Chicken Ranching 101

We are newbies at this whole chick ranching business, but I think we are coming to a close of  Chicken 101 - The Basics.   For those of you that are interested in my opinions and what we have learned, read on.  The rest of you - wait for a more interesting post.

• The Coop - No matter how much reading we did prior to creating our coop, it seems you always learn more once it is up and running. Maybe that is why a number of sites say create something cheap for your first one, because you will inevitably want to do something different.  Our original plan was to create a chicken tractor, something with wheels that we could easily cart around the yard.  Our tractor turned into more of a fortress, it is big, heavy, and not on wheels.  Actually it isn't that big or that heavy, but it is awkward enough that one person cannot move it by themselves.  What this means - it doesn't get moved on a daily basis, instead we go out and shift it once a week.  This is not ideal.  Chickens are good a two things, pooping and scratching.  Irregular movement of the coop leads to trashed lawn in a jiffy.  Not that we have nice lawn, but it is rather discerning to see the bare patches add up.  After some further research we are going to move our coop one last time to a "permanent" location and use the deep litter method on the coop floor to bring in bugs and expedite composting.  From all I have read chicken stink is not an issue.  We will see.
• The Chickens - We got three straight run chickens (they were not sexed) that came with a rooster exchange policy.  We figured we would have one rooster.  As it turns out we have two.  It only took four months to figure it out.  It isn't like you can turn them over and look under the hood, you have to wait for rooster like traits.  Ours meet me with crowing earlier this week when they were displeased.  Oh yes, chickens will voice their displeasure.  I am sure had I not ticked the chicken off it would have been weeks until we found out his true colors.  My point, plan your chicken allotment accordingly.  They are social animals and Speedy would not be happy if we ate two of her compatriots without offering other friends.  Not to mention a sharp decline in egg production (which we do not expect until sometime this fall).

Henry and Rooster and on the left, Speedy (our only hen) is on the right.

• The Chickens (Part 2) - They say you should handle your chickens often so they are tame and friendly.  Take this advice to heart.  While we handled our chickens it seems it was not often enough, they are not exactly the friendliest birds on the block.  
• Food - We bought a smallish chicken feeder to put in the coop, it wasn't terribly expensive so I don't feel like we lost much but...it wasn't big enough so we were feeding multiple times a day and Henry (the big one in the middle) didn't like the restricted access so would kick it over and fling food everywhere.  After getting sick of the multiple feedings I decided to make a change, we needed a bigger feeder.  My ultimate plan is to use a cake pan and attach a large peanut butter jar as a sort of auto feeder to it.  I am currently waiting for us to finish the peanut butter so they are just using the pan.  As it turns out, a cake pan is a cheap effective feeder.
• Food (Part 2) - They love our kitchen and garden scraps.  They do not like getting mashed-up banana stuck to their beaks, they run around wiping it on the grass.  Kinda funny to watch. 

Well, that is all I have for Chicken Ranching 101.  We are switching out our roosters for hens later this week.  I have to admit, I will be sad to see Rooster go, he is our nicest chicken. Henry, well hopefully he finds a better home...