I grew up with chickens (broilers and hens) and I really want some on my little farm. I have a few issues though.
1.) A dog who thinks she can kill everything in site–including the bulls in the yard. She’s one of those dogs who thinks she’s bigger than she really is.
2.) I don’t have a chicken coop and I don’t really want to keep them locked inside. I love having the hens running around, eating bugs, and following me around the farm.
I’ve seen things on facebook about people buying chicken coops on craigslist or going to the local farm store and buying a beautiful new coop. I just have a problem buying a NEW ‘house’ for something that doesn’t care where it defecates. I love chickens and want to have some around, but I just can’t seem to justify buying something that cost more than the chickens can return.
My dad even bought me some baby chicks for my birthday. He’s raising them in his brooder house until they’re old enough to come to my house. This is normally about 8 weeks. So, I have 8 weeks to figure something out. I shouldn’t be stressing out about getting a chicken house, but I’m one of those people that loves to have everything perfect for my animals. I want them to have a nice home and to not be afraid of my dog. I’m hoping that Lily (our dog) will be scared of them and leave them alone. Fat chance of that happening.
Do any of you have farm chickens? Do you have a chicken coop? Do you fence them in? Do you have a dog? Did your dog bother them? I just have so many questions that google can not answer for me! 🙂
I’m thinking that I’m going to have to fence them in for sure, but what could I use for a chicken house that would be cheap? I’ll keep you updated! My Sunday is going to be filled with chicken research!
Let me know if any of you have any ideas! I’m ‘game’ for anything!
Comments (5)
Hi Kelly, I’m adding a link for fencing that my husband and I are looking at to do meat chickens this summer, which would be a temporary deal for us. 10 weeks and done. Maybe you would find something there that would help with your dog via the electric fence route. Found the add for this company on the back of the latest issue of Hobby Farms, which just happens to be their poultry issue. Hope this helps you out.
~ Leigh
Here’s that link… http://www.premier1supplies.com/fencing.php?species_id=6&
We used an old calf shed and transformed it into a chicken coop. You don’t need anything fancy,just something keep keep them protected from the elements, and safe from predators which could include your dog. We have 2 dogs, a lab and a little terrier, neither of which bother the chickens. But dogs can be deadly on chickens, if taken for granted. We have pics of our chicken coop process on our Facebook page The Hermity Farmer Women.
Google ” chicken tractors”. Moveable coops and pens that allow them pritection and fresh firage, spread out their droppings more naturally. They can clean up and fertilize areas for garden beds, using this ” technology”. Best of both worlds.
We are using part of our corn crib for our chicken coop as of now. We put chicken wire up to make the pen somewhat smaller and used scrap wood to make some perches for them. We are considering moving them to an old machine shed that we don’t use to much since it is to small for most of our equipment, we will need to put up some 2 walls as it will be in the corner and we don’t need to whole shed. Be creative with what you have. We have a blue heeler as well and she got in the chicken pen and did kill 4, so make sure you have a good latch on a door.
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