Backyard chickens…

[Barton72]

I’ve got 6 Silkie eggs in an incubator. It’ll be my first attempt. About to start building my coop/run and gather everything I need. Will be adding hens and might get some meat birds. Both sides of my family are poultry people and I worked around chickens with my grandpa as a youngster. I’m not clueless about them, but haven’t raised my own.

Who is successful at this and what advice/tips can you offer? Thank you in advance.

 

[Piglatinhater]

Right before covid hit we got 4x silkies. They were the best, very docile and loving. Just like a dog basically. They laid a bunch but were half, 3/4 the size of a normal egg, easily 2x as delicious. Silkies don't lay as much as other breeds and I think it takes about 6 months for them to start. We have a fenced in backyard that's decent sized, so they free ranged but we bought a neat coop from Amazon (couldn't build it for cheaper and it actually looked nice). Amazon is the cheapest if you dont live near a tractor supply/similar store. Our neighborhood has 6 or so active hawks, we had 0 problem. We only gave them away when my wife hit a rough patch. I live in the burbs in the middle of Raleigh, 0 issue from my neighbors but we have amazingly relationships with all.

 

[testdepth]

I learned not to start with baby chicks that I have to feed for 6 months before I see an egg. I search ads looking for hens that are laying or about to lay. I got lucky one day and found a guy's ad for 9 laying hens he was getting rid of. I drove over and took all 9 for free. He was older and more interested in traveling than caring for chickens so he gave them away. All different types of hens from Easter eggers to a Brahma. Can't beat free. I used to have my hens in a chicken tractor I built. Now I have 13 hens in a fixed chainlink pen 5'x 20'x30' I built and inside that is their roost house and egg boxes I built. Every day or every other day they get let out in the yard to do their chicken thing. The lay nearly an egg a day. We get beige, blue, pale green and brown eggs.

 

[Eggmanmja01]

You just missed a free chicken run Ravic

 

[Rolling_trip]

You just missed a free chicken run Ravic

No kidding!!! I’ve currently got 3 laying hens, 7 maybe 5 weeks old and a rooster. I’m getting ready to extend my run a figure out more coop space. Here is the one I built. I’ve actually put a rain catchment system on the back of it. I still haven’t put on a legit gutter, but it works for now, triple screened. l‘m still waiting on my ”Egg Lair” sign to be made in place of the lattice..

 

[BEREZKA]

I’ve got 6 Silkie eggs in an incubator. It’ll be my first attempt. About to start building my coop/run and gather everything I need. Will be adding hens and might get some meat birds. Both sides of my family are poultry people and I worked around chickens with my grandpa as a youngster. I’m not clueless about them, but haven’t raised my own.

Who is successful at this and what advice/tips can you offer? Thank you in advance.

-Limit their options of stuff they can roost on.
They will sit on and poop all over feeders and waterers
-make nesting boxes before they start laying.
Having to fish around in a coop or run for dirty eggs REALLY gets old
-If you free range them do weekly foot inspections
It really sucks to loose a bird to bumble foot.

We have silkies and mostly polish hens. The polish hens are amazing birds. Take forever to start laying, but lay an egg a day

https://www.amazon.com/PlumBest-H20006R-Galvanized-Hanger-50-Foot/dp/B0069QTY1K/ref=asc_df_B0069QTY1K

This stuff is amazing for fixing mesh to board frames. Just drive in the screws and no messing with crappy staples. Also electric fence wire -just the wire- is a godsend for binding fence corners or joining sheets of fence

 

[batoncolle]

If you're going to have a coop and release your chickens into a fenced in run or your backyard, the best thing you can buy is a battery powered door for your coop. It's nice when you don't have to go out in the rain to let your chickens out or lock em up at night.

 

[rockyfatcat]

carolina coops - Google Search

www.google.com

When I do chickens, I'll be buying one of the Carolina coops craftsman. You will learn a lot and get useful ideas watching these videos.

 

[Piglatinhater]

If you're going to have a coop and release your chickens into a fenced in run or your backyard, the best thing you can buy is a battery powered door for your coop. It's nice when you don't have to go out in the rain to let your chickens out or lock em up at night.

Solid advice right here!

 

[Barton72]

Thank you folks for the info. I definitely want to get some already productive hens, but we started the 6 silkie eggs for the heck of it. About 19 more incubation days. We’ll see. I’ve got a lot of work to do.