• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

Backyard Chicken Coops- any suggestions?

07chuck said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Runner_duck

Have you considered these?

I'm thinking of getting some a year or two from now.
Click to expand...

Growing up we had all varieties of fowl, but the runner ducks were by far my favorite! In fact, the one I was really attached to (Ferdinand was his name) would chase our (rather mean, happyt-to-bite-you) geese away from us. He was super sweet to us and seemed to actually enjoy being picked up and carried around :laughing
 
I talked with my Wife about it and she said that she HATES Duck eggs.

So, I will stick with chickens.
 
lefty said:
I talked with my Wife about it and she said that she HATES Duck eggs.

So, I will stick with chickens.
Click to expand...
Well I think that one or two for the entertainment value might be nice.

Runner Duck eggs tend to be rather simular to really good organic chicken eggs compared to store bought duck eggs.
 
lefty said:
I talked with my Wife about it and she said that she HATES Duck eggs.

So, I will stick with chickens.
Click to expand...
Well I think that one or two for the entertainment value might be nice.

Runner Duck eggs tend to be rather simular to really good organic chicken eggs compared to store bought duck eggs.
 
Mmmmm, childhood breakfast that my parents made: Overeasy duck eggs with a little bit of soy sauce & black pepper (pinch of msg lol) served with fresh French bread or baguette to dip with.
 
This forum has been a wealth of information considering I had no prior interest in this topic.
One thing I learned is I have no interest in chickens but I think I want a runner duck now. :laughing
 
A short story about urban chickens.
Our neighbors got some chickens for their two kids.
Their two kids live inside their iPads and ignored the chickens.
All the local foxes and coyotes came to stay. We already had raccoons.
The foxes took up residence beneath our deck so they could be closer to the chickens.
The foxes and coyotes, attacked our cat, which made her sad and anxious.
The foxes and raccoons tore up our lawn trying to dig through to the chicken coop.
We put wolf piss all over the garden to scare away the foxes, raccoons and coyotes.
It didn't work but it traumatized the cat.

Our neighbors just moved out - so did the menagerie.
Now we are happy.
The cat is happy as well.
The end
 
Last edited:
Got 3 chickens a few months ago and they've been great, except for a few mornings when they start clucking. Thankfully the neighbors seem to be okay with them.

My 3 year old loves them. I let him feed them mealworms. When I get mad at him, he goes outside to the backyard and hangs out with the chickens. :rofl
 
MikeyRocks said:
Got 3 chickens a few months ago and they've been great, except for a few mornings when they start clucking. Thankfully the neighbors seem to be okay with them.

My 3 year old loves them. I let him feed them mealworms. When I get mad at him, he goes outside to the backyard and hangs out with the chickens. :rofl
Click to expand...

Hahaha. The noise is one thing to note. People think hens are quiet. Oh hell no, they are louder than having a rooster. They just dont do it at 4am like a rooster. Mine start to bagawk at around 8 or 9.

One other thing to note is definitely the predators like Brit stated. If you plan on keeping a flock you also have to commit to tending to them and dealing with the predators. In the last few months I have had to put down 8 animals. Keeping live stock is not for the faint of heart. That being said I think you will do great in taking care of your girls.
 
MikeyRocks said:
Got 3 chickens a few months ago and they've been great, except for a few mornings when they start clucking. Thankfully the neighbors seem to be okay with them.

My 3 year old loves them. I let him feed them mealworms. When I get mad at him, he goes outside to the backyard and hangs out with the chickens. :rofl
Click to expand...

Just wait until they start laying eggs. They'll do their very, very loud song while they're doing that. Like panthera said, they're louder than the rooster at that point. The egg laying song is more annoying than rooster noise as well. The rooster will also join in on the song too sometimes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdcYiAXKR58

This doc is also interesting if you want chickens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c06xOF4uQ8
 
Last edited:
They're laying already, and yeah that's about the time they start yelling. Usually the meal worms calm them down.
 
OldMadBrit said:
A short story about urban chickens.
Our neighbors got some chickens for their two kids.
Their two kids live inside their iPads and ignored the chickens.
All the local foxes and coyotes came to stay. We already had raccoons.
The foxes took up residence beneath our deck so they could be closer to the chickens.
The foxes and coyotes, attacked our cat, which made her sad and anxious.
The foxes and raccoons tore up our lawn trying to dig through to the chicken coop.
We put wolf piss all over the garden to scare away the foxes, raccoons and coyotes.
It didn't work but it traumatized the cat.

Our neighbors just moved out - so did the menagerie.
Now we are happy.
The cat is happy as well.
The end
Click to expand...

What a sad story, but I am happy that everyone is happy now.
 
In my town for some reason the chickens roam the streets. Several fall prey to the local dogs who also are allowed to roam free. Just last month I got a special treat of a show watching the neighbors husky/wolf thing chase down a bantam rooster exhausting it until it became just slow enough for the dog to get ahold of it and kill it with a powerful head shake. Beats going to the movies.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top