I have been looking forward to getting my first ever chickens this year. Been doing the research both by books and online. Been asking questions both here and other forums. The thing is, those questions have been geared towards coops and in general, setting things up and raising the birds.
I have more recently started browsing other topics on chicken forums, mainly predators and "the dark side" of raising chickens.
Normal predators I can deal with; dogs, cats, coons..., but how prevalent IS the rat problem? I never see any or any sign of rats on my property and don't want to attract any. I know they are in the area because they show up occasionally in the grape harvesters. Do chickens=rats?
Also, how common is the lice and mites problem? Are these parasites a normal everyday part of owning chickens?
I was really looking forward to having fresh eggs and my own home grown meat and am hoping that for every post I read of someone having a problem with these vermin... that there are 100 people that never have a problem.
Can any of you "chicken people" here shed a little more light on this topic for me?
I have chickens and the only rat I ever had was in the tack room with the feed. I put a poison bait down and that was it. No more rat. Keep the feed in a good metal can that rats can't chew through.
Chickens will get parasites and need to be wormed just like horses or any other outdoor animal. You can get some powder or drip on chemical to handle mites and parasites.
My chickesn free range, and the only thing that drives me crazy is when they get into my front planters and tear up the landscaping. Doesn't happen often, but they can make a mess of a nice mulch bed.
Thanks for replying, Joe. The stories I've been reading make it seem like the rats move in on you and it becomes a never ending battle to exterminate them.
Do you take care of parasites preventatively or on a as seen basis? If I need to rip apart the coop and dust everything, replace bedding, disinfect... I really would have no place to keep the chickens. Maybe what I've read makes it sound more involved than what it really is. [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] Do you burn the bedding and litter then?
It depends on how you plan to keep your chickens. My chicken coop is on 2x8 skids, so I can drag it around. If the chicken poop starts to build up, I move the coop to a new spot. This eliminates the need for me to have bedding, but my chickens free range during the day. This means the poop does not build up quickly. The floor is hardware cloth (wire mesh) so the droppings fall through to the dirt. I sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth every two weeks to keep the flies and odor down. Then I move the coop every month to month and a half. Another question is how many chickens do you plan to keep. If you have less than 10, then it is no big deal and maintenance is pretty easy.
I do worming every 4 months. You can do it based on their droppings if you know what to look for. Free Range chickens tend to get strange droppings since they eat more than just crumbles.
Huh? I don't follow you, Egon. I thought all non-commercial chicken eggs had a darker yolk.
If you have any input on whether or not parasites and/or rats are as bad a problem as some people make out, I'd be interested in that. Do you have chickens?
Ahh Fred - the free range eggs will taste much better. Your taste for factory eggs will never return!
No I don't have chickens but did grow up on a farm and had the priveledge of cleaning the chicken house. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
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free range eggs will taste much better
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To most of us anyway. I've known people who did not like them because of the much stronger flavor and yolks that are more orange than yellow. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
I don't believe 5 is an option, fish. You know, the 25 minimum thing, which won't be too bad as I want layers and meat birds that will reduce the flock by half before winter. Having 5 would be too much like having pets [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Yes, I've heard the eggs are unbeatable (you know what I mean [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ), Egon. That's my main reason for wanting to get into this venture. I just need to weigh great tasting eggs vs. a constant battle with vermin that some people seem to get. From what I've read no amount of coop cleaning will prevent the birds from attracting mites/lice and the food rats.
I don't plan on a moveable coop or tractor, but I was going to have two fenced yards to confine them outside of the coop where they can do a little scratching. Maybe even let them wander a bit, but I have a lot of Redtails around and a couple of my neighbors let their dogs wander, so I don't think that is a good idea unless I'm outside and closeby. If I have to gut and clean the coop and delouse the chickens a few times a year or my customers pull up and see rats under the coop, having them won't be worth it to me. That's what I'm trying to find out.
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