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I have 3 chicken coops, from small one from Costco to 10x10 shad. Around 65 chickens.
2 quail coops with around 40 birds.
We just added five guineas to our flock.
I have total of about 3 000 sf fully fenced and netted runs.
Likely expand next year.
Our birds eat only grains, home made salads - yes, DW makes them huge bowl of cabbage salad around 2 pm, and whatever organic refuse we have.
And you just see what happens if they see meat.
That said, you WILL have rats coming. So keep that in mind.
That said, you WILL have rats coming. So keep that in mind.
Dogs & cats can solve that problem, I guess. Despite a neighborhood with many small barns & horses, we never saw any rats.
It sounds like you have a commercial program going. What do you do with all the eggs and manure? When I lived in the 'burbs, I had 20 +/- hens. My secretary was selling a dz of their eggs for $4 (heritage, including green Ameracauna) to her Yuppie friends- 4-6 dz/wk.
I would throw table scraps each AM on the horse manure pile and then open the coop door. The chickens would make a bee-line to the pile and gobble the scraps up immediately. So my "composted'" kitchen refuse actually got processed first by avian GI tracts before becoming fertilizer.
Rats live where people live. If you don't see them, it's because they don't want you to, and their numbers are small enough at the present time that they can pull it off. They are out there nonetheless.
Rats live where people live. If you don't see them, it's because they don't want you to, and their numbers are small enough at the present time that they can pull it off. They are out there nonetheless.
I'll belabor the point only to prevent others from being discouraged about keeping chickens:
Living in a near suburb of Chicago ( ie- plenty of rats in Chicago; easy access to our neighborhood) and being well aware of the signs of rat presence, and frequently finding mice, voles, skunks, raccoons and opposums (aren't they at least as reclusive as rats?) in and around my barn, and having kept motion-sensor- game cameras in the barn on occasion, we had NO rats.
Keeping chickens will only attract rats if the rats are already there anyways.
I wish we could where I live. The stupid thing is I live in a semi-rural area (there is a 100 acre farm not 2 miles from my house) and we're not allowed to have chickens, yet the nearest city allows them even in the downtown historic area. Of course, we do have coyotes out here, but in raising chickens one would presumably take precautions for their safety. It makes absolutely no sense to me.
Yeah, doesn't really make sense to me, either. I guess I'm lucky, where I live a LOT of the towns have "right to farm" laws. Doesn't matter if it is a hobby farm or not. Neighbors can't force you to not have chickens, if you want chickens.
Dogs & cats can solve that problem, I guess. Despite a neighborhood with many small barns & horses, we never saw any rats.
It sounds like you have a commercial program going. What do you do with all the eggs and manure? When I lived in the 'burbs, I had 20 +/- hens. My secretary was selling a dz of their eggs for $4 (heritage, including green Ameracauna) to her Yuppie friends- 4-6 dz/wk.
I would throw table scraps each AM on the horse manure pile and then open the coop door. The chickens would make a bee-line to the pile and gobble the scraps up immediately. So my "composted'" kitchen refuse actually got processed first by avian GI tracts before becoming fertilizer.
Had to laugh at the compost pile technique - sounds thoroughly gross!
Cats aren't really all that good at pest control. They tend to mostly hunt when hungry, and don't do more than a little towards pest control. I say that as someone who has cats, and encourages them to do pest control. The right dog, on the other hand, can be a "right-hand man" at varmint control. Look at cairn terriers, Jack Russells, and rat terriers, and look for working bloodlines. Make sure the parents work, and you can get a chance to see them working. You could take your chances with rescues, but you are taking a chance. You want a dog that has prey drive for small varmints, and will kill them, not just chase them. You can teach that if they have some drive, but it is hard. On the other hand, a good ratter will do all that instinctively, without any training. And don't get a Jack Russell if you don't want to put up with their intense energy. Rat terriers can be almost as demonically energetic, but aren't usually. On the other hand, if you do have a varmint problem, those guys can be worth their weight in gold.
Many years ago my family got a cairn as a pup. We didn't have rats, and didn't intend to work him. We moved, and the house had rats out back. The pup was an adult dog by then - had never seen a rat - but he knew exactly what to do with the rats. We chased out about 5 or so from underneath a shed, and before a single one of them could get to the yard's fence, and safety, that dog had killed every last one. It was a beauty to watch.
I've seen youtube vids of night-time plinking of chicken-coop rats, with night-scope and all. But I think a good dog is a better solution. They will be on duty 24/7, and they can find the rats. Plinking requires a clear line-of-sight.
Chickens have OWNED the island of Kauai for 20 years and more. They don't search for food anymore though. Instead, they lurk in the underbrush and wait for tourists.
They do this in Maui too. I walked across the front of the hospital there and was attacked by a female who had a bunch of little ones. Guard chickens. haha
In Maui, these wild chicken are like show chickens. They are beautiful!
We always had them growing up... even a Rooster that would crow each morning...
It bothered Dad thinking it was going to get the neighbors upset to Sorry Charlie... Charlie was his name.
Not too long after the neighbors asked if we still had a chicken... turns out Charlie didn't bother them at all...
A have tenants with chickens and it is a mixed bag... they like to let them out each morning... any plant or ground cover will the scratched through and makes a mess in what was a semi-decent back yard... also the patio needs more tending to keep clean.
Ours were never free range... the did have a 10x20 coop
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Guard chickens. haha
