Gonna start next week. This week I will build a brooder box (4'x4' by 1' tall) for them. I'm looking at getting 9-15 birds, 3 varieties, with the idea of having 6-12 laying hens upon maturity of the birds planning for unexpected dirt naps). Their coop will go next to the garden with a door that allows access to the garden for pest control, and to give them more room at most times of the year, except for when the garden is just starting.

Their main pen will allow them a space 10'x20' for a run, and the coop would be 4'x8' on the bottom, with 5 sheets of plywood needed to complete the total coop. This meets the minimum floor space requirements from what I've read for 10-12 birds.

Other than the brooder, plus feeder and watering trays, brooding lamp, anything else I need to get this project going? I can run power to the hutch without any issue, so they will have light and heat to keep them going all winter long.

Pics of your systems would be appreciated.

Two tips Andy....

If you want egg laying hens you will have to buy pullets (already sexed, guaranteed hens); DO NOT buy straight run chicks. If you buy 15 straight runs, you will end up with 12 roosters and 3 hens at the best; and 15 roosters at the worst.

Make sure you're brood box has a lid that small, chick eating predators cannot get through, like a 1" wire mesh. Rats, mink, weasels, etc. all love a gourmet meal of young chicks....who doesn't?

Ike

I am buying pullets right off the bat, and to begin with the pullets will be in a box with a lid in the office of the shop to begin with so they should be safe for a little while and in a climate controlled environment. I have some 1/2' hardware cloth, so I have that box covered as well.

Thanks for the tips.

Sounds like you have it covered.

One thing I did with my chickens in Georgia was having a draggable pen the size of my garden beds. Basically a 4x8 two foot high pen that I could drag around to my 20 beds.

Oh, another vote for keeping those chicks penned up for a bit, I lost 25 chicks the first night I brought them home.

So you had hardware cloth on the bottom of the pen so the poop would fall out? I can put wheels on it, and the door to the garden is 52" wide, so there should be no issue moving is arounf the garden. I read somewhere they call those "chicken tractors".

Back in the day I installed a 12" culvert from the coop to the garden , controlled weed and feed.

Chickens are feathered pigs. While having them clean the pests out of the garden soudns great... they will also clean out your garden. FAST...

I have pheasants and quail, my neighbor has chickens. His chickens like to come flaunt in fornt of my roosters that they're the chit...well, I left the garden door open one day, and the little bastages cleaned out dang near everything but the onions, in just a couple hours. And they dig and tear chit up like you wouldn't believe when they're rooting around for bugs...


hell, they even picked CLEAN 3 steelhead carks I had laying by my cleaning table last week... I mean, these things would put a pirana to shame...

chickens...

Like a pack of dogs on a 3 legged cat. . .. .. They can be somewhat trained (will require a couple to take dirt naps). . . . They like fresh sprouts and vegetables of all varieties (esp tomatoes). I would keep them out of the garden once things are planted, although you could put them in with the melon/squash, potatoes, and corn once the plants are big enough.

once they got going, the 4 hens i had would lay more eggs than my entire family(and the neighbors) could eat.

they definitely do work great for garbage disposal...i used to toss my fish guts to them all the time. just make sure you fence off the areas where you don't want them to go, they'll strip your garden bare!

ducks are a little easier if you've got a water source. only problem i had was that the toothy critters seem to like them even more than chickens.

The pen I dragged around was a secondary pen. When I was outside messing in the garden I would herd the chickens down to the pen and let them scratch and sh!t all day.

Basically one of these
http://openwindow.typepad.com/.a/6a01053564db9d970b01156f20863a970c-800wi

My dad did the chicken thing when I was in elementary school, butchered 40-50 of those ones that eat themselves too death in 3 month.....and eggs from another 8 or 10 layers......thought I was 'da man for lopping those heads off with the 2-bladed axe and spraying blood everywhere, laughin at the lab trying to catch them.....good times, loved the fresh eggs. Cleaning out the chicken house with that pungent ammonia makes me puke in my mouth a little to this day.

Builds character in the youngins, for sure. Would I have chickens today? NO WAY

I was quite the farmer when I was in high school. I raised chickens and livestock, only without the government subsidies. From my experience Andy, it looks like you're well on your way to raising some $10 per dozen eggs. Did I mention that I had a part time job after school to support my "farm" projects? In my senior year I got out of the farm business instead of subsidizing it with my job. Used the money to buy a '55 Chevy hotrod, . . . which is another story.

Basic Rhode Island Reds and Barred Plymouth Rock are good breeds for the purpose you describe. Avoid the exotic breeds; although some look cool, they are more demanding and produce less meat and eggs.

Sg, who has handled easily a quarter million chickens in his agribusiness days, and did he mention that he hates chickens?

Whoa, you win!

Chicks in garden, excuse me I should have added the part about closing the culvert during the growing season. What they do in the off season is weed and feed.

and $10 / dozen probably pretty close to accurate

Sheesh. Garden, chickens, rural location and.....

You thinkin' that our present economy and lifestyle is in for a bumpy landing?

Just trying to be creative. Dan knows why you should call before you come over, though. I'm not paranoid, just prepared.

The materials for the coop are already on hand, extra stuff from the house project. Just need a heat lamp, feed and water dispensers, feed, and chicks. so my cost to start the project isn't really hitting my pocket book. At 2.50 a bird, plus supplies, I'll be into it about $100-150 before I get my first eggs. Then $20 per month on feed, from what I read.

Yeah, I thought I was going to be money ahead with my chickens too.

I'm not trying to be money ahead. Just showing costs I am incurring. What costs were a surprise?

Dogfish,

I started my chicken and livestock "career" when I was 14. All costs were a surprise to me. My business acumen wasn't so good in those days. But I bought more feed than I expected, had predation losses that I hadn't expected, and I had no idea that my project added to the household electric bill, and on and on. The only way I would have made a profit is if I had been able to externalize all my costs. Small scale farming is no way to make any money. I learned that lesson well. No worries. We'll plant a garden too, so we can eat some $5 a head lettuce, etc.

Sg

I could be wrong here but I'm pretty sure he's not trying to turn a profit with 8-10 laying hens....he just wants some fresh eggs.

Were you in FFA too Salmo?

Ike