the_grip on 7/8/2009 at 18:41
So we live in a semi-suburban area that is on the cusp of becoming rural. Our neighborhood is nice, yada yada, and we have a large backyard (2.5X the normal size for our neighborhood). So, as a result, we are thinking of raising five or six chickens (for our children to learn from and to eat the eggs).
My boss has no kids but he raises chickens like this continually, so I have some input from him, but I'm just curious if anyone else has raised any chickens.
Vivian on 7/8/2009 at 19:07
Whatever you do, don't get broilers unless you want to get depressed watching a fat, wheezing chicken try to walk. As a friend of mine is busy concluding scientifically, those things are fucked.
Medlar on 7/8/2009 at 20:05
Rhode Island Red, the only chook worth keeping imho.
The kids will love them, they are very reliable layers and if you hatch eggs the chicks can be sexed early and the males sold on or fattened up. Prolly best just to keep hens tho, kids get very attached very quickly!
jay pettitt on 7/8/2009 at 20:38
Ducks. Chickens will dig up your garden, ducks won't.
june gloom on 7/8/2009 at 20:48
Mmm, chicken...
DDL on 7/8/2009 at 20:52
Quote Posted by jay pettitt
Ducks. Chickens will dig up your garden, ducks won't.
They'll eat it!
Also good for trimming the grass.
Albert on 7/8/2009 at 21:00
Mmh, Chicken strips with a side of Honey mustard, Honey BBQ, and Catsup.
Now ducks, I feel, would make better pets than chickens. And I should know, I've had a relative whose had chickens, and they died from disease b4 you can say Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Hmm, how about a rabbit? I mean, those giant ones look quite friendly, not to mention cuddly.
D'Juhn Keep on 7/8/2009 at 22:12
I got 3 battery-rescue chickens last September and they're awesome. They don't cost much at all to keep. After getting/building a coop+run it's just food, grit and some diatomic earth to keep the red mites dead. Being ex-battery chickens they lay really well - I've had an egg per day almost without fail for the last 7 months. From Sep-Jan they didn't lay regularly which was in part the stress of relocating and in part a natural reaction to the shorter days, I believe.
They got their pecking order sorted out pretty quickly and there isn't much squabbling, though one of them does like to make sure the bottom (Aegon) knows her place.
They still don't like people very much but they love that people bring food. If you're holding something - anything - they'll crowd around me. If I don't have anything, or try to pick them up, they run away or do their little submissive stance. I feed them layers mash which I order off the internet, along with oyster grit. Costs £10 for a 20kg bag, plus £5 P&P. Recently they've done an offer of free shipping for orders over £30 so I stocked up loads. I tried layers pellets but they didn't like those at all. No doubt I could have starved them into eating the pellets but I didn't have the heart. I give them just about any fresh kitchen waste - they like mushroom and potato peelings, lettuce and spinach leaves and radishes. They go absolutely inane for blueberries.
To keep clean they take dirt baths and as said above, they will wreck your flowerbeds and lawn. My garden wasn't really much to look at to start with so it wasn't a big deal. They certainly don't keep your grass neatly cropped.
The eggs are really delicious and have a much better colour (due to the greens in their diet) than most eggs you can buy in the supermarket and we get more than the 2 of us can eat so we're always giving boxes away.
They're pretty adorable and it's really cool that they're having a decent life after being locked up in a battery farm.
In summary: chickens are awesome and you should get some ex-battery ones
Tocky on 8/8/2009 at 03:30
Quote Posted by Medlar
Rhode Island Red, the only chook worth keeping imho.
This. They lay consistant and are not easily upset into not laying by kids who learn to hypnotize them with sleepy eyes until they can catch them. Where you are there isn't a coyote problem so you are good. Forget that free range shit and pen them if you do.
