Chickens

grizzmoose · May 17, 2012

Hi Guys,

I saw on a thread about spiders that chickens are some serious pest control tools. Ive been thinking about getting some for the eggs, so the pest control sounds like a good bonus. Can anyone tell me some good breeds that are easy to take care of and do well in Utah?

Also, what kind of effect will they have on my garden? Im growing tomatoes, artichokes, corn, peas, beans and some melons. Will they tear those up?

How many eggs am I likely to get out of one per week? Any other recommendations about them or things I should be aware of before I get any?

kilowatt · May 17, 2012

When the wife and I had chickens in the garden area we tried a number of different breeds and we thought these were the best egg producers.

http://ameraucana.org/faq.html

We also had good luck with Rhode Island Reds and this breed on a number of ocasions would produce "double yoke" eggs.

Brian
http://i25.tinypic.com/fxbjgy.jpg[/IMG]

knthartter · May 17, 2012

Chicken will tare up and eat young plants. I keep them out of my garden/or away from plaints until the plains become big enough to survive the birds eating the bottom leaves. Then your plaints are fine, oh ya my chickens love tomatoes so be careful they dont eat them all.

As far as types I have ameraucanas, Rhode island reds, and a few others. I think the ameraucanas are best. I get any where from 3-6 eggs a day from 6 chickens. Mine lay less when cold or to hot, darn California birds I guess.

nickman · May 17, 2012

You will have to be careful with young plants, no question.

We have chicken wire around most of them, but some of the chickens don't seem to bother with the small plants, and then another one will pull EVERY plant in a row and never take a bite.......they ain't all that intelligent!

We get WAY more eggs in a week than you can believe. I have 6 hens and on any given day, I will have 8 to 10 eggs.

I have a big assed Leghorn rooster and an assortment of hens......Aracunas are almost like wild birds, tough as hell and take no chit from the other animals, but the Reds' seem to be better layers.

"I could eat a bowl of Alphabet Soup and
sh!t a better argument than that!"

Abiggerfish2fry · May 17, 2012

Get your self some Sexlink chickens! They eat the heck out of the bugs and I have not had a problem yet with my garden! And they lay some big azz eggs! here is one I just pulled from the hen house!

HunterHarry · May 17, 2012

I have 6 hens, reds, speckled and some white ones.

I offed the nasty tempered rooster some time back, he was a mean SOB.
They are total cannibals though, you have to beat them to the punch before they devour each other's eggs.

The wife loves them, I'd just as soon give them to Colonel Saunders.

My brother gave me a dozen pigeons too, together with the hens they eat about $15 bucks a week in feed.
When they start cutting into my hunting fund them sumbitches is fried...

justr_86 · May 17, 2012

Hh, get your wife a bird dog pup and their days are numbered! When her dog kills her chickens she won't be mad at you and you don't have to deal with the chickens anymore!

completesportsman · May 17, 2012

My best buddy had some chickens until the chicken hawks got them all

chasendeer · May 17, 2012

I've got 5 of them things. Picked the chicks up in January and still no eggs, any time now I hope.
Jay

alp75 · May 17, 2012

My breeds of choice for egg production are the following.

leghorns
gold sex links
black sex links
Rhode Island Reds

These will lay 4-7 eggs per week.

Also good are

Americauna (cool looking bird and lays blue or pink eggs)
Australorps
Delaware
Barred Rock

Egg production slows down in peak of winter and summer. Winter more because of short days than cold temps. You can put a light on a timer in their coop in the winter to "extend" the daylight and increase egg production.

Drawbacks to chickens are:

They chit everywhere! I swear they chit more than they consume. If you have them out and about in the yard they will do it all over, grass, patio, garage, where ever.

They tear things up. They are constantly scratching looking for bugs or something to eat. They will tear up your lawn, around trees, shrubs and bushes and flower beds.

They will damage your garden. I think many birds are different. Some will do worse damage than others. We have had them damage our squash, tomatos, dig up potatos etc. If you have seed in, we have had them scratch out our peas and other seeds. Of course we have nearly 20 of the damn things. Plus they are pretty smart when it comes to foraging. I have tilled the garden in the spring and as soon as I turn the tiller off they come sprinting in and scratching around looking for a morsel I may have turned up.

Plus when you get done butchering up your deer or elk you can toss the bone with the scrap meat on them to the chickens and they'll pick them clean!

travishunter3006 · May 18, 2012

I have 4 gold and 3 black Sex Links.... I get about 5 eggs per day. My chickens took about 8 months from chicks to produce eggs. Now we have morethan we can eat and give alot away.

mmwb · May 18, 2012

All of the varieties referred to above will work for you. Leghorns a often the best producers, but probably the least hardier as a breed. They also seem a bit more skittish. If you are ordering chicks, if you get a mixed run, you'll be getting about 50% cockerels, in which case a meatier bird is nice as you will be butchering those.

I don't know where you are in Utah, but if it is frigid in the winter, ducks tend to be a bit hardier and breeds like the campbells tend to produce as well or better than the chickens. That being said, with a good coop and plenty of food, chickens will tolerate most cold. As stated, they are remarkable garbage disposals. They also do mess everywhere, but you won't need to buy fertilizer for the yard or garden (just don't load up fresh chicken manure on the garden. It is too hot and will burn most plants beyond corn). Ranging the yard, they will definitely keep the bugs down. As stated, fence the garden off. Chicken wire or a low strand of electric fence will do. The indignation of a chicken that has been zapped by the electric fence is amusing.

kilowatt · May 18, 2012

Wonder if chickens would work at cleaning a skull for an Euro mount???

Brian
http://i25.tinypic.com/fxbjgy.jpg[/IMG]

grizzmoose · May 18, 2012

Thanks for all the feedback guys! Definitely a lot more to think about. I am pretty fickle about having a nice looking yard, so if they are going to tear my lawn up, I'll probably have to pass. Will they get at annuals and perennials too?

I live in Syracuse, UT in a neighborhood with an HOA. They do allow chickens though. My little kids play in the backyard all day long on a swing set and trampoline, so running around without shoes is a pretty common occurrence. Im guessing that will cause a problem if they crap everywhere.

I'd also have to be careful about our dog. He'd be all over the chickens if I let him out when they were out of the coop. Is anyone in the same boat with a dog? If so, how long do you keep your chickens out running around? during the day?

alp75 · May 18, 2012

Grizz, you have 3 options.

1. NO CHICKENS
2. Get a coop and make a good fully enclosed run for them. You will have to provide all of their feed, and they won't help with the bugs, but you will get fresh eggs.
3. Get chickens and a coop and let them run free. They will still need some supplemental feed, but will get the bugs/spiders and provide good entertainment and fresh eggs. If you are in an HOA you will want to make sure they are completely fenced in or they will wander your neighbors yards looking for food as well and you are sure to get some complaints.

Good luck.

Also some additional info can be found at backyardchickens.com

alp75 · May 18, 2012

Oh, and our chickens can come and go as they please. They always come back to their coop to roost for the night.

nickman · May 18, 2012

LAST EDITED ON May-18-12 AT 05:42PM (MST)[p]I have a choc lab, a brittany and 2 chihuahuas'........none of which bother the chickens or the quail in the yard. Outside the yard, it's a different story altogether.

Trained dogs have no issues with chickens, cats, or rabbits.

I have a big white house cat that will chase the chickens, simply because the chickens will run.

My animals must all learn to live together or I get pissed....and they don't like that at all.

"I could eat a bowl of Alphabet Soup and
sh!t a better argument than that!"