Anyone on /an/ own chickens? About how much does it cost to

We've had them for quite a few years now. The price depends on how many you get. Ours aren't free ranged though, predators kept taking them. A sac of feed usually goes for about $20, again give or take how good it is or how much you need. We have 1 cock and 4 hens, and one sac usually gets us through 2-3weeks, but if your free ranging they'll be able to find more food for themselves. However, free range birds will sometimes lay their eggs out in the field, so it might be good to start them closed, get them used to their environment, then open them up. Also, chickens will eat literally anything, just save scraps from meals and feed them off that.

>>2324810
Thanks. I was thinking of getting quite a few chickens, probably something like 6 to 10 maybe, and utilizing a large portion of my back yard for a range.

I was trying to think of creative ways to stop coyotes and foxes from getting to them, about all I could think of was putting bricks in front of the chicken wire to discourage them from digging.

And if need be, I should be allowed to shoot them, I think. Still familiarizing myself with firearms laws in PA but I haven't found anything that said I can't shoot pests in my yard as long as there's no noise issue with the neighbors.

There's a whole lot to chickens I never knew about. Doesn't sound so bad to keep them alive though, maybe a bit expensive if I want to build a big coop for the wintertime and harsh weather.

I read their diet should be primarily pellets to fulfill their nutritional needs then meal leftovers and such.

Are chickens stupid like turkeys or are they capable of realizing when they're full and not eating to death like dogs? If it starts raining are they intelligent enough to be able to get in the coop?

>>2324814
A good way to stop predators is to put up a reflector or a small, blinking light, this will trick most small predators into thinking a much larger animal is there and scare them off. and as for weather, getting the right breed helps a lot. we are in central NY, and have mostly Rhode Island Reds and Plymouth rocks, both are great breeds for the New England climate and are great meat and egg birds, although reds can be kinda of aggressive sometimes. and yes, chickens, unlike ducks, turkeys, guinea hens, are one of the only birds that will head to coops for shelter, which is why many people raise baby turkeys and stuff with chickens so they learn to return to the coop at night

>>2324701
I currently have 23 chickens and they go through a 50lb sack of mash and a 50lb sack of cracked corn in a month, that's because it's winter and they don't get a lot of food from foraging. For both sacks at my local feed store costs a little under $20.They also get scraps and leftovers. During the summer when bugs and grass are plentiful, the mash and corn will last 6-8 weeks.

>>2324814
In PA you can shoot to kill anything threatening your livestock, even domesticated pets. (i'm in PA too) You definitely want a well insulated coop and get breeds that are not cold sensitive. Chickens can be surprisingly smart, I have one that likes to try to roost in trees at night, so I got a long painters pole to push her down and if she's in the tree ad sees me grab that pole she jumps down on her own. All my chickens know the sound of my vehicle and when I come home they come running to the car.

I have a few chickens that will stuff down as much food as they can before they roost down, but they haven't killed themselves doing it and they have access to unlimited food and water. Most of my chickens don't seem to like being wet, so they'll seek shelter when it's raining.

backyardchickens.com helps a lot with first time chicken owners, they're is also a facebook group called BYC, it has like 60,000 members, so there's someone who can answer just about any question you might have.

>>2324814
I don't know how smart they are about eating, but they are actually really smart animals

Some asshole a few houses down from me owns chickens, and we live in a nice upper class suburb

I have no idea how the fuck they haven't been killed by cats, they literally roam around the laneway behind our house

>>2325209
Because chickens will fuck up a cat without hesitation.

>>2324701
We built a fenced in garden around their coop. They have a little section that is fenced off inside the garden so they can wander without fucking up the food, then after the harvest, we take the small fence out and they can wreak havoc on what's left. We also let them out of that fence if they're supervised.

We haven't lost any to predators yet, but we do occasionally see hawks floating around.

I live in Oregon and our family has had chickens for a while, our current flock is 10 hens and one rooster

we buy them organic vegetarian food so it's on the slightly more expensive side, but they also have a pretty large moveable pen, so one bag of food lasts a while since they're also eating lots of bugs and stuff, plus any chicken safe table scraps. $40 bag of feed for well over two months

I'd reccomend Plymouth rock hens to start with. they're a great hardy breed that are usually pretty friendly in my experience and great layers. and cooking too if you go that route. our rooster is a brahma that was sort of dumped on me from a friend who bought him as a chick thinking he was a hen, and he's unusually nice with us, but still does a good job of protecting the girls

>>2325209
>I have no idea how the fuck they haven't been killed by cats
A flock of chickens will sooner peck a cat to death before the cat could attack one. Most cats try getting them once and learn their lesson pretty quickly. They'd be more in danger from cars on the road or a cyote wandering into the neighborhood at night if they're not secure

>>2324701
>Buying them is cheap af something like 20€ for like two or three of them
>Their coop should cost from about 20 to 50 if you're feeling like making it yourself
>Their food and general expenses should come around something like €10 a month