I have to deal with this every day at my work

[jimpeel]

i've heard chickens can be very... accommodating.

According to Ron Jeremy ...

 

[catocom]

Keeps the birds to under 20 or so & there's no smell worth worrying about. We had a 15'x10' L-shaped for ours, in Phoenix, less than 30' from the back door.

same with the cattle.
There's plenty of commercial growers around, that also happen to be
friends/family, and or reasonable business people.

like I said, it's hard to keep um alive around the lake here.
All manner if critter, and reptiles drawling around at night.

I've got too much maintenance to do to be building a pin.
I'd also have to have it in my door to keep an eye on um.

If I ever have a need, I'll look into it, but more likely throw in with somebody
already established.

 

[valkyrie]

Keeps the birds to under 20 or so & there's no smell worth worrying about. We had a 15'x10' L-shaped for ours, in Phoenix, less than 30' from the back door.

What did you keep? I like brown layers best. I have a neighbor that loves white layers and doesn't like brown eggs (not sure why, they taste the same to me). We have Aracaunas (lay light blue or light green eggs), Sex Links, New Hampshire Reds, and Barred Rocks. We also have a Bantam rooster that keeps up with these much bigger girls. Its hilarious to watch. He thinks he's 3 feet tall and courts the ladies with all he's got.

same with the cattle.
There's plenty of commercial growers around, that also happen to be
friends/family, and or reasonable business people.

like I said, it's hard to keep um alive around the lake here.
All manner if critter, and reptiles drawling around at night.

I've got too much maintenance to do to be building a pin.
I'd also have to have it in my door to keep an eye on um.

If I ever have a need, I'll look into it, but more likely throw in with somebody
already established.

Never spend money on new wood for a chicken house. Always use whatever materials you've got. I knew someone that turned a portable dog kennel into a hen house for a couple of hens in the city. I also know someone who used limbs to build the structure of the chicken house and covered it with feed bags to see how cheap he could keep his chickens. It worked out fine except when a big thunderstorm hit. The bags got too soaked and leaked, then it got mildewy inside, but it was fine after he replaced the bags again.

They will roost where you train them to roost and lay where they think it's safe. But if you are not for the chickens, that's cool. I can tell you that I love raising my chickens and they give me eggs that taste 300% better than the eggs you could get in the stores.

 

[Gonz]

them dumbassed white birds...forget their lineage. Had some others too. shell color is irrelevent, the taste is the same.

 

[valkyrie]

them dumbassed white birds...forget their lineage. Had some others too. shell color is irrelevent, the taste is the same.

I think we're in agreement on that.

As for the breed, after a few generations of interbreeding they'll all end up looking like a cross of this or that. We rarely let them go broody but if you want good mommas to raise their own babies (no work for you!) then Buff Orpingtons are hard to beat.

On the other hand, we had a big, fluffy Sex Link hen hatch of a dozen babies before we knew she even went broody!

Hubby bought me a subscription to this magazine last year...
Backyard Poultry. Have you hugged your chicken today?

Don't get me started on talking about chickens because I could go on and on all day long.

 

[Inkara1]

I knew you really, really love the cock.

 

[valkyrie]

I knew you really, really love the cock.

Oh, hell yeah.