Originally Posted by
jbravo54
I have topped the $400 so far. When we got the chicks, my wife says, "oh they are cheep." Hmm. Hope we have extra eggs to sell...like over a hundred dozen or so.
I thought about building more coops to sell but not at this moment.
The coop is right next to the garden. I am hoping that the chickens don't rip it up, but rather just eat all the bugs in it. Wishful thinking?
The plan is to let them out every morning and locking them up every night. You think raccoons will be able to get their hands through the wire in the window?
Yes if a chicken is sleeping near the window a coon will rip em right through. Hardware cloth 1/2"x1/2" will do the job.
Check out Backyardchickens, it is a forum also, but be warned you think these scrappers can be critical wait till you see them cackling hens over there rip into someone! Great info and lots of help there.
You can put up just one row of chicken wire around your garden and they will just walk right by. I let mine out and went in for a beer come out a short time later and they tore everything up, they don't know good plants from weeds! Tomato plants are poisonous to them.
Did you get bantams or full sized? I started with 25 straight run (not sexed) chicks that came in the mail. Went to feed store and ended up with like 6 more from there while getting food. Eleven of them turned out to be roos, I had to dispatch them but kept the quietest one. That one soon learned he was the lone Rooster and got loud fast, I found him a nice farm to move to.
This was 8 years ago! I still have 6 after all this time. They slow down laying after 3 or 4 years, most folks dispatch them as the feed cost more then the eggs produced after a while, but I can not do that. If you want them just for egg production then don't name them! Mine are pets and get along with my chihuahuas and cat.
Good luck they are cool.
Warning they have dippers for house chickens on that forum, and for God sake don't mention PETA, Lol
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