Hey Everyone,
Wasn't sure what subforum to post this.
Wife and I are considering getting a couple of chickens for eggs and we'd like some advice on what breeds to consider. We are very animal oriented and they would sort of be pets too, so if any breeds have decent personalities that would be a plus. My wife wants to pick a breed based on how cute they are :D. But ideally we would like to be getting good tasting eggs on a pretty regular basis. We probably go through about 1 dozen eggs per week - although we might eat more if they taste as good as I've heard fresh eggs taste
We live in Northern NJ, so they need to tolerate cold winters and hot summers. I would build some sort of enclosure for them. We would probably let them roam in our small fenced yard area during the day and lock them up at night - there are foxes and occasionally coyote and bears. I have a small wooded area and might build a moveable foraging cage (or whatever it's called) to let them eat free-range from time to time, but in general they must be able to do well on an easily available store bought food or perhaps table scraps (?).
I'm still unsure if getting chickens is a good idea for us. One of our concerns is the noise. We definitely don't want a rooster, but we've heard various reports about hens being loud as well. We are in a suburban setting and still have to double check the town code, but my wife is pretty sure someone fought for (and won) the right for people to raise chickens in our town a while back
We heard that it's a good idea to have several chickens because they help keep each other warm in the winter - is there truth to that? If so, what's the smallest number to get in order to have a good healthy happy group?
Thanks a lot,
Joe
Chickens,we have about 800 coming into the store Thursday. A month ago we had almost 4,000. Chickens are easy,need to keep them warm when you first get them,a regular light will work,if you are getting chicks. Letting them free range is nice. If you don't have a garden or flowers. They seem to head right for something you don't want them to get into.I don't think chickens are loud. Get whatever ones you like the looks of.We have some customers come into the store and they are all concerned about the ones that will lay 331 eggs a year. ::) Not like you have 100,000 chickens and trying to make money. I myself like the looks of all diffeant chickens. In the winter,all they need is a draft free building and fresh water and food in front of them ALL the time. They do like table scraps,go easy on the bread,they can get too fat on that. I would get at least 4,that should give you 2-3 eggs a day. In the winter maybe only one or two a day.
We have kept chickens for the same reasons (pets with benefits) that you list for years now. During that time we have had a number of breeds, but my favorite for eggs, temperament and generally good chicken is the Buff Orpington. They are mid sized birds that are very laid back and easy to get along with. I currently have (9) chickens, and sell excess eggs to co-workers. (selling eggs offsets cost of any purchased grain etc.) The quality of eggs from yard chickens vs store bought is noticeable, particularly if they have access to grass and other vegetation. The yolks are almost neon orange compared to a store egg. To get a dozen eggs a week you may want more that 2 chickens. I always keep at least 6 since they do take breaks and not all will lay all the time. Hope this helps. Neighbors are more accepting of chicken if you share a few eggs now and then.
Hope this helps.
we have 16 some are black sex links, R reds and the ones that lay pink,green,blue eggs cant think what there called all seem to be good around kids ;D we had roosters but they seem to be the first to become lunch for the other critters mine free range and will go to my buddys wood yard that is about 5-600 ft away and they do keep the bugs down a little
We have +/- 50 for 4 years now, all of them from McMurray:
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html (https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html)
You buy them online, they hatch and airship them, the chicks live of the yolk for the time of transport.
We prefer McMurray over places like TSC, you have better chance to get females over males.
My wife and my kids choose chickens based on looks, I think we have 12 different breeds, even green egg laying hens, Sam I am ;D - Aracauna. But it is very pleasing to have box of eggs where every egg has a different color, from white to all shades of brown.
They will get used to the weather, as long as they can be sheltered from the wind. We lock them up for the night, release them in the morning. Most chicks we lost was to hawks, when they were not fully grown yet.
Now we have masonry lines crisscross their pasture with old CDs hanging on it and it seems to be working.
I know roosters are noisy, but they manage the flock - keep the ladies in line - and also herd them to the shelter when there is a hawk circling. Roosters are important, you can have a lot of pecking and fights with female only flock.
If you have the space, I would start with 10 at least. From 10 chicks with bit of luck you can have 7-8 laying hens.
Wild Bill and I both have "city"chickens. The most I have had is 18 the least is 5 which is how many I have now. I believe Billy has 6.
I bought 6 chicks March 1st but 1 didn't make it. We prefer Rhode Island reds. Hearty, tolerant and great egg producers.
We rotate them out every 2 years.
I like having a rooster but my last one was a mean sob and I was glad to see him go.
I have had a couple massacres due to coons but that's about all the trouble I've had except for squirrels thinking my place is the golden corral buffet.
My coop is 12x16 and I have a automatic water, feeder and can collect eggs from the outside so I never have to enter the coop.
If you can build a chicken tractor so you can move them every day or so to fresh grass and scratch.
Chickens are easy pets.
Just remember the chicken is involved but the pig is committed.
I'd like to have a few too, trouble is the boss doesn't :-\. Nobody's answered the question yet though, which came first, the chicken or the egg? :D
;D ;D
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b3/2b/c7/b32bc7ad581ff7293ce9791c74b9af26.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/27421/livestock_humor.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1465317995)
Thanks for all the great comments everybody. And some good cartoons :D
There are a few things I hadn't considered that were brought up.
I didn't realize that having only hens could bring a problem with in-fighting. We definitely can't deal with the noise of a rooster for the sake of our neighbors (and ourselves).
I also wasn't thinking that we might have to get eggs/hatchlings/chicks and might not know all the sexes when ordering.
For some reason I didn't think about raccoons as a threat - we definitely have them running around and they can be awful sneaky. Also stray cats, which didn't occur to me either till now.
The more info I get, the less suited we may be for this adventure, but I very much appreciate all the honest feedback.
Thanks
My two cents. A long time ago a friend worked in some kind of laboratory near Penn State that used fertilized eggs. One time they had too many and offered us a couple dozen chicks. What a mistake! For a few eggs, you only need a few hens. We ended up giving eggs away. And they would walk through the garden taking one peck at every tomato. I had kept one rooster. Meanest SOB you ever saw. I came home from work one day and found out he had attacked my preschool son. He lost his head that afternoon. We lived on the edge of a forest and ended up playing Hansel and Gretel with them. Since then my son and daughter have both tried keeping chickens here in central PA. I don't know what eats them but they just disappear.
Quote from: lowpolyjoe on June 07, 2016, 02:13:52 PM
Thanks for all the great comments everybody. And some good cartoons :D
There are a few things I hadn't considered that were brought up.
I didn't realize that having only hens could bring a problem with in-fighting. We definitely can't deal with the noise of a rooster for the sake of our neighbors (and ourselves).
I also wasn't thinking that we might have to get eggs/hatchlings/chicks and might not know all the sexes when ordering.
Normally when you buy chick they have been sexed. Mistakes sometimes happen but for the most part they are right.
For some reason I didn't think about raccoons as a threat - we definitely have them running around and they can be awful sneaky. Also stray cats, which didn't occur to me either till now.
Just build a solid coop with no way for the critters to enter.
The more info I get, the less suited we may be for this adventure, but I very much appreciate all the honest feedback.
Thanks
Don't be skreerd Chickens are easy, Just get a couple to start. If you decide you don't want them then a free add on craigs list and poof they go away.
I live on the edge of nowhere, lots of chicken eaters.
I am also considering having chickens. chicken yard will have a roof and the chicken wire will be buried in an L shape with the bottom of the L pointing away from the yard and be about 1 foot below ground level. this should discourage digging?
egg collecting - I plan to have the floor of the laying box sloped so the egg will role away from the hen. maybe nail a golf ball in then box to encourage laying. page 194
Heat - chickens cannot shiver like a turkey can so they need some heat to keep the coop above freezing.
Light - if you are going to use artificial light to keep the hens laying, make sure to add the light at the beginning of the day. that way the hens have the evening light to make it back to the roosts.
my reference book is Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Danerow, UPC 9781580173254
it covers many areas from chicken raising to showing and everything between
I say go fer it, the wife doesn't want them as previously mentioned so I have to make do with the neighbor's pheasants that wander in. I realize I'm in a rural area, not suburban, but I love to wake up to the sound of them, not much different than waking up to birds singing I guess. There was a thread on here about chicken tractors a while back, maybe somebody smarter than me can post you a link to it.
Always had White Rocks, good all around chickens.
Quote from: sandhills on June 07, 2016, 10:01:28 AM
I'd like to have a few too, trouble is the boss doesn't :-\. Nobody's answered the question yet though, which came first, the chicken or the egg?
I can answer that question for you, Pat!
The egg was here first.
Not a "chicken egg".
Some dinosaurs laid eggs, so, the egg was here first! ;D
I won a real good "strong" argument over that one and had one P.O.'d BIL over that discussion. 8)
Quote from: DDW_OR on June 07, 2016, 04:44:59 PM
Heat - chickens cannot shiver like a turkey can so they need some heat to keep the coop above freezing.
Where this that come from??? They will do fine with no heat.
Gets below zero here,sometimes for a week each morning and hardly into the double digits. I've had chickens for more than 10 years and went through 10 winters and never lost a chicken because of the cold. I supply them with no heat whatsoever.
But as I posted earlier,they always have fresh water and never run out of food. And a building that is airtight. The chickens would go outside too. I kept the pen shoveled out for them. When it snowed they would not go out until I scattered some shavings or some leaves to cover up the snow. It was kinda funny,like in the cartoons. They would pile right up by the door because all they could see was white. As soon as I put down the shavings of leaves,they would fight to get out. I would rake some leaves up and put them in bags. Have to pick the day and get them nice and dry. It was a treat for them. I did it for the goats too.
ya my chickens don't have heat and there fine but they wont lay in the winter cause of no heat I'm to cheap to pay the light bill for them ;D I have had this batch of chickens now for 4 years with out a rooster and there fine and never had to put a fake egg or ball to help them lay we get our chicks from agway they are sexed already you have to watch out for minks and weasels they will clean out a coop in one night they just suck there blood and leave the chicken watch for foxes they like chicken dinner they are a neat pet just go for it and try it don't think you will regret it
Quote from: thecfarm on June 07, 2016, 07:22:38 PM
Quote from: DDW_OR on June 07, 2016, 04:44:59 PM
Heat - chickens cannot shiver like a turkey can so they need some heat to keep the coop above freezing.
Where this that come from??? They will do fine with no heat.
Gets below zero here,sometimes for a week each morning and hardly into the double digits. I've had chickens for more than 10 years and went through 10 winters and never lost a chicken because of the cold. I supply them with no heat whatsoever.
But as I posted earlier,they always have fresh water and never run out of food. And a building that is airtight. The chickens would go outside too. I kept the pen shoveled out for them. When it snowed they would not go out until I scattered some shavings or some leaves to cover up the snow. It was kinda funny,like in the cartoons. They would pile right up by the door because all they could see was white. As soon as I put down the shavings of leaves,they would fight to get out. I would rake some leaves up and put them in bags. Have to pick the day and get them nice and dry. It was a treat for them. I did it for the goats too.
.
We just let the chicken poop keep the coop warm. Worked with 20 hens in north Michigan.
A vote for the good old Rhode Island Reds. It's all I'll have. Bred for the northeast. Mine survived -30 and +95 easily with nothing special for shelter or food. Nice large brown eggs, nice temperament, easy to make into pets and catch when tame. No roosters for me, thanks. As for noise, just a little squawking when done laying then all is quiet again. Only opinions and observations by me on my little mountain... good luck.
We've always had Rhode island reds or Barred Plymouth rocks. The rocks seem to be a little quieter but both have good tempers never have kept the roosters they always went in the pot. ;D Keep them in an unheated 12x16 building in the winter and as has been said water and feed in front of them. they will slow down on laying but still produce. We usually keep 15 or so. Dad always said on production," an egg and a half in a day in a half".
We've found in the past that the White Leghorn is probably the best producer, but they are a very flighty bird.
When you open the door, they really get wound up sometimes.
If you free-range them, they'll roost in the trees for the night.
Thanks for all the continued advice everybody. I'll keep you all posted if we decide to jump in.
you have to jump in with both hands and both feet not one or the other :D :D
You could throw in some ducks for good measure too :)
There are ducks that outlay chickens and duck eggs are great to eat.
Wow - ducks never crossed my mind :D
Just for your consideration, let me say that there is something very relaxing and rewarding about having chickens, eggs or not. The sound of content chickens is one of the most calming sounds. To watch them scratch is joyful and hilarious. I frequently travel to a neighboring farm that has their hens in a penned, wooded acre. They permit me to, at any time, pull my van under the trees and watch and listen to the chickens. It's my mental balm.
If you want something that lays eggs and doesn't scratch like chickens do, get some guinea hens.
Chuck,you're gonna tell him him them things are LOUD. But they only are loud when there is something wrong. They make very good watch dogs. We use to have a greenhouse business and I had more than one customer tell me they would not have them things. ::) As I would tell them,they are doing thier job,they don't know you and they are sending the alarm out as they would if there was a hawk nearby or a fox,or a racoon.
I've heard it said that 3 birds will keep your property clean and safe. Chickens for bugs, trash, turning mulch, etc. Geese for eating grass and being watchdogs. Guinea hens for tick and flea and mite control because apparently they turn their heads sideways and strip each blade of grass for little critters. Eggs from all 3.
I don't know about this. I get annoyed a bit when the girls do their stupid squawking for a minute or two after they laid. Of course everything annoys me right now. Trying to quit smoking after 22 years, 3 packs a day. Been almost 6 days, no cheats. Grrrrrr. Toughest darn thing I've ever had to do I think. Problem is, I didn't want to quit, just that I knew I should. I wrestle with this crap every minute it seems. Will the crotchety ol' hillbilly persevere? Perhaps. But others around me might not. smiley_devil smiley_beady_eyes smiley_fused_bomb
Ox,
Hang in there! Yes, it's difficult but you can do it.
I quit cold turkey September 17, 2007. Before that I smoked at least three pack a day of Viceroy.
The first couple of months were really hard but it does (slowly) get better.
Herb
Oh yea, Guinea's are very loud when they are alarmed.
Things that will set them off, a stranger, an unexpected move, a hawk, a fox or coon, basically anything that isn't normal or a surprise.
Chuck, we have a bunch of turkeys around that come to dad's place to winter and 3 or 4 years ago they brought a guinea home with them, it was funny watching them walk (basically single file) across the pasture with it right in the middle :D. Something got it though, I found the remains in the tree line deer hunting.
A funny little chicken story...
While I was in Dominican Republic I was giving some time to the poor dogs
that never get any attention. The poor dogs dont trust anyone.
Some was hard to get them to trust me. After about 1 hour of trying
to let this one dog let me pet it I finally won it over. As I was petting it
a large roster snuck in to the dogs food dish and was stealing the dogs
food. When the dog seen what was happening it charged the roster that
was about twice the size of the little dog. There was a stand off for about
one minute before the roster turned to run. The dog made a lunge for the
roster and caught it by the tail feathers. The dogs feet was sliding in the
dirt and the rosters feet was spinning like crazy. Feathers was flying...
Funny to watch... Picture of the dog.
Sorry... No picture of the roster. You can see just a tip of red to the
left of the picture. Thats the roster head reaching into the dish.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/39553/Dsc03827_small.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1465735939)
I've found that the best and safest way to friendly up to a dog is to let the dog friendly up to me! ;)
Check this out...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1297651/Japanese-students-hatch-egg-outside-shell.html
Never tired a dust bath, but here are some of the girls having a spa day at the tractor shed...
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15399/IMG_4309~0.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465847480)
They love the dust.
i have heard of some people adding diatomaceous earth to their chickens dust baths.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth
I throw D-earth into the coop regularly to help keep chicken mites or fleas away.
All good advice so far. FWIW, we have had anywhere from 2 to 4 dozen chickens for the last 8 years. We eat the eggs but not the meat. We have tried a whole bunch of breeds and we've also let them interbreed. Our favorites have been Australorps and Sussex. These are very health and hearty breeds with calm gentle personalities. As far as sexes go, if you order on line (we use Meyer's Hatchery) you can order "pullets" which will be >90% females (mistakes happen). The chicks you get at TSC, etc. around Easter are mostly "straight run" which is 50/50 boys and girls. I would say "go for it" if you are interested. It really is tremendously rewarding.