Catherine Love~ Ramblings from my Heart and Home

Chickens... help please

We may be getting some chickens! Someone please tell me what I need to know before jumping into this one.  Advice....words of wisdom....what NOT to do???

 We just need a few hens for eggs (though dh insists that he's getting a rooster- just because).  We have plenty of space to build a coop and pen, etc. in the back corner of our yard.  Now, what are the best kinds to get for egg laying? How many would you recommend?  Our family uses about 2 dozen eggs per week, easy.  Best bets for inexpensive coop building?  Anything else I don't have the sense to ask!   

From my reading....

8:46 AM, Tuesday, January 23, 2007 .. Posted by MrsBurns

...Rhode Island Reds are the best brown egg layers and Pearl Leghorns are the best white egg layers. I have also heard that having a rooster around has a calming effect on the hens, even if he doesn't have "access" to the girls, if you get my drift. The hens know he's there to "protect" them, so they are happier, and everyone I know who has chickens says a happy chicken is a better layer.

I am so ready for my own flock. Our suburban house is for sale and when it sells, we're moving to the country. In fact, I've stated in public that as soon as we get a contract on the house, my first call will be to the McMurray Hatchery so I can place my chick order!

I'll leave the coop questions for the more experienced types out there. We're planning on using a mobile pen so they can range around and help us out with pest control.

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9:36 AM, Tuesday, January 23, 2007 .. Posted by shelley43022

I agree, you might like a few rhode island reds and white leghorns. Golden buffs are nice too. If you want some really pretty eggs, add a few partridge rocks, welsummers and americanas (brown speckled eggs, "chocolate" brown eggs and green eggs). As for a rooster, be careful. They can be quite roudy and sometimes just downright mean. We have two and one is calm and quiet and one attacks the children and I and bites. I would recomend a partridge rock rooster (the calm one I own is this breed) or even a welsummer rooster as I understand these are very gentle birds. As for a coup, you could buy an inexpensive yard barn or build something simple. If you put heat lamps and lights in for the winter, you will get eggs all year round. hope this info helps!

joyful homemaker

Local feed store?

12:02 PM, Tuesday, January 23, 2007 .. Posted by bethsbrightside

We were going to order chicks from McMurray, but we have an urban home and couldn't keep the minimum order.

So I checked on one of the local feed stores, and they had a great "schedule" of 5-6 different breeds of chicks that came in each week. So we got an assortment of heavy breeds...(it's cold here)...Light Brahma, Silver Laced Wyandotte, Buff Orpington, and Americaunas, which lay the most beautiful blue/greenish eggs. They have all done well even in the winter's cold. We have no rooster for our girls, but they survive. Have fun....it's nice to see different colors in the coop, and as long as you don't order any smaller breeds you should be well supplied with eggs.

Oooh...cheap coop ideas - a toughie. I have friends that "went cheap" and didn't build a coop with protected sides, and used tin for the bottom for easier cleaning, but they are going to have to rebuild when they get more hens. It hasn't held up well.

We were given some paneling that we painted and used for the walls, but it's in a more protected place. Good luck...everything is so expensive, and we spent more than we wanted even though we tried to plan and estimate. Could you build onto an existing structure...barn wall or something? Anyplace you could reclaim materials? Or construction sites/millworks type of place you could scrounge for 2x4's that might work for reinforcement?

Don't forget to bend and bury your wire, to keep predators from digging in. Also, I wish I had realized that the feed store carries wire and such for building. It would have been nice to compare prices with the big chains, where we got our supplies.

Sorry so long...hope some of this helps!

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1:37 PM, Tuesday, January 23, 2007 .. Posted by Kitty

I have 8 (started with 12) Buff Orpingtons. The are beautiful golden colored hens. They are great layers. I have 8 hens and I get 6 to 7 eggs per day.
I started with chicks and let me tell you they are stinky little buggers. They are cute tho. You can find out everything you really need to know from your home town feed supplier. They will have everything you need. I used a box with a lamp as a heat source. They really are one of the easiest critters to raise on a homestead. You will enjoy them, I know I do.
Kitty

Herbs and Chickens

9:36 PM, Tuesday, January 23, 2007 .. Posted by borderling

Thanks for the site info. I checked it out and it's great.
I agree with Kitty about Buffs. They've been my favorite chickens. I also like Barred Rocks. Buffs are mellow and usually good layers. They also are a good size if you get hungry.
If you can let your chickens free range, without destroying your gardens, you'll get some fantastic eggs.
Rhonda