Raising Chickens?

badboob67

Raising Chickens?

badboob67

Probably the strangest question I've ever asked here, but do any of you raise chickens? My son is wanting to get some hens for laying. He needs to build a coop/enclosure. We've got experience with other animals, but I have no clue about chickens...

Do any of you know how many eggs one can expect from a single hen?

Are there medications/vaccinations/disease issues to worry about?

Any other tips from someone whose BTDT?

I know this is a really odd request for a bc board, but there always seems to be at least one person here who has an answer for any question!

(((HUGS)))

Diane

Isabella4

Hi Diane

Hens, we have about 5-6,000 of them at the moment, all free range, and I HATE HENS with a vengeance, never have liked them in such large groups, half a dozen in the backyard yes, but in such great numbers they drive me over the edge!

I took a degree in Animal husbandry, and failed my poultry part of the exam because I refused to kill a chicken, just to show that I could. (well, actually I couldn't, I have never killed anything...apart from flies!!!)

You can expect the average hen to lay about 300-350 in a battery cage, and about 250-300  running about in your backyard, in an average 'lay'. 

Our free range ones lay on average 5/6 each a week, some pop 'em out every day, but most don't. They lay around 8/9 months, then go into a 'moult', look like scarecrows for about 3 months, then off they go again.

We buy our pullets in at about 16/17 weeks, in batches of 500 or 750, and always buy them already vaccinated. The main 2 things the vaccine protects against are bronchial pneumonia, and a disease called Newcastle disease. I am sure you will get the pneumonia type diseases over in USA, but don't know about Newcastle....in fact I have forgotten most all I knew about vaccines anyway !! We always worm all our adult hens, quite important, don't know off hand how regularly DH does it, he puts something in their water for a couple of days.

Our pullets come into lay about 20-22 weeks, and kick out silly little eggs like ping pong balls for a week or two, but once they get going theres nothing nicer than your own fresh eggs for breakfast....yummy.

My g/kids go mad for their boiled eggs for breakfast when they come to stay.

I find hens quite brainless, but it gives you something to laugh at, especially when they get under my garden fence and start scratching up all my plants!! Thats when my trowels and plantpots start flying thru the air !!!

Good luck. Isabella.

Anonymous

We had chickens growing up down at our ranch. They always got out of the hen house and would lay their eggs anywhere that even resembled a nest.  They'd lay eggs in the back of the Willy's jeep because there'd be hay left over from feeding the cows ... maybe just a handful of hay!  They'd lay eggs in an empty trough!  It was a miracle to actually find them in their coop. But I do remember that the older the chicken, the bigger the egg. 

Mmmmm, I love fresh eggs ....  going out in the morning getting the eggs and whipping them up for breakfast.

AlaskaDeb

We have chickens and they are a blast.  They are pets as well as egg producers....all of them have names and are friendly.  The kids show them in 4-H and carry them all over the place.  Different breeds lay different colored eggs and have different personalities.  We like Brahamas, Black Sexlinks, Crested Polish, cochens, Wyandots, orphingtons, and we love bantams (the little ones)  It is fun to buy a flock from

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/category/day_old_baby_chickens.html

They have all kinds of fun breeds and you can get a few of each.

Our hens lay about 6 eggs a week each when they are young.  At 2 or 3 years old they may only lay 4 eggs a week.  A lot of people butcher hens when they get older and get new ones, but we keep them around....I know, I'm a sucker....

We really enjoy our birds....

Deb C

Fitztwins

I want chickens!! we live on 4 acres...are they hard to take care of? fresh eggs are the best!!