OT: Tell me about your chickens.

[ColchVEGAS]

If you have owls, foxes, hawks, or owls in your neighborhood.............this will be a short-lived experience. I also hope you have a large yard as chicke coops can be a bit malodorous.

Very true about the coop. Depending on the breed you will want about 3 sq. Ft per bird of coop space and about 10 sq. Ft per bird for run space to keep them happy. Chickens are very finicky. If they are not happy they will lay inconsistently and pick fights with each other. The happier the birds the happier you will be with them.

To keep the foxes and other animals out I dug a hole underneath the coop and buried some galvanized hardware cloth, that way nothing can tunnel underneath. Wildlife is everywhere and they are usually opportunistic hunters. Take the right steps and you will not have to worry about them. A bear is really the only animal you may have to deal with in CT, some areas, that will get in to what it wants to get in to no matter what you do.

Racoons and fox are smart. Use some combination locking measures like carabiner clips through the latches. They will learn how to open single latches and pull locks, but typically anything that requires two motions will deter them.

 

[Waquoit]

Honest question: Don't you need a rooster to get eggs? Or is an occasional conjugal visit enough?

 

[ColchVEGAS]

No rooster required for eggs. If you want fertilized eggs you need the rooster. Roosters are not easy on the ladies. They pluck them bald and impose their will.

 

[Deepster]

Honest question: Don't you need a rooster to get eggs? Or is an occasional conjugal visit enough?

 

[mauconnfan]

Put the coop somewhere on Keney back 9 Deep they will thrive.

 

[Waquoit]

No rooster required for eggs. If you want fertilized eggs you need the rooster.

I'm glad I finally asked. Of course that makes sense.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

If you have chickens, I fully support your choice and for the most part it's pretty cool, but does anyone else get rich, white people vibes from the new trend of taking care of chickens?

Maybe because my sister and her family, who live in a big house in Wilton, just got their coop last week. Lots of families from the private school where I teach recently joined the coop train too.

Also, because I have to:

 

[huskyrob1]

Clearing out some space in the backyard and getting rid of an old playset and a dilapidated shed. Thinking of putting a chicken coop back there.

Pros: I have the space. I like to cook. The thought of fresh eggs is a plus. I'm not a pet person, so if a hawk plucks one up? I don't care. I would even eat them after they get past the laying stage.
Cons: I'm not a pet person. These are working birds for me. They'll be clean, well fed and cared for....but it won't be the Taj Mahal.

How easy is it to manage 3-4 chickens? How expensive? What are the things that I'm clearly missing?

Depending on where you live, predators can be a big problem. My brother in-law up in Roxbury (CT), had built a rabbit hutch for the kids and used heavy duty chicken wire and wooden 4x4 posts for protection. So one night the coyotes actually bit through the chicken wire and ripped open a hole large enough for them to get through and killed every single rabbit inside. Saw a bobcat on my property with two cubs yesterday, a good sized mommy. Over the years, bobcats and coyotes have been slowly increasing in size to take the place of wolves and mountain lions which were killed off 150 years ago, though they're making a return up in Maine, New Hampshire, and Quebec. IIRC a mountain lion was killed by a car a few years back in CT.

 

[Deepster]

If you have chickens, I fully support your choice and for the most part it's pretty cool, but does anyone else get rich, white people vibes from the new trend of taking care of chickens?

Maybe because my sister and her family, who live in a big house in Wilton, just got their coop last week. Lots of families from the private school where I teach recently joined the coop train too.

Also, because I have to:

Maybe it's because rich white people live in rural areas where it's allowed? I have 3 different farms in walking distance to my house.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Also, a coyote ate my ex-wife's cat in Deepster's neck of the woods. Keep them safe!

Coyotes are no joke.

 

[arch]

Coyotes are no joke.

Or are they?

The real question is, are chickens a joke? I think we’re soon to find out.

 

[Waquoit]

I just heard that chickens can live 3-4 years after they stop laying eggs in case that’s an issue.

 

[Deepster]

I just heard that chickens can live 3-4 years after they stop laying eggs in case that’s an issue.

Nope. That’s when they hit the fryer.