Pet Backyard Chickens

These are my five hens. (And my female pekin named Sunny in the begginning) There’s 3 Rhode island reds and 2 Easter Eggers. In 2 days they will be 20 weeks old, and one of the Rhode islands just started laying. Also, the RIRs aren’t pure breeds, and are bred to lay more eggs. They are all really tame, but since they’ve never seena camera before some of them are really nervous around it. And yeah, their kennel/setup is pretty ghetto, but I’m pretty much in the city, in a small 1/3 of an acre suburban yard and this works great. I let them out for several hours a day, if it’s not raining. They have their mouths open because it’s hot out, it’s like how a dog pants. If you have any questions about my chickens or need help with yours, then just ask!
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22 thoughts on “Pet Backyard Chickens”

  1. I let my 4 hens out in the garden from dusk till dawn.
    As a result, they’ve made short work of my lawn; dug trenches, eaten all my vegetables, pooped everywhere but its nice to see them happy. Whenever I open the back door, they run towards me flapping their wings, expecting treats.

    I feed them layer mash in the morning, and give them bananas later on. they also love sardines, rabbit food, pears, watermelons, brown rice, oatmeal and mixed vegetables.

    They rewared me with 4 eggs every day.

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  2. We have been interested in having chickens for a while, I love them as pets, and mum likes the idea of having food recycled and not having to buy expensive free range eggs! I have a few questions though that we have been worried about. 1. After the initial cost of buying a coop and the chickens, how much is upkeep? 2. Can you feed them just on scraps? What do you feed them? 3. Mum is very anxious about the idea of them attracting foxes. We are in Northcote, Victoria, Australia. Thanks mucho 🙂

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  3. @markklynchh999 I feed mine Southern States chicken layer. It’s a nice brand and I get mine fresh from the feed mill. It’s vegertarian (Plant proteins only) which isn’t exactlly what I like, since chickens need animal protein, but I solved that problem by supplementing with feeder insects.

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  4. @PatricksTime Not too much. The only noise they will make is before and after the lay their eggs, they complain a lot before the egg-laying. After, the perform the “egg-song” – which sounds like Bawk Bawk BAGAWK! Mine don’t always do this, but when they do they are loud. Not quite enough to really annoy my neighbors though.

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  5. what do you feed your hens . they seem to be very happy. ive got 5 or 6 hens ive got 3RIR’s , 1 light sussex a jersey giant rooster and 2 silkie chicks i cant tell if their male or female yet. ?

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  6. It’s good to see chickens having a nice life instead of being abused and neglected in those horrible slaughter houses. Good work with your farm!

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  7. @chooniecat Black in the tail is a common breed trait for RIRs. New Hampshires are usually a very light orange or red, lighter than my RIRs. They can both have black in the tail. It’s hard to tell what yours might be, because production breeds, like red sex links, and new hampshires, are often crossed with other egg layers (Like leghorns). Each hatchery has their own recipe for an egg laying hen.

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  8. @nanoguy4098 I have ONE New Hampshire and her tail also has the black(as one of yours does,can’t see the rest!) and didn’t realize RIR would have any black on them.

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  9. @destroyahdes Eggs are only a bonus for these hens. I can pop out a chair and they’ll all fight for a spot on the chair. Especially the one that was dirt bathing, (the one where I was messing with the wattles) she reminds me of a puppy sometimes, the way she purrs and closes her eyes when you scratch a good spot.

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  10. @chooniecat They’re production Rhode island Reds. Production as in from a hatchery, all hatcheries breed for egg production. The pure RIRs are really rare, bigger, darker, and lay less eggs. They’re all laying now, though a couple are having small moults here and there which limits eggs.

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  11. They’re so sweet. Mine aren’t this petable anymore. They were when they were little. I have to catch them to give them hugs.

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  12. @nanoguy4098
    hi. I got mine in late April. All of them (I got five) lay one egg everyday even when it’s freezing outside. They are hard working chickens 🙂

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  13. @NicholasPiano I love your sex-links. 🙂 How old are yours? I need to do an update video of my girls, they’ve filled out nicely in size and their eggs are getting pretty nice and large. I have my first molter (One of my easter eggers) and she’s pretty ragged and funny looking. Without supplemental light, egg laying has slowed down. I guess I’m being lazy on adding a light, oh well. 😛

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