Small-time backyard chickens: resources, advice?

[Ben Brewcat]

I'm starting to think about chickens as the next learning experience. Probably do it like I've done bees; a couple years of research and mentoring, then start small. Likely try layers first (wife wants to name them, so no fryers :rolleyes:). They'd be for household consumption and not for selling, unless it ends up heading that way once we're into it with some seasons' experience.

We have a smallish, quarter-acre yard in a smallish, poultry-friendly town. There are about five yards in as many blocks' radius with poultry, and one of my outyard's hosts is a chickenkeeper who sells eggs locally. He's way into learning about bees, so I can swap mentoring with him I'm sure.

But anyways, can anyone recommend a good resource for starting my learning process? My bee library of something over 15 titles are all dog-eared, so I love the learning and prep part. Any good titles or other resources for a hobbyist/backyard aspiring chickengeek to explore?

[drobbins]

beesource is how I learned about bees and this is where I learned about chickens

http://www.backyardchickens.com/

I really like the forum format for learning new hobbies

Dave

[cow pollinater]

My wife runs a roadside stand that sells eggs...That pretty much means that I spend lots of time tending chickens. Funny how that works.
I can't really recommend any resources since I don't really remember a time when I didn't know something that I needed to know. but if you find yourself in need of advice, PM me and I'll tell you everything I can. I can even ship you some hatching eggs if you want to try hatching some nice blue hens.
It's easier to get started in spring, so you've got time to ponder.

[Ben Brewcat]

I'm actually looking at starting in spring 2010; next year will be the year of the serious garden development (after dabbling for years). So kinda hoping to tag along with mentors for next season. But I'd love advice on breeds, coop considerations/options, management, how much time it takes, and how much they like culled drone brood. Well I think I probably know that last one ;).

Can they have free range in a vegetable garden, or will they root up/eat/damage seedlings/adult plants?

[nursebee]

Just do it. Build a small coop. Either buy from local feed store or in mail. You should be able to sell extra as they get older. I only deal with Murray McMurray. For eggs the cost for all females is worth it. WHite rock #1 brown egg layer. Need a light in winter for 14-15 hours to have eggs.

No used birds unless you know and trust the people.

[Ben Brewcat]

For eggs the cost for all females is worth it. WHite rock #1 brown egg layer.

Pardon the noob question, but meaning: get sexed chicks unless you want to eat the half that will prove to be roosters, and White (Plymouth) Rock the breed?

[J-Bees]

Can they have free range in a vegetable garden, or will they root up/eat/damage seedlings/adult plants?



sure they can if you do NOT wish to have one tomorrow.

My wife has bannies the cocks fight like crazy, then she gets after them with a garden hose.

[nursebee]

Yes Ben. You are not being noobish, your reasoning is perfect...
White rock number one in number of eggs per yr, I think 272

[Hillside]

OK, chickens are a blast.

I like the Rhode Island Reds. The best layers are often called production reds. They lay well and are fairly tough. Black Australorps are my favorites because they are decent layers and are stunningly beautiful (for a chicken).

California whites are a cross that makes a good white egg layer but calmer than some of the Leghorns.

You might want to consider sex linked breeds. Sex links have a physical trait, usually color, that is linked to their sex so they can be easily sexed at hatching. If you don't get sex linked birds, you have to expect a rooster or two to slip through even if you buy all pullets. I'm not a huge fan of butchering. To me, it's a real chore that I would rather avoid. But, I do it when I must. Getting sex links minimizes that. Black sex links, red sex links, and others are available.

Before you get chicks, make sure you have all the equipment you need and a proper place to brood them. Chicks can be very fragile if you don't treat them right. If you have the right setup, you can bring almost every one of them to maturity.

There's a decent chicken chart here:
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

[Ben Brewcat]

sure they can if you do NOT wish to have one tomorrow.

My wife has bannies the cocks fight like crazy, then she gets after them with a garden hose.

Bummer. Would hens be the same, or might they be "respectful" garden users and bug eaters?

[TwT]

I raised and fought chickens for 24 years, then became a beekeeper, beekeeping is much much cheaper and a lot less time consuming, chicken fighting was legal in some states until the last 10 years then they started dropping like flies, now no state is legal, I was born and raised in Louisiana and it was a legal state, I was brought up doing it, I dont even care about yard birds now, wish you luck with your chickens, heres a few hints, only have 1-2 roosters and expect a few fights then it should settle down (unless you get game birds ;) ) EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD EATS CHICKENS, all during the day and mostly at night, have a good coop to roost them in and a good pen to keep them in during the day with top wire. well thats a few important one's , you will find plenty more. promise you that but it aint hard!!! aw and chicken will eat fine in a garden, you might not when they finished :) , for some nice birds of any kind look here below, now I might get a few eastern turkeys or one of their quail types but thats it.

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/category/turkeys_ducks_geese_game_birds_guineas_peafowl.htm l

[walking bird]

Chickens are fun, the eggs are much, much better than store-bought, and they'll eat pretty much anything you throw at them. You'll never feel guilty about throwing away food again; just give it to the "working girls."

Chickens are also really, really easy. Some shelter, some safe area to spend their day, and some roosting bars (I use old shovel handles, 2x2 scraps, anything that gets them off the ground for the night).

Around here I have to close up the roosting coop at night, or the raccoons will climb into the pen and get 'em. I don't cover the yard they're in, but I don't let the chicks run around in that yard until they're big enough to discourage the hawks.

there are plenty of books on raising the chicks, but it's all common sense: keep 'em warm (I use a 75w light bulb in a "mini-shed" that I insulated); fed, lots of water, and clean up their mess (they poop a lot!). They grow so fast that by the time you get the routine down, they're already chickens.

You'll have eggs in around 5-6 months, depending on breed. I've tried many breeds; I like the Auracana for hardiness and the cool green and/or turquoise eggs, but all the other suggestions here are excellent as well.

finally, your question about the garden: When I uproot my played-out tomato plants at the end of the seaon, I throw the whole plant into the chicken yard. They strip it like pirahnas. Same with chard, cilantro, grapes, etc. 'nuff said.:)

Feel free to pm me as well if you have any questions.

[Scrapfe]

So kinda hoping to tag along with mentors for next season. But I'd love advice on breeds, coop considerations/options, management, how much time it takes, and how much they like culled drone brood. Well I think I probably know that last one ;).

Can they have free range in a vegetable garden, or will they root up/eat/damage seedlings/adult plants?

Chickens love gardens as much as you. They love tomatoes, bean blossoms, corn seedlings, etc. You can allow a few very small chicks to run in your garden if you keep the old mother hen penned so she can't run with the chicks. They will decimate the potato bug & bean beetle populations. When they get older they will also decimate the garden.

Read my PM about time.

[RayMarler]

I used to raise some chickens back in the late 80's early 90's, it was a blast. I raised Partridge Rocks and Black Auranana's, and White Cornish. I kept a pair of geese in the yard to fend off all the cats and other critters, they are great.

I kept the chickens out of the garden until it was all harvested, then I let the chickens into the garden over winter. They tilled it all up and had it fertalized as well by planting time in spring! Best of luck to ya in your new adventure!

[Scrapfe]

I kept the chickens out of the garden until it was all harvested, then I let the chickens into the garden over winter. They tilled it all up and had it fertalized as well by planting time in spring! Best of luck to ya in your new adventure!

All a chicken eats is processed through its gizzard. Here it all recieves a grinding not even the most modern food processor can acheive. Don't lissen to the people who say chicken manuer has weed seeds in it, chicken manuer just makes the weed seeds you allready have grow like they are on steroids.
Does the same for your garden too.

[Gregory and Susan Fariss]

We have Rhode Island Reds and Americanas and have had Dominiques and Pearl White Leghorns in the past. The Americanas lay blue/green eggs, but are not as prolific layers as Dominiques and Rhode Island Reds are. Also Dominiques and Rhode Island Reds are very curious and very friendly chickens. If you spend time with them when they are young, they will get to know you and follow you and allow you to pet them and pick them up. The Leghorns and Americanas are much more skittish.

If you get the chance, read the book, "Chicken Tractor." We keep our chickens in a chicken tractor until they lay (usually by lunch time) and then open the tractor to let them freely run, scratch and dust themselves in a two acre pasture. At dusk, they go back to the tractor on their own and we close them up until they lay eggs the next day. They are very entertaining and yes, their eggs are much better than those you can buy in the grocery store.
Susan

[Barry Digman]

From McMurray Hatchery:

"We think our Cornish X Rock chicks are among the finest meat birds in America. We should know. We fill our family freezers with them every year! Males will dress from 3 to 4 pounds in six to eight weeks and females will take about one and one-half weeks longer to reach the same size. Please Note: These birds are not recommended for raising at altitudes above 5000 feet."


Why would certain breeds of chickens not do well above 5,000 feet?

[MapMan]

Why would certain breeds of chickens not do well above 5,000 feet?


Ascites.


MM

[cow pollinater]

They also die in mass if the temperature gets over ninety degrees or fluctuates more than twenty five degrees in a twenty four hour period.
The fast...I mean FAST growth causes a tremendous strain on their heart and lungs. Mcmurreys are the fastest growing that I've found. Freakish is the best description.

[Barry Digman]

Ascites.


MM


They also die in mass if the temperature gets over ninety degrees or fluctuates more than twenty five degrees in a twenty four hour period.
The fast...I mean FAST growth causes a tremendous strain on their heart and lungs. Mcmurreys are the fastest growing that I've found. Freakish is the best description.



Thanks guys. I get the McMurrey catalog, but I've never had chickens. I'm at 5,300 ft. with temps over 90 most of the summer, and variations of 25 degrees or more from the low to the high nearly every day of the year. Lots of people keep chickens here, but I really don't know how well they do with them.

[cow pollinater]

Wyandotes are suposed to be good high altitude chickens. I have no idea why I know that.... but I do. Please try some and let me know how they do so I can put to rest my cognative disonance.

[Ben Brewcat]

I'm at 5300 feet but have moderate temps; only a few weeks of 90+ in the summer and not terribly cold winters (at least not cold to a Wisconsin boy :D). I'm thinking this chicken thing will be pretty fun and yummy!

[MapMan]

I'm at 5300 feet but have moderate temps; only a few weeks of 90+ in the summer and not terribly cold winters (at least not cold to a Wisconsin boy :D). I'm thinking this chicken thing will be pretty fun and yummy!

I can get excellent eggs so cheap from at least a dozen neighbors within a mile from my farm here that I don't take the time and expense to raise them. My neighbor's kid has been raising organic meat broilers for me the past two years, and this year I got them from him and brought them to the processor (again only a couple miles away). They did the processing on a couple dozen 3-4 pounders for me for a buck fifty each, in a couple hours time.

I think that I'm going to start raising a meat breed after we run through the rest of the broilers in the freezer, probably in two years, since I already have too many things going at this time. I have gotten some secrets on protein levels and time to market for different meat types - some Hmong which they sell to from farms here like tougher meat, others like me prefer a softer, tender meat. It is based on fiber length and density in the muscle and flesh - protein in the diet and time on feed controls that factor. I've never eaten so tender a chicken in my life as when I've had the neighbor's kid grow them for me, and I also have an excellent source for tender turkeys. Hope your birds turn out yummy too!

MM

[papa bear]

there's not much i can add to this. all good advice.

look at http://www.backwoodshome.com/ which is one of my favorite sources. several good books too. they have articles on breeds and coops galore.

be prepared to cull your flock on occasion. having too many roosters is like having too many queens in a hive. if you are opposed to consuming them yourself you can always give them to someone
i raise rode island reds, because they are layers and meaty. but there is a feral flock of "bantys" that live here". they are some of the broody-est hens i have every seen. they lay eggs everywhere

[wayacoyote]

Ben,
We subscribe to "backyard poultry magazine". It is mostly (almost entirely) a small-timers' magazine like the original mother earth news, with a lot of reader-written articles. We use chicken tractors- movable pens that allow us to let the chickens graze the yard. We had one rooster that became injured and allowed him to run the yard, until he began eatting the tomatoes. So you'll either fence in your garden or your chickens.

This year, we hatched ours (April) and finally have one laying eggs. The roosters are just now at butchering weight, too. so consider that when choosing what you'll start with. It is like bees, buying a nuc gets you further along quicker.

PM me anytime and I'll let the wife respond.

[NeilV]

I have nothing substantive to add about how to raise chickens. However, I do know from first hand experience that, in my case, having chickens is great for kids. My grandmother had a flock of Rhode Island Reds. I was at her house a lot. Some of my most lasting childhood memories are of feeding the chickens, gathering eggs, chasing the chickens and getting in trouble for chasing the chickens.

She had one hen that was light colored and very tame, and we named her Cinderella. When Cindarella molted one year, my grandmother used some scrap quilting material and made her a dress. Cinderella let us put the clothes on her. It was hilarious.

Eventually my grandmother got too old to take care of them and the old hens got too old to lay eggs. My grandmother was raised on a farm, and she believed that chickens, even pet ones, also had their role to play. So one day she had my Dad butcher all of the chickens. I remember being about 8-9 years old at the time. On the same day, we cried about the death of Cinderella and ate chicken and dumplings made from one of the others. She gave Cinderella to her sister (my great Aunt) to eat. In a way, I think that event taught me to respect where my food comes from and gave me a healthy lesson about the role animals play and how to treat them with respect and eat them at the same time.

So I guess my point, if I have one, is get some chickens.

[Sundance]

I looked hard at chickens for eggs.......... but the health
issue steered me away from them. Love eggs, but the
cholesterol and watching the ol' heart aren't compatible
with eggs.

I am looking at bunnies for meat.......

[Bodo]

Eggs are a great source of protein. If you have health concerns regarding the cholesterol, use the whites only.

[Sundance]

I hear you Bodo......... but eggs without yolks...... are
like a day without sunshine. No yolks = no eggs for this
hombre.

There is a local farmer that sells me a dozen now and
then of free range, bin run fed, eggs when I get the
irresistible urge or company is coming.

[stangardener]

i've heard that the health benefits of eggs out weigh the exagerated cholesterol negatives of eggs.
i hate chickens. i have had one lettuce crop too many destroyed and heard one too many cocky crowing. i snapped.
i have runner ducks. more eggs, no scratching or crowing and they always make me smile:)
i had meat rabbits for a while but i didn't like harvesting them. i've never percieved such abject terror from a critter and i've knocked beef and hogs at home and on a kill floor. all those cages were just not the activity for me. start small and see if it's for you.

[Sundance]

i've heard that the health benefits of eggs out weigh the exagerated cholesterol negatives of eggs.

I am interested in the health benefits angle on eggs (other than
from the egg board or other sources that bend the data).

I have to limit myself to 200 mg of cholesterol a day and one
egg exceeds that........:cry:

[miele]

I noticed in my latest PBS schedule for October that there is going to be a special on later this month called "Natural History of the Chicken", in case any of you other chicken-raisers are interested.