Raising chickens

[Irving]

He cranks the cap off by squeezing it in his armpit. You know, to keep it clean.

[SamuraiCO]

When we had feeders my dad used a bent metal coat hanger to hold the chicken upside down. He used a fillet knife and his cut was inside the back of the mouth severing arteries and brain stem in one cut. No fuss.

The comments for those humane chicken processing videos were classic. Vegans trying to explain we were never meant to eat meat. Good for a laugh.

Can't wait for the opportunity as well. Some day i'll get my country life in Green Acres.

[RonMexico]

Our first egg

[RonMexico]

1 month down and here is a few things we have learned

1) 3 layers require 5/15mins of maintenance a day
2) the crap a lot and stink
3) they constantly dirty their water, we now have dual watering systems
4) if I don't move the tractor coop every 3/5days, they kill the grass
5) they love worms more than laying feed and scratch
We now get 1/2eggs a day, but they took a few weeks to settle in and our dog didn't help.

[hatidua]

Unless NC has changed drastically since I lived there, watch out for raccoons: raccoons love chickens in a tear-it-apart-and-eat-it-manner.

[TheGrey]

1 month down and here is a few things we have learned

1) 3 layers require 5/15mins of maintenance a day
2) the crap a lot and stink
3) they constantly dirty their water, we now have dual watering systems
4) if I don't move the tractor coop every 3/5days, they kill the grass
5) they love worms more than laying feed and scratch
We now get 1/2eggs a day, but they took a few weeks to settle in and our dog didn't help.

Try hanging the food and waterer from the ceiling so it's a few inches off the ground- they won't be able to kick bedding and such into the feeders.

Have you tried mealworms? Maybe they need more protein and oystershell?

[Irving]

Raccoons will kill things just because. When raccoons get into my neighbor's fish ponds, they pull the fish out, bite their heads, and just leave them in the grass.

[TheGrey]

Raccoons are vile. They may be cute, but they are NOT to be trusted or tolerated.

[Great-Kazoo]

Raccoons will kill things just because. When raccoons get into my neighbor's fish ponds, they pull the fish out, bite their heads, and just leave them in the grass.

That's a warning visit. next time, ...................

[Delvehound]

So I had a close call the other day. The dumb dog ripped off the 1/2" hardware cloth off the framing for the chicken run. He got in there, ate some chicken food and the watermelon rinds I threw in there for the birds. I thought the worst, but all the chickens were there. I guess it really was a good idea to include the dogs from the day I got the baby chicks... I fixed it with about half a ton of those 5/8" staples. Hopefully the dog will leave the run alone from now on. He didn't really dig under, he somehow peeled it all away from the framing... no idea...

So, I let the chickens roam the backyard this weekend, and the dogs don't give a crap about them anymore. I've got a bloodhound (Arlo - birdy), and a coonhound (Daisy - could stay sleeping if a chicken walked across her face). Arlo follows the chickens around the yard trying with all his might to find out what the heck they're eating. It's pretty entertaining, especially when the chickens start chasing him..