chickens

[Boondox]

Eric -- We've tried several breeds, but like the bigger birds as they winter over better up here in northern VT. And among the bigger birds, buff orpingtons are our favorite as they have a very mellow personality. Plus we like the brown eggs for some aesthetic reason.

Extreme winters are probably not an issue with you in NC. Check out some of the sex link birds like the Black Star. Those and the leghorns are prolific layers, but consider personality if that's an important issue for you. Chickens really are low maintenance...but we get a lot of enjoyment out of the birds that let you scoop them up and carry them around without them trying to scratch and peck you.

Pete

 

[ebeacham]

Many thanks to all of you who have replied! After I get my pond dug and my fence put up I will be getting some chickens. My new daughter ( age 6 ) is very excited and is already talking about a Pony /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[pruntyc]

Oh yes I forgot to say, if you put a light in the house, you should put a timer on it, so they only get the 14 to 16 hours of light. They need a rest from the light, the same as we do. I know people that have used a light all night and it didn't work as well. I'll bet you are surprised, aren't you Dave, I admit I forgot something???????

 

[pruntyc]

Oh yes, I mentioned Cherry Eggers, you can find them under Production Reds at some places, very heavy layer, and good meat size to.

 

[jdrotert]

If you have the space, look into pasturing the birds. Some people just let the birds run free, with trained dogs to keep predators out. Some, like me, have built lightweight open-bottomed pens which we move everyday. The idea is that up to 1/3 of the chicken's intake could come from grass and bugs. Also, they are not walking on manure all the time. My grass takes about 5 days to fully recover. I have 22 RIR hens in a pen with six nest boxes attached to the back wall. They are right at 7 months old and and I'm getting 8-10 eggs a day right now. I'm looking to get about 20 eggs per day very soon. Check out the PasturePoultry group on Yahoogroups.com here. When you sign up, check out the photo albums. I have uploaded pics in a folder named "John's hoop house". One good cheap way to built these pens is to use two cattle panels. In the winter, we will put the hens in a traditional chicken house. I have attached a picture of the pen (or "hoop house").

 

[ebeacham]

I am thinking about fencing in an acre or so including a 1/4 acre pond. Are predators a big concern? I have fox in the area, I'm pretty sure I dont have bobcat. Do I need a fence or will they stay in the general area that you feed them?

 

[uno]

Get some game chickens.
Very hearty,lay good and can survive the elements.

 

[kokopelli2]

foreget chickens get turkeys! they dont get eaten by fox as much, and their eggs are soo good! plus they are huge eggs. we used to get about 1 aday per hen.

 

[ebeacham]

How many chickens can I put on a half acre without feeding them a whole lot of store bought food? What kind of fence is required for keeping them in? Do they fly enough to get out of a 5 ft fenced in area?

 

[Boondox]

Eric -- You can free range quite a few birds on half an acre, but if you get up in the numbers it's best if you can rotate them around the property. We had (prior to locking them up for protection from predators) about 20 birds free ranging on 7 acres, but they pretty much stayed on two acres and it easily supported them with bugs and grazing. Very happy birds! On the other hand, when we concentrated 35 young NH Reds on a quarter acre, they ate everything right down to the roots! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif That section of land is like a desert now. It was the first time we did not confine the youngsters to portable chicken tractors to enforce the rotational grazing thing. Won't make that mistake again!

Not sure what your predator situation is, but we have foxes, fisher cats and the occasional hawk to deal with. Our worst predation by far is domestic dogs off leash, but the furious shotgun blazing wife scared the worst offender so badly he hasn't come back in months. The sad thing is she's such a bad shot when she gets excited the only thing she managed to hit was my backhoe! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif That's why I only give her #8 shot. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Best of luck.