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***backyard chicken thread***

5,816 Views | 50 Replies | Last: 1 day ago by Wodanaz
jakeaggie84
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3:24p, 3/5/22
AG
Figured we could start a conversation to help each other. Crazy chicken women on Facebook don't have as good of info as I think the OB would have.

Started a small flock with my daughters last spring. Live in houston suburb. Trying to keep it secret. Getting about 6-7 eggs a day with our flock of 8.

Wanting to switch to producers feed because I'm in CS often and hear good things and cheaper than Tractor supply. Anyone have good results with their layer feed?

Any other suburban farmers here??
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jakeaggie84
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3:32p, 3/5/22
AG


Have 2 golden sex links, 2 barred rocks, 1 australorp, 1 buff Orpington, 1 light Brahma, and 1 Rhodes island red.
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wai3gotgoats
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4:31p, 3/5/22
AG
If you are getting 75% egg production, do not, I REPEAT, DO NOT CHANGE A THING. You are doing better than incredibly well.

In general, any change in feed, especially if protien content is being reduced, a reduction in egg laying will be a result. Likely, a molt might be a result as well.
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jakeaggie84
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In reply to wai3gotgoats • 5:23p, 3/5/22
AG
Good point. Going from purina layer at 16% protein to Producers layers at 17% protein and $6 cheaper per bag. Figure the aggies know what they are doing.

We let them roam the left side of the house. No predators yet. Thinking the smell of my 60 pound dog is keeping them away for now.

Grass has been decimated the past year on that side. Trying to grow some barley and wheat grass to supplement their foraging.
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Fleen
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9:19p, 3/5/22
I just cleaned up our coop area, (North Bryan) we have been birdless for about 4 months now.
Used to hatch every year in my first grade classroom and being the chicks home. This time we're looking for some juvenile hens, we took on a second foster daughter and her room used to be the "chick nursery" so I need them ready to be outside already...

Anybody nearby with some birds available, I'd be interested...
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The_Waco_Kid
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9:40p, 3/5/22
AG
I've done well with Purina Layer and supplementing with Flock Raiser when molt starts. Haven't tried Founders. One of the best ones I've tried was Purina Free Range with Black Soldier Fly larvae in it for a "free range" diet that still has oyster shells in it for calcium, but was a little too pricey for the benefit. Just let them free range instead.
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jakeaggie84
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In reply to Fleen • 10:50p, 3/5/22
AG
I know seabreeze in the houston area has a good reputation and a big selection of juvenile hens.

https://www.seabreezehens.com/shop-chickens-for-sale
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wai3gotgoats
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In reply to Fleen • 11:01p, 3/5/22
AG
There was a lady in Calvert/Hearne area that raised lots of chickens and sold nearly grown, ready to start laying pullets. I'll search for some contact info for her, as I had spoken on the phone with her a couple of times. Seems like she had a website, or posted classifieds in newspaper and area classified brochures, or had a Facebook presence.
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clinte234
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4:46a, 3/6/22
AG
Anyone interested in a couple of 1 year old, light Brahma roosters? We are ready to remove them from our flock!

BCS area
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MemphisAg1
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10:19a, 3/6/22
AG
Just keep an eye out for the dogs. My neighbor has backyard chickens and his rooster flew over the fence one day. My son's lab got it before you could snap your fingers. About a year later their dog got ahold of a hen while they were gone -- little bitty yippee dog, but he got ahold of it and drug it around in a circle, bouncing it on the ground mercilessly until it was gone. Didn't take long.
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jakeaggie84
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In reply to clinte234 • 10:31a, 3/6/22
AG
clinte234 said:
Anyone interested in a couple of 1 year old, light Brahma roosters? We are ready to remove them from our flock!

BCS area


Our light Brahma is the favorite. Very easy going, big and quiet. Can't have roosters though, so good luck!
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rather be fishing
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8:31p, 3/6/22
AG
Our property came with a chicken coop and my wife has talked me into getting chickens. Coop is currently on a concrete slab, and I would prefer to not move it. I've seen some varying opinions on keeping chickens on top of concrete. Since we're on 9.5 acres out in the middle of nowhere, I plan to let them roam most of the time, but don't want to create an odor and mess situation that's more hassle than it needs to be.

I need to give it a once over and be sure the wire on it is in good shape. We got all kinds of critters up here that I'll have to keep out.



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jtp01
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6:35a, 3/7/22
AG
I'll second the caution with dogs. My in-laws left their 2 dogs with us when the went on their rv trip about 5 years ago when we still lived in Amarillo. We put them in the back yard and within 10 minutes, they had broken 2 pickets on the fence and had killed all but one of our 6 hens.

Second occasion we had moved up here to the farm and bought one of the silly cheap chicken houses from Tractor Supply and put our birds in. Wishing an hour dogs jumped the fence destroyed the chicken coop and killed all of the birds.

Our next attempt will be inside a 10x10 dog kennel with the coop inside. We don't necessarily need tons of birds, the 6 we had in Amarillo was almost perfect for us. For most of their time with us they would lay 5-6 eggs per day.
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Fleen
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In reply to wai3gotgoats • 10:58a, 3/7/22
Yes, please let me know...
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wai3gotgoats
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In reply to Fleen • 1:46p, 3/7/22
AG
Fleen said:
Yes, please let me know...


Haven't found contact info on lady in Hearne.

Found this about CM4 Ranch Poultry Trade Days coming up in Buffalo. Looks like next trade day is April 23rd., but you may find what you are wanting by contacting
Malissa Westerfield

281-785-8667

cm4ranch@gmail.com

https://www.poultryshowcentral.com/CM4_Ranch_Poultry_Trade_Days.html

Here is another lead worth trying, maybe
http://idumasale.com
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reddog90
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In reply to jakeaggie84 • 3:03p, 3/7/22
AG
jakeaggie84 said:
Figured we could start a conversation to help each other. Crazy chicken women on Facebook don't have as good of info as I think the OB would have.

Started a small flock with my daughters last spring. Live in houston suburb. Trying to keep it secret. Getting about 6-7 eggs a day with our flock of 8.

Wanting to switch to producers feed because I'm in CS often and hear good things and cheaper than Tractor supply. Anyone have good results with their layer feed?

Any other suburban farmers here??
I fed H&H layer pellets when I had yard birds. It's a little harder to find the pellets than the mash. Wabash doesn't usually carry it but Quality Feed does.
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91AggieLawyer
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10:00p, 3/7/22
AG
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jakeaggie84
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10:02p, 3/7/22
AG
Girls wanted a couple colored egg layers. Found some at tractor supply this weekend. Told them they could get them, but it was all on them to raise. They use their money to buy the chicks and food and everything, then work on introducing them to the flock in a few months.

2 Easter Eggers and 2 barnevelders


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CE Lounge Lizzard
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4:47a, 3/8/22
AG
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TarponChaser
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In reply to CE Lounge Lizzard • 8:41a, 3/8/22
THAT'S. PERVERSE.
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jakeaggie84
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1:43p, 3/13/22
AG
Does anyone use the electric poultry netting to let their chickens graze openly during the day?

Chickens have been awesome this week averaging 7 eggs a day for the past 6 days with two days in a row of 8 out of 8!
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jakeaggie84
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1:46p, 3/13/22
AG
Also, what do y'all do with the chicken poop? Compost? Straight to garden? Make a "tea"?
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tk111
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In reply to jakeaggie84 • 2:48p, 3/14/22
AG
jakeaggie84 said:
Also, what do y'all do with the chicken poop? Compost? Straight to garden? Make a "tea"?
Our run is dirt with some hay on top and it all just breaks down fairly quickly (Our chickens dont roam - they stay in the enclosed run). It's all covered to keep it dry. As long as the stuff stays dry you won't have a smell. The coop is raised so it has a wooden base that we put cheap laminate tile over and then throw plenty of hay in there. Then it's real easy to just sweep the hay out of the coop every two weeks or so - and that hay we throw into a compost bin. Chicken s*** compost is the best...

But yeah my best advice for anyone worried about smell is to keep any area where the chickens will be often congregating from getting wet.
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Lola68
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3:31p, 3/14/22
I have purchased chicks and six-week old chickens from mypetchicken.com several times. They mail them to you and will immediately replace any dead birds.
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aggie0959
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4:20p, 3/14/22
Last year around this time we bought chicks and got a bit carried away we ended up with 40 chicks (bard rock, Easter eggers, cream legbars, production blues, and 3 silky). I had always been told you will lose some. I must be one hell of a chicken farmer because they all lived. We gave some to our BOA and other community members, And butchered the rosters. We are averaging about 20 eggs a day on 29 hens. I keep full feed purina layer while allowing them to have full run of 1.5 acre pen.

Anyone try changing egg flavor/color with different foods?
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rather be fishing
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5:32p, 3/14/22
AG
Any comments or suggestions on improvements needed on the interior of my coop? Looks like I'm going to need to replace the floor as the plywood is about to fall through.


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Bird93
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12:53p, 3/15/22
AG
I've got 8 Barred Rock and 7 Rhode Island Reds. Just feed them straight Purina Layer and supplement with some scratch and dried mealworms. We typically get about a dozen eggs/day, so I've really never considered straying from that formula. Do they need anything more from a nutritional standpoint?
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HeadGames
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In reply to rather be fishing • 1:44p, 3/15/22
AG
I would get better laying boxes to keep your eggs clean.

https://bestnestbox.com/pages/the-box

Also, are you in Montana? You want to keep your house at 71F if you want ideal laying temperatures. I would put lighting and something to warm it up during the winter months.

My recommendation is to follow the Lohmann management guide. Although it's for large scale production, there are still some tidbits that can be scaled down for your backyard flock.
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ToddyHill
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2:05p, 3/15/22
AG
We must either be lucky, or have been blessed with an awesome dog. We have a rather large Aussie. He's our 'horse' dog and regularly brings our horses to the barn in the evening. Despite his ability to get worked up with the horses, we regularly take him into the fenced Coop area where we have 12 hens. He calmly walks among the chickens and has never been aggressive. Weird.

That said, we too have experienced the aggression of a neighbors dog...took out our favorite hen (we called her Minnie Pearl) when she was free ranging a couple of years ago.
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rather be fishing
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In reply to HeadGames • 2:42p, 3/15/22
AG
HeadGames said:
I would get better laying boxes to keep your eggs clean.

https://bestnestbox.com/pages/the-box

Also, are you in Montana? You want to keep your house at 71F if you want ideal laying temperatures. I would put lighting and something to warm it up during the winter months.

My recommendation is to follow the Lohmann management guide. Although it's for large scale production, there are still some tidbits that can be scaled down for your backyard flock.
Yes, NW Montana. I'll have to talk with some folks up here on ideas for keeping the coop warm through the winter. I do have electricity about 50-60ft away.

Appreciate the suggestions.
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MouthBQ98
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3:21p, 3/15/22
AG
3 Rhode Island Reds and 3 leghorns.

They put out 4-5 eggs a day except when molting.

I feed layer pellets with some scratch grains now and then. I let them roam a bit when there don't seem to be hawks about.

My collies find them amusing and might try to herd them a bit but no interest in actually catching them. They do like layer pellets however.
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MouthBQ98
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3:26p, 3/15/22
AG




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HeadGames
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3:34p, 3/15/22
AG
I've actually wanted to quit my job and build affordable and fancy chicken coops. You know, put my many poultry degrees to work. Just been too busy with my current day job.
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aggie0959
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In reply to ToddyHill • 6:18p, 3/15/22
Our Aussie does not bother ours as well
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wareagle044
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6:26p, 3/15/22
Not a chicken pen but a walk around of my backyard Duck run

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