Looking at getting a few chickens for our back yard. Any one have any advice on a good dual purpose (meat/eggs) that are quiet and mellow? Kinda looking at Rhode Island Reds.
Thanks,
Brad
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Looking at getting a few chickens for our back yard. Any one have any advice on a good dual purpose (meat/eggs) that are quiet and mellow? Kinda looking at Rhode Island Reds.
Thanks,
Brad
Brad , seeing as you need a cold hardy breed for where you live . I would suggest Buff Orpingtons . They like the cold ,good egg layers and meat producers . They are also mild mannered and like to be around people . Rhode Island Reds are a good choice , but tend to be aggressive ,not good around children . Another favorite of mine are the are the Amerancans or the Easter Eggs Chicken . A smaller breed that lays blue or green eggs . They are also hardy and good layers .A Gentle disposition makes them idea for the backyarder interested in raising a few chickens . Try to buy sexed birds (pullets )so that you will not end up with a hen house full of roosters . Hope this helps .
It's hard to beat a barred Plymouth rock for an all-around backyard chicken that is both a prolific layer of large light brown eggs and pack on enough weight to slaughter-they tolerate cold and heat equally well. They do well with foraging, have a good disposition and go broody if you want to hatch your own eggs naturally at a later point. Tilting the scale slightly for a meatier bird that lays slightly smaller eggs than the barred rocks are my favorite breed-the speckled Sussex. Great personalities, lay med-large to large cream colored eggs, do very well in winters, are great self-foragers of weeds, bugs, etc and the cockerels stay tender longer than any of the color varieties of the Plymouth Rock breed. I never liked Rhode Island reds because the roosters do tend to be slightly more aggressive than other breeds in my experience and there are better dual purpose breeds out there right now. The last shipment of barred rock, partridge rocks and speckled Sussex I bought were from Ideal Hatchery and the quality was excellent. Shipped to my local Post office and arrived very healthy.
Not sure that you have a Tractor Supply store ,but if so they have a spring in store poultry sale each year . Most feed and seed stores also carry chicks in the early spring .
We got two Barred Plymouth Rocks and 1 Cuckoo Moran this spring. Nice calm birds.
When I was a kid growing in the northeast, I kept a variety of Barred White Rock x Plymouth (black sex link). Hens were calm, didn't mind being handled. Rooster was very aggressive. Very cold hardy, produced eggs all winter with a light on them.
If you buy unsexed, get twice as many as hens you want. Then butcher the roosters when they are around 8-10 weeks old.
Thanks for the info USA.Quote:
Originally Posted by usa
We did initially think about getting Easter Eggers but then somehow became interested in the Rhode Islands. (maybe just because there from the good old USA, lol) After reading your post I did some research on the Buffs and they sound like an excellent breed as well. Might have to give this a little more thought. Having four smaller kids the chickens temperament is a major factor.
Thanks for the info Dutch and Carl,
Barred Rocks were another one type we were looking at. We can only have five chickens according to city ordinance and NO roosters. The chief of police is a friend of mine and told me he'll be checking up on the flock to make sure I'm obeying the law...lol! He also raised chickens and did everything he could to convince us not to!
Since we can only keep a few is it better if they are all the same breed? Or can you mix and match as long as the temperaments and are pretty much the same?
We are in town as well and can only have 5, no roosters.
You can mix and match them as chicks when you buy them as long as they are same relative temperament.
You run into trouble when you tried to mix different age groups or introduce new birds into an old flock. Re-establishing the pecking order can be brutal on the new birds, even deadly.
I have had no problem with keeping different breeds of chickens together .
Good luck with whatever you decide . I'm sure you and your family will enjoy them .
Brad, I've been raising chickens for nearly 7 years now. I've had game hens (avoid at all costs), RIR, NHR, Ameracaunas (those tinted eggs are awesome), Black Australorps, Barred Rocks, and several mongrels. In order of temperament (best to worst), I'd have to agree that the Buff Orps are the way to go especially for your climate. Ameracaunas, Australorps, and Barred Rocks are a close second. I've had RIR hens that were as sweet as they could be and others that were just flighty (probably from hanging around those game hens too long). In any event, mixing breeds won't hurt, but like Carl said, introducing new birds to an existing flock can be a problem. Right now, I'm running about 50 hens or so and getting 18-30 eggs a day. It's been a banner year and sales to my friends and co-workers have been really good. Blessed!
Thanks for the additional info Ben!
Brad
Sorry, know the thread is a bit old.....anyhow. We ordered 7 Red Sex Link chicks (feel kinda dirty typing that! LOL) Four were DOA on arrival, 2 died in my wife's hand and one kinda came around and was doing great but died after a day, maybe being alone, knowing chickens are flock animals. Took the kids the next day to a local feed/farm store and bought Buff Orpingtons, Red Sex Links, Silver Laced Wyandottes, Barred Rocks and Rhode Island Reds, two of each breed. All doing well, course our city ordinance says only 4 chickens...
I guess chickens can have sleep overs like kids...right?
Hope you get a refund for the first batch. A good hatchery should stand by their birds through the first 48 hours. Usually I get a store credit for any DOAs. Here's to hoping all of these biddies live well and grow into some egg-laying machines!
Yep, they stood by their promise. Total refund on the chicks.
Dang, bummer on the first batch.
Our friends who we got ours from ordered 17 for their CSA. About 3 weeks ago, something got into the coop and killed very single one, decapitated them all, only ate one. So when you have chickens, shit happens!
I will try to get pics of my hens, they are almost full grown. My largest Plymouth Rock is the boss, the other PR is 1st officer. The Cuckoo Moran hangs back but doesn't take too much crap off either of them. They seem to be thriving, quite characters really. They like being hand fed, they wait for my daughter to feed them clover every afternoon.
The chickens are like TV for the dog, she will sit and watch them for 10-15 minutes at a time. She made the mistake of sticking her nose into the fence yesterday and the boss hen nailed her right in the snout!
Thanks Carl. I never thought we'd enjoy them as much as we do. Our lab has already taken on the role of protector, whenever the cats come around, he's right there to make sure everything is on the up and up.
I know, I know...this is an old thread. I've been building a coop(8 birds) and I've decided I'm gonna go with 6 Black Australorps and 2 Wyandottes-1 golden laced and 1 silver laced(for the fiancé). She loves the way they look and they are decent layers. I wanted to get some light and speckled sussexes but were out.
A friend of ours has australorps and they are a docile, easy going bird. Not to mention they have a very pretty color about them. Black with almost a green sheen.
When you get your coop done SNAKE, I'd love to see a pic of it, or anyone else's for that matter. I kinda just winged it on my design but I think it's coming along ok.
"Winged it", seriously? Seems appropriate for a chicken coop though!Quote:
Originally Posted by BDL1969
Sorry, but I just had to get in on the chicken discussion:cool:
LOL! Not sure if anyone would pick up on that reference! You need to get yourself some chickens Fin...Quote:
Originally Posted by FinChaser
I have a few Red blue laced wyandottes, some other wyandotte breeds, some dom's, rhodeisland reds, silkies, and game hens, and a massive rhode island rooster. I just like different ones...
I usually go "Popeyes" but this week we had "Church's" ;-) LOL
http://www.pitch.com/imager/this-is-...mb_550x412.jpg
I have a variety my self Mr. Cleland. Buff Orpington, Rhode Island Red, Golden Comet, Silver Laced Wyandotte and a Barred Rock.
That does look good Pier...guess the kids wouldn't miss "one" chicken...LOL!Quote:
Originally Posted by Pier#r
I hear they taste like, well like chicken!Quote:
Originally Posted by BDL1969
http://freepatriot.org/wp-content/up...ed-chicken.jpg
;-) LOL
Sorry, I'm done here. Carry on...
LOL! Nice one Pier!
Unfinished pics of the chicken Taj Mahal I built before I sold my farm. 8x8 with a bunch of craigslist dog kennel panels for a run. I lived close to a metal roofing distributor and would add panels as I found them in their scratch and dent pile.
http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9mdjx31r.jpg
http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/...psmtwqjs58.jpg
http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/...pspotsdyh8.jpg
Part of my old crew
http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/...psfi6g1gut.jpg
Bob, the partridge rock roo
http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/...psdqswicdz.jpg
brooder setup
http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/...psyzlfr6kg.jpg
Nice setup Dutch. How did you get the dividers to stand in the nesting box? I'm assuming you cut notches in some 2x2s. That is how I'm building mine.
I built the whole thing by myself so I took the easy approach and made the inner dividers 12"x12" out of the OSB scraps and notched the rear bottom corner with a circular saw to fit over the 2x2 I used as bracing for the box floor. I used an air stapler for all the connections. The entire box is made out one sheet of OSB with 2x4 scraps and (2) 2x2 deck rails I had laying around. For mounting the box, I attached a leveled 2x4 the length of the nest box to the wall 14.5" from the floor which I used as a mounting bracket to sit the finished next box on for mounting. That put my nest box 18" from the CDX floor or about 14" after a layer of shavings and diatomaceous earth (DE) was laid on the floor.Quote:
Originally Posted by SNAKE
I am a believer in the deep litter method where you continue to add pine shavings to the floor, which break down over time with the manure and would do only two coop cleanouts a year. Every 2-3 weeks I would sprinkle a feed scoop full of DE over the shavings and turn over the litter to mix. The DE kills any mites/lice the chickens may pick up in their run and also keeps bugs from setting up shop in your coop. Some claim that it has deworming properties, but studies have disproven that theory.By using this method I kept up to 40 chickens at a time between two coops and never had a foul aroma that I could smell around the house come from the coop. The run stinks after a while if you let them eat it to bare dirt and the mud and manure get wet, but the coop itself was never offensive.
I also learned the value of a cup watering system and chicken nipples to use instead of the messy traditional gravity waterers you buy at the feed store. Just Google "chicken nipples" (safe-for-work) and see for yourself how much cleaner they are. Less moisture in the coop equates to healthier chicks and less odor. I would start them in the brooder as day-olds with a 2L bottle and a single nipple screwed into the cap. They take to the device amazingly fast. For the big girls, 5-6 nipples mounted on the bottom of a 5gal bucket hanging from a chain in the coop worked wonderfully. I transitioned to a chicken watering cup system before I sold the farm that was gravity fed from a 5 gallon bucket on the outside of the coop. It kept me from having to physically enter the coop to refill the water. It worked AMAZING and it took up less interior space than the 5gal bucket/nipples or the traditional waterer.
Wow Dutch! You answered a lot of my questions without me even having to ask! Your coop is/was amazing! Kinda puts mine to shame, LOL! Anyone having any advice on keeping raccoons out of the coop/run? That would be our main threat up here.
Lock the coop up at night. Heavy hardware cloth on any ventilation openings and flare out a good foot with it under coop apron to prevent burrowing/digging under coop. Trim tree branches away from the coop to make it harder for them to get to the roof. Hardware cloth over any windows that have the potential to be left open. Chicken wire is an absolute no-no, it only keeps the birds in and does nothing to keep raccoons or dogs out. Even with my chainlink I would find a headless bird in the run once in a while where a raccoon had pulled it through the wire to eat the head, unable to pull the bird out.
I've looked on my laptop for pics of my watering setup, but seem to have deleted them. I sourced my parts from a company called BeakTime and received great customer service.
Thanks again Dutch, solid advice!
Dang'it man... Dutch is a regular Chicken Whisperer. :D
Very nice coop!
Mine is just a 4x4x4 box on stilts with a laying box off one side. I will try to post some pics of it.
Yeah that is essentially what I am building Carl. Mine is 4' wide x 6' long and 4' high. I also constructed a 7' x 13' run for them as well. Like to see your pics Carl.
Y'all got minks there, Carl? Seem to remember that was the their behavior in a coop.
I am in town, mink (or weasels) are not a problem. We have a dog too, so don't have to worry about raccoons & cats getting in the run either. But my run is completely enclosed just in case, sides & top. Bottom boards along the fence to prevent dig-ins.
Make your next boxes accessible from the outside, easier to gather eggs.