One of my goals for this year is to build a chicken coop and get a few chickens. I'd like to start out with 8 or 10 good egg laying beginner chickens. I've done a little bit of research, and right now I'm leaning toward Plymouth Rock. From what I've read, they are good a good natured breed, which is good, because we have kids. They are also pretty tolerant of both heat and cold. They are good layers, and they have pretty good meat. We live in northeast Arkansas, where summers get into the upper 90's and occasionally lower 100's Fahrenheit; winters have occasional nights in the teens or sometimes below freezing. Space won't be an issue; I plan on giving them plenty of room to roam.
Plymouth Rock Rooster
By Kevin Prichard Photagraphy
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Does anyone have any experience with this particular breed? What do you think about them? Keep in mind, this will be our first foray into keeping chickens.
Also, what do you feed your chickens? How much and how often?
Finally, I think that I would like to have a mobile chicken coop, but I would like for them to be secured in some sort of fence when they're outside to keep them protected from predators. Is there a way to combine those two features?
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!
Great idea to have chickens, start it at your backyard! It'll grow soon 😊
Chicken feeds would be great to feed to the chicken, you can also feed them rice soak with water. It doesnt cost so much, and feed your chickens every morning and the afternoon before sunset.
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I don't have chickens yet so I can't provide advice but I'll definitely follow along with your chicken endeavors so I can learn a thing or two! As for the fencing... could you get one of those large, easy set-up chain link dog kennels and move that around?
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We have experience with the Plymouth Rock. They're very good Birds. The Plymouth Rock in the orpington are my favorites and what I would recommend.
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Regarding the chicken coop: If you have plenty of room, you could fence in a very large area. Divide it into several smaller areas around the center. Then place the coop in the center and make a door to every area. Open the door to one area, leave the others closed. Change the areas from time to time.
The chickens remove most of the vegetation from the surface and fertilize the soil. Then move them to the next area and plant f.e. vegetables in the prepaired soil, or just let the vegetation regrow.
You could also install a self-feeding system for the chickens by planting something like Caragana spp., Fagopyrum spp., Helianthus annuus, ...
This is very practical, because you let the food grow and when it´s ready, you just let the chickens in that area to feed themselves :)
You could also collect rainwater from the coop roof for the drinking trough .
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