Feasability of raising chickens

[Jack Aubrey]

Hello all.I have three wooded acres on which I live.We are putting in a garden and I would like to build a chicken coop and raise meat chickens.We have all the predators such as racoons,opossums ,hawks,owls and snakes...nothing a shotgun can't fix.What I'm being told by family members is the feed will cause it to be about $10.00 per chicken in the fryer.Is this so?I have read about "free ranging/grass fed" chickens but they need to have feed to supplement their diet.My main concern is feeding the family in a 1930's style depression scenario.The house and land are owned outright and we have a well.I want to limit my family's dependence on "store bought" foods.But if it is so outrageously expensive to raise the little buggers why start? What is the word? Best regards,JA

[Jack Aubrey]

sorry this was a double post

[SurvivalNut]

My free range hens consume a lot less feed. I don't raise meat chickens so I can't follow up more with that.

For feed, I supplemeted them over the winter with cull apples from my storage. They loved them. In spring with the grass and new pickings, they selectively ignore storage apples. The birds are smart.

Grass clippings, garden trimmings, movie theater popcorn, there are lots of sources of additional free food that can store a little while.

Golf balls or smaller fake eggs put the kabosh on snakes. Works charmingly well.

Don't even suggest to shoot a hawk. Federaly a legal no-no. Big trouble. I had a hawk problem. My set up is not condusive to netting or overhead wire. My dog is a chicken herself.

I put up a 2 ft plastic owl. I was told it would not work, that hawks do not fear owls and are not predators of Hawks.

It keeps the smaller birds away and it seems to work with hawks. With the owl on a 6 ft fence post overseeing the chicken yard, the hawk has not returned (competition or jealosy?). I do move the owl around a bit, randomly.

Putting a live trap out (away from the pen) with an egg inside will catch coons, cats and snakes. I found eggs better bait than cat food or chicken parts.

Just a few thoughts to share. I've had my hens 15 months. Others will follow up with better ideas.

[The_Blob]

Chicken Keeping Secrets - Your Guide To Keeping Chickens

has a lot of good information in their e-newsletters

[JCfans]

It depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you want to raise the big meaty birds you get in the grocery store you just can't raise them as cheap as you can buy them. They will taste better than the grocery store variety. When we raise our cornish x birds we usualy have about 5 dollars worth of food in the bird. You can buy the birds on sale in the store for around $3. It is worth it to us to know what they were fed and that they lived good. You can't really free range the cornish x birds because they grow to fast and just want to lay around and eat at the feeders. You can go with color range broilers though. They will free range well and grow to be nice fat birds but will take quite a few more weeks to get to slaughter weight. Keep in mind with both of these types of birds you won't be able to breed them and get the type of bird you originally had because they are special hybrids. If you want to raise a dual purpose heritage type breed you can breed your own and free range them. You can raise them really cheap like that but they will be tougher, much smaller, and take many months to get them to slaughter weight. On the up side though most people think they taste allot better.


You can find everything you ever wanted to know about raising chickens at
backyardchickens.com

[Herbalpagan]

I did meat chickens for years. Free range, or penned and feed scraps, or put in a chicken tractor, and it will cost less. Yes, your chickens will cost about $1 (maybe a hair more) per pound, but this should include buying the chicks, feeding them for 10 weeks and butchering. My chickens were about 8 pound average and all white meat and easily fed 5 per half chicken. I would do it again if I could find a butcher guy who'd come to me. We kept them penned because of predators.
Laying hens are different and though they will cost you the same, they keep giving you eggs. PLUS, if you pick the right kind, you can get ones that give good meat also. All chicken feed can be supplimented with scraps which will help with the cost. No animal is cheap, but a half dozen to dozen egg layers are a good investment.
My problem is getting the pen made cheaply.

[Jack Aubrey]

Thank you all for the replies,very helpful indeed!I suppose I mis spoke.It was not my intention to shot the hawks,personally,I like them.We have two different species of owl here as well.Actually,I would think keeping the chickens penned with some type of overhead netting or chicken wire would suffice .Again,Thanks for the input.Best regards,JA

[QuiltedWorm]

We too have a lot of predators in this area but when we put in the coop we attached the yard to it. Chicken wire over the top keeps the hawks out and we buried the fencing about 4 feet down to keep out any diggers (raccoons, etc). No signs of snakes at all. About 10 weeks now and not a single problem.

[Dean]

Excellent feedback SurvivalNut. Clever idea on baiting animals with live eggs in a separate house.

[Riverdale]

Use marshmellows to bait raccoons into live traps- they LOVE them, and it's the only thing you'll catch.