- Location
- The Land Northward (Bountiful), Utah
I've never seen mice with mine.
But the birds do crap on the porch if I forget to close the gate.
But the birds do crap on the porch if I forget to close the gate.
Let's talk Chicken.. The pets, not the food..
- Thread starter jeeper
- Start date
- Location
- Stinkwater
I'm dealing with mice issues right now. They plowed up a big field near our house for a new development and everybody on the block suddenly had a mouse problem. I had to run around the house and find all the ways they were getting in and put a stop to that, then a couple snap traps with peanut butter and poof, no more mouse problem.
For now anyway...
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
I have 13 chickens right now and we are getting about 10 eggs a day. I'm not a huge pet person but I married one. The chickens are the best pets we've had. They crack me up just watching the little feathered dinos. We feed them just about any left over food we have and it is entertaining to watch them eat about any food.
We have cats to keep the mice and smaller birds at bay, they get along well with the dogs too. I guess I'm more of a pet person than I think. Chickens are cool though.
We have cats to keep the mice and smaller birds at bay, they get along well with the dogs too. I guess I'm more of a pet person than I think. Chickens are cool though.
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DesertRam
Active Member
- Location
- Southern New Mexico
The haul from today. Probably a few from yesterday afternoon since the kid picked up right after school.
Do you have Copper Marans?
DesertRam
Active Member
- Location
- Southern New Mexico
Not copper, but yes. Those real dark eggs are from marans.
The egg on the lower right is from our duck, "Reliable." She lays an egg every day, sometimes two.
The egg on the lower right is from our duck, "Reliable." She lays an egg every day, sometimes two.
DesertRam
Active Member
- Location
- Southern New Mexico
Oh no, we don't eat that many! We sell as many as possible; my youngest daughter runs the egg project as a fundraiser for her 8th grade trip coming next May. When we get a surplus, we may give them away. If they get too old, we scramble them with shells and feed them back to the chickens. Dogs love them too, so right now each dog gets a raw egg on its food each morning.
Ok, looks like we are getting more specific and real at our house. Thanks to you all, I have changed my plan.
We have a 10x10 garden area that will be turned into the run/coop area. I want to maximize space and minimize costs, obviously. Especially as this may end up at the end of summer as a bad experiment.
Do I need to worry about chicken wire vs hardware cloth?
To save space, I wanted to make the coop elevated at half the height of the run, so it wouldn't be a walk in.. It would have a way to easily keep it clean, but no walking in. Is that a mistake?
We have a 10x10 garden area that will be turned into the run/coop area. I want to maximize space and minimize costs, obviously. Especially as this may end up at the end of summer as a bad experiment.
Do I need to worry about chicken wire vs hardware cloth?
To save space, I wanted to make the coop elevated at half the height of the run, so it wouldn't be a walk in.. It would have a way to easily keep it clean, but no walking in. Is that a mistake?
DesertRam
Active Member
- Location
- Southern New Mexico
I have both chicken wire and 1/2"x1" hardware cloth in my installations. I prefer the hardware cloth because it's easier to work with, easier to replace if you need to, and looks/ages better. If you can access the full interior to get eggs, clean, retrieve dead chickens (they're just looking for a place to die), then you should be okay without walk-in capability. All of ours are walk-ins now, but when they weren't we did okay. Just give yourself plenty of access and cleaning options. The smaller volume a non-walk-in will be easier to heat in the winter if the experiment doesn't turn out so bad. Our walk-ins are lighted, so in the winter I just replace the regular bulbs with heat lamps. Though maybe not necessary on most nights (it's not real cold here usually), it takes the chill off and keeps the birds happier and healthier. The backyard flock is not in an enclosed, lighted coop, so they don't get the cushy treatment.
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
I eat two eggs every morning for breakfast and my wife usually does the same. We do the same as DesertRam and also feed one egg per dog per day. Their coats have been much healthier and they shed less. Now that our larger flock (we had about 6 last year) are laying, we will be giving away or selling some eggs.
No, only one of my daughters won in the drawing, so they would have only brought home two chickens. I was not willing to go through all that effort for two chickens. Especially in a rush. So we are going to take some time to build a good coop, and then go buy a handful of new chicks mid-spring
- Location
- The Land Northward (Bountiful), Utah
I wrote incorrectly before. My oldest chicken is actually over 10 years old now!
We're looking at getting a 4th brood of birds now. My 6 or 7 yr old Easter Egger just start laying again; I thought she'd quit this spring like the older ones but apparently she's been hiding them.
We're looking at getting a 4th brood of birds now. My 6 or 7 yr old Easter Egger just start laying again; I thought she'd quit this spring like the older ones but apparently she's been hiding them.
Houndoc
Registered User
- Location
- Grantsville
I am a fan of letting kids have about any animal they are willing to help take care of.
ID Bronco
Registered User
- Location
- Idaho Falls, ID
Fixed it for you.