Yee ha! I'm a farmer (well, chicken rancher anyway)

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

So Shooter, I've read that some people run into trouble selling their eggs because their insurance companies drop them, afraid there will be lawsuits over stuff like Salmonella poisoning, etc.  If that happens, my advice is to sell "shares" of your chickens to your egg customers so that they are technically the owners, and then when they pay you for the "eggs" it is really them paying you to take care of the chickens so that you avoid legal troubles.... just in case you have that problem.     Hopefully it won't even be an issue.  I have friends and family who've sold eggs for years with no problems, so I think a lot of it depends on what state you're in. 

My kids are both going nuts wanting chickens.  Wish that we could hurry up and sell that place in WI so that we could find a more permanent place here.

[NM_Shooter]

Oh great.  Salmonella.  What next... Mad Chicken Disease? 

These birds are growing like crazy.  We've had them a week and they are about 3X the size we started with.  Might be because we started to grind up their food.  We noticed that they would pick up the big pieces of chick feed, and drop them through the floor.  We have a spice grinder, so we chop it up a little more finely.  They eat like pigs, and I've noticed that their fertilizer output has gone up proportionally. 

Two of the chicks (Laverne and Luna) are really curious and seem to be people friendly.  I'm afraid we are already attached to them.  Now to try and make a run that is coyote-resistant.

Has anyone had any luck with using an electric strand to keep coyotes out?

-f-

[Redoverfarm]

NMS make sure that they have some grit to digest the food.  Some feeds already have it mixed in and some do not. 

[glenn kangiser]

I think about the only recommended way to build a coyote proofe cage is to bury the wire about a foot into the ground and cover the top also if not already covered. 

Bears are a bit harder to keep out --not tough enough wire I guess.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Well, we used to use an electric strand to keep the coyotes out of the watermelons, about 10-11" off the ground.  Only problem was, it was mighty hard to see and step over if you were carrying a thirty pound watermelon!

[MountainDon]

--not tough enough wire I guess.

... or not high enough voltage   

[glenn kangiser]

Well, we used to use an electric strand to keep the coyotes out of the watermelons, about 10-11" off the ground.  Only problem was, it was mighty hard to see and step over if you were carrying a thirty pound watermelon!

Kinda like now, eh, Homey? hmm