Chickens and other backyard animal ideas.

[TheGrey]

Let me dig around. I think I have plans for a portable chicken coop stashed somewhere that I can PM you when I find it. I've been considering doing the chicken thing, too- but I know it's going to cost some initial money, so I'm planning for 2014 or 2015.


Actually, I think I saw it in a magazine. They call them "Chicken Tractors" and this is a good site that has a lot of pictures to give you an idea.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/ch...n-coop-designs

Clearly, the people that have little houses with a porch and trim are a little more rabid about their pet chickens than others....

[JohnTRourke]

Chickens 101


Chickens can be wonderful pets. They are incredibly entertaining and can even make your breakfast However, some common concerns people have about raising chickens include them running wild in the streets, being smelly, noisy and attracting predators. The City of Boulder has allowed chickens for quite a while now, and I’ve never seen one running down Pearl Street Mall. Smelly? Not necessarily. Noisy? They are much quieter than a barking dog. Attracting predators? Well those predators are already here and in any city. With proper and responsible management most of the concerns raised can be avoided and anyone can raise chickens. However, chickens aren’t appropriate for everybody. Not everybody is going to want them or be able to care for them.

Longmont permits up to 4 chickens and in Boulder County, 50 chickens are the equivalent of one Animal Unit (AU). Most cities have differing laws on how many chickens are allowed in a backyard, and you should check with your appropriate city agency for you to see if they are allowed and if so what conditions are placed upon them.

Egg production –So how many chickens do you need to feed your family? First, chickens are flock animals so don’t ever get only one chicken. Chickens can lay 1 egg a day once they reach adulthood at approximately 18-22 weeks old. Their egg cycle is approximately 25 hours. They are born with approximately 1000 ovum, meaning that they have the potential of laying only about 1000 eggs in their lifetime. As they get older they also decrease in productivity. So you can expect good production from a chicken for only about 2 to 2.5 years. They will lay for longer but a lot fewer eggs making them less economical to keep because their food ration remains the same.

Some chickens are bred to be high producing layers like the Leghorn, and the Red and Black Star breeds and you will get nearly an egg a day from them. Some of the more traditional dual purpose breeds like the Orpingtons lay fewer, 3-5 eggs a week on average. If you have an average mixed breed flock, plan on a 75% lay rate everyday; so if you want 4 eggs a day you should have approximately 6 laying chickens.

Just like us, chickens do not produce well when they are too hot or too cold. They can also slow down or completely stop production in the winter because they require about 14 hours of light a day. Some people supplement their light by adding a small light to their coop that comes on early in the morning to extend their day. Others choose to let their chickens have their natural rest over the winter. Other things can affect their rate of lay such as stress, molting, health, age, weather, lack of water, etc.

Note that you do not need a rooster for the chickens to lay eggs. Chickens will lay just fine without a rooster and most cities don’t allow roosters anyway. The only difference is that without a rooster, the egg is not fertilized and will not hatch.

Space - How much space a chicken requires depends on the breed of chicken you choose; heavy breeds like Orpingtons, Rocks, Australorps, and Jersey Giants require 4 sq ft. of coop space per bird while regular size breeds like Leghorns, Red Stars or Araucanas require only about 3 sq ft per bird and Bantam breeds only require 2 sq. ft.

The rule of thumb for run space (the fenced area that chickens can play in) should be about 10 sq feet per bird. This gives them room to dust bathe, play and stretch their wings a bit. The more they are out in the run the less they are inside soiling their coop so it’s a good idea to have a nice run for them to spend their day in.

You might think you can get away with a smaller area per bird, but that’s when trouble starts. Cramped chickens are not happy chickens. If chickens are overcrowded in a small space they start picking at each other causing bleeding and possibly even death. The coop will start to smell bad as litter management is difficult if there are too many birds in a small space.

Safety - Protecting your chickens from harm is an important responsibility. Coops should be good solid predator-safe houses. They need to be safe from dogs, foxes, snakes, skunks and coyotes (yes, there are coyotes even in the city). Many people have lost most their flock due to flimsily built coops and runs. Chickens will naturally return to the roost at dusk. So all you need to do is shut and lock the door after the sun goes down. It’s important that you lock them safely in their coops at dusk. No exceptions here, it only takes leaving the door open once to lose your entire flock.

The runs also need to be secure and need to be safe from flying and climbing predators such as hawks and owls. The modern day chicken wire has become too flimsy to keep out most predators. I’d suggest that you use welded wire and bury about a foot of wire into the ground or fold it out about a foot along the ground around the run to deter digging predators.

Feed - A good quality feed is critical for chickens. Chicks need a different feed than laying chickens. Baby chicks need to be eating starter feed until about 18 weeks of age. This feed is low in calcium which they don’t currently need and feeding them the layer ration will give them too much calcium that could endanger their kidneys.

Laying chickens need a good quality layer ration; this will give them the added necessary nutrients needed for egg production. Even with the added nutrients they will probably need additional calcium for shell strength. Most people feed crushed oyster shells in a separate feeder so they can eat what they need when they need it

Water is a critical part of chicken feeding. It’s important that they always have plenty of clean fresh water available. Never let them run out as it could take a week or more to recover after only a very short time without water. Laying eggs uses a lot of water, letting a chicken run out of water can easily and quickly lead to death.

Scratch is the chicken equivalent of candy to humans. Feeding just scratch grains is not a sufficient source of nutrients for chickens. It’s also not good to feed too much scratch in the summer as it may cause them to overheat. Chickens love scratch and if you need to move them around, just throw a little scratch wherever you want them to go.

Chickens love treats, they eat a lot of the leftovers and scraps from the kitchen and they LOVE green grass. Letting them out to play in the backyard or pasture is good for them and hugely entertaining to watch. Free ranging may not be allowed by city ordinance so giving them handfuls of green grass will do.

Litter management - With proper management, you shouldn’t have to change the litter more than just a few times a year. Many people use pine shavings, they absorb the moisture and have the fresh pine smell. The chickens keep the littler fluffed up and you can aid in that by throwing a handful of scratch in the litter and they’ll search for seeds. Pine shavings also work well in the nesting boxes and you get much cleaner eggs from using shavings in the nesting boxes.

Other people like to use straw. The problem with straw is it gets smashed down and with the chicken droppings adding to it constantly you end up with something close to adobe. It’s very hard to clean up once it gets to this state.

With shavings you just put down about 4” or so, and as they soil the bedding, just mix it up and add a few inches of fresh shavings. This is actually a very beneficial way of handling the litter. It’s called the Deep Litter Method and I’d recommend you research it more as you decide how you want to handle the litter issue.

Noise- Chickens are not very noisy. They do bawk and squawk when they lay an egg, and I don’t blame them. But that’s about all you hear out of them. They are much quieter than barking dogs for sure and because they don’t lay at night, they make no noise after dark. There are however, some breeds that are noisier than others or the rare chicken who just can’t stop talking but those are exception rather than the rule. Roosters, of course, like to crow, whenever it is light out. They are very proud of being roosters and want the whole world to know it. But since most city ordinances don’t allow Roosters, this usually isn’t a problem.

Weather- Temperature can play havoc on chickens. There are some breeds that are better suited for cold winter weather than others. Your major concern here is keeping the water from freezing; adding a red heat lamp over the water supply to keep it thawed and also helps keep the coop a little warmer. You can also purchase heated waterers or heat pans that go under them.

Heat can be more of a problem than cold; after all they do have feathers to stay warm. Make sure they have a shaded area to get out of the sun, plenty of fresh water and well ventilated coop. Avoid feeding them scratch in the summer.

How to choose a chicken? There is a lot of information on choosing the right Chicken breed to meet your objective. Once you decide what your goal is, whether is be just for fun, egg production, or meat or both, then you can find many sources that will outline some of the basic breeds that meet those criteria. The best chart I’ve found that outlines most of these traits is the Henderson Chicken Chart and it is available online at: http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenders...ks/chooks.html .

There is much to learn and know about raising chickens. More than can be covered in this short article. I recommend that you take the time to research chickens to decide if they are a good fit for you or not. It took me about 2 years of research before I managed to beat my husband over the head with all my knowledge so he would let me start my chicken venture.

Chickens don’t have to be as difficult as some people think. For those who have the minimal time and energy to put into raising them it can be very rewarding. They do require proper management to avoid the pit falls but their eggs are wonderful and fresh and you don’t have to go to the store to get them.

Resources:
Storey’s Guide to Rising Chickens by Gail Damarow
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenders...ks/chooks.html
http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/Avian/pfs36.pdf
http://www.poultry.uga.edu/extension/tips/index.htm