A couple nights ago I had a dream that I was raising two baby chickens. They were really, really cute. So I decided I want to raise some. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to. I live in a fraternity house, I've talked to the other guys and they're all down with a house chicken. If it becomes a problem one of my good friends has a farm we can give it to which I'll probably do anyway when it gets bigger.
Anyway, I want to know 2 things:
1) Cheap way to make an incubator http://urbanext.illinois.edu/eggs/res20-incubator.html http://msucares.com/poultry/reproductions/poultry_make_incubator.html url links aren't working but w/e
2) Is there a place I can buy fertile eggs (besides getting them directly from a farmer which is what I'll probably be doing)?
and bonus 3) Anybody whose done this before have any tips for me?
idk if you can get them from farmers man, since a lot of farmers dont actually own their chickens anymore. well, legally idk if you can get them, i'm sure a chicken farmer would be willing to sneak out a few eggs for you. just dont go looking into the chicken houses >_>
of course, maybe theres a few traditional farmers near you where they farm for fun instead of sheer profit.
On October 07 2010 12:54 Terrakin wrote: you can just get a chick instead of having to deal with an incubator.
I'm hatching my own chick.
On October 07 2010 12:56 RyuChus wrote: So cutee! Ahh. I remember seeing baby chickens, made me hungry, so it's probably not a good idea for me to have one.
the best part is caring for the egg and working to give it life. if you fail, it dies. there is nothing more direct than that. you guys can get chickens from the post office if you want em so bad, im not doing that lol
That's an interesting perspective on it, power to you if that's what you want to do. You should definitely try to get a live feed of their living area, or if not at least post semi regular photo updates.
Well, I've got nothing to say for 1 or 2, but I can help you some on 3.
My first bit of advice there is "don't". Chicks are cute and fairly manageable, sure, but their grown up forms are considerably less pet-friendly. So, uh. Yeah. Don't.
But assuming you're set on your path... let's see...
So, make sure your chicks stay warm at night. I have no idea what kind of setup you have, but we had to run heat lamps all night for our chicks.
Next, and related to that last bit, think about where you're keeping the chickens. I'm assuming you don't have a shed or something that could serve as a coop (and even if you did, winter's a-comin' for those of us up here in the north, which... well, see the point above). You're keeping them in your home, yes? Well, you're probably going to want a corral of some sort set up for them. Not really a big problem when they're chicks, but adults can be quite messy, shitting everywhere and getting in to food all that shit. And of course, make sure that you have a straw base for their corral with a high enough fence that they ain't getting over it. And that they're somewhere with half-way decent ventilation. Dunno about you, but my nose has spent enough time inside cramped chicken coops, thankyaverymuch.
Now, a bit of positive related to that whole "getting in to food" thing: chickens can eat damn near anything that you could throw in a compost bin (coffee filters being the main exception, as I recall). Not to say that scraps should make up the entirety of their diet, but 'tis a nice little side benefit.
I've got 2 chickens back home, we got them full grown, and they're pretty okay. They definitely stink it up everywhere, so you'll have to keep their living area clean. Mine like digging a lot, and they aren't terribly high maintenance. They also don't like me too much, but they'll run up to me looking for food. Unfortunately they're getting old, will probably end up in a stew T_T
I have no idea why you want chickens for anything but eggs, but to each their own... I currently have 10 Barred Plymoth Rock (very cool camouflage, and very hardy) chickens in my pasture, out of an initial batch of 25. The first few weeks you can keep them in a box with a heat lamp and just change out the packing/fluff/whatever you want to call it out every other day or so. This will be especially easy since you're wanting a small number. After they are almost fully grown they're really low-maintenance.
Side note: I have only seen 2 creatures on this planet as stupid as a chicken, sheep and fish.
Its not hard to raise chicken, I raised some of chicken in the past but never meant to raise them for pets though. I raise my chicken in a small garden, so I have no tips for raising chicken in the house. But as said above. Keeping them warm is important. When small, chicken are very easy to get sick. If you want to raise them for eggs(good idea), let them have some high calcium food. Well, actually let them eat the skin of there egg is good(dont know the word in English, but you get the idea). Example, if you raise 2 chicken, they get big, and you want to raise another one. You have to raise them seperately, if not, the bigger chick will beat the smaller, even to death. And chicken shit stinks!
When I was in elementary school the school would raise a bunch of chicks every year in the hallway lol (they set up some kind of big container with heat lamps for the chicks). I guess it isn't all that hard to raise them if it was done in the hallways outside my kindergarten classroom.
Yeah they're super low maintainence once they grow up (after molting) but anytime before they're supre fragile and die easily.
I can't count the number of chickens I killed. Oh the thing you do when you're a kid. I tried to make oen fly and accidentally threw it off a 4th floor balcony, which promptly died from painful internal bleeding. I watched it drink the last waters and closed its eyes.
I lost few to cold, just sheer coldness is brutal. If they cannot get warm, especially in winter, they die fast.
I seriously crippled one when I stepped on it when trying to catch it. It never grew up right and I lost it somewhere.
I seriously seriously suggest duck though. They actually follow you around and in general is more rewarding and smarter.
You know how things are... well maybe you done cuz you live int he States. Back in China we just buy like say... 10 of little chickes, probably none of them makes it just for a few days of "feeling that you are caring for something when you are not". It's really sad.
This one time we manage to keep an adult alive for more than half a year (adults are EZ!) and it kept lyaing eggs for us, which is aweosme. but someone freaking stole it.
On October 07 2010 21:10 evanthebouncy! wrote: Yeah they're super low maintainence once they grow up (after molting) but anytime before they're supre fragile and die easily.
I can't count the number of chickens I killed. Oh the thing you do when you're a kid. I tried to make oen fly and accidentally threw it off a 4th floor balcony, which promptly died from painful internal bleeding. I watched it drink the last waters and closed its eyes.
I lost few to cold, just sheer coldness is brutal. If they cannot get warm, especially in winter, they die fast.
I seriously crippled one when I stepped on it when trying to catch it. It never grew up right and I lost it somewhere.
I seriously seriously suggest duck though. They actually follow you around and in general is more rewarding and smarter.
How about getting a chick and a duck and call them.. chick and duck!
On October 07 2010 13:42 KurtistheTurtle wrote: the best part is caring for the egg and working to give it life. if you fail, it dies. there is nothing more direct than that. you guys can get chickens from the post office if you want em so bad, im not doing that lol
@haji ill definitely be documenting this
By the way if you can film the process and put it on youtube in form of 3-5 mins videos that would be really cool if you have a video camera that is. Photo blog is awesome aswell ^^
When I was a kid we tried raising a couple chickens. We tried giving them a bath and then they drowned and died. So don't give them baths. That's my advice.
I'm Venezuelan, and as such, have raised tons chickens in the past myself.
However, the living conditions in which I had them don't really fit the American standards, but oh well, I guess I can still give you some advice on how to care for them.
If you're raising them just for fun, then you don't really need a cage, but perhaps stretch out a few boxes and make a perimeter for them to live in (not too big). Make sure you put tons of newspapers under it and change that thing once a week since chickens poop like once every minute (no joke).
Feed them grinded, plain dog food mixed with a bit of water to create some sort of paste. Make a huge ball, put it on top of a newspaper, and set it in their box; they love it and will make them strong and healthy. For their water, grab a medium-sized pot and fill it in all the way up. Change it daily.
They will get a little bigger and turn completely white, they will chase you around like crazy, begging you to hold them and give them food, they smell, and they're very sweet imo.
On November 28 2010 08:13 Myrkskog wrote: If it turns out to be a great pet that's awesome, if it doesn't you can just eat it. Frankly the situation is win-win.