lorli

We have raised bantam chickens and guinea hens for about 10 years. I have 10 - 15 hens and 3 roosters (all hatched here) and1 guinea hen. We got the guineas because they eat ticks and there was a big Lyme disease scare, but I think that chickens do just as good a job on the ticks. I actually love guinea hens, even the noise that they make. The feathers are beautiful and the eggs are small but really good with very hard shells. Baby guineas are beautiful.

Keeping a few chickens for eggs is not cost effective especially when you give away the eggs instead of selling them like I do. They are so small that we don't eat the meat. They are nice though, and they all have their little personalities. I have one that likes to sit on my foot.

I don't have any trouble with flies but I have seen a rat, unfortunately. They must be attracted to the food.

I he we haven't all put you off. If you are interested. There is a website community called BackyardChickens.com. They have loads of Information, an active message board and classified ads, I got a lot of my chickens from the ads.

Retired Fire Chief

Do get chickens, they are relatively easy to raise and so much fun, they each have their own personalities. I had the most beautiful rooster, Robbie, and 13 hens, all named of course, but had to give them to a friend after my husbands's heart transplant, with his compromised immune system he would be very susceptible to the viruses in bird feces. I would let my birds free range during the day so the eggs were so rich the yellows were orange and the taste magnificent. The birds picked in the horse paddock so we had very few flies. We had to put a light bulb with a reflective shied in the coop during the winter to keep them from freezing, their combs would get a little frost bite but that grows out. I spoiled ours, I would buy them a slice of watermelon as a treat and a large can of Friskies wet cat food once or twice a week. They loved both and the protein in the cat food made their eggs huge and the shells hard. We would love to have chickens again but DH doc says it isn't worth the risk. Good luck, have fun!

amyjo

I used to raise chickens and sell the eggs. I also raised roosters and sold them as butchered fryers. I also milked cows and sold the cream. As long as you keep the pens cleans and put straw or some other type of bedding in there it doesn't stink, no flies unless you never clean it. I live on a farm and always kept the chickens in the pen, so no poo at the house or in the yard. Those eggs had the light yellow yolk which all my customers wanted because they didn't like the taste of eggs from chickens that ate mustard and a few other choice weeds which went to the egg yolk. I sold many dozens per week, had them yr round --no heat in bldg-they got hot water to drink and mash to eat. There were enough chickens in the bldg that they made their own heat. Just had to pick the eggs more often in the winter so they didn't freeze. Had an egg washer, never candled an egg because I never had roosters with them. I always sold my yr and half old hens to a neighbor and she kept the last ones for about 6 yrs til they died. She got eggs everyday from them yr round.

roserips

We have 2 chickens and call them the girls, Charlotte and Minnie. They range the yard and surrounding areas during the day and at night go in their house. Yes I love their eggs they are the best and provide us with what we need. I send the grandkids out egg hunting when they are over and they have fun hunting where the girls have decided to lay most times in the coop but sometimes in the yard. Don't bother with roosters as they are MEAN that's why they are such good eating! Our girls seem to do just fine in the neighborhood that is full of cats and stray dogs, but we do not clip their wings. That is so they can get away. Get some chickens and enjoy.

lawsonmugs

I have had chickens most of my life. Even growing up in san francisco we had a few. For the last 30+ yrs I have had dozen or so at a time. I get plenty of eggs spring-fall for myself and a few other families.Most lay every other day.sometimes more.I sell fresh eggs when I have extra for $1 a dozen.This helps with feed costs.Since I have a 65 acre farm I let them run free.They keep the bugs down and even eat ticks.They scratch the leaves looking for bugs so that helps keep them fluffed so they are easier to burn in the fall(the leaves)lol.I love watching them. Some people have fish to watch.I have chickens.We have a walk in chicken house and a large pen attached to it. On snowy days or muddy days we just leave them penned up.Otherwise we feed and let them out in the morning. 5 minutes work at the evening just before dark we collect eggs and close them up,another 5 minutes. Not that much work. having a large house and pen makes for alot less cleaning up. I hope you enjoy your chickens and eggs. Mary

Woodster

I have been sitting here reading all the information with a BIG grin on my face! I will take everyone's information, play around with it, and do lots of research before beginning this latest venture. I have time to do some investigating, and to pick out the girls' names! So far, Penelope and Ruthee (the latter for my late mother-in-law whom I loved dearly). Thanks to everyone for your input. I am going to copy these replies and refer back to them..

MDQuilter

This is why we're not in a hurry to get more chickens. Not many (any?) chicken boarding businesses around. We had a tough time going on family vacations.

IBQUILTIN

The flavor of the eggs is soooooooooo much better and so is the meat. I cannot butcher and eat Chicken on the same day, as there is something about the smell that remains on my hands, But boy, do I love those rich dark orange yolked eggs. Go for it, have fun, and let the kids learn something new

gale

1. In NC you will not need to worry about heating the coop in the winter. We are in north central indiana and we do not heat ours. We gather eggs more often during the winter, so they don't freeze, but the chickens need to acclimate to the cold naturally. If you put heat in a coop, and the power goes out on a cold night, the chickens are at risk because they haven't developed the fat/down layers necessary to withstand the cold. I know of people in Alaska that do not heat their coops. You do, however, need to have a way to keep water from freezing in the winter. We use a plug-in dog bowl from Walmart that cost us about $15.

2. If you cannot free range, you should give them a good variety including grass, weeds, leafy veggies, etc. We can't free range since we have too many predators even during the day (stray dogs, coyotes, raccoons, etc). So I pick grass and weeds and we buy the marked down produce at the grocery store.

3. All roosters are not mean. Some are and you never know if they will be or not but our roo is not mean at all. However, they are loud. All day-not just in the morning. In fact, our Cosmo crows all during the night as well. Some townships don't allow roosters. If you free range, a rooster is a nice thing to have as they will warn the hens of impending danger and some will even protect them physically. If you don't free range you don't really need a rooster.

4. Wash your hands after handling chickens or any of their stuff (feeders, waterers, eggs, etc) and you should be fine with the diseases. I'm a full blown germophobe and I only get a little anxious about that (I do use plastic gloves a lot and keep some hand sanitizer at the coop). We have cattle (one that is a pet) and hogs as well and they also carry diseases. We wash our hands after petting them too.

5. We use the deep litter method where you just add litter periodically along with some kind of powder (ours is called Sweet PDZ and some use Diatomaceous Earth). We clean out the coop once or twice a year and it doesn't stink other than on rainy days when everything around here stinks. I use nest pads in the nest boxes and we change those out as needed. Our coop is situated so that I can gather eggs and open/close the sliding chicken door without going into the coop. We keep the feed and water just inside the walk door so we can feed and water without going in.

6. I do not wash eggs unless they are visibly dirty. I do make sure I wash my hands after handling eggs (outside and in the kitchen) and cook them thoroughly. I keep our eggs on the counter. When we get enough for a dozen, I will put them in a carton and in the fridge and they are given away. Everyone we give eggs to knows that I don't wash them. I use the eggs off the counter since they're better used at room temperature. If I wash eggs, they go directly into the fridge since washing it removes the protective bloom. I use paper towels and hot water to wash any dirty spots off of them.

7. It is possible to hard boil fresh eggs. I steam them for about 15 minutes (depends on the size-I weigh mine and use all the same-size eggs for hard cooking) and then immediately plunge them into ice water (with actual ice in it) for 5 minutes. They peel as easily as aged store bought eggs about 99% of the time. Once in a while we get a stubborn one.

8. If you buy chicks from a hatchery, they are not Ameraucaunas OR Auraucanas. They are a mixed breed called Easter Eggers and still excellent chickens and layers. True Ameraucanas and Auraucanas are only sold by breeders. We have two Easter Eggers and they were great layers the first year (better than our heavy layers) but have slowed way down this year (2nd summer). I would get them again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Egger

bdiver403

I feel this is great. However, you will not only need the chickens, you need a fenced in area around and overhead as well to keep out possum, fox, owl, hawk, eagles, etc. Watch your hands when you put your hands in the nest to get the egg that you don't get hold of a snake. Then when you keep the chickens penned up you have to buy feed and minerals in order that they lay the eggs. You have to keep water to them. It is work, but it can be a pleasure as well.