The Barn and Fields > Animals and Homesteading

Talk to Me About Chickens!

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MissMandy:
We've decided to bite the bullet and get ourselves a few ladies for the backyard!  I Googled what kind of chickens would be best for our area based on climate/hardiness, how much they lay, etc., but I know the BEST advice will come from you wonderful ladies.  A few things that might help:

*Our temps range between 20's (Farenheit) to 90's usually
*We want chickens primarily for eggs and pets, not meat or breeding
*We are on just over an acre of land, but still in somewhat of a neighborhood, so nothing too loud or skittish
* We will be building their housing, so we can customize it fairly easily


My questions are:

*What breeds should we be looking for?
*How many should we get (hopefully 1-2 total eggs daily)?
*How much should we expect to pay?
*What do they eat (in addition to pecking around in the yard)?
*What kind of housing/warmth/cooling/setup will they need?
*What else should we consider before bringing them home?

Thank you so much for any advice you can offer!
M :)

jrejhkids:
We have found for us that the Golden Sex Links are the best layers.  They start laying between 4 and 5 months.  We generally get an egg most days from each.  When we don't have a pig, we feed our kitchen compost to our chickens in addition to the feed we buy.  We also give them oyster shell.

We insulated our hen house, but we can get down to 20 below.  You want to be able to close up in the winter, but yet some air in during the summer time.  You will want some roosts and nesting boxes.

Cheryl:
I'm happy for you! :)  I love my ladies! ;D

We have several breeds - Rhode Island Red, barred rock, red stars, wyandottes, sussex, buff orpington, black australorp, 1 BB Red bantam, and 2 Silkies.

All of mine are great layers.  I have a total of 10 hens that are laying age.  The bantams are still too young.  They have slowed down their egg laying for the winter but I've got 64 eggs so far for November, which is plenty for us. 

We can't let ours free range because of the predators - hawks, neighborhood dogs, coyotes, etc.  I do let mine out every afternoon as long as someone can be outside with them. 

As far as how much to pay, I can't really help you there.  All of ours were given to us by 3 different people!  Ours eat scratch grains and laying mash.  I also give them black oil sunflower seeds for a treat.  They really like those. :) 

We set up one corner of our barn for the chickens.  They have a coop and a run attached to it.  If you can, I would fence their area with hardware cloth instead of chicken wire.  It's much sturdier.  The pen ours have now has a roof since it's the corner of the barn, but I would use netting to cover the top of their run if yours are outside. 

I think as long as they have adequate shelter in the winter and shade in the summer they will be fine.  Mine like to wade in pans of water in the summer!  I've also misted them with a sprinkler if the temps were very high. 

I hope this answers some questions for you.  Chickens are easier than people think.  Oh, and they are social animals.  Always have more than one so they are not lonesome. ;)

greyhoundgirl:
We love (and have) many breeds, but I'd second the Golden Sex-link suggestion, as well as Red or Black Sex-links (ours have been very prolific) and Easter Eggers.  White Leghorns are also great layers but not quite as tame, in our experience.  Black Australorps are sweet and lay well, too.  Can you tell it's hard to narrow it down?  :D

As to cost, it really depends on what age you get.  A young chick will cost less (probably $3 or less) but also take a lot more care and it will be several months till she starts laying.  You might check craigslist for older pullets if you don't want to wait so long.  But, a 4-5 month pullet might go for $15 or so around here.

As for food, I don't know if GMO-free is important to you or not.  If not, any feed store or TSC should have appropriate feed.  We don't want our girls eating that, so we have had to look around a little more to find acceptable food.  I would think your area might be a little bit better for finding safer feed, possibly.

My suggestion would be to get at least 3.  That way, if something were to happen to one, the other two still have each other.  In their prime (and depending on breed), you may end up with 3 eggs some days, but it's not hard to give away fresh yummy eggs.  Plus, once you taste them, you may be using more eggs per week anyway.  ;)

MissMandy:
Thank you, thank you, everyone! Keep the advice coming; I love it!

M :)

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