Comments on: Our Top 6 Chicken Raising Mistakes

By: Greg Seaman

Greg Seaman — Sat, 11 May 2013 17:09:00 +0000

Chickens are opportunists and will make themselves at home wherever they wander. To keep them on your range, spread some ground feed corn from time to time near their coop.

By: Kelly Scott

Kelly Scott — Thu, 09 May 2013 18:02:00 +0000

My neighbor has a beautiful flock a few of their hens, a young rooster along with their cat come to our house to be fed daily….I enjoy them and our neighbor is pleased that we do (two of the hens walk right inside the house if I’ve left the door open…… What is the best way to start and establish a flock that will know the difference between our home, the neighbors and not want to roost in their coops?

By: Lisa Anthony

Lisa Anthony — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 21:34:00 +0000

thank you for sharing these tips.

By: Greg Seaman

Greg Seaman — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 15:44:00 +0000

Be patient, the average pullet is 6 months before laying. Continue to provide for your birds as you have, they will come on soon now that the weather is breaking.

By: Angela

Angela — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 15:32:00 +0000

Greg please help , I have only 3 chickens which is all I’m allowed. When I got them I was told they were 9 weeks and to give them a few weeks to adjust and soon they would be laying . I’ve had them for 3months and still nothing. I feel like I’ve tired everything , what can I do

By: Greg Seaman

Greg Seaman — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:05:00 +0000

Hmmm. Sounds like you are providing for all their needs. Sometimes a flock will go off laying if they are disturbed by a predator. But if half your flock is laying that theory is weak. Call the breeder and ask when that set of birds is expected to start laying. They could be just off to a late start.

By: Georgi

Georgi — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 07:23:00 +0000

I live in outback Australia and have 30 lovely hens Rhode island reds AND astrlorpes , well fed and watered, I put a light on for two hours at the beginning of the day and at the end but they still don’t lay eggs….they are 9 months old so should be laying ..they are the best looking chooks I have seen .. they are not moulting and the weater is starting to cool downbut my free range egg business is suffering as only my 14 Plymoth rocks are laying .. any ideas..they all came from a day old chicken farm. ………….

By: Greg Seaman

Greg Seaman — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:05:00 +0000

The rooster will probably ignore the chicks, however having a rooster for a single hen is hard on the hen. Also it’s best to collect the eggs as they are produced rather than have them sit in the coop. When a hen goes broody, mark one egg with an X and take the rest, unless you want a flock of chicks.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:54:00 +0000

I’m raising two chicken, a hen and a roster, in a small coop that I made in my backyard. Currently my hen laid 16 eggs but she couldn’t sit on that much so we took six of the older egg out. A few days ago my hen went broody and I was wondering if I should still keep the roster inside the coop with the hen? When the chicks hatched, would the roster be a problem to the chicks?

By: Tn Tree Farm

Tn Tree Farm — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 16:17:00 +0000

You really are a blessing ! We growed chickens for the largest poultry producer for years and you wouldnt believe what they put in these chicks. we are eating at the supermarket ! So many steriods was injected in their feed (trucks would come at the wee hours of the morning and men would dress in what looked like space suits to handle these chemicals to put in feed for edible chickens). It would make a 4 oz chicken grow to 8 lbs in 6 weeks. that’s a growout season.
Tammy

By: Greg Seaman

Greg Seaman — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 16:59:00 +0000

Thank you!

By: www.GreatProofreading.com

www.GreatProofreading.com — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:22:00 +0000

Love these tips! We live in downtown Indianapolis and our neighbor is semi-successfully raising chickens. I’m hoping we can improve on his techniques. I agree with Sandy re: your neighbor.

By: Kristel Ramayan

Kristel Ramayan — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 21:55:00 +0000

First thing’s first. You need to make sure your city ordinances will allow your chickens and how many. Before you city dwellers get discouraged, you may be surprised at what some places will allow. Some cities, such as Portland, OR, will allow up to four chickens in the backyard, as long as there are no roosters. If you live in a gated community, though, odds are you’ll have to live without. Where I live I can have chickens…and sheep…as long as the sheep don’t sleep in your home. I am not making this up, that is an actual ordinance. Fortunately, I don’t own a sheep so the temptation to cuddle up to Fluffy on a cold winter night isn’t even there. Thank goodness.
Next to feed, shelter is the most expensive thing you’ll need. Don’t make the same mistake we did and think of the shelter after you’ve picked up your cute baby chicks. Wow. That was dumb. I ordered 24 Rhode Island Red day-old chicks from an excellent chick hatchery, picked them up from the post office, opened the box in my living room and thought, “Now what?” True story. The chicks stayed in our living room, then moved to a home in our basement, then the garage, and finally out in the yard where they belonged. Don’t ask me why this happened. I claim pregnancy insanity. Also, my husband and I are former city folk and had no idea about the smell. Don’t know what I’m talking about? If you get chickens, you will. And honestly, “the smell” deserves its own category in this situation.

By: Ashish Chandra

Ashish Chandra — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 07:06:00 +0000

The picture shows too much open space. In India, usually in a small closet hundreds of chickens are kept, but gives too much foul smell.

By: Debbie Johnson

Debbie Johnson — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 03:22:00 +0000

I enjoyed your blog. I write one myself, about our new journey homesteading. We’ve made similar mistakes with our chickens. I’ll keep reading and learning. Thanks
deb
http://www.thefiveacrewoods.com