Looking for info on raising egg laying chickens

**dogmatix** · 02-20-2009, 02:32 PM

My opinion of snakes is a little different. Here in NC we have quite a few of them The large black snakes can get to 5-6 feet long but are quite docile and non venomous. I don't mind them near the coop because they are extremely territorial about other snakes. They will drive off the poisonous copperheads and any other black snakes in the neighborhood, but are really harmless to humans. They keep away the rats and are afraid off the chickens. Yes, they might get an occasional egg but I think of them as good neighbors.

**madhen** · 02-21-2009, 12:28 PM

I get the occasional rattlesnake near the coop, but the chickens seem to know to steer clear, and I can tell by the noise that there is something to investigate. Since I cleared up the rodent problem (wiring the bottom of the coop and keeping stored chicken food in galvanized trash cans), the snakes have also vanished. They aren't there for the chickens. I see maybe one or two in the summer, but they are there for water and shade. Because of all the ruckus the hens raise, they move on quickly.

**Iansmommy** · 02-21-2009, 03:11 PM

I didn't read all of the other responses, but we have 14 buff orpingtons. We started out with 16 and ended up with 2 roosters. We had to cull one because we was getting too mean, we also lost one hen this winter, I think she was egg bound. It got really wet this winter and the run did smell a little because it got really mushy.

All of our chickens have different personalities. For the most part they are really sweet, even the rooster we kept is nice although he keeps his distance from us. He very protective of his ladies. We had a hawk sit on the corner of the run and he herded them all into the coop and sat at the opening of the coop and crowed. The hawk couldn't get in though because we have a net over the top of the run. We have one hen that likes to be broody and will peck at you if you try to get the eggs from her.

We got about 10-12 eggs a day during the summer after they started laying and when it turned cold we were only getting about 1 a day. We turned a light on for an extra few hours of "daylight" for them and now we are getting around 7-10 a day.

Ours eat layer pellets, scratch and a lot of scraps from the kitchen. They love bread and noodles or any kind of fruit. I dont' think they are supposed to have green potato peels.

You can check out the site www.backyardchickens.com. It has a lot of great info on getting started and different coop designs and can answer just about any question you have.

Good luck!!