> On 17 Mar, 18:30, The Speaking Clock live.co.uk> wrote:

>> On 17 Mar, 18:59, Brett comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>>

>>> On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:56:55 -0700 (PDT), The Speaking Clock
>>> live.co.uk> muttered intensely:

>>>> On 17 Mar, 01:05, Brett comcast.net> wrote:

>>>>> On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:36:25 -0700 (PDT), The Speaking Clock
>>>>> live.co.uk> muttered intensely:

>>>>>> The more aversive you are to cats - the more they get interested in
>>>>>> you. lol

>>>>> I'm not adverse to cats. I have one now, had more in the past. Had
>>>>> dogs in the past too (and pigs, chickens, Horses and birds).

>>>> Hey Bret,
>>>> Could you give me some advice on raising chickens? I was walking past
>>>> a little livestock market today and they had the cutest little yellow
>>>> chicks for 1.30 euros each, and the feed isn't much, and I've got
>>>> plenty of land now. I asked the guy for two but he was going to put
>>>> them in a plastic bag so I said I'd come back. "Senor - me
>>>> revolver." Anyway - he got the drift, and my husband will make a
>>>> chicken coop for me... but any tips? :)

>>> Chickens are the single least intelligent animal species on the face
>>> of the Earth. Probably because they've been bred to be that stupid.
>>> Just don't ever think of them as completely harmless. It ain't about
>>> the pecking. It's the SPURS. Take a good look at the spurs on the
>>> legs of an adult rooster. They can hurt you if they want to.

>> I'll bear that in mind. If you need to pick up an adult rooster,
>> would you sneak up on it and grab it from behind? Or would that mean
>> a lot of screeching getting pecked? I suppose gloves come into it.
>> And - do the hens have spurs too?
>>

>
> No hens don't have spurs. Some roosters tend to be more placid than
> others, dependent on the breed and how well they've been handled when
> young. I know one person who's rooster runs up for a cuddle. If you've
> got a feisty one first try a water pistol, if that doesn't work try a
> few dunks in a bucket of water. If all else fails then the cooking
> pot.
>

>>> Pretty easy to take care of. Provide shelter (from rain and sun),
>>> food and water, clean up the waste on a reasonable basis (some of the
>>> worst stuff I've ever dealt with) and they'll be OK.
>>> The biggest problem becomes predators and #1, RATS. Mice and rats are
>>> attracted to the ready supply of food and water and the chickens are
>>> not a threat to them. On the contrary, rats will be happy to kill
>>> chicks, sometimes for no apparent reason. We lost a lot of duck
>>> chicks one year when my father decided that they could take care of
>>> themselves and put them in the coop. We lost all but a handful of
>>> them, at the rate of several per day, killed and left untouched,
>>> before he got a clue about it. (Really stupid and careless on his
>>> part, very frustrating to me.)

>> If I carefully fenced off their area with chicken wire to protect
>> them, would that be enough? I'm also concerned about snakes, and the
>> odd tarantula, although a guy who has lived here for 9 years says he's
>> only ever saw 3. Also - we have feral cats in the area.
>>

>
> What about foxes?
>
> I've cross posted this to the newsgroup sci.agriculture.poultry. I
> expect they can advise on snakes
>

>>> We had some really good egg layers. We were getting 5-6 eggs per day
>>> from 6 hens. The problem was that they had no clue how to tend to
>>> those eggs. They'd just lay them in the boxes and walk away. If we
>>> didn't get to them fast enough, they'd be broken by subsequent
>>> chickens using the boxes or just being careless.

>> That's a pretty good egg laying result. They don't mind if you take
>> their eggs?
>>

>
> Not usually, unless their broody. Then the broody hens attacks.
>

>>> But hey, with 2 roosters and 6 hens, getting more than 3 dozen eggs a
>>> week is a pretty good deal. Way more than we ever used. And no
>>> problem to very quickly build up a larger flock for meat. We would
>>> generally hatch out 20 or so for the summer (just a couple of days of
>>> egg production), raise them for meat and slaughter them in the fall.- Hide quoted text -

>> Ah - well, I like a nice cooked chicken but I don't think I could kill
>> one myself. Can you eat them if they die of natural causes, and are
>> there any chicken illness's to watch out for?
>>

>
> I would *not* eat a chicken that died of natural causes. By and large
> they are fairly heathly. They do suffer from parasites though such as
> red mite. In Spain I guess you would have to watch out for avian flu
> from migrating birds. The risk can be substantially reduced by
> ensuring wild birds don't have access to the chickens food or water.
>

>> I really appreciate the advice by the way. I just had not considered
>> the rat problem at all.

>
> Once they are grown up only feed as much as they can eat in fifteen
> minutes or so, and feed well before dark.
>

>> Oh - there's just one more thing. Do they
>> hop up stairs? I don't want to be pulling a chicken out of the pool.
>> Thanks. :)

>
> Jump 'n' flap. Jump 'n' flap.