I am adding CHICKENS to my garden this year.

[wildeyed]

We have a pretty good size suburban lot, and chickens are legal with a permit, so I am going for it this year. From my reading, they can be pretty nice pets, provide the family with eggs, help keep bugs away and, with a little composting, provided excellent manure for the veggie beds. I have a coop design all picked out and hope to get baby chickies at the hardware store later this week :)

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. Lucky you!

I want chicks too, but it will have to wait till next spring. :(

good luck!

[Denninmi]

2. 6A SE Michigan

I hope you don't literally mean you'll have them in the garden. While nice pets, great for eggs, and so forth, they are incredibly destructive to plant life, and, the better something tastes to you, the better chickens like it. They'll leave things like potato vines alone, and eat the potato bugs, which is great, but they'll trash salad crops, ripe fruit, etc., in short order. Even a handful of chickens in a large garden can be pretty destructive in a day or two.

The best way to do it is to let them into the garden area AFTER harvest is done, so they can clean up debris, insect larvae, etc.

[wildeyed]

3. Nah, not actually IN the garden.

Just part of the backyard ecosystem. The yard is fences, so I figure I can let them roam a bit, but will have to put some cheap ;) fencing around the veggie garden to keep them out in season. The coop design I am looking at is movable and includes a small enclosure, so I might just move the entire set up over the raised bed in the fall after garden production is over and let them fertilize it directly.

[bvar22]

4. Congrats!

We got our chickens in 2007, and have come to love them.
They are much more intelligent and social than we expected.
They are beautiful birds, an a part of our daily entertainment.


Elvis with some of HIS girls.

If you have neighbors, you will want to avoid getting a Rooster.
They are loud, and crow all the time, not just in the morning.
Even though we ordered all hens, a rooster managed to sneak in.
In our case, Mother Nature knew best.

Elvis is pugnacious, has a mean set of spurs, and very protective of the hens.
We live next to a National Forest with lots of predators, and Elvis does a good job of protecting HIS hens.
Elvis stands guard, and will attack anything that approaches his hens...even us.
We let our birds Free Range from 2PM to sunset, and haven't lost a hen in almost two years thanks to Elvis' perpetual vigilance, but if we had children we would have to get rid of him.
We don't turn our backs on him, and carry an "Elvis Stick" for our protection when he is out in the yard.


The poster above was correct about chickens destroying gardens. The will quickly dig up anything you have planted. We only let them into the veggie garden compound in the late Fall when there is nothing they can hurt. Even then, they will destroy the compost pile in a matter of minutes...like feathered Piranhas.

We have been successful with these little border fences for the ornamental gardens in the yard.

The chickens could easily get over this if wanted to, but seem to just get diverted long enough to lose interest and move on to something else.
They are available at most stores with a garden dept.
The don't obstruct the view of the garden, and disappear unless you are close.
Before we put these little fences up, the chickens destroyed this garden on a daily basis.

Like I said above, we LOVE our birds, and enjoy our daily interaction with them, even Elvis, whom we understand and respect.
They are beautiful animals, have individual personalities, and are amazingly intelligent.
We will NEVER be able to go back to those anemic, pale, tasteless eggs sold in the markets.
The eggs from these birds have easily been the most cost effective, year round, dependable food source of anything we have done since moving here.

We just hatched out some new chicks last week, and are delighted to welcome them to our little place.

These are one day old Blue Copper Marans.


Is there anything cuter than a 1 day old chick?

[wildeyed]

5. Elvis is the man!

Sounds like he is just what you needed. I have read that in areas with many predators or if you have a large flock, a roo is a necessity. In our small suburban yard, no roosters allowed. I hope to have four chickens, although I bought five chicks to be on the safe side. They are all color/sex linked so hopefully I got all hens. My backyard is fenced and not very fancy, so there is not much other than the veggie garden for them to get into. I will definitely fence that off when they are old enough to roam. I have been reading and researching backyard chickens for awhile. I tried to pick breeds that were good layers and had a reputation for being friendly. They sound like pets with benefits (eggs) ;) I think we will enjoy having them as a family, and I KNOW we will enjoy the fresh eggs once we get to that stage.

How big is your flock? Do you prefer certain breeds? Have you butchered any? I eat chicken, but don't know if I could eat a pet chicken. We shall see, if it ever comes to that. Right now we are only planning for eggs.

Here is a fuzzy picture of one of the chickie babies. I will take better ones later.



On edit:

Here is the coop design I am eyeing. It is movable and could be relocated to OVER my small raised garden beds in the fall. Automatic fertilizer!

http://coop-deville.com/Coop-Deville/Chicken%20Coop/pictures_files/page1-1002-full.html

[bvar22]

6. We have 7 hens, 1 rooster, and 3 new chicks.

2- Barred Rock hens
2- Astralorp Hens
2- New Hampshire Reds
1- Brown Leghorn..she is the skinny one with the floppy comb in the photo.
She is easily the best layer, averages 6 white eggs per week. The others average about 4 eggs per week.

and Elvis,
who was supposed to be an Austrolorp hen, but we are not sure exactly what breed he really is.
All of the photos of Austrolorp roosters we have seen are jet black.

And, of course, the 3 new Blue Copper Maran chicks.
One of these appears to be a rooster also.

The different breeds are behaviorally distinguishable.
We like the mixed flock, and it would be hard to pick a favorite.

The Barred Rocks are placid, plump, matronly, easy going...never get excited, deliberate and thorough in their foraging, always bringing up the rear, usually last place in the chicken races. Beautiful Salt & Pepper feathers.
They were bringing up the rear when I took the photo in the above post, and didn't make the shot. Here is one of them trying to catch up to Elvis and the rest.



The Reds are alert, and very quick. After watching the Reds, I'm certain that the Velociraptor evolved in to the New Hampshire Red. I think they may be the most intelligent because they like to make direct eye contact, and have developed some amusing strategies for begging food at the kitchen door.

The Austrolorps are somewhere in between. I have never been able to take a decent photo of the Austrolorps because they are so black....so black that they have a purple/green iridescence.
Beautiful texture to their feathers.

We have never eaten one of our birds (yet), and probably won't eat any of these.
They are our first, all have names, and are spoiled rotten.
These 7 hens produce way more eggs than we can eat, and we frequently give eggs away to neighbors, especially during the Summer.

We are expanding our flock, and have a commitment to living off our land as much as possible. As we raise more birds, it will be inevitable that some find their way to our dinner table, especially young roosters.
There is a good thread on Harvesting Roosters in the Rural/Farm Forum.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=268x2949

You're going to love these new pets!
The Chicken Tractor is a great idea for your location.
If the chickens get enough chance to eat a naturally selected diet, the eggs are so much better.
You won't be able to go back to Market eggs from the chicken factory.

Mother Earth News is a good source of info for Backyard Natural Chickens.
It is one of our bibles.
They usually feature some new designs and How To Chicken Tractor article in almost every issue.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/
You don't have to subscribe (though I encourage you to do so), just close the little subscription window and browse the mag.

Check out the Rural/Farm forum too!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=268&page=1

[hippywife]

7. Be sure to clip their wings

when they are grown, otherwise they will fly over a fence that's even six feet high if they can get a good take off and something to give them a little boost.

We do let ours in the garden after harvest, and in a few days or so you'd never know anything ever grew there.

Have fun with them. :hi:

[wildeyed]

8. If they survive!

We had a bad day for chickens here yesterday, which could have been much worse.... for everyone.

I grabbed my 7 year old son and ran out to pick up a friend whose car had broken down. When I got home, the garage was full of smoke and my 50+ pound dog was IN the huge cardboard box we are using as a brooder. The heat lamp had fallen into the bedding, and the bedding was smoking. I got the dog and chickens out of the brooder, put out the fire and unplugged the lamp. Weirdly, all the animals seem to be fine. A few of the chickens were damp, at first I thought it was blood. But it wasn't. I guess the stupid dog was in there LICKING them. And almost burning the house down. My son ran back into the the house as we were leaving, and I guess he didn't close the door to the garage properly which is how the dog got in with the chickens. Ack! Incident must have taken 10 years off my life! Anyway, this chicken raising is much more eventful than I anticipated.

Glad to hear that your garden is doing well! Mine is modest this year, but what I have is doing great. We have been getting nice, consistent precipitation. I will have figs this year from a tree I planted ages ago, but never bore :)

[hippywife]

9. OMGosh!

Good thing you got back in time and everyone was fine. That's pretty darn scary. Just like with taking on any pets, there is just an adjustment period. This was a good lesson for everyone, I'm guessing.

I'm surprised the dog didn't eat them all. Our dog ate our whole first flock of six at one time and they were about 6 weeks old. I came home and there were black feathers all over the yard and not a single piece of chicken left anywhere.

We live in a rural area so there are challenges with the critters.We had no problem the first year but every year since we've lost a chicken here and there to the local wildlife. We've since taken measures to prevent that. But sadly they can't free range anymore. They have ample pen space and get moved around the yard in tractors often.



Their feed can also start drawing rodents, so take care to throw out only what they can eat in a single sitting at a time. We now have two snakes that found their way into the house and pen. They are not poisonous and ignore the chickens, but may take an egg or two here and there. That's okay because they are definitely thinning out the rodent population so they earn them.


Here's an early short video from a couple of years ago. We really do miss letting them run around like this, and so do they. But it beats losing them.

http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b163/hippywife/photos/?action=view¤t=MVI_0725.flv

One of the first things they used to do when we let them out to range in the morning was head for our dog's food bowl. They loved it so we had to make sure to get it out of their reach.

It's always something but they're pretty easy to keep and they do provide a lot of entertainment. Once in a while one of them will get ahold of a mouse or a small garden snake and the chase is on! LOL Kinda reminds me of Buzkashi, the sport they play in Afghanistan on horseback with the goat carcass. :eyes:

You really are going to enjoy them and the eggs! The eggs are fabulous!

[wildeyed]

10. It is amazing that none of the animals perished.

My dog is a total dork to start with, and I had been training him with the chicks a bit. I put him in down/stay and cuddled the chicks over his head. In dogese, this means two things. 1. This is MY (the alpha dog's) chick and you can't hurt it and 2. This chick is dominant to you. I guess it kinda sorta worked 'cause he didn't outright eat the chickens, but still highly inappropriate behavior. Like I said, he is not the sharpest knife in the dog drawer, but he is VERY affectionate and a great watch dog. If I can get his protective instincts to include the chickens, he will be a good flock protector.

We are building a very solid tractor that should be critter proof for part of the day. Our yard is fenced, and I am usually home in the afternoon, so that might be a good time for them to roam a bit. Even though this is the suburbs, we do have hawks, so we shall see. Also, need to get the dog under control. I have young children who leave doors open. I need to be able to trust that the dog is not going to go out and love the chickens to death.

Unfortunately, my older child has become extremely attached to the chickens. I am going to explain to her we will likely lose a few over time to predators and health issues and hope she is not too traumatized by it. Life lessons, you know?

[beac]

11. Maybe install a baby gate on the door to the garage?

That way, if the door gets left ajar, doggie still has an obstacle to his objects of desire. A friend gave us his old wooden baby gate and we move it around the house as needed (not installed, obviously) to keep our own curious pup away from things he just can't resist. :)

Or one of those automatic door closers? (http://www.building-hardware.com/2009/08/18/door-closer)