I want chickens but I do not want my chickens to be eaten by raccoons/coyotes/hawks/weasels... or anything else. I just want them as pets, not to eat! Also, what are the best chickens for beginners and what is the best food and shelter?
Answers:
well first u need an electric fence.
First decide about how many chickens you want to keep. You said you just wanted them for pets, but there is no reason why you should not have a good supply of fresh eggs while you are keeping them. You need to make a good pen to keep the chickens in. Get rolled chicken wire from your hardware store.
Dig a trench around the perimeter where you want your fence. Make the trench about one foot deep. Set the posts and put up the chicken wire with the bottom of the wire at the bottom of the trench. Fill in the trench packing it down with dirt mixed with gravel. This will protect your chickens from the wild animals that you are worried about from digging under your fence. Put a top on your pen with the chicken wire to protect against hawks and other birds or prey. Now you have a good yard for the chickens to run in you need a shelter from the weather. A house that opens into the yard where the chickens can be shut in at night should have roosts and some nest boxes inside. You can hang heat lamps in cold weather.
The type of chickens to start with is pretty much a personal choice. None are much easier or harder to raise. The feed is specially made for the size and type of chickens you want to raise. Check with your local farm or feed supply store.
You can see that it is going to take a pretty good commitment on your part to keep the chickens. It can also be very rewarding if you are willing to do it right.
There are a variety of breeds which are great chickens.Decide how many you wish to keep first.This has a lot to do with a coop and pen size.To decide on what type of chicken you would like doesn't really impact a coop/pen design.If you desire chickens for color there are several multicolored type's.There is also a variety of comb styles.For interesting looking birds the Polish breeds are great,and easy to raise.There are also some rare breeds that the back yard hobbyist can help maintain.For some great color pictures of chickens I recommend Privett hatchery's web-site As well Cackle hatchery out of Missouri have some wonderful pic's of their stock on their website.feathersite has an a-z listing of chickens with pic's of most breeds.As for the coop and pen much depends on the amount of birds you intend on having.Being you want your chickens more for pets you would probably do well with a raised floor design in the pen.To keep all critters out your pen needs to be fully covered as well as full bottomed.A raised bottom is fairly easy to build.Use a 4"x4" treated posts for your corners.Bury the ends at least 1 foot deep.You can use treated 2"x4"s for support and top rails.use 1 inch chicken wire and go post to post.then go across the bottom with a 2"x6" treated board.I tell you what to save time e-mail me and i will draw you a set of blue prints.As well as advice for feeding and general keeping.
Several good links:
www.allaboutchickens.tk (click on coops)
http://www.backyardchickens.com/coopdesi...
I would recommend wooden houses. Neverrrrrrr make chicken wire house or the raccoons will stick there hands in and pull there heads off. Gosh my step mom's stupid. I couldn't tell you how to build as long as its big enough and safe enough. You could bury like bricks or chicken wire along the outside of the coop to keep things from digging in. But you know its better to let your chickens roam free or they will get sick and die form being cooped up all the time and are most likely to lay less eggs or no eggs at all. You can't protect your chickens from every predator but you can prevent them from coming in like getting motion detector lights in the coop. Remember there just chickens so don't get to atached thats what i learned.
Hi some of the best pens i have ever seen are converted small sheds on a small concrete slab. The chickens have some area to free range but are also fully enclosed
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