My Chickens

[shanstress70]

What started out as kind of a joke on another thread has convinced me to get chickens to control our spider problem. All thanks to ALMom! I have cancelled the exterminator service.

I'm very excited about it, and have been researching it all weekend. We have a small fenced in yard in the city limits, but apparently chicken raising is increasing in popularity, in part bc of Martha Stewart who does it and talks about it on her show! I plan to keep only hens, which are really quiet. They will keep the bugs under control, eat food scraps, AND give us free range organic eggs (in a few months)!

We have a Little Tykes playhouse that my son has outgrown that will be perfect for the coop, complete with sinks for nesting boxes! We'll put a caged run about 4 feet out from the coop, and we'll let them out for a couple hours each day to be 'free range' and kill the bugs.

I'm going Sat. to pick up 3 or 4 silver-laced wyandotte chicks. They're about 2 weeks old and I think it'll be great for us to raise them.

See a pic of the chicks here: http://www.cacklehatchery.com/aeg0237.JPG

And the hen here: http://www.poultrymad.co.uk/images/wyandottes/SilvLaceWy.jpg

Anybody got any chicken experience here?

[Buzzyboy]

Women make me "chicken".

[shanstress70]

That's great, Buzzyboy! Thanks for letting me know that.

[BenRaines]

I have lots. When I was a kid we purchased 100 baby pullets. These were chicks that were days old. You ever seen the I Love Lucy episode with the chicks all over in the kitchen and running all over the house. It was fall and way too cold for them to be outside. Also with that many chicks if one pecks another and a red spot shows up they all peck it. Soon there are red spots everywhere and we lost some more to the pecking to death. We finally had them outside and raised them to about 12 weeks old. I think we ended up with about 75 fryers that we killed and put in our freezer and had chicken for some time after that.

We also had hens for laying eggs but these were raised just for eating.

The slaughter and plucking I will leave for another time.

Ben Raines

[shanstress70]

Yeah Ben, I'm all about the eggs, but when they're done laying I won't be able to eat them. Knowing me, I'll probably still keep them as pets. But seeing as how I can't get more than the 3 or 4 I start out with, I'd probably give them to a 'country' family member to eat, so I could replace them with more egg-laying hens.

[BenRaines]

Have you checked that you are allowed to have chickens within city limits? We lived on a farm so no problem. The other problem you have with chickens in the back yard is hawks. I have seen hawks dive in to a neighbors back yard and take away a chicken at a time. Neighbors wondered how they were getting out.

Ben Raines

[shanstress70]

Yes, I've looked into that. Surprisingly, my city of Raleigh is very liberal when it comes to backyard chickens. There are absolutely no restrictions. The only thing is if they violate a noise ordinance... for that reason, no roosters.

As far as the hawks, that's just crazy, but you're not the first person who has brought that up. Hawks can get full grown chickens? Dang! They will be in the coop or in a caged run (with ground for bottom), except for when we're there to supervise.

I do appreciate anything else you can think of. I need to have all this ironed out before Sunday.

[BenRaines]

For food use a commercial grade of chicken feed and make sure it has ground oyster shell in it or some other calcium rich additive. It makes their shells hard when they lay eggs. If only corn fed and no other supplement they will come out with very soft shells or only the membrane. We had chickens for years growing up. A lost art.

Ben Raines

Oh yes. If you are going to have a bulb in the converted playhouse to keep them warm as newborns get a red light. The red makes everything red to them and they won't peck each other. If you use a white light it could be bad news. Only need a 40 watt bulb most likely.

Ben Raines

[shanstress70]

Great, I will do that. I'm planning on keeping them inside until 5 weeks or so, and they will almost be 3 weeks when I get them. Being that old, will they need a light? It should be pretty warm here by then. I read that at birth they need 90 degrees, 85 at one week, 80 at 2 weeks, etc. So maybe temp won't be an issue? If I do need to put one out there, it won't be a big deal. I'll just grab my husband's work light that hangs up and put a red bulb in it.

[BenRaines]

Hopefully you have an outside porch to keep them on. In the house they can be very smelly and they mess a lot. Not like ducks or geese but they make enough mess. If you are going to have them inside for five weeks they will not need a light. We ate ours at 12 weeks. They grow very fast. I bet you have them outside in three weeks. You let me know.

Ben Raines

[shanstress70]

Well, when I get them they'll be 2 1/2 weeks, and I read somewhere that they need to stay inside till they're 5 weeks old, so that'd only be a little over 2 weeks in our house. And I was thinking of leaving them inside in a rubbermaid crate in pine chips that I would clean out frequently, but we do have a garage if they're smelly. I really want to handle them a lot so they will hopefully attach to us and be more like pets that earn their keep with eggs. I've read that this breed is a docile one that enjoys human contact, in general.

Anyway, maybe that 5 week thing was not accurate? I guess it's fine to put them out sooner since our henhouse will be secure, and we live in a pretty warm climate.

Oh, I do have a couple questions:

Can they fly over our 6 ft fence? I know you can clip their wings, but I'd rather not have to bother unless it's really necessary.

How soon will they start eating bugs? (That IS why I'm getting them anyway!)

[Dr T]

"I say..."

[BenRaines]

They will start eating bugs right away. We used to clip their wings with a pair of scissors. They can, once they get old enough, easily fly to the top of a six foot fence. Just make sure you only clip their feathers and not the wings. Wings bleed, feathers don't.

Ben Raines

Dr. T, that is one of my favorite cartoon characters. What a wise old bird.

Ben Raines

[Marsha]

Shan,

I THINK that you only want to clip ONE wings feathers. That is what we did to our birds, clip two and they can still fly. Ben can confirm that one. :)

Marsha

[Outshined]

How soon will they start eating bugs? (That IS why I'm getting them anyway!)

Well, you have to sit them down and explain what their job is...kidding. To them, you're putting them in a candy store; all the good stuff you can eat. They'll be terrorizing the insect (and arachnid) life as soon as you set them on the ground.

[Rosewood]

This is so exciting Shan! You'll have to give us updates from time to time. We had free range chickens in the valley when I was a kid. (We didn't call them free range in those days) It was such a great learning experience.

I do remember a few things. Sometimes if one gets weak they'll peck it to death. You might want a separate little pen just in case.

If they stop laying for a while try warm cooked oatmeal. I know it sounds crazy, but it always worked. I have no idea why.

Watch out for hawks and owls they really will get your chickens.

[Guest MrsS]

Black widow spider

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_widow_spider

Adult female black widow spiders are gloss black with an hourglass shaped marking on the underside of its abdomen which, although most commonly red, may range in color from white to yellow to various shades of orange and red. They also bear a small, usually red (colors vary) dot near the spinerettes, which is separate from the hourglass. In L. variolus, the two halves of the hourglass shape may be separated into two separate patches. A large female black widow spider can grow to about 1.5 inches (38 mm), counting legspan. The body is about 0.5-0.6 inches (12-16 mm). Male black widow spiders are half the size of the female or smaller. They have longer legs and a smaller abdomen in relation to their body size. They are also usually dark brown with varying colors of stripes/dots, with no hourglass mark. Adult males can be distinguished from juvenile females by their more-slender body, longer legs and large pedipalps typical of most other male spiders.

As with many venomous creatures, the brightly colored markings serve as a warning to predators. Eating a black widow will normally not kill a small predator birds, et cetera), but the sickness that follows digestion is enough for the creature to remember that the bright red marking means "do not eat." Because the adult female black widow typically hangs and moves about its web upside down, its hourglass is on its front. However, juvenile widows (female) spend a large quantity of time in search of an optimal environment. Once an optimal location is found, adult female widows often spend their entire lives in one place. However, because juvenile females must first find this optimal location, they bear brightly colored marks upon their backs, so that they may be seen by predators when the widow is traveling upon its legs. Males bear similar marks to the females to serve as warning while they are searching for mates, however, the marks are not as prominent (not as brightly colored, or as large). Males, being less venomous, are less of a threat to predators, so having similar marks not as prominent helps predators to better judge their prey (some large birds can eat male widows without adverse effect, and so only avoid female widows. Those who cannot eat any widow without adverse effect eat nothing with the marks). Female juveniles develop an hourglass before the dorsal markings are shed. As is characteristic of all arthropods, black widow spiders have a hard exoskeleton composed of chitin and protein (5).

Hopefully the chckens will eat up all the male black widows,thus the females will leave looking for mates or die off without reproducing.

[TXRed]

Congrats on your new adventure! My favorite chickens are Americaunas because they lay colored eggs. Plus, they come in so many different colors. Last spring, I ordered 25 baby chicks, and right now, I have 2. Hawks, cats, owls, foxes, etc., etc., etc. You don't just have to worry about the attacks from above, you also have to worry about the attacks from UNDER the fence. Then, I have to worry about my own neglect . . . I forgot to close the chicken house door a couple of times. If you are only going to have four hens, have you considered the possibility of buying them grown? It takes six months for a hen to start laying, and around here, you can usually find some grown (or nearly grown) hens for about $6-8.

I have not decided yet what I will do this year. . . . .babies or adults. Babies means that I can get my favorite breed, but adults mean that I don't have to buy so many or wait so long.

The last time, I bought part Bantams (which they only sell in "straight run") and part full size hens. I love the Bantams, because they tend to get "broody" better than the larger chickens, and I love to be able to raise babies.

Years ago, we had three bantam hens that made their nests in a fifty five gallon barrel of hay. All the other chickens laid their eggs in the barrel, too; so these three little hens were covering 20 some odd eggs. One day, I was in the shed where the barrel was and was wondering why we hadn't seen any babies yet when I heard a "peep". Well, I was not the only one who heard it. Two seconds is all it took for the momma cat that had her babies in another barrel to go from hers to the chickens and fetch a meal for her babies. No wonder I was not getting any babies. Momma cat was having a fresh meal every day.

Thanks for the idea about the "red" light, I may try that. Hubby built me a wood box for my babies. One section has plexiglass and a light bulb in it. The next section has a door that can be propped up slightly so the chicks can either get inside the "lighted" warm area or go out into the more open area. I put newspaper and hay on the bottom of the box. They are nasty little creatures, and I long ago got over wanting them in the house. (and that's from a woman who has allowed her children to have pet pigs in the house. . . . .they litter box train pretty easily )

Consider building a cage on legs for just a few chickens. Make sure that your cage bottom has very small wire. We once had chickens in a cage with wire bottom, and the cats pulled their feet through the cage and ate them. (just the feet) Gross!

Of course, that's nothing compared to the time that I bought a whole batch of "feetless" chickens. They were the cutest little chickens hopping all around in their wire cage that had grass clippings on the bottom. The man who sold them to me was telling me all about the chickens that he had that got frostbite that year. Of course, I did not realize that he was talking about the ones I was buying, because they looked so healthy. The seller got them out of the cage and put them in a bag for me to take home; so I did not touch them until I got them home. When I put them out on the concrete floor of the chicken house, I was shocked to see all these babies running around on "nubs". Not one of them had any feet. It was pitiful. Taught me something though. . . . . . .let the buyer beware . . . ...check out the merchandise.

I figure that if I want a certain number of eggs, I have to have three or four more hens than I want. Stuff happens. Some don't make it to maturity. . . . .some eggs don't make it to the kitchen. . . . . . and some of the hens don't make it very far either.

I still prefer to see my chickens in the chicken yard running loose even though I have to contend with the possibility of predators. I usually do pretty well during spring and summer, but in the winter is when I have the most problems with "creatures" coming up to look for food. Some predators will also climb the fence to get in with them. Skunks will bite the heads off of chickens. Years ago, I was having something attack my chickens during the night. They were roosting on the four foot chain link fence in my back yard. The next morning, I would find a chicken head on one side of the fence and the body on the other. Whatever was killing them was not eating them, and it was driving me nuts trying to figure out what it was.

Later on, when we started raising pigs, we read everything we could about how to take care of a sow that was having babies; so we built the "perfect" pen for the mother and her babies; so she would not lay on them. We went out the morning after she had given birth, and we found all of the babies dead. Most had two puncture wounds in the top of their heads, and two had them in the top of their back. We had also caught a skunk in a live trap that night. My kids told me that the skunk killed the babies by sucking the blood out of them. I thought the kids were being totally ridiculous, but they told me that they saw all about it on the discovery channel. Well, I ask my neighbor (an old farm boy), and he told me that the kids were right and that he had actually seen a skunk climb onto the fence with his hen and bite her head off to lap the blood. Talk about weird! Our "perfect" pen to keep the mother from crushing her babies also kept her from being able to get to the skunk to stop it from killing her babies.

Having animals around is an adventure.

Peace,

TXRed

You just have to do your best.

[shanstress70]

Mrs. S, Thanks for the info about the black widows. I have been asking around about that on the Backyard Chickens forums I've been visiting. The consensus is that black widows don't hurt them, but perhaps they have only been eating males on the property and the females have died off. Because they all said they don't have the problem with the spiders on their property anymore. This also made me wonder about whether the eggs are safe to eat if they had eaten poisonous spiders, but everyone assured me that they were perfectly OK to eat, regardless of what the hen eats. Anyone know otherwise?

Also, I may have blown things out of proportion about the spiders and given the impression that we're overrun. I've only found one, although last summer I found several. I lose all perspective when talking about spiders. When I find one in the house, I lead my husband to believe it's 5 times bigger than it really is, while pleading with him to go kill it.

TXRed, Sounds like you have lots of experience with chickens. I could be naive, but I don't think I have to worry so much about predators, as we live in a subdivision with 1/4 acre and houses on all 3 sides - each about 20 feet away. We also have a 6' privacy fence. Back when they first developed the subdivison we backed up to woods and saw deer and other critters, but now it's all houses and no wildlife to be seen. Now, I guess it's possible that they can smell the chickens from afar and come calling, but hopefully not.

We have also changed our plans for where we're planning to keep the chickens. My son freaked out about the hens taking ownership of his playhouse. So we got the plans for a 'chicken tractor', which for those who don't know, is a cage with nesting boxes and a caged-in run (all-in-one) that can be moved to a different spot in your yard every couple of days so the chickens don't destroy your yard and get fresh vegetation. My husband is going to start building it this weekend. So we will plan on keeping them in that and just letting them go free range around the yard when we're outside with them. It should be quite secure. I hope so, because I know I will totally get attached to these hens, raising them from chicks. :) At night, we will even close them in the wooden cage. I'm attaching a link to a photo below so you can see what I'm talking about.

I did think about getting grown hens so they would start laying immediately, but thought better of it when I saw pictures of chicks. And then I feel in love with a certain breed. I'm still can't believe I found exactly the ones I want... although I have to go to the other side of the state to get them. Although I am trying to be somewhat realistic in that I want 3 hens, but am buying 4, just in case something happens to one. I imagine this will be quite the learning experience!

You seasoned bird owners are probably smiling and shaking your heads at my naivity... huh?

Here is a picture of a chicken tractor, similar to what we're going to build: http://www.forshamcottagearks.com/poultry-...chicken-run.htm

This is so exciting Shan! You'll have to give us updates from time to time. We had free range chickens in the valley when I was a kid. (We didn't call them free range in those days) It was such a great learning experience.

I do remember a few things. Sometimes if one gets weak they'll peck it to death. You might want a separate little pen just in case.

If they stop laying for a while try warm cooked oatmeal. I know it sounds crazy, but it always worked. I have no idea why.

Watch out for hawks and owls they really will get your chickens.

Thanks Rosewood, as you can tell, I'm a tiny bit excited! I will post pics occasionally. And as always, I appreciate the info.

[BenRaines]

I bet she stops eating at KFC too now that she has a connection with chickens. :)

Ben Raines

[shanstress70]

I quit eating at KFC/Taco Bell when the video came out with all the rats in their restaurants in NYC!

[shanstress70]

I got my chicks on Sat. They are adorable: Henrietta, Emily, Lizzie, and Owey-Bagoey (a variation of my child's name). They're loud little things, but they sound so cute. My neice dug up some worms for them and it was the coolest thing to watch them eat them. They would grab one and do a little spin-dance while chirping like crazy, then they'd sling it across the bin and pick it up and slurp it down. Ummm, worms!

My cat wants them... BAD!

[StrawberryFields]

Shan,

You slay me!!

This kinda reminds me of the beginning a silly childhood song about the spider. Not meaning to offend you at all. :)

I know an old lady who swallowed a fly,

I don't know why she swallowed the fly,

I guess she'll die.

I know an old lady who swallowed a spider,

That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,

I don't know why she swallowed the fly,

I guess she'll die.

I know an old lady who swallowed a bird,

How absurd to swallow a bird!

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,

That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,

I don't know why she swallowed the fly,

I guess she'll die.

I know an old lady who swallowed a cat,

Imagine that, to swallow a cat!

She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,

That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,

I don't know why she swallowed the fly,

I guess she'll die.

I know an old lady who swallowed a dog,

My, what a hog, to swallow a dog!

She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,

She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,

That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,

I don't know why she swallowed the fly,

I guess she'll die.

I know an old lady who swallowed a goat,

Just opened her throat and swallowed a goat!

She swallowed the goat to catch the dog,

She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,

She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,

That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,

I don't know why she swallowed the fly,

I guess she'll die.

I know an old lady who swallowed a cow,

I wonder how she swallowed a cow?!

She swallowed the cow to catch the goat,

She swallowed the goat to catch the dog,

She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,

She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,

That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,

I don't know why she swallowed the fly,

I guess she'll die.

I know an old lady who swallowed a horse,

She's dead, of course!!

http://www.timmyabell.com/music/lyrics/ol/oldlady.htm

I do know that black widows are dangerous and I would do what ever I had to do to keep them away from a child of mine too. :) Your little guy will have a great time with the chicks.

Shan, You are a great mom. :)

[shanstress70]

I'm so offended, SF!

Thanks for the compliments, and I liked the song too.

[StrawberryFields]

I'm so offended, SF!

Thanks for the compliments, and I liked the song too.

Whooosh! I am so relieved. :)

You are most welcome.