one to tell rambling stories like that. ;) But really, they are easy to care for, and mine were attacked by a hawk, I saw it through the window, but they all knew how to vanish quickly enough under things that it didn't damage anyone. Signed, the lazy (and probably lucky) chicken keeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 My chickens roam all over, we have coyotes, coons, possums, owls, hawks, bobcats, mountain lions, you name it. I just close them up at night and rarely lose one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We have fox, raccoons and dogs around here. The only time we've had a fatality is when someone who will remain unnamed forgot to lock them up at night. It is quite a sight to get up in the morning, look out the window and see 14 dead hens scattered about your field. The person who forgot to lock them up got to take care of the massacre before he left for work. ;) The one surviving hen quit laying eggs and started crowing she was so traumatized. Some of our neighbors have the movable coops and they seem to work quite well. We still let ours roam during the day (the garden is fenced off) and lock them up at night. We haven't had any more trouble since the original incident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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