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That's very helpful, how hard was it to raise the chicks? How long before you could put them outside? I was thinking about doing that because fertilized eggs are cheap, but I'm not sure what we would do with the cockerels.
The chicks hatched out in early spring, but this is Hawaii so it's mostly rainy season and dry season, we don't do a lot of temperature change. So, the chicks lived in a cardboard box with a screen across the top for about a week in the carport. Then they went out to the rabbit hutch and lived there until they were about three months old. Then we moved to the new house so the rabbits and chickens got new houses.
We may bring the old chicken coop over from the other house. It's about the right size for two or three hens.
That picture was right after it had been built and before it got painted green although the trim is still white. The platforms on the side have been encloses for nest boxes. It was built from wood scraps and an old rack we found at the dump so there's not any money involved with building the coop, either. We don't have many predators in Hawaii, other than mongoose, feral cats and the neighborhood dogs. A few hawks and owls, but they would only eat chicks and not adult chickens. We also don't have much vile weather to protect the chickens from, either. So, your chicken coop would probably be different.
As for what to do with the extra cockerels, well, that is one of the basic problems with hatching eggs. We usually send them to freezer camp when they start to crow.
The chicks hatched out in early spring, but this is Hawaii so it's mostly rainy season and dry season, we don't do a lot of temperature change. So, the chicks lived in a cardboard box with a screen across the top for about a week in the carport. Then they went out to the rabbit hutch and lived there until they were about three months old. Then we moved to the new house so the rabbits and chickens got new houses.
We may bring the old chicken coop over from the other house. It's about the right size for two or three hens.
That picture was right after it had been built and before it got painted green although the trim is still white. The platforms on the side have been encloses for nest boxes. It was built from wood scraps and an old rack we found at the dump so there's not any money involved with building the coop, either. We don't have many predators in Hawaii, other than mongoose, feral cats and the neighborhood dogs. A few hawks and owls, but they would only eat chicks and not adult chickens. We also don't have much vile weather to protect the chickens from, either. So, your chicken coop would probably be different.
As for what to do with the extra cockerels, well, that is one of the basic problems with hatching eggs. We usually send them to freezer camp when they start to crow.
That's a nice coop! "freezer camp" that is hilarious
My mother remembered her next-door neighbor raised chickens for the eggs. When they stopped laying, she would butcher them for the meat. She would chop their heads off---Mom remembered they would sometimes run around a day or more headless Please don't say they didn't suffer!
If you're going to raise chickens for the eggs, have some merciful way to end their days!
I hate to tell you this, Marylee - but in the first place they could not have run around a "day or more" after the head is chopped off, rigor would set in long before that if nothing else. Your mother was embellishing, perhaps unconsciously.
And no, they didn't suffer. Suffering is experienced in the brain. The brain would have ceased to function long before the body stopped twitching, in a matter of seconds.
The "headless chicken" is of note only because what actually happened with that bird was that the head - and therefore the brain - were incompletely removed. That was an extremely unlikely occurrence. Trying to do that on purpose would be extremely difficult. Make sure you lop the entire head off and nothing like that will happen.
Although, that said, my grandmother always wrung their necks. It takes a certain touch though to do it right and quickly. My issue was with having to pluck the dang things.
I hate to tell you this, Marylee - but in the first place they could not have run around a "day or more" after the head is chopped off, rigor would set in long before that if nothing else. Your mother was embellishing, perhaps unconsciously.
And no, they didn't suffer. Suffering is experienced in the brain. The brain would have ceased to function long before the body stopped twitching, in a matter of seconds.
The "headless chicken" is of note only because what actually happened with that bird was that the head - and therefore the brain - were incompletely removed. That was an extremely unlikely occurrence. Trying to do that on purpose would be extremely difficult. Make sure you lop the entire head off and nothing like that will happen.
Although, that said, my grandmother always wrung their necks. It takes a certain touch though to do it right and quickly. My issue was with having to pluck the dang things.
ugh..I used to have to help pluck them when I was a kid, I don't remember much about it except that it stunk. my grandmother would hold them over the open flame on the stove I think to remove 'pin feathers'? My mom told me that when she first got married her new mother-in-law told her to kill a chicken for dinner. She went out and got the chicken and there was a stump with an axe that her in-laws used for the task but she couldn't bring herself to do it so she opened the kitchen door stuck the chicken's head through the door and slammed the door -not only did she fail to kill the chicken she broke most of her fingers duh..
I've never seen a raccoon here, I'm pretty sure my dogs would let me know if they saw one. the coop is going to have wire mesh all around it even on the top, the only time the chickens would be out would be when we are in the yard with them. We have two pet birds and the dogs are ok with them but I still don't completely trust one of them, he sits and watches my African Gray and never gets aggressive but every once in awhile I see him licking his lips
Not wire mesh, if that equates to "chicken wire" in your vernacular. "Chicken wire" is purt near useless.
Hardware cloth. Square mesh, about 1/2" spacing. I built my coop on posts elevated above the ground with hardware cloth on the exterior, including between the floor joists and the plywood floor, but only up to the level of the nest boxes. I had good coverage on the roof to protect the sides from rain. I used plywood for the floor and roof and no OSB or other "engineered" sheet products. I used T1-11 for the walls. Could have used plywood, but T1-11 wasn't that much more than plywood and it was more attractive. I treated it with clear sealer every year or so.
I had a slat you could raise from the outside to reach through into the nest boxes so I never had to set foot in the chicken coop, which allowed me to use 2x4s as floor joists.
A section of the coop all the way across the front could be pulled down and you could rake the bedding out into a wheelbarrow or garden wagon and take it to the compost heap. I used deep bedding and changed it regularly. I treated the floors and walls with whitewash about once a year as well, to cut down on mites - though I never actually had any. Well, my CHICKENS didn't, nor I either, LOL! Maybe that was due to the whitewash.
The coop let out into a small yard, which then let out into a narrow "chicken moat" that ran all the way around the garden. I don't remember how wide it was, but I had done some research about hawks and the width was supposed to make it impossible for a hawk to want to stoop on my chickens. All I can say about that is that I never had a loss from a hawk. Nor, for that matter, any other predator including snakes. Between the hardware cloth on the coop and my dogs during the day, no critter problems.
In fall I would let the chickens into the garden. I worried about hawks but never had a problem. Perhaps their frustration all spring, summer, and into the fall disinclined them to realize they might have some success at that point.
I had water stations on all four sides of the moat and gates so I could close off sections and shoo them back to the coop if necessary. Generally this was a non-issue as they knew they were getting their feed in the evening and they would go there and wait for it. The "moat" was sectioned - there were gates I could swing across to close sections off - so that the chickens didn't spend all their time in just one section and turn it into a barren dust bowl. It was a very large garden so they always had plenty of space, even if in a narrow strip.
I grew runner beans along the fence of the chicken moat for shade and forage for them. Birds can get bored too, and foraging among the vines gave them something to do other than pick on each other.
I tried the "movable coops" but they're heavy if they're built well enough to keep critters out. And then there's the logistics of having to move the chicken fence, and hauling water out to the chickens (as opposed to running a hose from my well). I found them more work than they were worth.
It is unlikely that raising your own chickens will be cheaper than grocery store eggs. But, if you compare apples to apples, the gap will narrow considerably. Where I live, organic free-range eggs (that are REALLY free range and not from chickens kept in a barn that has a door at one end that opens into a 10x10 dusty yard) are about $8 to $10 a dozen. Goose eggs are a dollar apiece.
Then there is the meat. Yes, chickens that live longer than 6 weeks and are not kept immobilized in a warehouse will be "tough" - that's why they called them Stewing Hens, back in the day when chickens had some actual flavor. You just need to understand that and cook them differently. Braising for a long slow time, actually stewing, or if you're in a hurry, bring on the pressure cooker.
If you want eggs through the winter, you will need to provide 12 to 14 hours per day of light. You will need to put lights in the coop. I have kept birds for 2 or 3 years and they continued to lay adequately.
Or you could do as most farmers have done for thousands of years, which is to keep a breeding stock and slaughter the rest for food as winter comes on. Then there's no need to feed over the winter or bother with lights, and in this modern age of hatcheries, there's no need to keep "breeding stock" either, unless you want to. You can freeze the meat and use it up gradually.
If you allow your chickens to free range - not run free without protection which will likely get them lost or eaten by hawks, critters, or your own dogs, but just to have the space to root around eating grasshoppers and weeds and what not - your feed bills will be lower. Don't forget to provide oyster shell. It's $10 for a 50lb bag here in this non-farming community, I imagine its cheaper in actual farming areas.
Plucking is no fun though. If you're going to have chickens, you need to have a plan to dispose of them at some point. Maybe a neighbor will slaughter, clean, and pluck them in exchange for some of the meat, or for eggs. Or there might be someone in the area willing to teach you how to do it yourself.
You don't have to have as elaborate a setup as I had, a coop with a fenced yard will do for the 6 or 8 birds it will take to satisfy your need for eggs. Just make sure they're not packed in there so tight they kill off all the grass. You can rotate the chickens around the coop so they don't overgraze, as it were. Install a few gates and shoo them through to where you want them during the day. If their morning feed is there (in the section you want them to occupy for the day), they'll be more likely to cooperate.
Just make sure to always feed them at the door to the coop in the evening and they'll (mostly) go there directly at the end of the day. Don't forget to make sure they have access to clean water at all times. I moved the pans with the oyster shell with them or provided it at each water station so they had access to that all day as well.
ugh..I used to have to help pluck them when I was a kid, I don't remember much about it except that it stunk. my grandmother would hold them over the open flame on the stove I think to remove 'pin feathers'? My mom told me that when she first got married her new mother-in-law told her to kill a chicken for dinner. She went out and got the chicken and there was a stump with an axe that her in-laws used for the task but she couldn't bring herself to do it so she opened the kitchen door stuck the chicken's head through the door and slammed the door -not only did she fail to kill the chicken she broke most of her fingers duh..
Yes, that was to burn the pin feathers off. Some people use a plumber's torch to do that these days. Other people find it easier to skin the bird entirely rather than deal with the plucking.
Not wire mesh, if that equates to "chicken wire" in your vernacular. "Chicken wire" is purt near useless.
Hardware cloth. Square mesh, about 1/2" spacing. I built my coop on posts elevated above the ground with hardware cloth on the exterior, including between the floor joists and the plywood floor, but only up to the level of the nest boxes. I had good coverage on the roof to protect the sides from rain. I used plywood for the floor and roof and no OSB or other "engineered" sheet products. I used T1-11 for the walls. Could have used plywood, but T1-11 wasn't that much more than plywood and it was more attractive. I treated it with clear sealer every year or so.
I had a slat you could raise from the outside to reach through into the nest boxes so I never had to set foot in the chicken coop, which allowed me to use 2x4s as floor joists.
A section of the coop all the way across the front could be pulled down and you could rake the bedding out into a wheelbarrow or garden wagon and take it to the compost heap. I used deep bedding and changed it regularly. I treated the floors and walls with whitewash about once a year as well, to cut down on mites - though I never actually had any. Well, my CHICKENS didn't, nor I either, LOL! Maybe that was due to the whitewash.
The coop let out into a small yard, which then let out into a narrow "chicken moat" that ran all the way around the garden. I don't remember how wide it was, but I had done some research about hawks and the width was supposed to make it impossible for a hawk to want to stoop on my chickens. All I can say about that is that I never had a loss from a hawk. Nor, for that matter, any other predator including snakes. Between the hardware cloth on the coop and my dogs during the day, no critter problems.
In fall I would let the chickens into the garden. I worried about hawks but never had a problem. Perhaps their frustration all spring, summer, and into the fall disinclined them to realize they might have some success at that point.
I had water stations on all four sides of the moat and gates so I could close off sections and shoo them back to the coop if necessary. Generally this was a non-issue as they knew they were getting their feed in the evening and they would go there and wait for it. The "moat" was sectioned - there were gates I could swing across to close sections off - so that the chickens didn't spend all their time in just one section and turn it into a barren dust bowl. It was a very large garden so they always had plenty of space, even if in a narrow strip.
I grew runner beans along the fence of the chicken moat for shade and forage for them. Birds can get bored too, and foraging among the vines gave them something to do other than pick on each other.
I tried the "movable coops" but they're heavy if they're built well enough to keep critters out. And then there's the logistics of having to move the chicken fence, and hauling water out to the chickens (as opposed to running a hose from my well). I found them more work than they were worth.
It is unlikely that raising your own chickens will be cheaper than grocery store eggs. But, if you compare apples to apples, the gap will narrow considerably. Where I live, organic free-range eggs (that are REALLY free range and not from chickens kept in a barn that has a door at one end that opens into a 10x10 dusty yard) are about $8 to $10 a dozen. Goose eggs are a dollar apiece.
Then there is the meat. Yes, chickens that live longer than 6 weeks and are not kept immobilized in a warehouse will be "tough" - that's why they called them Stewing Hens, back in the day when chickens had some actual flavor. You just need to understand that and cook them differently. Braising for a long slow time, actually stewing, or if you're in a hurry, bring on the pressure cooker.
If you want eggs through the winter, you will need to provide 12 to 14 hours per day of light. You will need to put lights in the coop. I have kept birds for 2 or 3 years and they continued to lay adequately.
Or you could do as most farmers have done for thousands of years, which is to keep a breeding stock and slaughter the rest for food as winter comes on. Then there's no need to feed over the winter or bother with lights, and in this modern age of hatcheries, there's no need to keep "breeding stock" either, unless you want to. You can freeze the meat and use it up gradually.
If you allow your chickens to free range - not run free without protection which will likely get them lost or eaten by hawks, critters, or your own dogs, but just to have the space to root around eating grasshoppers and weeds and what not - your feed bills will be lower. Don't forget to provide oyster shell. It's $10 for a 50lb bag here in this non-farming community, I imagine its cheaper in actual farming areas.
Plucking is no fun though. If you're going to have chickens, you need to have a plan to dispose of them at some point. Maybe a neighbor will slaughter, clean, and pluck them in exchange for some of the meat, or for eggs. Or there might be someone in the area willing to teach you how to do it yourself.
You don't have to have as elaborate a setup as I had, a coop with a fenced yard will do for the 6 or 8 birds it will take to satisfy your need for eggs. Just make sure they're not packed in there so tight they kill off all the grass. You can rotate the chickens around the coop so they don't overgraze, as it were. Install a few gates and shoo them through to where you want them during the day. If their morning feed is there (in the section you want them to occupy for the day), they'll be more likely to cooperate.
Just make sure to always feed them at the door to the coop in the evening and they'll (mostly) go there directly at the end of the day. Don't forget to make sure they have access to clean water at all times. I moved the pans with the oyster shell with them or provided it at each water station so they had access to that all day as well.
Wonderful information! Thank you so much. We are going to use heavy hardware cloth, I just couldn't think of the name of it. We have quite a bit of redwood lumber left over from some decking projects and will use that for the frame but I will check out the T1-11 I had never heard of it before. We aren't doing it to save money but we spend a lot on eggs- we only buy organic free range eggs they aren't cheap and it's sometimes difficult to find relatively fresh ones in the store. We have had buy chicken manure when we can't find it for free for our compost bins, so we will put the waste to good use.
Don't forget to provide them grit as well! I put that in the same pan as the oyster shell, the chickens would pick out what they wanted.
And a dust bath! I used a big concrete mixing bin - drill small holes in the bottom so it can drain when it rains, just a few, so the sand won't leak out much, put builder's sand in it. However I recently went to pick up some builder's sand and nobody knew what it is anymore. They offered me "all purpose sand" instead, which isn't sand at all but looks like what you'd add to cement to make concrete. Has gravel and what-all in it.
You don't want play sand either, it is too sharp. You want that brown sand that is somewhat fine. Try looking for mortar sand, though I couldn't find that either at any of the big box stores. They are now selling only pre-made mortar mixes.
I had to go to a quarry to get what I was looking for, in the end.
Not sure if they are really worth it. The coons, skunks and possums love to kill and eat chickens. This time of the year, there are a lot of black snakes that get the eggs. Have to deal with the snakes. Some of the chickens have been constricted to death by bull and black snakes. Stray dogs will also kill chickens. Have to buy feed and replacement hens.
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Please don't say they didn't suffer!
