Why Rabbits?
Backyard urban chickens
- Thread starter Kiel
- Start date
Why Rabbits?
Has owning chickens become a fad?
I really don't get it...
So like 50 cents a day made then subtract paying for feed, invested time, actual real estate used, time and materials to make a coop, pissed off neighbors, and listening to noisy meat for the rest of your life? If you want a pet, why not get a dog or cat or ant farm or something that's actually a pet?
I really don't get it...
So like 50 cents a day made then subtract paying for feed, invested time, actual real estate used, time and materials to make a coop, pissed off neighbors, and listening to noisy meat for the rest of your life? If you want a pet, why not get a dog or cat or ant farm or something that's actually a pet?
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D
Deleted member 12904
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I don't on own or have any plans to own chickens BUT I have friends that do and the eggs are much better then store bought. Eating healthy organic food has become a fad but fresh eggs are awesome so I don't think it's about saving money as much as better quality of food with out all the junk.
I think this nails it on the head. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say they are doing it to save money (I'm sure there are those people that don't value their own time like they should so they probably think they are saving money).
I figured it wasn't to save money, lol it seems like a hell of a lot of work just to save fiddy cents a day.
I can appreciate the fresh food thing (even more so when talking about easier to deal with non-animal foods), but are store-bought eggs really full of junk? I googled the term 'organic foods' and there is quite an impressive list of stuff that must be done (above and beyond) to even earn that classification. Many of the coops alone in this thread probably automatically bar that classification, let alone if the feed is strictly non-gmo, non-animal byproduct feed etc, etc, etc. Pretty soon it'll be "organic is soo 2015, I can't believe you put that poison in your body when you could be eating free-range eggs."
If it's a hobby, then it's a hobby and doesn't really matter if it makes any sense or not since it's what you choose to do with your free time.... I'm just a bit surprised that this is so popular.
Mmm bacon, wait... don't tell me you raise your own backyard urban omelette pigs too
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As I said earlier in the thread, if you're doing it for the eggs, just go buy the most expensive organic ones you can find and you'll still be money ahead. I do it for the enjoyment. I'd have all kinds of farm animals if I had the room and was zoned for it. I would love to raise a beef each year to butcher, but my wife would give it a name. Once they name them, they're off the menu
Skylinerider
Wandering the desert
- Location
- Ephraim
I would love to raise a beef each year to butcher, but my wife would give it a name. Once they name them, they're off the menu
Just name him T-Bone.
- Location
- The Land Northward (Bountiful), Utah
Good on ya Kiel, we got two more this spring. They are 6 weeks old now. 2 more and they go outside.
I was told today that it's best to get 4-6 chicks that have been together since birth. That putting older chickens together that didn't previously know each other, they'll want to kill one another.
Seems a bit extreme. Is this truth? Am I best to get 4 or so chicks now rather than find some mature birds and piece a group together?
Seems a bit extreme. Is this truth? Am I best to get 4 or so chicks now rather than find some mature birds and piece a group together?
Jason, get 6. One will die from unknown causes, your dog's will kill one or 2 before you figure out how to keep that from happening, and you'll be left with 3 or 4 which is a good number. That's what we did and it worked out well until one of our dogs finished them all off one Christmas morning.
To an extent...they will have to work out pecking order, and if you have a couple that are used to being the top hen they might not ever figure out who's the winner until one's dead. They others will all fall into place. We got six from IFA and a couple days later bought three more from CalRanch. In that little amount of time, they formed their little cliques. Three years later, they are still in their little groups. Maybe it's an IFA vs. CalRanch thing.
Also, the chicks you get from these places are literally only a couple days old. They need to be kept inside under a heat lamp until they start getting real feathers coming in. We got lucky and didn't lose any birds until the accidental rooster we got finally got the boot. It was a couple years before we lost another bird.
When one of my goats got sick, his sister tried like hell to head butt him to death. I had to build a separate pen for him for his final days.
Do any farmer types know if a hen or two and a small fainting goat will get along alright? Beyond just getting along, are there any health reasons not to keep them in the same yard?
Oh man, I am realizing I know nothing about this. Will a hen lay eggs without a rooster around? Are the local feral golf course cats going to risk the goat pen and the dog on in the surrounding yard to get some fresh chicken?
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When one of my goats got sick, his sister tried like hell to head butt him to death. I had to build a separate pen for him for his final days.
Do any farmer types know if a hen or two and a small fainting goat will get along alright? Beyond just getting along, are there any health reasons not to keep them in the same yard?
Oh man, I am realizing I know nothing about this. Will a hen lay eggs without a rooster around? Are the local feral golf course cats going to risk the goat pen and the dog on in the surrounding yard to get some fresh chicken?
The only issue I see is if the goat faints and falls on a chicken...could be bad.
The hens will lay regardless of there being a rooster around, the eggs just wont be fertile...no chance of chicks. If you have a rooster, all eggs the hens lay will be fertile, even after the rooster has been removed, for up to a month after the rooster is gone. Fertile eggs aren't any different from non fertile, as far as eating them goes. You just want to make sure you refrigerate them soon.
I haven't had any cats mess with my chickens. Once they are adult, they can hold their own.
- Location
- The Land Northward (Bountiful), Utah
let me put it this way: my wife still does her thing when I'm not around.