90 replies to this topic

[muck]

...to be delivered March 27th (ish)...

...laying expected to start for some of them sometime in August...

***********************

I did lots of research on this, so, if anyone else wants to get chickens, I can help you with which breeds to focus on (I can't tell you anything about raising them, though ... that's my wife's job).

[Chief Dick]

muck, on 2/22/12 8:57am, said:

...to be delivered March 27th (ish)...

...laying expected to start for some of them sometime in August...

***********************

I did lots of research on this, so, if anyone else wants to get chickens, I can help you with which breeds to focus on (I can't tell you anything about raising them, though ... that's my wife's job).

Put me down for some eggs if you have enough to sell.

[chester]

Would love chickens, but illegal here. Could you maybe send me 3-4 eggs a day?

[Yukon Cornelius]

we only buy the green and brown ones from the lady down the road.

[Yukon Cornelius]

build a good coop. every critter int he county will be there for the free food

[rajncajn]

Hope you set them far enough away from the house to avoid the smell. Good luck with the rodents as well.

My wife has asked about getting chickens & I gave her the BFD "no fucking way." My uncles raised chickens when I was little & I would have to help feed them and help kill off the rat population. Some of the nastiest creatures ever created. On the plus side, they will eat ANYTHING that won't eat them first.

Edited by rajncajn, 22 February 2012 - 04:53 PM.

[detlef]

We got 4 chickens last year and love 'em. They're like pets, actually.  Perhaps it's because we give them plenty of room to move about, but we haven't had any of the issues that people warned about.  We have to net our veggie beds lest they devour everything, but that's no big deal, and when we're done with a bed and just have the random bolting crops left, we open it up and they mow it down to the ground.  People warned us of the smell but it's really not that bad at all.  

We got them in April and got our first eggs around late September.  By the time they got old enough to be laying well, the days got short, so we did have to buy one dozen eggs in January.  However, as the days have been getting longer, they've ramped up big time and now we get 3-4 eggs every day.  The novelty of opening up the hatch to the laying boxes and seeing the little treats waiting for us has certainly not worn off.

We've got 4 different breeds that all look unique and each has a cute little personality.  We just have to keep the dogs away, but that's proven to be easy enough.

[rajncajn]

detlef, on 2/22/12 5:08pm, said:

We got 4 chickens last year and love 'em. They're like pets, actually.  Perhaps it's because we give them plenty of room to move about, but we haven't had any of the issues that people warned about.  We have to net our veggie beds lest they devour everything, but that's no big deal, and when we're done with a bed and just have the random bolting crops left, we open it up and they mow it down to the ground.  People warned us of the smell but it's really not that bad at all.  

We got them in April and got our first eggs around late September.  By the time they got old enough to be laying well, the days got short, so we did have to buy one dozen eggs in January.  However, as the days have been getting longer, they've ramped up big time and now we get 3-4 eggs every day.  The novelty of opening up the hatch to the laying boxes and seeing the little treats waiting for us has certainly not worn off.

We've got 4 different breeds that all look unique and each has a cute little personality.  We just have to keep the dogs away, but that's proven to be easy enough.

4 is quite a difference from 25.

[detlef]

rajncajn, on 2/22/12 7:30pm, said:

4 is quite a difference from 25.

I understand that.  I'm just relating my experience.

[bpwallace49]

Det, we all know that you think your chit doesn't stink, but you have extended that to your chickens chit too?

[Jimmy Neutron]

Sweet.  Always loved having chickens around - especially for the quality of fresh eggs.  

Keep a .22 handy by the back door.  Chickens draw lots of predators and scavengers.

[detlef]

rajncajn, on 2/22/12 7:30pm, said:

4 is quite a difference from 25.

Specifically, is your wife interested in having 25 chickens?  Or something more manageable like 4-6?  Because if it's the latter, perhaps your experience at your uncle's place, rather than mine, is the one that doesn't make sense.

[rajncajn]

detlef, on 2/23/12 8:39am, said:

Specifically, is your wife interested in having 25 chickens?  Or something more manageable like 4-6?  Because if it's the latter, perhaps your experience at your uncle's place, rather than mine, is the one that doesn't make sense.

No, she wants something like 4 or so. My problem is mainly that, as with all pets, I'll be the one that will end up having to take care of them. I've done that, don't really want to do it again. Granted it was a lot more than just 4, just one more hassle I don't need.

[muck]

bot two of these
bot two of these
bot two of these

bot five of these
bot five of these
bot six of these

Daughter wanted:
two of these
two of these

************************

All these breeds are supposed to (i) have good temperments for newbies, (ii) lay good sized eggs, and (iii) lay lots of them.

oh, and I realize that this is 26 chickens ... not 25 ... typo in the original post ...

Edited by muck, 23 February 2012 - 10:01 AM.

[rajncajn]

muck, on 2/23/12 9:00am, said:

bot two of these
bot two of these
bot two of these

bot five of these
bot five of these
bot six of these

Daughter wanted:
two of these
two of these

************************

All these breeds are supposed to (i) have good temperments for newbies, (ii) lay good sized eggs, and (iii) lay lots of them.

oh, and I realize that this is 26 chickens ... not 25 ... typo in the original post ...

Just hens or did you get some roosters as well?

[muck]

In putting together the original post, I figured out that a couple of the birds we wanted that were not originally available were available this morning ... so, I called and changed the order.  

We're now getting ...

bot two of these
bot two of these
bot two of these
bot two of these

bot four of these
bot four of these
bot four of these
bot four of these

Daughter is getting:
one of these
one of these

************************

All hens, except the two my daughter wanted ... we're not sure if we're going to get hens or roosters there.

[detlef]

rajncajn, on 2/23/12 9:59am, said:

No, she wants something like 4 or so. My problem is mainly that, as with all pets, I'll be the one that will end up having to take care of them. I've done that, don't really want to do it again. Granted it was a lot more than just 4, just one more hassle I don't need.

Fair enough.  My wife wanted them more than I did, but she also takes care of them more than I do.  My big contribution was building the coop.  Not that I don't take a turn changing the water and throwing wood shavings on top of the row of crap that lines up under their perch, but she does that more often than I do.  

Honestly, my biggest point was that most people I've known who have real horror stories about raising chickens were exposed to really big operations and I think the issues are exponential.  The chickens are more aggressive because they have to fight for food and are up each other's asses all day long, you've got a mountain of crap in one confined place, that sort of thing.  I guess I just find it a shame that they take with them that experience and figure that's how it's always going to be.  

And honestly, if you've got the space, I would imagine 25 wouldn't be too much to handle either.  My suggestion to Muck is to just make sure you build a nice big coop for them, and give them plenty of space to run around.  It'll set you back a bit more in plywood and chicken wire, but it'll be worth it in the long run.  You might lose a few to hawks, but keeping them confined, from what I understand is what causes all the pecking and fighting and disease that happens.

[rajncajn]

muck, on 2/23/12 9:28am, said:

All hens, except the two my daughter wanted ... we're not sure if we're going to get hens or roosters there.

Just so you know, if you end up with more than one rooster then you may have to deal with spurs as well. Also watch them closely with small kids as sometimes they feel threatened and can do some real damage. Of course you will also want to keep them separated unless you want to eat fertilized eggs and/or have chicks. My uncles used to keep the roosters separate & then had a separate pen when they wanted to pair them up for breeding.

[detlef]

muck, on 2/23/12 10:28am, said:

In putting together the original post, I figured out that a couple of the birds we wanted that were not originally available were available this morning ... so, I called and changed the order.  

We're now getting ...

bot two of these
bot two of these
bot two of these
bot two of these

bot four of these
bot four of these
bot four of these
bot four of these

Daughter is getting:
one of these
one of these

************************

All hens, except the two my daughter wanted ... we're not sure if we're going to get hens or roosters there.

Having different breeds sure makes it fun and interesting.  Good luck.

[detlef]

rajncajn, on 2/23/12 10:35am, said:

Just so you know, if you end up with more than one rooster then you may have to deal with spurs as well. Also watch them closely with small kids as sometimes they feel threatened and can do some real damage. Of course you will also want to keep them separated unless you want to eat fertilized eggs and/or have chicks. My uncles used to keep the roosters separate & then had a separate pen when they wanted to pair them up for breeding.

Good points and, honestly, I don't know why you'd even want a Rooster.  Peeps are cheap enough so I'd just keep buying new peeps to replace the older hens once they stopped laying.  I think ours were like $6 each, which seems like a small price to pay to avoid all the hassles.

Mind you, roosters aren't even allowed in our city limits, so that wasn't even on the table if we wanted them.

[SEC=UGA]

Serious question...  Hens lay eggs without fu(king?   So all you need to do is just buy a bunch of hens and they lay eggs at random and you can eat them?

[Chief Dick]

SEC=UGA, on 2/23/12 11:03am, said:

Serious question...  Hens lay eggs without fu(king?   So all you need to do is just buy a bunch of hens and they lay eggs at random and you can eat them?

No, muck has to have sex with them. But he lives in the country now, so it's ok.

[rajncajn]

SEC=UGA, on 2/23/12 11:03am, said:

Serious question...  Hens lay eggs without fu(king?   So all you need to do is just buy a bunch of hens and they lay eggs at random and you can eat them?

That's pretty much it. What you get in the stores is unfertilized. Some people like them, but fertilized to me is kinda, for lack of a better term, gross. Which is why I wanted to give muck a little heads up.

[SEC=UGA]

Chief Dick, on 2/23/12 5:22pm, said:

No, muck has to have sex with them. But he lives in the country now, so it's ok.

After he has sex with chickens, I do not see how he will get any pleasure out of his cows.

[detlef]

SEC=UGA, on 2/23/12 12:03pm, said:

Serious question...  Hens lay eggs without fu(king?   So all you need to do is just buy a bunch of hens and they lay eggs at random and you can eat them?

Human females also produce eggs without having sex.  It's just the sex part is needed to turn that egg into a baby.  Same with hens.  The funny thing is how many women I've had to use this explanation with.  "Um, you do know what your period is all about, don't you?"

And they don't lay eggs at random.  If you get breeds that are known for laying as opposed to meat, you'll get 5-6 eggs per week except during the shortest or hottest days of the year.