Til a few moments ago I didn't realize this forum existed. Just looking at the pics and the titles of the threds, now I am overwhelmed and a bit scared I may be chewing of f more than what I thought.
Here my post from Farm Life, Darious was kind enough to show me this, the right forum.
I tired of going to the store and always getting old rotten eggs. There a few people in the neighborhood who have chickens but they look kinda fancy to me and nobody even at the markets sell fresh eggs.
I got the room so, I thought I would try and raise some chickens to get some fresh eggs. I have no idea if it hard to do or where to even begin. What kind and how many chickens do I need and what kind of stucture do I need to build.
I want them only for eggs. I don't mind guting and cleanign anythign dead, but I don't have the heart to kill anything and nobody aroudn here that I know of wouldn't either, so I don't want to many chickens since they won't be made into chicken and dumplings, but don't even know how many eggs a chicken can lay and how often.
The fair is going on and I went to it purposely to check out the chickens. I saw chickens I never knew existed. Some was pretty cool to look at, some was funny looking, and some looked down right mean. I'm more lost now than I was at the begining. I would appreciate any advice if somebody has the time to throw some input out.
Can a city slicker from Clevland, moved southern country learn to grow chicken eggs?
Rotten eggs
Oh starlight, don't you fret! chickens are really easy to raise. They need clean water, a place out of the wind, food and other chickens and they really will be happy pretty much all of the time.
Start out with chicks and/or hens. No roosters for the uninitiated. Lots of people think you need a rooster for eggs but really you just need them for crowing! LOL!
You should have at least 3 hens. Since you are somewhere warm, winter won't be an issue, but the girls like company. I'd personally go with 4-8 to start.
There is lots of info on the web about different coops. Basically, they need somewhere to sleep that is out of the drafts. They like to sleep on a perch about 3-5 feet up off the ground.
You want to think about trying to keep out predators and/or rodents, and keep in hens, so keep it closed up at night.
They will need a nest box for every 2-3 hens. Then, you will go through all the trouble of making 3 nest boxes, and every one of them will lay in the same place anyway! I made 8 nest boxes and they all lay in one nest box and in a corner of the coop. lol, oh well.
A good layer can lay almost every day. However, sometimes they take vacations, or get upset and quit for a few days :) or when they get old they lay less. So, if you have 6 chickens, most days you will not really get 6 eggs, but more like 3 or 4.Time of year ( amount of sunlight per day) affects it, too.
Standard egg laying breeds are the best for egg production, but other breeds will lay too, if you want fancier gals. They will lay less often. You can buy chicks or hens that are "utility breeds" which lay the big brown eggs. Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks, etc are good choices for this. Any hatchery will know what you want when you describe it.
I got my last bunch of chicks through meyer hatchery. www.meyerhatchery.com. I really had a great experience. You will probably want to get a mix of breed so you can easily tell the girls apart and name them all!
You will love them!
Oh my!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for all the information. There's a whoel ther e to filter through.
I must admit I am one of them folks that thought ya needed a rooster to make eggs. ( need a big blushing smiley face here about now : ) Can I really show my ignorance here and ask the stuip question of how can a chicken make an egg if it doesn't have a male?
I have a 20 x 50 , 6' high fenced in. chain link fence, pen that I used to use as a holding pen for stray dogs that folks would just dump out here. I wondered if that might be good enough. The only thing is too that I don't know do chickens have to be in the sun all the time? There are lots of trees inside that pens and it nice and shady, so that the dogs wouldn't overheat in the summer.
The trees offe r protection from the wind, but don't know if it will be to cool and damp for them and if I need to figure out another area.
I need a major chicken 101 class. LOL Think I'll google and se e what I can find about makign and buildign them a home. : )
Thanks for the helpign hand.
Starlight your pen sounds wonderful for protection against stray dogs but possums and weasels could probably still climb in. You get round that by having your coop entry off the ground. I had something like a shelf about 4' up on the side of the coop and a small opening they would enter that was level with the roost.
When you build your coop make sure you have enough headroom for yourself to supply feed and collect eggs. Also, there is the poop dividend to clean out for the gardening.
Hens make the eggs just fine without a rooster. Roosters are prettier, they crow, they help make babies and if you have more than one, they fight.
Having shade in your pen is a good thing. The days get shorter and egg production goes down in late fall and winter. The commercial egg farms burn lights to give them 14 hours of light for max production. Your fresh eggs will keep a long time in the fridge so if you go into the slow period with a surplus, you will probably get through the winter fine.
Chickens are easy and fun. Enjoy.