My chickens came home to roost today

[L1A1Rocker]

I kinda let the cat out of the bag yesterday about getting some chickens. Now here's the whole story. . .

I helped my neighbor build an garden enclosure to keep the birds out (very similar to the one I built last spring - the neighbor loved it). Well, as that project was just completed and we were splitting a sixer another neighbor called about ordering some chicks. I was planning on building a coop and splitting an order with him. Well, the first neighbor overheard the conversation and quickly told me a story.

She has some friends the next county over that has chickens (one year old) that they wanted to get rid of (coop included). It seems that they just couldn't dedicate the time needed, and also wanted to do some traveling. So this morning, me and the afore mentioned neighbors set out to get the coop and chickens.

The coop was discribed as 4 foot by 5 foot by five foot. Well, not exactly. The thing weighed around 8 to 900 pounds!!! It was not built to be "portable" and only had six 2x4 legs that were about 14 inches long. The four of us (the owner included) could bearly budge it. Fortunatly I had thought to toss in a chain hoist "just in case".

Using some 8 foot t-posts as levers and an additional tow chain (I keep it in my "trunk-o-stuff" in my Excursion) along with the chain hoist we were able to move the thing and not rip off the spidery legs. It also helped that my little 10 foot trailer was a tipping kind of trailer that put the edge right on the ground. I'd guess it took close to an hour of wrestling that beast on the trailer but we got it on.

Once I got it home, while still on the trailer, I cut some 2x4s and screwed them to the legs to reinforce the legs and also act as skids. Then I parked the Excursion and hooked up a lawn tractor to the trailer so I could manuver it better to where the coop would be placed.

I did not take any pictures of the loading process and really didn't think about pictures until we were ready to drop the coop. So here are a few pics.

The first picture does not really give a good picture of how big this thing really is. I should have asked my neighbor to back out of it. We've got a bit of forced perspective going with him in the forground plus! He's seven feet tall. Look at the guy in the trees to the right to get a better idea of how big the the thing is. Also, the trailer is a 10 footer. That's also a really big ass lawn tractor.






The next picture shows the coop passing the tipping point as we're moving it toward the back. Please note the guy back in the trees. He's using a come-a-long chained to a tree to pull the coop off. It's going much better with the "skids" screwed to the legs.



Next is a picture showing the tow chain wrapped around the lower legs and the wire from the come-a-long.






And it's down:



I put out some chicken scratch and water (the bag of scratch and waterer were thrown in from the previous owners) and let the ladies (and two gentleman) out to see their new home.







Unfortunately the camera took a dump at this point. I counted a total of 20 yard birds. I now gots me some chickens!

[WasDustyJacket]

And they'll lay eggs in the bushes, roost in the trees at night, and get killed bu opossums, raccoons, etc.

Good luck.

[L1A1Rocker]

And they'll lay eggs in the bushes, roost in the trees at night, and get killed bu opossums, raccoons, etc.

Good luck.

Actually they all go back into the coop just before sunset. You go out after dinner and lock the doors back up. The folks I got them from were WAY out in the sticks and there were lots of predators out there. He built a very secure coop. I did set my trap though, and fresh baited it with a sardine.

On edit. They are good layers though. The folks I got them from had not egged the coop for two days. After they all came out I collected 2 dozen plus 8 eggs. After mid day I checked again and there were 5 more

[bakerjw]

You got chickens? Seriously, what kind of dufus gets chickens? JK. If you read in survival and preparedness you'll see that I've raised chickens for the last few years.

If they are free ranging then they may lay out in the bushes and weeds. But as you've seen if they've been in a run most of the time then they will go back and lay in the coop because it is familiar to them.

I lock mine up every night and have only had one ever get injured by a predator. I have had raccoons try to get at them regularly but night vision and a .22LR AR helps keep them thinned out. Typically dogs are the worst predator for daytime.

My 2 flocks are both in enclosed runs. I caught 7 types of grief from them ravaging gardens, flowerbeds, and anywhere else that there was mulch.

You have to love the fresh eggs too. We haven't bought store eggs in years and I doubt if I could bring myself to do it again.

[bakerjw]

Beautiful birds too btw.

[rogerme]

I have chickens ( my grandson has chickens I should say LOL ) . They are great. Almost every day I get 6 fresh eggs. When you get chickens to a new place keep them caged in the area with the roost for a week or two. Then you can remove the fence they will go back inside just before dark all on there own. If you set the inside up with nesting boxes that is the only place they will lay eggs 99.9 percent of the time. Fresh eggs are SO much better then store bought.

[L1A1Rocker]

I have chickens ( my grandson has chickens I should say LOL ) . They are great. Almost every day I get 6 fresh eggs. When you get chickens to a new place keep them caged in the area with the roost for a week or two. Then you can remove the fence they will go back inside just before dark all on there own. If you set the inside up with nesting boxes that is the only place they will lay eggs 99.9 percent of the time. Fresh eggs are SO much better then store bought.

We've gotten 2 dozen eggs in the last day and half I've just been letting them rome the back yard (deer proof fence of about 3 acres or so) so far. The first day (yesterday) they didn't rome too far from their coop. I think it wound up being very good that the coop they grew up in came with them. I went out after dinner (around 6:45) and they were all in the coop. I just locked up the doors and set my trap should any preditors come around.

Let out this morning and they've wondered most all the yard today. They do keep going back to the coop every few hours. Picked up about 8 eggs this morning. At noon there was another 5 in there. Oh, the coop has four nesting boxes but they all seem to be using just two of them.

Hope it was not a mistake letting them rome the whole back yard, and they go back into the coop tonight like they did last night.

[WasDustyJacket]

Wow. Y'all have some smart chickens.

A co-worker has some and if she does not go out and get them at the end of the day, theu will roost in trees all night and freeze or get eaten.
And they leave eggs everywhere.


I offered to do a little reditor suppression, but I should really get a .22 can first. The 9mm will drop them but it is noisy and more power than I need.

[L1A1Rocker]

Got some better pics today. The problem with the camera was that I had taken the mem card out and forgot. After just a few pics the internal memory filled up.

Anyhow, I'm trying to get a two year old Lab to get used to these things. She wants to play and sniff. The chickens don't want her near them and run away. She loves the chasing game Any how, she's getting better, but the chickens got very shy today. I finally was able to get a little close to them.





I cheated on this pic by using the zoom


Here they are crossing in front of the barn on their way back towards the coop. The lab was laying beside me and just watch em go by.



Well, it was five o'clock so dicided to put out some chicken scratch and see if I could get them back to the coop and get a little closer to them.

I was suprised that the roosters ate very little. They just strutted around. This one is "Orange Crush"


I saved back a bit of scratch to toss out and get them in closer.



Here's the other rooster, "Stew Pot". He doesn't ever stay in one place too long. He's kinda hard to get a picture of.


One of the reds


I was able to get them in real close after a while. One of them actually pecked my shoe lace. (I was sitting down cross legged) Can anyone name the kinds of chickens in this photo?


And the best picture of the day:



So I went out at 6:30 to close them up but there was still 8 or so still out. I closed one door and stepped back about 30 feet. After about 10 minutes (seemed longer) the rest filtered in and I locked them up for the night.

I saw a number of hens laying down in different places today but the only place I found eggs was in their coop. There's four laying boxes for them but they all seem to use just two of them.

[rogerme]

I only have 6 you have many more then me. As far as them laying all over they do not have a good nesting box. Chickens who have a good nesting box will lay there. As for smart they are mine where kept in a small fence around there coop the first few weeks we got them now they do as they wish I do not close or gate anything. If you let them run around they get more bugs they are great for reducing the mosquitoes and such. I have a chocolate and she plays with the chickens they chase each other around the yard very funny to watch a chicken squawking and running after a dog that is so much bigger.

[Russian]

xx

[woodstove]

Nice flock Rocker. No snow! JOKING!!

We had some chickens for our son some years back. They were pets but we did eat most of the eggs. He named the hens after teachers he liked,and nice ladies we knew. The roster was named after an Army buddy that was a little on the loud side.
He brought them inside every Christmas and they got into the kitchen by acident once. The Mrs was not impressed. On real cold snaps he would put them in my shop. They would roost on the florescent lights and lay eggs in my file box (used to hold targets). We had to kill some racoons that tried to assault the coop. Eating chicken with the skin on is not healthy at our house. SARCASM! We only lost one hen to the coons and she use to sit on a roost close to the wire mesh at night in the summer.

Great memories and it helped our son learn responsability. A great thing for young kids.

Enjoy

[bakerjw]

Looks like Barred Rocks with some Rhode Island Reds. Possibly some game roosters and golden comets? They all look very healthy and well cared for.

The way to a chickens heart is to with treats. I buy unsalted saltines or use old cornbread for treats although anything will work. Take a chair outside, sit down and toss some crumbs to lure them in. Eventually they'll get the idea that people are the source of the treats. Even stand off chickens will come close enough to see what's going on. Once they've gotten friendlier and to the point where they come to you when you have treats, give treats to the roosters first. They usually won't eat them but will make an "uck uck" sound and make a big show of giving the treat to a favorite hen. While they are out scratching around roosters will often do this with worms or bugs. Some roosters will do it with a stick just to get a hen close enough to mount. I always give treats to my roosters first and it seems to help reinforce that I am not attempting to take over the alpha rooster spot however I don't allow them to mount a hen while I am around. Chicken politics.

Be careful with a Labrador around chickens. They are hunting dogs with a very strong prey drive instinct. When a dog does go after chickens they will oftentimes kill the entire flock, not because of a need to eat but because they run and it triggers their instincts. Go to backyardchickens.com and read the stories there of people's pet dogs wiping out their flocks. Those who have successfully trained their dogs to be chicken neutral are more than eager to discuss training techniques.

Anyway. Glad you got chickens.

And one other thing. Chicken wire will keep chickens in but nothing out. Predators go through it like butter.

[L1A1Rocker]

Looks like Barred Rocks with some Rhode Island Reds. Possibly some game roosters and golden comets? They all look very healthy and well cared for.

The way to a chickens heart is to with treats. I buy unsalted saltines or use old cornbread for treats although anything will work. Take a chair outside, sit down and toss some crumbs to lure them in. Eventually they'll get the idea that people are the source of the treats. Even stand off chickens will come close enough to see what's going on. Once they've gotten friendlier and to the point where they come to you when you have treats, give treats to the roosters first. They usually won't eat them but will make an "uck uck" sound and make a big show of giving the treat to a favorite hen. While they are out scratching around roosters will often do this with worms or bugs. Some roosters will do it with a stick just to get a hen close enough to mount. I always give treats to my roosters first and it seems to help reinforce that I am not attempting to take over the alpha rooster spot however I don't allow them to mount a hen while I am around. Chicken politics.

Be careful with a Labrador around chickens. They are hunting dogs with a very strong prey drive instinct. When a dog does go after chickens they will oftentimes kill the entire flock, not because of a need to eat but because they run and it triggers their instincts. Go to backyardchickens.com and read the stories there of people's pet dogs wiping out their flocks. Those who have successfully trained their dogs to be chicken neutral are more than eager to discuss training techniques.

Anyway. Glad you got chickens.

And one other thing. Chicken wire will keep chickens in but nothing out. Predators go through it like butter.

Thanks for all the advice. MUCH appriciated. I picked up some unsalted saltines today and the chickens go koo-koo for crackers. I went over the the forum you suggested and did some searches and found some great advice. Barrowed an electronic collar from a neighbor (the tall one in the photos) and it has help immensely. I was dreading the next two weeks or so with the lab, but I think this may cut my time down to two or three days. THANK YOU

[woodstove]

My son's flock liked just about any hand delivered food as treats. They once ate a bowl of fresh picked wild straswberries on me when I went inside to answer the phone. I came back out as and saw the red beaks and thought "I wounder what they got into or were they fighting?". The little buggers ate 2 cups of wild strawberries in a few minutes.

They also liked minnows and in the winter I'd save the dead ones left over from ice fishing for them. When a chicken got a minnow they would run into a corner to eat it to avoid sharing or having it taken. Too many might effect egg flavour if tooo many wereeaten by hens.

Corn on the cob, musk mellon or water mellon rinds, whole sunflowers, a culliflower or cabage hung on a string was pure entertainment for the flock. A slow moving mouse that came in the pen to eat spilled grain was toast.

Small points.
Some ground oyster shell left in a wash pan for a calcium supliment is a good idea. They take what they need.
Watch for fleas and dust them if you see any.
Chicken poop is awsome fertalizer too!!

The Greeks said there are 3 things you can look from a rooster
Get up early
Work hard looking after your familly
Eat your meals with your familly
I learned this when our son did a speach on chickens while he was in grade school

Enjoy your flock Rocker and the best of luck.

[ctdonath]

Jealousy jealousy jealousy...damn HOA regs, I want chickens.

Yes, "move" is being considered.

[Mongo]

WTH do you guys do with that many eggs each day?

[btb601]

WTH do you guys do with that many eggs each day?

AND do fresh eggs REALLY taste better than store bought????

[rogerme]

WTH do you guys do with that many eggs each day?

AND do fresh eggs REALLY taste better than store bought????

HELL YES!! All you have to do is try eggs laid a day or two ago and you will see very fast. I have 6 chickens so most every day I get 6 eggs. Fresh eggs are a bot harder to crack open because the inner and outer shell membrane have not thinned ( due to age ) also the albumin is much thicker. Then taste you can change the taste of eggs with diet. In the summer when they eat allot of greens or you can buy them greens the eggs get richer. Then one of the huge tests of a fresh egg the yoke is hard to break in a fresh egg again due to the linings separating the parts of the egg being mush stronger in fresh because the degrade fast. When you crack open a fresh egg into the pan the egg does not "run" it stays in one place like a little mountain.

The only way to really understand is to get some. If you look there is likely someone near you with chickens. Buy a dozen and see for yourself. Beware if you like eggs then you will never want those old store bought eggs again.

[bakerjw]

For a store egg to be called fresh, it has to be less that 45 days old. That should tell you something.

Fresh free range eggs are the best. The yolks hardly run at all when broken.

[btb601]

The wife brought some fresh eggs from work that a co-worker gave her unbeknown to me. I only asked after eating them for two days in a row.
The yokes were bright in color and was plentiful which got me to asking? As for taste, I THINK they tasted better, but not sure if they really did or not??

She scrambled some up today and the scrambled eggs were bright yellow and seem delicious.

[rogerme]

The snow is gone here now and the chickens are running around the yard and fields picking at everything they could eat. Had a surplus of about 2 dozen eggs so I made a big batch of pickled eggs.