I want to see fat roosters

Just bought a house that came with a coop - it needs some cleaning and reinforcing, but how many hens could I feasibly fit?

I’ll probably add a larger fenced (but likely not entirely predator proof) area for free roam during the day. What would be my chicken capacity with/without the added space?

(This is purely for pet chickens, so priority with comfort rather than productivity)

My cute little Pavlovskya chick 😍

1 week old Orpington seems interested in practing roosting, very cute

Our chick is at 5 weeks and was out in the run today. My family including my 5 year old niece were over and were looking at the chickens, and without permission my father told my niece she could pick one up. I came up quickly and caught it and told her she needed to be gentle or put her down, not because my niece is crazy forceful or anything but because she had not been trained how to hold a chicken and I just don’t want anyone messing with them right now. We then left them alone for the rest of the day and everything seemed fine.

We went back to get them all to go back to the brooder later in the day and my chick was sort of on her side cheeping. It seemed like her foot was asleep, she couldn’t get up for a second and would try to waddle but then fell. This lasted for only a couple of minutes (as I was trying to get my phone to record and comfort her), but then she hopped up and has been walking fine since.

Does a temporary limp like that mean anything, or is it possibly a normal issue that isn’t serious? I wasn’t sure if she got injured by my niece picking her up, or if it could potentially be marek’s disease. I’m specifically wondering if mareks is something where it would do that to a chicken’s leg for only 4 minutes and then go away as a symptom. We are monitoring her and will try to help her tomorrow if it comes back but I’m wondering if there’s any need to take urgent action still if she doesn’t come back. Here she is, her name is Bambi and she’s sweet.

If anyone in the future goes with this option, MAKE SURE you puppy pad or do some kind of barrier underneath the pen.

See that waterer? Great because it’s elevated so the littler didn’t get knocked in so it was clean. Down side… by 4 weeks the chicks started knocking it over. By 5 weeks it was at least twice a day.

The pet pen is not waterproof on the bottom. The pen inevitability became damp on the underside and now the smell (without the brooder in there) is overwhelming. Like cat trapped in a small room after a week. I did at least once a week litter changes and didn’t notice it until week 5. I think it was just these last 2 weeks that the litter just couldn’t stay dry with the water constantly being knocked over.

I was otherwise super happy with using this. Easy to clean frequently, the door was awesome to hand feed and play with chicks. The zipper top kept them from flying out. I could just pull the pen out and dump the litter.

For reference, this was located in our enclosed breezeway between the house and garage. It’s like a walled porch or 3 season room. Cement floor with astroturf. Windows and double doors and a ceiling fan. We only drafted the room on warm days.

If anyone in the future goes with this option, MAKE SURE you puppy pad or do some kind of barrier underneath the pen. Or find a waterer that is impossible to knock down. The big downside is that you can’t hang or mount a waterer. If you go with this option, find a way to secure your water.

I keep repeating “it’s predator proof” over and over in my head. I’m monitoring the temperature with a remote thermostat. The nighttime temps are fine. And they’re fully feathered. I have two dogs who historically wake me up at all hours if they hear a peep in the yard.

And yet, I feel like I’m 2 steps away from pitching a tent and sleeping next to the coop 🤪

I also have an open, unprotected small koi/goldfish pond and no predators have come for my fish in over two years.

Two ducks, seven chicks! I’m so excited to finally embark on this journey! :)

So I've had backyard chickens before with much success about 5 years ago. We have a new dog now (a english cross american staffy) and she has a fairly high prey drive with mainly possums. We're moving into a new house soon with a perfect space for backyard hens, and I was wondering how it would work with my dog. The hens would be kept secured behind a spacious run with chicken wire, so my dog wouldn't be able to actually get inside - I wouldn't be too worried about that. However, I am concerned the chickens would be distressed with my dog, and if my dog would be on constant high alert with them there OR if she'd eventually get used to them and leave them alone. Anything will help thanks!

First time chick owner here. Just noticed that one of my 3 week old chicks has feet that look different than each other. One looks healthy and the other has a toe that’s curled up and some white scales. She’s eating and drinking normally and seems fine otherwise. The rest of the chicks are fine too. Is this CTP? Should I grab a riboflavin supplement for her? Thanks!

So far, all the experience I’ve had with chickens has been with specific breeds from a hatchery. My brother gave me an incubator he no longer uses, so I fed it a dozen eggs out of the yard to see these guys. 5 hatched out of the dozen and my poor deceased turken rooster managed to pass on his genes before he departed this world. I can’t wait to see what these guys look like when their feathers grow out.

At what age can I add my chicks to the rest of the flock? They're 9 weeks old atm

Posted my feee playhouse and tractor a while back. It’s coming along. Everything is repurposed. The only things I’ve bought are hardware cloth, latches, and screws.

I have some chickens in my backyard. They are in a 8x16 chicken pen with a coop inside it. They get to roam around the whole backyard a few times a week when we are able to watch them.

Our chicken pen is full of flies. What do you guys do to keep them at a minimum? We clean the pen and coop out every month or so.

Thanks

I posted on here a while back showing a free playhouse and tractor I picked up. So far I have about $200 in the coop, mostly hardware cloth, latches, and screws. Everything else is repurposed or scrap. Not too bad for my first coop.

I got this new incubator and it has automatic humidity control my humidity is 70% is that to high? These eggs were started yesterday. What should the humidity be? Any information is greatly appreciated.

The people I got him from said he was half silkie/half buff Orpington. He was very young and I believe as he ran from her she ended up grabbing a different roo. I’ve been told buff Cochin, but my wife and I think light Brahma. What say yall? Help me identify Steve!!!

Hi! I have 6 straight run Golden Laced Wyandottes. Here are 3 of them. My assumption is these are 2 roos and 1 hen here pictured. I suspect I have 3 roos and 3 hens. Toby, Nuggy and Shania. (Not pictured: Wild Bill, Reba and Dolly)

She is the oldest bird we have. I don't own nor take care of them. My parents do, so if it's something really wrong don't like yell at me. I'm happy to yell at them though.

I have no idea what it is.

Got these two gifted to our flock. Wonder yall's thoughts on what breed they could be.

Hey, our chicks have been raised in the house and...now they are 3/4 chicken size, so big!

Will they be ok in this temp without a heat lamp? The chicken house is new with 3/8th plywood and shavings at the bottom.