who has chickens

newstart 7/7/2012, 7:18 pm

My daughter really wants to have chickens. I would love to have some but need to be able to build a good but really really cheap coop. also I am pregnant so hopefully something that is pretty easy to build. any help picture ideas would be great thanks

Shannon

LtTawnyMadison 7/7/2012, 7:19 pm

Ha! My 4yo girl has been asking for chickens too. I was thinking about getting some maybe in a year... a lot of people up here have them.

westx 7/7/2012, 7:37 pm

I just happen to be the current owner of the following site. http://backyardchickens.yuku.com/ Although I no longer have chickens due to moving to town a few years ago and as of now our code prohibits them, working on getting that changed, I did raise them on and off for over 40 years. There is lots of good information on the site and lots of good folks to help you out.

Lindacol 7/7/2012, 7:41 pm

Do a google search for chicken tractors. They can be made real simply with a PVC or conduit frame and chicken wire or hardware cloth covering.

**RoOsTeR** 7/7/2012, 7:43 pm

I bought a wooden dog house at a local farm and ranch type store for around $80. Put a sliding door on it and called it good. That was a simple one for a few of our ducks. It can be moved around simply enough with a couple helpers.

who has chickens 20120707_173201

I don't know that cheap and really, really good can be used in the same sentence. If you've got lots of screws/nails and lumber laying around, then maybe. Otherwise, if you decide to build your own the costs add up fairly quick. Coops aren't necessarily hard to build and you can for sure build them cheaper than what you can buy them for, but I don't consider lumber and hardware "cheap" anymore. Your idea of cheap may be different than mine. I tend to go overboard as well when I start building little projects, so my costs start adding up.

**camprn** 7/7/2012, 7:47 pm

I used to keep chickens, years ago. My neighbor friends have chickens and they have also recently had a fisher visit and kill 2 of her birds. That was a surprise, because we are in town. Shocked

Today she put up an electrified fence.

littlebear 7/7/2012, 8:00 pm

We have raised chickens for 3 years now. Really enjoy it. The fresh eggs can't be beat and we sell the extras. It money covers any costs we have for clean pine shavings and other misc. So we get our eggs for free!

**RoOsTeR** 7/7/2012, 8:19 pm

Did somebody say chicken tractor? I built this one a few years back. As I kept building, it kept getting heavier. Now I usually have to fire up the tractor to move the tractor Razz

lonewolfrissy 7/7/2012, 8:20 pm

We have two chickens and we have to build a new coop. The last one hasn't fared very well. It was just a couple shelves, very little plywood and mostly chicken wire hooked to pvc. Oh yeah the chickens aren't really ours but we take care of them. We've been trying and waiting for an oppurtunity to get some wood to build them a better coop. No luck thus far. They make interesting pets and fresh eggs is good. Smile

Depending on how many chickens you plan to house will be the main factor to how big the coop is. If you just want two or three, a simple shack style should be fine. Just make sure they have plenty of hay/straw and some space (like a couple of shelves) for the nests, it's fenced in to keep them safe, and you have an easy way to collect the eggs. Smile

That's just my experience.

**Turan** 7/7/2012, 9:48 pm

I like both of Rooster's Laughing

My first coop was my parents garage. The chickens roosted in the rafters and laid their eggs in a 'secret' corner. It worked well. My mom says the garage still smells of chicken poop, 40 years later. Another simple and cheap coop was a tie stall in the barn. Just put some poles in for roosts and a door and a tarp for a roof. Nowadays they have a shed the kids and I made.

For ideas google 'simple chicken coops'. Lots of good ideas with that.
A very simple tractor style coop, it would need moving every day but that would be easy. I would prefer a taller A frame, but shorter is cheaper....
who has chickens Building-a-chicken_coop

who has chickens Building-a-chicken_coop

I like the ingenuity shown in this one Laughing

Looks very functional too.
who has chickens Amazing_fun_weird_cool_chickencoop_200907232018211921

gregrenee88 7/7/2012, 11:05 pm

We don't have any chickens but a guy who lives a few miles from us decorates his chicken coop with Christmas lights(along with his house) every year. I wonder if the chickens help pay for the electricity for it... rofl

**Kelejan** 7/8/2012, 12:32 am

We are still not allowed to have chickens as most of the councillors are against it, saying they are smelly, noisy, and would devalue the property market.
Then there is the other side, talking about sustainability, fresh eggs, compost, and they make interesting pets.
One has to live outside city limits, in the unincorporated places.

newstart 7/10/2012, 7:03 pm

well we are not to have chickens either but I hace talked with all neighbors around me and they dont mind. I would hope not most of them have dogs that bark like crazy all night. also i am hoping to get some breeds that are a bit more quite in nature any suggestions

**camprn** 7/10/2012, 7:05 pm

no rooster. Wink

**RoOsTeR** 7/10/2012, 7:07 pm

camprn wrote:no rooster.

What!? Blaspheme who has chickens 950477

**camprn** 7/10/2012, 7:08 pm

RoOsTeR wrote:
camprn wrote:no rooster.

What!? Blaspheme

Do you crow before the crack of dawn? Wink

boffer 7/10/2012, 7:09 pm

Definitely, no roosters! I couldn't even watch all of Rooster's video the other day because the rooster crowing was so irritating!

Just say no to Rooster! Oops, I mean roosters!

boffer 7/10/2012, 7:10 pm

camprn wrote:Do you crow before the crack of dawn?

Don't forget, you're talking about a plumber....

newstart 7/10/2012, 7:11 pm

can anyone think of chickens that lay a good amount of eggs, good around kids and quiet

**camprn** 7/10/2012, 7:13 pm

boffer wrote:
camprn wrote:Do you crow before the crack of dawn?

Don't forget, you're talking about a plumber....

**RoOsTeR** 7/10/2012, 7:15 pm

boffer wrote:
camprn wrote:Do you crow before the crack of dawn?

Don't forget, you're talking about a plumber....

Where's the love?

boffer 7/10/2012, 7:16 pm

Some breeds are better egg layers, some have more easy going personalities (less skittish). We got Barred Rocks which are somewhere in the middle. We're quite happy with them. We're into our third summer, and I'm getting an egg a day per bird.

**RoOsTeR** 7/10/2012, 7:17 pm

newstart wrote:can anyone think of chickens that lay a good amount of eggs, good around kids and quiet

You could look at bantams. They're smaller and will lay a smaller egg, but they are easily kept and easier for kids to handle.

Most hens tend to get a little "chatty" when they lay an egg. They all have to chime in in excitement Razz

boffer 7/10/2012, 7:18 pm

RoOsTeR wrote:... Where's the love?

Love is not repeating the great plumber jokes you told me in private! Very Happy

**RoOsTeR** 7/10/2012, 7:20 pm

I can live with that Razz

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