Anyone have chickens?

[shazapple]

I'm thinking of building a chicken coop and buying 2 or 3 chickens. Anyone have any experience with this? Is an odd number of chickens bad? How do you handle winter?

I'd like to build a mobile coop so I can move it around the yard. Will the chickens soil the inside as much as they do the outside? Can you let the chickens wander around yoru yard (I have almost 2 acres, trees on 3 sides and highway on the other).

Any info would be appreciated!

[christiner (WavyGlass)]

i will be getting some next month after we move. the house already has a coop. i plan on getting 3. have you been to backyardchickens.com? they have a wealth of info!

i have a friend who has 8 acres and he lets his free-range during the day. he has roosters that help protect his flock (25 hens) though he has lost a few to various predators, etc. in the winter he has a light in their coop for light/warmth otherwise they will stop laying. here in oregon it doesn't get bitterly cold so I can't help you with winter advice.

[shazapple]

Well, we ended up getting the chickens back in May. I found an old rabbit hutch in our barn that worked great as a pen for the chicks. They quickly grew out of it though (mostly just got too stinky for inside)

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The coop. I made it so it was semi mobile, although it's a two person operation. It's fully enclosed with some heavy duty chicken wire (also found in the barn) and insulated to help with winter temps.

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Today we found our first egg! We actually didn't notice it until we moved the coop. We're not sure who was the first, but they weren't thoughtful enough to lay it in my carefully constructed laying boxes!

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[christiner (WavyGlass)]

and update from me! I had 3, one got attacked by a cat earlier this summer and i just replaced her today. I have a small chicken tractor though it is rather heavy to move around. I made some mods to this plan:
http://learningstore.uwex.edu/Assets/pdfs/A3908-02.pdf

i used 2x2's for most of the frame, 2x4's for the base. it's pretty heavy to move, so i should add wheels or something. I let mine free range during the day, as long as I am home. i live in the city limits, but on the edge of town.

as for the laying, if you put a plastic easter egg or golf ball (or similar) where you want them to lay, it will help. it took my girl a few days to figure it all out and now she lays where she should.

[shazapple]

Mines mostly made out of 2x2 as well. I should have used a thinner plywood for the coop area though as that was what added most of the weight. I looked into the triangle shaped chicken tractor, but wasn't sure if it was going to give me enough space, especially if I wanted to add more chickens. Ours love to free range but they don't get the chance often.

I had some golf balls in the laying boxes but removed them as they didn't seem to be working. I'll put them back in and see if that helps. I think that two more of the chickens will be starting to lay soon, so hopefully they figure it out!

[lisascenic]

We built the Chicken Bungaloo out of reclaimed lumber.

[img=center]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8026/7308609120_a0008e2179.jpg[/img]

We have four hens, who are all moulting at the moment. Our back yard looks like the site of a massive pillow fight.

[img=center]http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2878/10405314575_f5d5edc882.jpg[/img]

[shazapple]

That's a pretty nice coop! I'm jealous of your colourful chickens. I think we'll go that route next time, or maybe get meat chickens.

A second chicken has come online since my last post. We're thinking the third should be soon, although the 4th doesn't look nearly as developed so she'll probably be another little while. it's starting to get cold here so I bought a heated dog dish and plan on modifying it for the chickens this winter.

[lisascenic]

[img=center]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7329/9099488011_59d88e1148.jpg[/img]

Our chickens lay colorful eggs.

Which look nice lit through windows with wavy glass.

[shazapple]

Went outside this morning and the chicken's water was pretty much frozen. I bought a heated dog bowl that I am going to rig up so I can fit the existing waterer over the heated base.

[heartwood]

no chickens for me but i am going to help a friend put up a roof on her small chicken coop on sunday...actually, they have ducks too....
...jade