new chicken coop build...

If and when we get goats, they would be spoiled, and never used for meat. I'm not exactly crazy about the idea, either. Just more work for me. If I want to see some goats, there are two farms around here that have about 100 or so of them out by the road. They sell the milk, soap, and cheese from the goats, so it's good advertising. That's about as close to goats as I care to get.

She who assigns the poop shoveling duties will decide, you have no say in the matter bub !! .

Well, she does 99.9% of the work for the hens, I do my part by eating some of the eggs. Goats, however, could be a whole 'nother story… - and it could get interesting having other creatures around here as ornery as I am.

My wife was the one who wanted to try chickens, but I ended up with the duty. Some how I've always got the shoveling end of things.

Sounds like "skillet diplomacy" to me

Well it's official...I am not the biggest Hillbilly on this site!

Here ya go Eatonpcat a forum on chickens with over 140,000 members http://www.backyardchickens.com/f/ plenty of us Hillbillies around, here is a forum on small herds http://www.backyardherds.com/ and one on gardening http://www.theeasygarden.com/ and one on being self sufficient http://www.sufficientself.com/ I keep looking for the one on moonshining but it is against the law in a lot of countries including here in the US. The tax man wanteth his $$$$.

Now moonshine, I may be able to help you with this one. The wifey is from Elkins, WV where if you have a will, you have a still!

"The tax man wanteth his $$$$."
Even more an "oinker" than the creature itself!

s anyone setup a sand bath for the chickens, i am doing so now but how much Damascus earth do i add with the sand?.

Ever notice that if you put "THE" and "IRS" together, it spells "THEIRS"?


On topic, we just let our chickens go outside, and they scratch up their own dirt, take dirt baths, and hunker down in the holes they've made. I don't know if it does them any good, but they do seem to enjoy it a lot. And, it's fun to watch them doing it!

I was quoting Smokey. You are sooooooo right putting those two words together! Very clever.

Thanks! Wish I could take credit for it, but it's in a book I'm reading.

I really like your setup.

We have 10 hens, 5 goats(pets maybe milk eventually) and right now about 30 meat chickens. I use electric poultry netting for the goats to browse down our brush when the meat birds aren't in it. They will clear an area about 40' by 50' in a day. The hens have a space in the barn and are allowed to run outside. They do a nice job of keeping the bugs in check. For the meat birds, I take them to a poultry processor and am able to eat chicken again within a few days. I usually do a small batch for the family every year.

Good Luck, watch out for raccoons and neighbor dogs as they are the worst on a flock.