I have decided to act on my impulse of being a chicken parent. I will build the home for them this summer and get some little ones next year. Who do you all recommend as a supplier? Where would I go to get the best plans for making their home?
You all have talked me into it........
Yes and Welcome tetleytuna,
Estes Hatchery They are one people I would all was get my chickens from they send 2 or 3 than ordered. 1-800-345-1420
Is the ## . Any way if you get a coop make sure you make boxes
for all chicks and please don't put the lights on shelfs the hay or straw will cech on fire if the light were to fall and remember to
send pics too .
Tracey
wwwwoooooooohhhhhoooooooooo
another one falls into our evil clutches!
I have gotten chicks from the local feed store, other chicken people, murray-mcmurray hatchery and my latest batch is going to be coming from mayer hatchery in OH in LESS THAT TEN DAYS AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I'm so excited. Baby chicks are the best EVER!
and you really shouldn't wait so long. Go for it! There is nothing that motivates you to get the coop built like having 12 half gorwn chickens still in your livingroom! LOL!
BackyardHens is right, there's no better motivator to get your coop done, than having little chicks that are going to need a coop in 6 weeks. And 6 weeks is plenty of time to decide what kind of coop you want and actually get it made. If you wait until next year to do it, you will miss out on a whole year of fun! What's the old saying???.... Never put off to tomorrow what you can get done today?? ......Chickens are a piece of cake to take care of! I think they're easier and cheaper than a dog.
~:> Glenda
I thought you could only get them in the spring and I had missed my chance. How late in the year can you order them from the hatcheries?
I know the McMurray catalog says they will ship chicks until October because I was browsing through it last night. I would imagine any of the mail order chick places would be about the same.
I have to say I was very pleased with my order from Ideal. All the chicks have been very healthy and perky and are growing like weeds. It was also the only place I could find that would let me order less than 25 chicks without charging an arm and a leg for shipping.
Apparently, though, 15 is the right number for warmth since I ordered 10 and they sent 5 roosters for warmth. Next time I'll just order 15 pullets and not have to worry about what I'm going to do with a flock of free roosters.
Check with your local feed store. The one here used to order chicks for you and didn't require that you buy 25 but they now require a minimum of 25. (And this has what benefit over ordering them myself?!) But yours may allow smaller orders or even have chicks in stock at certain times.
I agree, though, that you should go ahead and get them this year. Why wait? It's going to take us about two weekend days to complete our coop, which will handle up to 12 chickens. You won't believe how much fun they are and you get the bonus of those wonderful eggs. You'll never want to eat store bought eggs again.
In fact, the eggs I got from the hens I had several years ago were far superior to the ones being sold at the local bulk/gourmet shop from local, free range chickens.
I actually found an old post with a link to the hatcheries that have been rated by Dave's Garden. I have been amusing myself looking at the various websites. I have been trying to figure out which ones are personable and would make good "pets". That is, would not only tolerate your presence but actually welcome it. As far as bugs are concerned, we live on 11 wooded acres and the ticks here are unbelievable. My darling daughter dog Gracie is allergic to the tick treatments (the kind that come in a small tube and are placed on the back of the neck) and her hair is too thick for collars to do much good. I really would like to get some that would make it one of their missions in life to eat the ticks. I have heard that guinies eat ticks. Will they coexist with chickens? Are there any other kinds you would recommend?
I had not even considered the eggs. That is definately a bonus!
The Henderson list
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html
and the breed information at www.mypetchicken.com were very helpful to me in finding breeds that are friendly. Most other sites don't give any information on temperament.
The Henderson list also has information such as whether they take confinement well, whether they're hardy, how productive they are for eggs, egg color and size, etc.
The pet chicken site also has some of the nicest chicken photos. www.feathersite.com also has oodles of photos of grown chickens and chicks.
The pet chicken site also sells chicks in small numbers but their shipping charges are horrendous.
You can also find oodles of free plans for coops online. Just do a search for chicken coop plans.
We have the same problem here with ticks and I've unfortunately developed an extreme allergic reaction to tick bites. I've threatened to get myself a flea collar. LOL I've been using Advantix on my dog, which helps a lot but I still find ticks on her from time to time. I would love to get some guineas. I think they're so cool looking - like cartoon birds. And how could you not like a bird that's available in lavender? LOL
BTW, do a search for guinea coops - there's an excellent site I ran across when I was looking for coop plans that has all kinds of information on guineas including free plans for coops.