About rasie Chicken

I need to know how much trouble is with chicken rasie for eggs and meat so tell me about this so need to keep spraying them keep from not have lice etc and what kind to use it... I don't know nothing about it. So my friend want give me couple chicken and told them wait and see that why.. I am asking here to see anyone know more about. I hope not cost much to rasie chicken.... Thank you~

well to start i would say you need a place for them at night that is secure from predators. in that i would include a few nesting boxes so they can lay eggs in them. if your animals are not used to chickens i would also make them a secure yard. for mites i use a dust in their house and nests. i also use a no mite strip that they rub their backs on coming and going from their house. if they are under 24 weeks i feed starter feed. when then come of laying age i feed layer feed and as a treat i give them scratch. i also have a feeder with oyster shell in it that keeps your shells nice. if the birds are going to run free you don;t have to feed them grit because they will pick it up from around the ground if they will not be loose you need to give them that too. chickens are a joy to raise and are a smart bird in some things like knowing when you are around they will stay out of the beds but turn your back for a minute they will tear all your plants out. but they are not to bright if there is danger. hope this helps you some.

Get them, Redrose! They're wonderful to have around if the dogs (yours and/or the neighbors') don't bother them! And talk about eating bugs (especially grasshoppers ~ they're fast food for chickens! LOLOL!). If you free-range them (let them run outside during the day and close them up in the coop at night) it doesn't cost much at all. All you'll need is a strong coop for them to sleep in (with poles hung a couple feet off the ground for them to roost on and nest boxes for them to lay the eggs in), a feeder in it with laying ration in it (about $6 or $7 for a fifty pound bag around here), a short pan with crushed oyster shell (for calcium for their feather and egg shells ~ about $8 for a fifty pound bag), grit for their craws to help digest the food (if you have enough small gravel/large sand sized "pebbles" laying around in your soil, they'll get it and do fine) and water out where they can get to it.

We've been lucky and haven't had a problem with lice or other pests with them. If they're tame enough, turn them over and look right around their vent (their "behind" hole) every so often ~ if they do have lice or other pests, they'll be easier to see there. If you hold them upside down by their legs it makes them calm down (gives them a little chicky headrush LOLOL!) so makes inspecting them easier. They can get other diseases or health problems, just like any other animal, so you might want to do a websearch on chicken health, chicken diseases and chicken pests.

The main trouble you'll run into is when you have to butcher them. Ick! That's a stinky job! When you get to that point, give me a holler and I'll help or ask over on the farm forum.

Good luck! You'll love them!

RedRose.. I am with Wingnut.. GO and get them! I used to have chickens along time ago and I would like to get chickens someday. Right now I only have ROOSTER you know. They are easy to feed and they won't run away.. they will come back in the coop and lock them in to prevent from other animals. The other strange dogs or big dogs would chase after them. I know you have fence around your home. NO worry about it.. Sometimes they do fly over the fence if the fence is low. I have no idea if they can fly over ur high fence.. GOOD LUCK

Clip one wing, removing the little point of feathers on just one, and they can't fly. It will keep them from roosting in the trees, too.

Thank you all so much for tell me about this. Thanks again~

Chickens are great, and some of them are very smart. We have araconda (sp?) that lay colored eggs and Rhode Island Reds. Some get very tame and will talk to you and love you to talk back to them. We have never had lice or anything except two little bantums my daughter bought and we got some powder and that took care of that. They are a lot less trouble than any other "farm critter". Enjoy them.

Chickens are like brugs,once you get a few you're gunna want more....one of every color and kind.....

very very true.

I really want some chickens, too - but we have a neighborhood covenant that precludes keeping fowl, and we have an adjacent neighbor who would like nothing more than to enforce any covenant just to needle us. And we have coyotes in the field behind us. Sigh...maybe this neighbor will move one day soon - the coyotes I can better deal with.

On the bright side, our neighbors on the other side have bunnies, and used to have chickens, so there's a precedent that the covenants aren't consistently enforced. I've been thinking of asking the surrounding neighbors (quietly) how they would feel if we kept a few chickens; maybe I can work to get the covenant amended.

I really don't understand why most municipalities prohibit keeping of two or three chickens. As a recent OG magazine article pointed out, you can generally have that many cats or dogs (or both.) And while your pets provide certain benefits, let's face it: they don't give us food, catch bugs or help weed the lawn. And their excrement can't be composted, whereas chicken manure can. Go figure.

Terry, some friends of mine lived in a subdivision with the same covenants, so they built a TALL privacy fence and got two hens for the backyard. They bribed the heighbors with fresh eggs and everyone's happy. I hope you can do the same with that sourpuss. I'm sure you know that roosters would cause some grumbling neighbors, but just a couple or three hens shouldn't cause anyone any grief! They're quiet and don't cause any more stink or mess than one dog let alone three! Good luck!

Will anyone of you give me your hen! Poor My rooster.. He's so lonely and guess what? He attacked a electric meter check up man this morning while he checked on our electric meter. LOL I had a good laughing while watching him and the rooster by the window.. He He He...He brought his long stick for protection ha ha.. so funny to watch. He tried to get in truck but rooster won't let him. LOL