Re: Help with our first Chickens
From: Jill. (news_at_REMOVETHISkintaline.co.uk)
Date: 10/05/04
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Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2004 16:53:03 +0100
"Jerrit Tyler" <jerrit@grnet.com> wrote in message
news:ae7c35cb.0410042133.640c6b01@posting.google.com...
> My wife, son and I moved to an old farm house on 1.5 acres (the rest
> of the farm land was sold to developers years ago) and my 14 year old
> son is convinced that he's now a farmer. so we got chickens, 2 rhode
> island reds and we made a chicken coup. It's about 4ft x 8ft total.
> 4x4 is a plywood walls and a slopped roof with locking latch to keep
> smart predators from opening it.
As I gather you get pretty cold in the winter I might suggest you double
wall this and insulate it.
Birds do not need heating generally as long as what they are in retains some
of the heat they create. 2 birds in a large house like this may get rather
chilly. A min max thermometer might be a useful pruchase until you get used
to keeping chickens
The other 4x4 area is a chicken wired
> "yard" and there is a opening to get from the inside area to the
> outside yard area...they are nice and secure.
This is very small to be permanent exercise area
They will have used up the goodness in the ground and it will now be turning
sour.
Chickens are not "runaways" - you have an acre and a half - let them out
during the day - they will return at night to be shut in
> The wife wants eggs from them, the son lost interest and now they have
> become the wife's pets. We are in Michigan and she is concerned with
> cold winters.
> We can replace the frozen water daily.
How quickly does it take to freeze?
You may well need to do this several times a day - having a couple of
drinkers is a good idea.
They must have access to fresh water all the time
but we dont know if that is
> often enough.
> our yard is not fenced and we wonder if the chickens can wander around
> freely in the yard...will they stay or run off or be killed by
> predators?
What daytime predators do you have?
> They are 6-10 months old ad we wonder if/when they will start to lay
> eggs.
They probably should have started laying by now - what concerns me is that
you do not know if they are 26 weeks old or 42 weeks old. If they are the
former they may not yet be mature enough.
When did you buy them ?
How old were they at that time exactly?
> We lay their inside area with lots of hay and the outside yard area
> has some hay...
Hay can also carry mites
Shavings is much better in the house and if you have to confine them in
their run for some reason --[make it bigger] and fill it with a deep layer
of bark chips or something that the muck can run through and you can turn
over
all dirt floors, they scratch and eat all the ants they
> can find...we feed them chicken feed,
how much each day?
nothing else. should we be
> feeding them table scraps? bread? anything else?
Greens etc would be much appreciated
If you keep them so confined they are going to need worming regularly and
they are going to get very bored
Its much more fun for the birds and for you if you let them loose
They would certainly appreciate much more space.
Housing you need to get advice from poultry keepers in your area
HAve fun
-- regards Jill Bowis Pure bred utility chickens and ducks Housing; Equipment, Books, Videos, Gifts Herbaceous; Herb and Alpine nursery Holidays in Scotland and Wales http://www.kintaline.co.uk we are not sure if > were doing this right and dont want sick/dead or lost chickens. > > Thanks, > > Jerrit > jerrit@grnet DOT com
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