NEST BOXES , i used old milk crates the ones that are full of holes that hold four gallon of milk, they worked nice, i had a couple old wooden coca cola crates too with all the inerds removed, anything that will hold some staw/bedding thats about the same size as the mother chicken, a lot of my mixed flock special ended up laying in the barn or other places, regardless of nest boxes

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Also if a rooster is chasing you around all you have to do is chase him back like your going to catch him...

You are just darned lucky the rooster didn't jump up and plant those big spurs into your leg. It depends on the rooster, but you have to actually kill the thing sometimes to get it to quit the fight.

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It's so hard to hear about chicken noodle soup!! But as long as we're talking about it, how long would you guys keep a chicken b/4 you know what?

Keep them until they are the size you want for fryers or roasters. Depends on the breed, how big they will get. However for good tender eating chicken, do not grow them too long or they will get tough. Four to six months should do it.

When I raised the heavy meat type chickens, I would grow them to about 5 pounds live weight. About four months.

If its a leghorn type, they will never weigh that much. I wouldn't feed them past six months. If the roosters are starting to crow, you have fed them too long.

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Originally posted by James_1:

quote:

Also if a rooster is chasing you around all you have to do is chase him back like your going to catch him...

You are just darned lucky the rooster didn't jump up and plant those big spurs into your leg. It depends on the rooster, but you have to actually kill the thing sometimes to get it to quit the fight.

For over 20 years we have been raising a wide variety of animals. The best way to stop bad behaviour from any animal is to stop it the very first time it happens, how depends on the species, for me with roosters it's to chase them. We did have one of those lovely roosters who when he first started on the attack mode DH thought it was cute and played along, but when the rooster came at me, I attacked back... after time passed that rooster would go after anyone who got near his area... except me. DH did get spurred many times... DH is tough! I'm not!

Once when we were gone for a couple of days, my parents did the chores, my Mom would not go anywhere near that roosters area without Dad to protect her. The first time I went out to do chores when we got home, here comes that rooster, till he saw it was me than he turned around and ran the other way! DH did get tired of being attacked too... that rooster became food for something else.

Want to stop a surely Rooster? Drop Kick him right square in the arse, then make a pot of dumplings with him.

My wife would not put up with one cranky rooster we had. When he started for her, she picked up a stick and beaned him. It was chicken noodle soup for that one. This rooster was from Jungle Fowl stock.

I think it depends on the individual rooster. Some are more inclined to fight to the finish. Some breeds are more inclined to have that fighting instinct.

This rooster I have now is a White Leghorn, and I have knocked him unconcious twice for coming at me. Yet he still comes at me every time I go in the coop. You can't expect a rooster to learn much, his brain is about the size of a pea. He is way to old and tough to make good eating. He ain't good for anything but hackle for fishing lures. Yet, I keep feeding him. I guess I have gotten used to him crowing at 3:30 in the morning.

I am not afraid of any rooster, but I respect and know what they can do and I keep my eye on them. I don't want those spurs in my leg.

you can use plastic easter eggs or golf balls for nest eggs.

Hi,
A dozen hens should give at least 10 eggs.
Make sure they have lots of fresh water available.
And good feed. Toss out any that gets damp/moldy if you purchase it in bags. Chickens need salt, but not too much. (They will pick at each other for example and draw blood and can kill each other.) Give oyster shells for calcium so you have nice strong shells. Chickens are best with a feed formulated for them...vitamin D so they don't get rickets...not developing body properly.
We used to let our chickens range freely on the farm. Gravel is nice for "grit".
When it comes to having baby chicks:
1. Have a light for heat and illumination to keep them warm and make them feel safe.
2. Good clean bedding...we used straw...but sawdust might not be ok since it is too small and you don't want them to eat it.
3. Place "flakes" of straw in the corners if you have a square building to prevent overcrowding/smothering in fear/cold.
I'd recommend the round calf hutches, you might be able to get a used one cheaper...just clean it with bleach and water. (we cleaned the brooder house for the young chickens this way.)
You really would be better off with a rounded building.
When you get the chicks, take them out of their container one by one and give each of them a drink-of-water.
The more you handle them, the better it will be when it comes to egg gathering time. Some get pretty fierce. We got some chickens from my friends who let the little nephews/nieces handle them and it really surprised me when I had them jump on my shoulder and nuzzle me. Needless to say those chickens were my favorites.
We even have a broody hen go off and hide and show up with her family.
Hope this helps and have lot of fun with them.
Good Luck

if you have a picking problem, you can get glasses for the chickens, they are little plastic lenseless solid red plastis glasses that clip on the holes in the beek, that way they have to try n look around the glasses and i think it keeps them from zeroing in on a target to pick, my dad used to use them, and i used to get packs of vitamines with electrolites, it turnd the water yellow and has a vitamine smell to it if i remember correctly

please make sure you have the volume turned up on the computer, it will do it every time you hit the home button on this web linc, i use it to get my kids up in the morning, kinda pizzes them off, but i'm sure they will allways remember when i'm gone
http://www.cacklehatchery.com/default.html

EDIT the lil boogers tried pullin a fast one on me and adjusted the master volume controls on pc, but i fixed it and still got them

Jim, couldn't get the chickens page to work, but thanks anyway! (I have dialup, maybe that's why?)

Your father may want to check with the local health department to find out if roosters are even allowed in his area. I live in New York City and did raise hens but roosters were not allowed in the city.

I also kept lights on in the coop at least 12-14 hours during the winter months and the hens continued to lay eggs throughout the winter.

Twelve hens will need a lot of room to roam, around 4-5 square feet each, so the fenced off area should be large enough to accomodate them. And if and when you do bring in young chicks it is best to separate them from the older hens until the older ones get used to them, otherwise you may find a massacre of baby chicks in the morning.

The eggs (without rooster) were the most delicious eggs I've ever had.

I have read everything said on this subject. What a hoot you all are. Yes, it is a beauty of a pond, but you would never fing the duck eggs is you had ducks running around the pond, free.
On cock roosters: there are some other really good reasons to keep a rooster. If you watch them around their hens, they will search out good food sources and tell the hens to come and get it. They are tireless in this pursuit and let the hens eat first. This applies to free run chickens, of course. The cock will also gather in hens that are straying too far afield. They will notify you of intruders. They are lovely to look at. You can limit the amount of crowing by not having more than 1 cock at a time, as they compete with each other for best crower. You should know your neighbors expectations about ***** crowing and/or occasionally trespassing. Use a wooden egg for new layers to find in the nest you want them to lay in. Most of the time, my hens would all lay in the same 2 or 3 nest boxes. Chickens have a synergistic relationship with other barnyard animals. I have seen some of my hens picking bugs off the underbelly of the cows & the cows loved it.

dad had an old hen once that was laying in the sow/pig pen, when the pig had her babies the chicken thought she had hatched them, she'd set over the pigs with wings spread to try n cover them all to keep them warm, sad part is the ole mother hen got ate by the mother pig eventualy, gues that wasnt a good relationship in the barn yard, is like the mother cat that adopted a baby racoon was funny cause the poor mother cats titt was dragging on the ground sucked all out of proportion from the baby racoon, but she would lick it and clean it as one of her own

I grew up on a farm
Every spring, my dad would buy 50 chicks.
Rhode Island Reds.
.
I would be in charge of raising the chicks.
About one half would be roosters.
The roosters would be raised for eating.
..
You could give those roosters
to your neighbors, so they wouldn't
complain about the rooster's crowing
..
Good Luck,
bill in socal