First dozen day...

[mjc]

Spring must be around the corner or something...today was my first dozen day. Or I should say, it was my hens' first dozen day. I've got 18 hens and have been only getting a few eggs a day since they started laying back in November...but Sunday, production started to pick up with 8 in one day and today, it was a full dozen.

[flowerpower]

Congrats. It's always nice to fill the carton. My birds just started laying again last week. I have 17 hens. Getting between 7-10/day right now. I just sent 6 doz down to Brooklyn. My customers were very happy to see fresh eggs again.

[bluelacedredhead]

Congratulations on (almost) full production!

I miss having poultry. But we've found a vendor at the Farmers market who is certified Organic and has reasonable prices and eggcellent products besides to purchase eggs from. I can get 3 dozen eggs from her for half the price of a 40kg bag of feed. A bargain I'd say.

[mnjrutherford]

Should we be getting ourselves started about now? We wanted to start with chickens this spring, but I was thinking we would have to wait till late March at the earliest.

[flowerpower]

I would order chicks in mid-May here, but it's alot warmer where you live. How many are you starting with?

[mnjrutherford]

That's a great question Lynn. Our neighbor suggest 18. We want eggs and meat. We eat a LOT of eggs, about 8 dozen a month. Meat not so much. I have "issues" digesting chicken. But maybe 2 birds a month? I would like the boys to be able to sell a few dozen eggs each week as well.

Bottom line, I know all about what I want and not one iota about reality.

As a matter of fact, I was gonna start a thread asking if anyone has Joel Salatin's, "Pastured Poultry" book and if they would sell it to me. I'd like any of his other books as well, but "Pastured Poultry" is what I need most.

[bluelacedredhead]

Jo, if you want 8 doz eggs per month just for your own consumption, plus sales, then you are going to have to get in eggcess of 36 layers. Not every hen will lay that you buy(become edible), and of the ones that lay, you can expect one per day, but sometimes that doesn't happen. So 24 to 30 hens for your own requirements; the other six as a buffer zone/egg sales.

I've raised dual purpose fowl as well as meat birds. I suggest meat birds for those lovely Sunday dinners. You can raise them on range, they just don't grow as quickly. But then again, a slower rate of weight gain means that they aren't as likely to develop Acities and blow out their heart just as they reach tableweight.

I would start hatching in January, but that was so my birds were old enough to show by June.
Having chicks in winter here means draft free housing with heat lamps. Although NC is not nearly as wintry as here, it does cool off in the evening. Newborn chicks require heat at least until they have feathered out at 3 weeks of age.

Speak to the local feedstore about when they begin bringing chicks in. Find out if they just supply leghorns for eggs and meat chicks or whether they sell different breeds?
Meanwhile, work on their housing and plan for their future.

And oh yeah, if the feedstore suggests meds or medicated feed for your birdies, Just Say No.
Medicated feeds are for feedlots and properties that have had poultry before. Being new to chickens you have no reason to feed them Amprolium laced feeds.

[mnjrutherford]

I won't have ANY problem saying no to the medicated feeds if they are expensive. Housing is our first step. Martin has sent me mangel seed that we will grow for next winter's feed and we will share greens from them that I have started over the last couple of days.

According to our neighbors, we can't really allow any of them free range because of hawks. We do have a lot of raptors, foxes, and snakes. Any housing will have to address those issues. However, I do want the houses to be mobile to take advantage of their bug eating and soil cultivation activities. The snakes seem to stick to the "forest" side of the property and the garden areas are, with one exception, on the other side of the house and away from the snakes. I'm hoping to avoid needing lights and stuff until next season. We can't afford more than minimum right now. So, we'll wait for the babies until it gets a bit warmer.

I'd like to get some Spanish breeds. I THINK I want a mix? Types of chickens are were I THINK I'm most ignorant.

Love your words Blue

[bluelacedredhead]

Jo, I free ranged on the farm, with a few exceptions. Those being my best show stock. But don't think that all housing is 100% safe either...more on that subject later.

We had lots of predators there. Fox, Coyote, Fishers (midsized Weasel family member....horribly vicious..kill for the bloodsport), bear, Owls, Hawks, Feral Cats, Neighbours Dogs...We even lost one old biddy that had run loose for more than two years to my husband's Stallion. She tried to help herself to his Grain ration and he booted her to Brokeneck Heaven...

You are home, so don't put the birds out til after 9 am, and make certain that they are indoors before dusk. Our worst losses were in the early a.m. hours when mama Fox was feeding Kits. I lost 11 large fowl in a fieldhouse not 10 feet from our bedroom window one spring. And every spring, I lost at least one turkey hen, cuz one always managed to sneak off into the hayfield to lay and lose her life, again to the fox.

As far as a mixed flock goes, I've visited some farm and feed stores in the U.S. that sell chicks and turkey poults of various breeds. So often, you can mix and match. some of the Spanish breeds are new to the U.S. and are still expensive and not widely distributed. But I'll look up some of the suppliers that I know of in the southeast and see if I can find you something.

White Faced Black Spanish are an interesting breed and fairly easy to obtain. I checked a few hatcheries from Florida and it's possible that these could be offered as part of a feedstore mix. I got a young cockerel once at a swap that came from a Murray mcMurray mixed shipment. Not really a dualpurpose breed though. They are tall and slim in build, but the hens lay large chalk-white eggs.
feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Spanish/BRKWFBS.html

[seedywen]

I keep a small flock of heritage chickens which I really enjoy.
Always like to hear of people, getting into chickens for the first time.

Looking after chicken's security needs is important, right from the beginning of their care. So many animals like to eat chickens, and especially chicks!

If you're just getting started, you might investigate getting chickens at the 'point of lay', around five months old. This will get you lots of eggs, much sooner than if you raise chicks.

Thirty-six chickens is quite a few to start out with. You'll need a fair sized outdoor run and coop. Smaller amounts of chickens can be easily, pasteured in nifty, 'chicken tractors'. This method provides security and gives them, new ground(grass, weeds, bugs) etc. to scratch up. As you move the tractors around your property,
the previous land the chickens have accessed, can recover(grow again, having been so nicely fertilized by the chickens) by the time you move the tractor back to the same site.

Here's a link to an immense variety of designs.
home.centurytel.net/thecitychicken/tractors.html

I free-range my flock(and ducks too) for several hours each morning and evening. The rest of the time, they scratch around in a large yard, patrolled most of the day, by a dedicated border collie. My rabbits, however move around the land, in 2 feet by 10 feet rabbit tractors, similiar idea.

[flowerpower]

There are plenty of predators here, but I still let the birds free range all day. I am mostly worried about hawks/eagles. But the hens pay attention to the wild birds. The minute there is a "danger" call, those birds are under cover pretty quick. I do have 3 big crows that hang around here, and they will run off a hawk the minute they spot it.

Hey, Blue- my new white leghorn just laid an egg. I'm going to guess the chicken is a mix, since it laid a light brown/pinkish egg. lol The one I got for my friend is also laying brown eggs. I'm not complaining. I didn't really want white eggs anyway.

[bluelacedredhead]

Not a leghorn then, that's for sure. You'll just have to change it's description to a Layhorn

Jo, Seedywen brought up a valid point.
You could purchase Ready-to-Lay hens which are approx 20 weeks of age. However, I see two problems with this.
First, they are usually some Production X of two breeds for pumping out the eggs as fast as they can in a season. Not what you want if you are interested in heritage varieties, but great for egg sales.
Secondly, you have young children in your household. And if I remember correctly, this egg business is part of their home schooling in Economics.
Therefore, I say buy day old chicks when the weather is warmer and let the boys learn all they can about poultry hands on.

[steveont]

that may be a chanticler!
www.cfagrf.com/Chantecler_chicken.htm
we used to keep a dozen egg layers around, most got gotten by a coon and we have not replaced them (yet!)

[flowerpower]

It would be nice if it was a chantecler, but all the chickens I bought from this farm seem to be mixed. There were birds everywhere. lol I have to charge my camera, then I'll post pics.

Yeah, I know a few coons around here that love a nice duck egg. Having a secure area at night is the most important thing.

[steveont]

could be in its heritage then! we did pen at night, coons came in and ripped out the wire (heavy duty stuff!) and got the birds at night! we have a real problem with coyotes here, even see them during the day! one call a fellow livestock evaluator got was for a coyote kill right in a barn! (we have had sheep killed right by one of our out lying barns!) and fischers! don't get me started on them ! had one coming in as a teen, lay in wait for a week till i got him!