New to raising chickens, and have questions, help!!

Hello I just purchased 4 little baby chicks, they are Gold Sex Links, they are very cute and I am hoping to raise them for their eggs and also for their chicken manure. At first I wanted to get the bantams since they are smaller and thought would be more mangeable but the store had males and females all together and so I did not want any males. I live in a subdivition and don't think many of my neighbors would like the noise that a rooster every morning.

My concern is whether the chicks will fligh high and get to my neighbors yards, I have a fairly high fence about 2 feet but I am worried that they might be able to jump to it, so my question is how high can these chickens fly and also what can I do to prevent it and to keep them in my yard?

Here's a picture of the little babies.

I'm pretty sure 2 feet isn't going to keep them contained. When they are older, I think you can clip their wings (like you would a parrot), but they'll still be able to get some flight going. I'm not the best one to ask, but I know mine are about a month old, and they're definitely flying higher than 2 ft.

Congratulations, they are adorable!

My silkies don't fly, and that's one of the reason I bought them. A friend of mine had the fighting chickens, and they would roost in the trees at night. He said they never wandered very far away from where they were fed.

The pen I built is 8X4 and 3 feet high, that is boxed in with wood at one end, and hardward cloth covered at the other. I let them out when I wake up in the morning and lock them up at night when the sun goes down. They run around in the backyard all day. My fence is six feet.

I am sorry I must be dumb or something, my fence is actually 6 1/2 feet not 2 feet, I am not sure why I placed that number.

I really wanted silkies bamtams but my DH, wanted the regular chickens instead, I was so happy just to get chickens that at the moment I just did not mind. Plus the place that was selling them had all the bantams mixed the males and females, and I just did not want to get a male in the mix, expecially since I live in a neighborhood.

The lady that sold me the chickens though told me that they would not fly as high as a tall fence and plus they would just stay close to the food, but I still wanted to ask you guys.

Who knows I might get some bantams silkies next year, but for now 4 is enough.

By the way how many do you have?

Also what do you do about the cats in your area, I know that my neighbors have a few cats that like to roam free in out neighborhood.

Did you mean to say 2'? Any chicken can get over that height. Most suburban fences are 4-6' high. Once your hens are grown they are unlikely to fly higher than about 4', but chicks are often good fliers.

Also cats are not usually a threat to full grown hens, but chicks will need to be protected as will your hens at night.

This message was edited Mar 27, 2010 7:00 PM

Some people build what they call "chicken tractors" which are small pens you can move around the yard. The silkies are pretty well grown at five months old, they are pretty safe at about 4 months. Before that though, they must be protected. I have an old wire rabbit pen I keep mine in during the day when they are small.

The chickens must be protected from predators at night.

I'm excited for you! Chickens are awesome.

Porkpal, my fence is 6 1/2' high. Thank you I feel much better now that you said that they wont climb that high once they are grown. The chicks right now are on my laundry area on a wood box that my DH built and we still have to build them a ckicken coop, I also want them to have a run as well, so they can run freely when I am not home.

Congratulations Carminator! Welcome! I'm so glad you "took the plunge" so to speak. :) I hope your babiez are all girls and you have a wonderful time with them.
Do beware of cats while they are small..
Happy to have you here on the poultry forum!

Thank you I have been active in the veggie forum but always was dreaming about having chickens. Thank you guys for all your help. :) I am sure I am going to have tons of questions. My DH is ingenering a nice chicken house for them he is having fun as well believe me.

Hi carminator1!

Porkpal is right that the older birds are not great flyers, especially the heavier breeds. But some will use objects to get higher. I've had heavy bodied standarded breeds work their way from bench to lower fence to lower tree branches into the higher tree branches. Chickens like to roost as high as possible...they will compete for the highest roosts. It seems to be a status thing and it does help keep them safe from predators. Bantams are the worst...they fly very well.

I have a 7 foot privacy fence and so far the chickens, with one exception, have not gone over it. But they have roosted in trees far higher than that.

Oh Boy, I don't have trees in my backyard but do have some raise beds where I grow veggies so I'll have to be careful that they don't climb there and then go to the fence, I was told that the silkie bamtams don't fly and that was one of the reasons I was going towards those but my DH really likes this type, and wants bigger size eggs so I really am just happy to get this ones as well.

Welcome Carminator,
I use and love the chicken tractor - Light for Jesus is right on track(tor). There are many plans available online. They are simple/ inexpensive to build, allow access to fresh greens and insects, worms, etc. and provide ample protection from most predators. Plus with only 4 birds - you can build a small one that is easy to move around. This also qualifies your birds as free-range - if you ever plan to sell eggs in your area. The only drawback in your case is collection of manure which is virtually impossible with a tractor. However - if you plan to utilize raised beds for your gardening, you simply build the tractor the same size as your beds, rotate the tractor to empty beds, or harvested beds - much the same as farmers putting cattle into harvested fields - an voila! You can feed your birds, fertilize your garden, and obtain excellent quality eggs, while reducing feed costs...Scott

maineiac, the problem with the tractor is that I only have limited space for raise beds, I have 3 reaise beds right now and can probably 3 more. My yard is kind of slopped so i am placing the raise beds at the tops of the slopes. The beds are 4X8, and I grow veggies in all of them. I have a question though, the tractors what do you mean they qualify for free range, do you still have to let them run around the yard in the day and then place them in the tractor at night?

I really want to learn more of what I can do as far as chicken coops, I would like to let the chickens run in the yard but like I mentioned before I also grow veggies in raise beds and conatiners so I also have a little bit of concern if I just let them run unatended. Sorry about the dumb questions but I am really new to this.

O.K I am reading a little bit about chicken tractors online, and also seen the youtube videos that Gardengirl offers on how to build one, it really looks interesting but before I decide to switch, I am wondering of a couple of things.

1) what are the benefits of a chicken tractor vs a regular chicken coop?

2) will I have to let my chickens free range in the yard in a chicken tractor?

3) How often do I have to place the chicken tractor in different raise beds?

The main benefit is you get the advantages of the chickens tilling and fertilizing the ground, supplementing their diet and eating pests, without losing your whole garden to ravening poultry. You can also move them from place to place on the lawn and prevent them from killing the grass, or over a raised bed to prepare it for the next planting. It gives you a great deal of control. Chicken "arks" which combine the tractor with a coop are very nice for two or three standard chickens.

A "tractor" is usually just for letting them "free range". They sleep and live in the coop.

Chicken manure is very "hot" so you usually don't want to plant right after the chickens have been on it...so you can let them clean up at the end of the year or in rotation with other beds.

I don't have the time to do it this year but I saw a drawing for raised beds that were chicken proof. You had to put a little fence around the box with a wood framed top on them that had chicken wire in it also. Obviously it won't work for bigger veggies but it should help a lot with smaller items. You just took off a side to weed then put it back.

I'm thinking I need one of them tractor thingys for all the weeds I have here... I can put them in the morning, and back in the coop in the evening... Oh the possibilities for the fall

Thank you catscan, my question also is for what I understood when you let your chickens free range, it means let them loose in the yard so they can moove around in a bigger space and so they are not enclosed in one smaller structure all the time, right? Why would a chicken tractor qualify as free range if the chickens only have a certain space to move, even if you move the enclosed structure from place to place, they are still enclosed in the same area, no?

Also how long do I have to let chicken manure decompose?, that was one of the reasons why I wanted to get chickens to use their manure for my raise beds.

Greykyttyn, I think I've seen what you are talking about in the square foot gardening book, actually I was thinking of building something like that for when i plant my strawberry patch.

Hi carminator1. The definition of "free range" is fairly elastic and in many instances would include using a chicken tractor that was moved regularly:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-us%3AIE-ContextMenu&rlz=1I7TSHB_en&q=define%3A+free+range&aq=0&aqi=l1g3&aql=&oq=free+range+defi&gs_rfai=

So if I was to let my chickens free range around my yard for let say just 3-4 hours a day that would be considered free range as well?
I was reading freerange chickens produce more eggs than the ones that are not free range, plus they tend to keep healthy.

Exactly Carminator! Just letting them out or putting them in a tractor so they can forage, will produce much better eggs! Not to mention the health of the chicken! :)

Boy they are growing so quick, in no time they'll have to be out of that box my DH built. I took them out a little bit the other day for them to get some fresh air in my backyard, they seemed to really like it.

What an absolutely darling photo!!!!!!! How sweet!

I'm curious about the free range thing - we're going to have a 20X30' run for our birds, and closer to fall, a tractor to get some of them helping with the aftermath of the gardens. Because we have hawks, I'm hesitant to just let them roam, but I want them to forage (hence the run). I wish there was a way to seed the run so it could have greens all the time (before the chickens plow through it), but I don't think that's possible, is it?

How about raising sprouting seeds for them? I know that you can sprout wheat and there are a lot of seeds out there sold for sprouting. Do not know how much work that would be but it is a idea. I have done it on a small scale for a cat.

Beautiful child, and chicks too. Congrats on your new fuzzy babies!

Sprouting seeds works great. I've done several trays for my chicks now and have a lot more trays planted and sprouting now. Make sure you don't use a potting soil that has fertilizer in it, I only use plain top soil. Also, some of the seed mixes have a coating of fertilizer on them too. The chicks had SO much fun with the trays of wheat and oats. There is a tray of corn that just sprouted, I think they're going to love that one. After they demolish the seedlings they scratch and play in the soil. I have 15 trays to rotate for planting seedlings for them. It eases my guilt about them not being able to free range here. It's so fun to entertain them!

O.K I have to say that they are not babies anymore!!!! They are teenagers if I may say so, they are huge! I can't believe how fast they are growing, my DH has not been able to build them the coop yet, but I guess we never expected them to grow so fast. We will have to work in the coop soon, they are already jumping out of their box. I'll have to post some pictures.

I have a question about the chicken tractor. How do you get them to go from the coop area to the tractor and back again? (for the night)

I just built a large run, using PVC pipe, I made it rather tall, so I can go in and catch them to take them to the coop and back. I would rather have a small tractor to move around.

Imagesoart,
Attach wheels on your run that will fold up, there you have a movable chicken run... I saw it somewhere I just cant remember..

I can do that.


But how do the chickens transfer from the main coop to the chicken tractor? Now, I pick them up, one at a time!

I always wanted to see if they would follow me. So, yesterday, after putting my dogs in the house, I carried all the chickens to the coop, except the one that likes me best. I had her follow me to the coop. Sure enough she went right into the coop! It was fun to see her walking around. (As I have stated before, I cannot free range due to my dogs)

I can often get mine to go where I want by throwing a handful of corn into the target area.

I made a 12' run that was supposed to be part of a portable chicken coop and run. I got the instructions for free from Mother Earth...only problem was that it only opened on one end. It worked fine for my first four special ordered "pullets" (they all turned out to be roos), which were very tame and would come when called...but later, with other young chickens, it was a disaster, because you couldn't get them out.

So, looking closely at other plans, I realised that the best ones had hinged tops that opened lengthwise. I also made PVC pipe and chicken wire runs for chicks. These had no bottoms, but same problem, the chicks would scatter when you lifted it to take them out or put their food and water in.

ZZ solved this in her chick runs by making a hinged top (the hinges were just slip ties). Worked perfectly.

I also have dogs but since my dogs are not always outside I am planning to let my chickens free run for maybe a couple of hours so that way they are not always enclosed, I think that might give them a chance to look for good stuff. My dogs don't bother me as much it is mostly all the cats that I have in my neighborhood.

I was wondering, if I was to clip their wings a little they wont be able to fly right?

I've never clipped my chickens' wings, because my silkies can't fly. Here's what I do for my cockatiels:

It takes two people. One to hold the bird, the other one to gently pull the wing out and cut the feathers with scissors. Don't cut the first one or two, but all the others you can trim. In cockatiels there is a blood feather, they call it. If you cut it, it will bleed, but it doesn't bleed long. The other ones don't bleed at all.

That's the extent of my expertise on feather cutting. Maybe somebody else has more answers.

When I had a parrot, I did it myself. I wrapped her in a towel and gently pulled her wing out and trimmed her feathers. I've heard that you can trim just one side, but I would think that'd make them fairly off balance if they did try to fly. Clipping both allowed her to flap and she could glide safely to the ground from a perch, but not catch any real air. I don't plan on clipping my chickens because they'll be in a covered run and in the coop. If I decide to trust my dog (with some heavy training), then I guess I may consider clipping at that point.

Just placed them in their new chicken house outside, I'll have to take photos. One question though, they are opening their mouths so I am wondering, are they O.K, maybe too hot outside? They do have fresh water and food. Is there anything I should do?

O.K forget about the last post, I really think it is just that they were too hot, I am thinking of placing more vents so they get more ventilation. Anyways here are some pictures of the new chicken coop and also the chickens, they have really grown a lot since the last shot.

Here's the the chicken coop.

Nice coop, VERY cute helper!