# Chickens anyone?



## ArmaniGirl (Jun 21, 2009)

I raise, breed, and sell chickens as a hobby. They are great, entertaining, and helpful pets who reward you with eggs! lol does anybody else have fluffybutts?

p.s. i'll have pics up later


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## PonkiPoodles (Feb 25, 2009)

My mom LOVES chickens... we use to live on a farm and we always kept chickens. She doesn't anymore... but she now has her whole kitchen dedicated to chickens. LOL


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## mercymoon (Aug 29, 2008)

My grandpa has a good handful on his farm....white leghorns, 
domineckers, rhode island reds, banties, and mixes. Farm fresh
eggs are the best!


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## AgilityIG (Feb 8, 2009)

one of my best friends has chickens - a variety of layers. "the girls" are hilarious. they are so funny when you call them and they come running - i love to watch them run! you're right, though, home-made eggs are the best!


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## passion4poodles (Apr 11, 2009)

LOL! I tried to talk my husband into letting me get a couple awhile back lol, he said no lol, he said they do not lay every night so I would have to have a bunch to get enough eggs. We LOVE free range brown eggs, and they are not exactly "cheep" lol so I thought it would be a good idea. But NOPE. Do they lay every day? What type of fowl produce the brown eggs?


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## WonderPup (Oct 26, 2008)

My hubby grew up with pet chickens. He had the kind witht he fluffy feet... can't think of what they are called just now... silkies?? Anyway, when we moved I really wanted to get more but we never did. Neither of us really has the time to care for them anyhow so that is probably a good thing that we didnt  Would love to see pics of your babies!


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## T o d d (Sep 25, 2007)

We have a coop and an enclosed range that was left by the previous property owner. We plan to re-do it and make it 'usable' again and then get 4 or so of our own for eggs 

Any advice, tips, etc, you have would be appreciated 

A "Chicken How-To" would be nice haha.

THANKS!!


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## Finghin (Apr 16, 2009)

I always say I'll get a couple of chickens when I have an actual house of my own. they're so cute!! especially the extra fluffy ones or the ones with crazy head hair. I have to admit, big roosters make me nervous. but the chickens are still cute. Can't wait to see pics!


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

_Dianne does chickens and turkeys. She had layers and fancies too. She can offer a lot of advice on just about anything to do with chickens. We're going to share them this year.

I'll have mine over-easy please. :hungry:
_


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## cuddleparty (Apr 27, 2009)

when I was a kid, we had chickens and roosters in our backyard. sounds pretty normal, right? the catch is, we lived in the city. they would escape from the yard and run amok all around the neighborhood. they would "cock-a-doodle doooooo" :chicken: every morning. needless to say, our neighbors hated us. they also disliked the HUGE turtles we kept in the yard. my school mate had a pig in her backyard. what's with us "city-folk"?!


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## atlas (Nov 17, 2008)

Hi ArmaniGirl, 

I have 6 girls - my Easter gift from the hubster. I adore them and they give me hours of pleasure. 8½ weeks until they make the hubby breakfast! Not for me though, I am allergic to eggs.

Building the coop took FOREVER but we used a lot of recycled materials and the girls love it. 

I learned everything on Back Yard Chickens forum. Anyone serious about getting chicks can learn a wealth of information from there (similar to the fact this is the greatest place to learn all about poodles).

Here are my girls and their coop. As babies 4 days old.







First day in the run, up front is my favorite, Blackie.







First day in the coop, making sure it is good enough for them...







Almost done! 







We are planning a chicken moat, fencing all around our garden to help keep out weeds and bugs. Hopefully it will be finished soon.


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## PonkiPoodles (Feb 25, 2009)

This is the cutest coop i've ever seen atlas... looks like a little doll house! LOL!


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## passion4poodles (Apr 11, 2009)

LOL!!! I showed this pic to my hubby and the first thing he said was "we could not live there" LOL!!! He did not realize it was a chicken coop it is so cute!!!!!!


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## T o d d (Sep 25, 2007)

Wow, that is nicer looking than my house!

VERY nice coop!

What is the URL to this chicken forum I`m gonna have to get on the reading ?


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## atlas (Nov 17, 2008)

Thanks for the compliments everyone! 

Still waiting to see pics of Armani's chicks.......

Todd, the URL is http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/index.php 

Good luck in your chicken quest, they are such great pets!


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## ArmaniGirl (Jun 21, 2009)

passion4poodles said:


> LOL! I tried to talk my husband into letting me get a couple awhile back lol, he said no lol, he said they do not lay every night so I would have to have a bunch to get enough eggs. We LOVE free range brown eggs, and they are not exactly "cheep" lol so I thought it would be a good idea. But NOPE. Do they lay every day? What type of fowl produce the brown eggs?


sorry everybody! love the comments! i've been on vacation so i had no internet. 

Many breeds lay brown eggs and there are different shades lol!


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## ArmaniGirl (Jun 21, 2009)

OMG! atlas i'm a member of BYC! i love it i just haven't had time to get on lately


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## ArmaniGirl (Jun 21, 2009)

T o d d said:


> We have a coop and an enclosed range that was left by the previous property owner. We plan to re-do it and make it 'usable' again and then get 4 or so of our own for eggs
> 
> Any advice, tips, etc, you have would be appreciated
> 
> ...


BYC is really great with that stuff! atlas posted a URL above. 
I have silkies, games, mixed layers, polish, bantams and anything else that flies into the yard lol!


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## T o d d (Sep 25, 2007)

I found AWESOME plans for a coop. I think I may have to just destroy my old one and make a nice new one.

Have you ever had goats with your chickens? Heard they were good at keeping smaller critters from trying to get the chickens/eggs.

I'd love a goat or two for weed control, and at night stick them with the chickens


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## passion4poodles (Apr 11, 2009)

I know this is kind of an older post, but I was looking at guineas today, I know they do a great job with bugs and stuff, but does anyone know if they are loud? Do they fly??? could I keep them in like an outdoor dog run while my dogs were out? Could I train my dogs not to eat them?? LOL sorry, so many questions LOL!!!!!!


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## Mandycasey'smom (Jan 3, 2009)

goats don't eat grass sheep do so goats will not keep weeds down.
We had 3-6 chickens at given times and we had more then enough eggs and were giving them away.
I didn't realize byc was back up and running


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## frostfirestandards (Jun 18, 2009)

passion4poodles said:


> I know this is kind of an older post, but I was looking at guineas today, I know they do a great job with bugs and stuff, but does anyone know if they are loud? Do they fly??? could I keep them in like an outdoor dog run while my dogs were out? Could I train my dogs not to eat them?? LOL sorry, so many questions LOL!!!!!!


Guineas are horrible loud birds, where you live, you would be kicked out for them, oh yeah, and they fly the dogs (especially Kiki could do some serious damage. 


Guineas suck 

blah 


Chickens are fun though, if you don't mind occasionally stepping in poo, and they dig holes 


get the red ones for brown eggs, when mature a hen should lay approx. one egg per day 
you will be overrun with eggs LOL we had a crisper full and with my aunts family (2 adults 3 kids) my other aunts family(1 adult 2 kids) my family (1 adult 2 kids) and my grandma, we still had plenty of eggs to sell or do whatever with ( we gave alot away) I think the most hens we ever had was 10 

oh, and you have to give them laying mash, or else the eggs will come out with no shell (which is awesome, but bad for the birds)


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