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Buff Orpingtons are good as Jim said. My favorites were silver laced wyandottes, then barred rocks and buffs. I've had frizzles and araconnas too but those were just for fun. One thing I did (chickenless at the moment) was get a different breed each year so needed 3 good breeds to rotate between. I'd keep my hens 2 years then gave them to a friend who didn't care if they laid consistently or not. By having a different breed each year, I could keep track of how old they were.
 
Mine is a 6x8x7 Palram I got on clearance at the local big box hardware store. Picture isn't of mine, but it's very similar.

iu

Hardware cloth on the ground, then a couple inches of gravel, then 6 or so inches of pine chips. Every spring, I clean out the chips, toss em in the compost heap, and use the greenhouse for seedlings till planting time.
 
I usually get layers from tractor supply as chicks. These days they have red sexlinks labeled as "pre-sexed laying hens". Sometimes they have ISA Browns which I'll buy in a blink, great little layers.

Because of their aggressive nature I like to have 2 or 3 Rhode island reds around also. I've seen them gang up on a cat, chase squirrels out of the feeder etc. In general be protective. Something worth considering.

Of course nothing beats geese for protecting the barnyard. They'll chase dogs and people away:D
 
I usually get layers from tractor supply as chicks. These days they have red sexlinks labeled as "pre-sexed laying hens". Sometimes they have ISA Browns which I'll buy in a blink, great little layers.

Because of their aggressive nature I like to have 2 or 3 Rhode island reds around also. I've seen them gang up on a cat, chase squirrels out of the feeder etc. In general be protective. Something worth considering.

Of course nothing beats geese for protecting the barnyard. They'll chase dogs and people away:D
I carry a shovel when I know there are geese and critters usually like me, but geese have strange protective properties.
 
Yes, 100% planning to enclose the top. My brother lives down the street from me and has had hawks try to get in from the top. I hear the owls at night, so I know they're around, too...

Re: Rhode Island reds, WOW! That's the kind of anecdote I came here for, haha. What other breeds have you owned?

We had RIR's that were fairly docile. Except for the rooster. We had a few rounds.....
 
I keep my feed dry and rodent free in those steel metal trash cans. I've been a fan of duel purpose winter hardy breeds like the buff O, black astrolop, bramas n others mentioned. I bought a few American Buckeyes last year. They are a heritage breed and are supposed to be good layers as well as fantastic mousers..
Im really curious to see if that is true. They are a really pretty choco/ reddish with a fade to black on the tail, bright yellow legs and very very mellow, easy going gals. They should start laying soon.
chickens are a lot of fun, cheap entertainment too. I love going outside with a few tortillias in hand, I call the girls and they half fly and half run over to get a few bits of tort treats..I now have 3 turkeys in that mix and when I come out with the torts..It's really fun to watch.
My turkeys haven't mastered the landings yet either..I have red burbon turkeys, another heritage breed. Hopefully Ill get some eggs outta them too.
 
As a kid, grandpa had a rooster that would attack him. Never anyone else, just him. That sucker would jump on the back of his neck and grandpa would grab him and throw him against the wall. He would get up shaking his head and go right back after him.

I had a rooster attack me one time. I happened to have a stick in my hand and knocked him for a loop. He staggered around for 30 minutes. I thought that I had killed him at first. He never came after me again.
 
Brooms never work. Our son grabs them by the neck and throws them. I've had luck with a metal pot with a handle. Have held the roosters neck to the ground with it while I berate him loudly. Now I just have to hold the pot when I go in. He hates it when I talk at all. Have also had luck with sticking a garbage can over them while I feed and water the flock.
 
I never got chased by any of my geese. I only got chased by one rooster when I wore red & taunted him. We named him Foghorn and he got to be 22lbs. Not sure what breed he was. Fat white chicken we got form 4H. We got 50 bitties at once and they all got fat. The hens laid double and triple yolkers sometimes. We kept corn chops in a big rubbermaid thick plastic trash can (the kind they don't make anymore). The chickenyard included a pond so the chickens mingled with the ducks, geese, turkeys, and guinea hens (although the guineas could fly so they roamed the whole yard). The rooster pissed off one of the geese pretty badly one day. She dragged him in to the pond by the neck and was holding his head underwater trying to drown him. I had to go in and rescue him. Poor thing was terrified. I held him on my lap and petted him until he calmed down.
 
I think my favorite hens that I had , and I've have many breeds, would be the Buff Orpingtons.
They are very docile, and don't get excited about much.
Excited , upset hens don't lay good.
The BO hens are good layers a even into late fall .

Just a good healthy a Reed IMO.

Jim
Great! Buff Orpington is one of the breeds of pullets I can get from a family member who owns a farm. :)
 
Buff Orpingtons are good as Jim said. My favorites were silver laced wyandottes, then barred rocks and buffs. I've had frizzles and araconnas too but those were just for fun. One thing I did (chickenless at the moment) was get a different breed each year so needed 3 good breeds to rotate between. I'd keep my hens 2 years then gave them to a friend who didn't care if they laid consistently or not. By having a different breed each year, I could keep track of how old they were.
Thanks, what a great idea to have different breeds to remember their ages! I also LOVE the variety of egg colors available out there, but I know some of the breeds are harder to start with than others...
 
Mine is a 6x8x7 Palram I got on clearance at the local big box hardware store. Picture isn't of mine, but it's very similar.

iu

Hardware cloth on the ground, then a couple inches of gravel, then 6 or so inches of pine chips. Every spring, I clean out the chips, toss em in the compost heap, and use the greenhouse for seedlings till planting time.
Thanks, that's awesome! I was thinking about putting in a large hoop house next year, but I bet a greenhouse would be better/sturdier as a multipurpose building.
 
Oh, the other thing, lay hardware cloth all under the coop and run where they spend the night, the raccoons are pretty good diggers to get a free dinner.


Good idea DadM. Although we use cattle frncing to save money. We put it undder,above and on the sides, totally cover it then come back with some strong netting on roof and sides for snakes who are the only roblem we've had so far.
Also come outside the pen a few feet.
Its a hard job to begin with but once done it lasts for years.
 
My favorite hens are barred rocks or dominiques. Fairly quite, not agressive and one of the first chickens to come across the pond to America. Thye are dual purpose.
Also we have never used any shots on our chickens or medicated feed. We use Diomatrease earth and vinigar. They all seem to have a strong immune syatem.
 
I like to think outside the box, made my living doing the same for many years. Well, chickens make great excavators.

Between my chicken pen and a corral there was a 40-year growth of brush, vines and small trees. Inside this were a couple of hundred cinder blocks, steel and aluminum cable. Useful things I needed. They were pushed there by a bulldozer after a tornado when I was a kid.

I extended my chicken pen with a temporary fence of deer netting. During the day I’d let my hens into this area. It took them all summer but they cleared away all the undergrowth for me.

While scratching for seeds they'd actually dig up brick and blocks... When they uncovered something I'd stack it to the side. Occasionally I'd have cut down big stuff with a chain saw.

It’s amazing what a bunch of chickens can accomplish. If you have critters you might as well give them a day job! :D


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I usually get layers from tractor supply as chicks. These days they have red sexlinks labeled as "pre-sexed laying hens". Sometimes they have ISA Browns which I'll buy in a blink, great little layers.

Because of their aggressive nature I like to have 2 or 3 Rhode island reds around also. I've seen them gang up on a cat, chase squirrels out of the feeder etc. In general be protective. Something worth considering.

Of course nothing beats geese for protecting the barnyard. They'll chase dogs and people away:D
Great to know, thanks! I've seen the pre-sexed chicks at the local farm store but wondered if there's still the chance of ending up with a rooster?
 
If you buy sex links, there's no chance of getting a rooster. They are a different color. If you buy sexed pullets, there is a less than 10% chance of getting a rooster. Some hatcheries guarantee even less.


We have 4 Black Stars sex links.1 RIR and 1 Barre Rock.
 
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