I have been lurking around this board for a bit now trying to decide if I should get chickens to raise in our backyard for eggs or not.
I have finally decided to take the plunge. I am going to be buying some newly hatched chicks probably around the 7th to the 14th of April so they are all close to each other in age. Does anyone have anything hatching then that they are planning on selling around that time frame? Let me know. I would prefer to get them from local people if i can. I am interested in any egg laying chicken of standard or heavy size.
I have a large area right now I am starting to work on to get ready for the birds once they are old enough to be outside. I am planning on giving them an area about 50 ft by 7 ft.
I am on the west side which it seems may be a rarity from what I have seen, but that doesnt surprise me much.
Well Just thought I would say hello.
Thanks and have a great day.
Shaun
Replies
Looks like you've already got a ton of wonderful info from what I've read of everyone else's posts- so I'll try and keep this short and sweet-
if you're wanting newly hatched chicks, they can live indoors in a tub under a lamp for while during the time that you're building the coop- and having them will certainly keep you motivated to complete the coop. After all of the effort I put into my coop, part of me wishes I would have bought one off craigslist to get me started- you'll always learn more and want to make changes, and it's possible to spend more than you intend if you're building one yourself.
I have 2 buff orpingtons which I got off craigslist and they are super sweet birds- they'll eat out of your hand and are very good with children.
I also have 2 wyandottes and 1 ameraucana that I got from Faint Family Farms and they are great and healthy beautiful birds-I would refer anyone to them in a heartbeat. In order to avoid getting roosters I paid them extra to raise them to 8 weeks of age at which time they could be sexed...I don't want to volunteer that they'll do that for everybody cause it take extra time effort and feed- but they were kind enough to do this for me and I am grateful because my girls are my pets and I'm quite attached! The amercaucana was flighty until she got herself tangled up and I "rescued" her- and now she loves to sit in my lap- so although I was worried about her being skittish circumstances can teach them to be mellow and sweet.
best of luck with all your future chicken endeavors!
Kristin
(Hi from BYC too)
I have 6 pullets of 4 or 5 different breeds. They are all great pets for my daughter (with their own personality) and great egg layers for me. ;-) I have 2 RIR, 1 Barred Rock, 1 EE, 1 Light Brahma, and 1 that's supposed to be a red sex link but looks like a production red.
Each one has been my favorite at different times. One RIR likes to hang out with me while I weed even if the other chickens are across the yard from us. The EE comes to us as soon as we go out the door and follows us around for awhile. The barred rock is always curious and loves treats. They all jump a few feet in the air for a peanut.
Six seems to be a great small flock number. They get along great so far with lots of room in their run and free-range time every day.
We have enough eggs for all 5 of us. The best layers are the reds and the barred rock with the EE not far behind(and the eggs are so pretty - green). The Light Brahma lays about 5 pinkish eggs a week, though, not shabby. I really like having a variety of eggs in the carton. My girls always want the green one. :-)
I got them from a feed store that orders from Ideal.
No matter what you get, You're gonna love them!
Becky
Didn't mean for any hijacking here, sorry!
Shaun
Faint Family Farms
They helps yes. The one thing I am concerned about with the sex links is that a lot of sites list their temperament as flighty and again for me I would rather have a few more birds that are mellow than just a small number that doesn't want anything to do with me or my son. I know he will want to be able to "pet" the birds and after that he is usually happy. Plus I have seen a few people talking about some of the leghorns chasing their kids through the yard. While that would be funny the first time probably, it would get old quick and become a real issue.
I know the buff orps are good mellow breed, and it seems Easter egger's are mellow also. I like the araacauna's but I doubt i would find any of them to get. I think Barred Rocks are also cool. Just unsure as to what is best to get.
Are leg horns as bad as you read about or is that only just a few of the birds that cause bad names for everyone else? How about the sex links? I have heard that the "cinnamon queen" variety is the only one that is supposedly somewhat mellow.
You asked how many eggs i want and how quickly I want them to be laying. I don't really know that answer. I do want eggs yes but at this point I am not all about the best feed to eggs conversion rate. I may be in the future but for now I just want to get a few chickens and see what this is all about ;)
I dont mind getting one sex link to try that out as well. I think I may be trying out a few breeds first to get my feet wet and that way slowly moving to what I would call my ideal flock.
Does this sound like a good approach?
I see a lot of chicken breed and temperament info online but some of it is conflicting and i would prefer to see what local people think ;)
Thanks for letting me pick your brains guys!!
Shaun
Well, I am relatively new to chicken raising... got my first ones last June (was a horrible time of year to do that!) I would encourage you to get some sooner rather than later. You want them to be at least a few months old before the summer hits hard! I did NOT have a coop built prior to getting the chicks....my daughter brought them home.... I kept them in a childs playpen I picked up at a yard sale for the first couple of weeks.... but luckily for me, I have a cousin who is a carpenter and is willing to build..lol...and I am actually glad I started without the coop. My backyard has evolved over the last year to create a comfortable place for both the chickens & myself. I had my cousin build me an A-frame coop that I love! Not the prettiest, but very cool in the summer, lots of airflow and cheap to build...my favorite part...
I think if you ask 10 people what their favorite breed is, you will get 10 different answers...
My first breed to start with was Rhode Island Reds, and they are still my favorites. They were very friendly with me, but were not afraid to stick up for themselves when it came to my Golden Retriever or the neighborhood cats! I have actually seen them chase cats out of my yard! YIPEE! But, they are friendly enough that I pick them up and pet them all the time. They are also very dependable for an egg a day.
I then picked up 2 Buffs and an Americana and they are nice birds but much more shy, not as outgoing as the RIR's. Then....I just picked up some Marans, but they are still little (3months old) so we shall see...
I would NOT start with 25, unless you are getting them to sell eggs or something... With the 7 that I have that are laying, that is plenty of eggs. I end up giving away some to family all the time.
:)
Anyone here have any personal experience with speckled sussex for more than 2 years?
So i haven't gotten chickens yet and am still working up to it. My wife wanted me to have the coop and everything built out first before i even think about getting chicks. I am more of the mindset that the little chicks will be motivation to get the coop built quickly, but well i cant argue with her, so... No chickens yet.
I went to Rachel's class recently with my wife so my wife could learn what I was learning in all the books I was reading. The class was great and Rachel I really learned quite a lot even after I just finished reading (cover to cover) the book Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow. If you are new like me or lurking about reading the forums please go to that class. It was really invaluable.
So with quite a few people here who have chickens, what do you think are the best breeds to get for a first timer and what do you think the right number of chickens for your first time should be? I know what Rachel said, but I am curious to hear what everyone else says as well. I originally was going to get the standard 25 from an online order, but was nervous at the high number and the idea of having to cull and probably kill the males.
So i am curious what you all think.
I can say that I do sort of have my heart set on some Jersey Giants. Not sure why specifically but they sound like really laid back wonderful chickens which will definitely suit my style. Ohh and we have a 2.5 yr old son so i do want to get nice mellow birds. I assume this means no leghorns which sucks since we are doing this for eggs.
Thanks all.
Shaun
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