Hello, group! My family is fairly new to raising chickens, and while I have checked in with this forum once or twice to research a few things, I just decided to register today.
We live in the mountains of Western NC. We have about an acre of yard, and are currently raising 7 chickens (6 hens, 1 rooster). We got them last fall as chicks, so we are still fairly new to this. The rooster is a Rhode Island Red, as are two of the hens. We also have two Sex Linked Black hens and two Buff Orpington hens.
We have a coop that we are not entirely happy with (we built it from a design meant to house 3 or 4 hens, which is the number we were originally thinking of having, but through a rather convoluted series of events we ended up with twice that number, and rather than scrap the coop and build a new one, we "modified" the original coop design to make it larger). One day it's my goal to build a new coop -- I've been inspired by some of the wonderful designs showcased on this forum.
We are raising the chickens primarily for their eggs. Also as an educational experience for our children. My wife and I are in our early 30s and have four children. The oldest will be 8 in a couple of months. The youngest right now is 2. We are expecting a fifth in May!
We let the chickens free range for the most part in our yard. We are attempting to keep them out of our neighbor's property with some wire fencing, which has proven to be moderately successful.
Turns out chickens are smarter than I thought (or maybe just more stubborn)!
We also like to do some minor gardening. As we got the chickens last fall, this spring will be our first attempt to garden with the chickens, so I was on the forum this morning looking for guidance. I have read that as well as fertilizing the soil, chickens tend to eat a lot of common garden pests, which is a plus. However, I am worried that they will destroy any vegetables before we have a chance to harvest them. So my plan right now is to enclose any garden areas with the same wire fencing I've been using to keep them in our yard. Any advice from other gardeners with free range chickens would be appreciated.
Our gardening consists mostly of a few decorative flower beds, plus a couple of vegetable patches. I plan on making a new herb/kitchen garden area for my wife this year, as well.
Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum, and I look forward to learning more!
We live in the mountains of Western NC. We have about an acre of yard, and are currently raising 7 chickens (6 hens, 1 rooster). We got them last fall as chicks, so we are still fairly new to this. The rooster is a Rhode Island Red, as are two of the hens. We also have two Sex Linked Black hens and two Buff Orpington hens.
We have a coop that we are not entirely happy with (we built it from a design meant to house 3 or 4 hens, which is the number we were originally thinking of having, but through a rather convoluted series of events we ended up with twice that number, and rather than scrap the coop and build a new one, we "modified" the original coop design to make it larger). One day it's my goal to build a new coop -- I've been inspired by some of the wonderful designs showcased on this forum.
We are raising the chickens primarily for their eggs. Also as an educational experience for our children. My wife and I are in our early 30s and have four children. The oldest will be 8 in a couple of months. The youngest right now is 2. We are expecting a fifth in May!
We let the chickens free range for the most part in our yard. We are attempting to keep them out of our neighbor's property with some wire fencing, which has proven to be moderately successful.
Turns out chickens are smarter than I thought (or maybe just more stubborn)!We also like to do some minor gardening. As we got the chickens last fall, this spring will be our first attempt to garden with the chickens, so I was on the forum this morning looking for guidance. I have read that as well as fertilizing the soil, chickens tend to eat a lot of common garden pests, which is a plus. However, I am worried that they will destroy any vegetables before we have a chance to harvest them. So my plan right now is to enclose any garden areas with the same wire fencing I've been using to keep them in our yard. Any advice from other gardeners with free range chickens would be appreciated.
Our gardening consists mostly of a few decorative flower beds, plus a couple of vegetable patches. I plan on making a new herb/kitchen garden area for my wife this year, as well.
Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum, and I look forward to learning more!
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