re: Educate Me on Neighborhood Backyard Chicken Coop

Full honesty and disclosure here. We've had chickens since July. Got them as chicks, raising them inside under heat lamps while building the coop.

We got 6 unsexed Rhode island red hybrid deals. We got 5 roosters out of the 6. Roosters are generally assholes, if you have more than one rooster they are exponential assholes. A rooster is basically Chad on spring break. Think about if you want one at all, no more than one.

We then got 6 more sexed hens, blue laces golden wyandotte. Very pretty, cool birds. About that time, I finished the coop and a temporary run. We went above and beyond on the coop, 8x8.

Coop with temp run


Was still painting it then, wife's job.





So we're functioning at this point, the one hen from batch one is laying, the 6 new are not. We still have 4 roosters roaming around the yard. The one pictured above is Big Fred, we deemed him the best rooster as he takes care of the girls and doesn't attack the kids...that often.

Do not name them if you can't handle getting rid of them. Kids and wife got very excited, named every damn one including the roosters. Luckily we found a guy that would trade us a hen for a rooster. So the trade is on, kids are upset we are getting rid of roosters.

Here is ivory chilling in my lap by the fire, he was sweet as hell but such a pussy the hens beat up on him. He gone.



We have since gotten rid of the temporary run and have something more permanent. Part of the rooster swap we got 7 new girls along with a silkie flock, 1 rooster and 4 hens. They are separate because they are so small they get their arse kicked.

Main flock run is about 50x30. Silkie run is 15x15 or so.



Silkie rooster, Rico Suave


Marie Laveau


Fred hanging with his bitches, our first girl doesn't like to roost, her name is kickin' wing


The truth of it, after the initial set up they are pretty much easy as it gets. Food and water done. However they are still animals, our whole flock got hit with respiratory illness and we were out there twice daily catching chickens and shoving antibiotics down them.

They shite...a lot. The smell I feel is overblown, they aren't that bad but I'm on 20 acres. They will kill grass in days. Overall, they are fun and unique as "pets" the whole family enjoys just going out there and watching them. We've gotten 80 eggs this month with only 6 hens laying and it's still fun every time we get a new one.

Yes there is a 4 foot gate on the silkie run and an 8 foot gate on the main run. The main flock also has a fully enclosed 8x16 run that we can lock them in if we are away for the day so they can still get some time outside.

With pan/tilt/zoom motion activated cameras so we can keep an eye on them or if anything is trying to get after them.

Buy lots of rat traps. You will have rats, and lots of them, soon.

He won’t need a cat. The snakes will come get the rats and mice. As long as it’s not real close to the house - no big deal.

Aye, no one asked yet, but have you given quail any consideration?

Many times they are not called out in HOAs as they are considered a gamebird (so not chicken, goose, duck, etc)

What you envision:



What it'll really look like:

my wife raises Serama's. They are the smallest chicken breed in the world and mature around a pound. They lay just like the bigger breeds. Their eggs are a little smaller than the small in the grocery store but they lay well. They are not big enough to scratch your grass up so you dont end up with mud in your yard. I keep deep shavings in their coop with an auto door to roam my fenced yard during the day. I change the shavings when it starts to smell which is around 3 times per year. They have been awesome. I had a couple of big chickens in the past and they were a nightmare. Nothing but stinky arse mud after a month. wont do big chickens again until I'm on at least 5 acres.

She has 18 hens and 2 roos in my side yard. Probably 20ft wide and 100 ft long.

We had chickens when my son and daughter were in elementary school and we lived in a subdivision. We kept 5 at a time and never had rats, snakes, or any other predators. They would roam the yard during the day and we'd close the pen up at night. We had Americanas, Red-stars, and Rhode Island Reds all hens.

We's occasionally let them in the front flower bed to scratch up and eat bugs in the mulch.

I wouldn't trade those days for anything watching my kids play with them and my daughter paint their toe-nails. Plus we got so many eggs we had to start selling them.

quote:

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Anyone mess around with ducks instead of chickens? I hear they are quieter and the Golden 300s lay as many or more eggs

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We just recently moved out in the country. We're going to start raising ducks. The best egg laying duck breeds lay more eggs and that are larger than the most productive egg laying chicken breeds. Ducks are easier to keep and are basically weather proof. They can withstand very cold, very wet conditions. They are also more fun to be around.

We're also going to raise rabbits. They are very easy to raise for meat, they are prolific productive breeders and have leaner meat than any other farm animals. They are also quiet and can be raised without neighbors and others being aware that you have them.