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The wife and I have been talking about getting some chickens, for eggs, this spring. Usually in another month or so the feed stores will be having "chick days", and I need a little bit of a shopping list help. Anybody with some input here feel free to chime in.
I know the regular stuff well need like feeder and water dispenser, heat bulb, chick starter. Most of that stuff I still have from when we raised pheasants. More specifically I'm looking for what kind of chickens I should get, how many, roosters necessary? I'm kind of guessing we should get about double the number of chicks that we are expecting to have as adults to account for dead loss, dog kills, and just plain weeding out the stupid. Assuming the stupid and mean ones will taste even better than the producers.
Are they smart/fast enough to not get killed by a retired 3 legged retriever?

We probably go through 2-4 dozen eggs per week around here if that helps in advance.

We have 9 "mutt" hens and 9 Americanas, and 3 roosters. Planning on getting about 8 more or so in the spring (although I have no idea why- ask my wife). The Americanas are head and shoulders better than the others, in "personality", and several started laying recently, in the middle of winter. They would be my recommendation, just based on what I've seen.

The original 9 lay pretty much an egg a day, down to about 5 a day in the winter. I think right now we have about 5 dozen eggs in the fridge, and give away eggs as fast as people will take them. When all the others start laying, it's gonna be ugly. We raised the roosters because ours are pretty much free range during the day. I shut the coop up at night, but they're out all over the place, up to about a 1/4 mile away during the day, and the roosters do a good job of keeping them together and out of trouble. If you're going to keep them penned up, and don't plan on hatching any yourself, I don't think you need a rooster. We've got a little "program" going with the neighbors, hatching out only eggs which are laid in the winter. That way, hopefully in a year or so we can get chickens which will lay more reliably year round.

We always raised Araucanas or Rhode Island Reds. Here recently we switched to Silver Laced Wyandottes but the breed isn't really important unless you are picky on what color your eggs are. It takes from 25-27 hours for a chicken to produce an egg so you can base how many you need off of that. Roosters are completely unnecessary for egg production so you can feed them as long as you want but you aren't going to get anything out of them.

White Leghorns and Rhode Island Reds are used for commercial egg production.

Oh and the chicks you buy from the feed store are straight run. You could get lucky and pull a lot of pullets by accident but more than likely male female ratio is going to be close to 50/50.

Sexing chicks is easy, if it looks at you with it's left eye it's a female, right eye male

jehler wrote:Sexing chicks is easy, if it looks at you with it's left eye it's a female, right eye male

I may be a little drunk but that made me LOL.

I am ready to be laughed out of the room but we had silkys and they we're some egg laying little girls. Buying egg maker feed is worth it too.

We have one of those, and she is an egg-laying fool. And I second the layer crumble. It's pretty necessary, if you want any eggs in the winter.

Bagawwwwk!

you need at least 1 of these!

Ok, eat the roosters unless I need a watch dog and get the egg maker feed. Is it something you add to their feed or an entirely different feed?

Different feed. It's labelled "Starter", "Grower", "Layer", etc. We fed the starter crumble for about 12 weeks, then switched to the layer crumble. I like the crumble better than the pellets. Seems to last longer. And it comes out of my homemade feeder better than the pellets.

Speaking of which, don't buy a waterer and feeder. I'll take pics of the ones I made out of 5 gallon buckets. And they will drain that 5 gallon bucket about every other day. Fuckers drink a LOT of water.

assateague wrote:Different feed. It's labelled "Starter", "Grower", "Layer", etc. We fed the starter crumble for about 12 weeks, then switched to the layer crumble. I like the crumble better than the pellets. Seems to last longer. And it comes out of my homemade feeder better than the pellets.

Speaking of which, don't buy a waterer and feeder. I'll take pics of the ones I made out of 5 gallon buckets. And they will drain that 5 gallon bucket about every other day. Fuckers drink a LOT of water.

Show me some pics tomorrow when you go out to feed. If its made from sheet metal I can probably make it.

When I lived in eastern NC we used to buy "flats" of 25 Rhode Island Reds" chicks each spring. As soon as I figured out which ones were roosters, they got the ax. Always had plenty of eggs for a family of six. Hearty birds that held up well in the winter.

3legged_lab wrote:Ok, eat the roosters unless I need a watch dog and get the egg maker feed. Is it something you add to their feed or an entirely different feed?

Lay pellets is what you need but they will produce eggs on hen scratch just as good. We put out a feeder of both and they'll eat whatever they want.

Remembered I never took pics, so grabbed a few when I let them out this morning.

This is the waterer. 7 holes (about 3/16") drilled around the top, where they will be about an inch below the rim of the metal feed pan. Fill up with water, put the lid on tight, then flip it upside down in the feed pan. Total cost about $7. I cut the lip on the bucket to help the water drain out of the holes to fill the pan easier.






The feeder is just a bucket with 4 slots cut out of the bottom corner edge of the bucket, then I used some small bolts to bolt the strapping on. Total cost, about $9.





The Americanas just started laying recently. Layniebug is amused to no end about the blue and green eggs.




This is the one that put Dutch in his place regarding the chickens. He takes no shit, and does his job.

I wonder how well it would go over with the Jews in my neighborhood if I started raising free range chickens on my 1/8 acre plot.

Just don't get any roosters and you'd be fine

vincentpa wrote:I wonder how well it would go over with the Jews in my neighborhood if I started raising free range chickens on my 1/8 acre plot.

As long as they're kosher.

This may be another stupid question but do they go willingly when you put them up at night? Do you call them in?

3legged_lab wrote:This may be another stupid question but do they go willingly when you put them up at night? Do you call them in?

Just scatter a little feed inside the coop and they'll come running. (keep it in a coffee can and rattle it each night when you feed them)

At Big Lake on the way in on 7-mile road are a bunch of trailers, shacks, and duck camps. One shack has about 100 chickens or more. Free range all up n down the road.
At sunset they all get in a tree or in a shack depending on weather.
Point is chickens are dumbass birds but they have enough sense to get into the roost before dark or yotes would get them.

You never know what those Jews will do or say. I just don't get those people.

waterfowlman wrote:

3legged_lab wrote:This may be another stupid question but do they go willingly when you put them up at night? Do you call them in?

Just scatter a little feed inside the coop and they'll come running. (keep it in a coffee can and rattle it each night when you feed them)

probably works anytime as well, be good if there were a predator in the area or you have to leave for the day.

Ours go in on their own. They're usually all up on the roosting sticks just as the sun goes down.




But these bitches here need to be broke from roosting in the laying boxes.

We went to the feed store and picked up 10 chicks and Emmah is pumped about them. We made her come in to eat dinner and she is having a fit!

3legged_lab wrote:We went to the feed store and picked up 10 chicks and Emmah is pumped about them. We made her come in to eat dinner and she is having a fit!

Just like when Rex is told to put his guns away

AKPirate wrote:

3legged_lab wrote:We went to the feed store and picked up 10 chicks and Emmah is pumped about them. We made her come in to eat dinner and she is having a fit!

Just like when Rex is told to put his guns away

Cries til he falls asleep?

3legged_lab wrote:

AKPirate wrote:

3legged_lab wrote:We went to the feed store and picked up 10 chicks and Emmah is pumped about them. We made her come in to eat dinner and she is having a fit!

Just like when Rex is told to put his guns away

Cries til he falls asleep?

and pounds his fists on the floor

AKPirate wrote:

3legged_lab wrote:

AKPirate wrote:

3legged_lab wrote:We went to the feed store and picked up 10 chicks and Emmah is pumped about them. We made her come in to eat dinner and she is having a fit!

Just like when Rex is told to put his guns away

Cries til he falls asleep?

and pounds his fists on the floor

You guys are fucking horrible!