Chickens, and things related

[nmu98]

When we talk 4 to 10 square feet. We are talking pen area. for both numbers right.

I guess I might have misread that the birds need 4 square feet per bird in the coop, and 10 in the pen?

I planned on an 8 x 4 or 8 x 6 coop, with a 16 x 24 pen. That was for 10 birds, and the option to have some chicks and thin the heard down the road when all are a bit larger. Am I spending too much money? Thinking too large?

 

[dooleysm]

Only you can answer the too much money thing. I've got less than $1000 in my setup, coop, fencing, etc. Some of the materials I had on hand, some I had to buy. Chickens aren't picky, most of the comforts are for us, not them.

For instance, I spent $35 on a heated waterer last winter because I didn't want to go deal with frozen water every day. I spent some time and money running electric to the coop for the waterer and a light in the winter to increase egg production. I don't think I'd want any smaller coop than my 6x9. Not for the chickens, but for me it's harder to clean and work in when it's that small. Any smaller and it would be too cramped for me, not the chickens. They'll make do with whatever you give them.

I think the size of coop and pen you are thinking about will easily accomadate 10 birds.

 

[Tororider]

I think the numbers I read were 2 sq ft for inside the coop for chickens, and 4-10 for the pen. But I agree with shawn, the chickens will make due with whatever you give them. The only way you would run into problems is if you have more than one rooster. What you are talking about will be plenty big.

I think you should spend as little as possible to get the size you want. I was fortunate enough that I had a bunch of 2x4's around and was able to find some other supplies to limit what I needed to buy.

 

[dooleysm]

That's a good point on the roosters. I had a group of young roosters that killed one of my hens from over-mating. YIKES!

 

[nmu98]

I plan on one rooster..... I am insure how that might work.. I guess i am hoping for an error on the side of the hatchery. My thought was to order 25 birds, and get down to my 10 favorites... then let them hatch a few chicks, and get back down to my favorite 10... That way i would have meat and eggs...

I am probably thinking too simplistic?

Again, Thanks for talking with me on this.

 

[Mike Costello]

When we talk 4 to 10 square feet. We are talking pen area. for both numbers right.

I guess I might have misread that the birds need 4 square feet per bird in the coop, and 10 in the pen?

I planned on an 8 x 4 or 8 x 6 coop, with a 16 x 24 pen. That was for 10 birds, and the option to have some chicks and thin the heard down the road when all are a bit larger. Am I spending too much money? Thinking too large?

That's plenty big for the number of birds you're planning on keeping, even allowing for expansion of the flock.
I'm currently building "chicken mansion #2" for my wife at the home we purchased about a year ago. #1 had a capacity for about 25 birds, complete with coop, nest boxes, and run area. I had a lot of fun getting creative with that one--that's how it came to be called the mansion.
Now, she wants bigger & better than ever before (she came home with 58 chicks, so you get the picture). So, the new mansion will have a run area of 12'X18' and an enclosed area of 12'X12'. The enclosed area will be further divided into roost area and supply storage area. Her plan is to raise these birds for both meat and eggs. She ordered most of the birds straight run, which means many will be roosters and wind up in the frypan. When the feathers clear, she intends to end up with about 20-25 layers and a few "look at" birds.
If all this seems a bit overdone--I'm just following orders. Gotta keep Momma happy. As long as she has her garden beds (already built) and her chickens, she's good to go! Mike.

 

[dooleysm]

I plan on one rooster..... I am insure how that might work.. I guess i am hoping for an error on the side of the hatchery. My thought was to order 25 birds, and get down to my 10 favorites... then let them hatch a few chicks, and get back down to my favorite 10... That way i would have meat and eggs...

I am probably thinking too simplistic?

Again, Thanks for talking with me on this.

Well, nature being the way it is, you should expect about 13 roosters. I butcher and eat my extra roosters. The 'dual purpose' breeds, which are advertised as meat and egg producers is what I'm assuming you'll be getting. Something like Rhode Island Reds, Rocks, Orpingtons, things of that nature? By the time the roosters are big enough to eat and big enough to determine they're in fact roosters, they will be too tough to fry. They're OK to bake low and slow, but still tougher than you'd expect. They work just fine for the stew pot or for chicken salad, enchiladas, things like that.

The thing with the popular egg breeds is that the nesting instinct has been mostly bred out of them. I've only had one of mine go broody and I gave her some eggs to hatch. She sat on them for a couple days, then gave up. The bantam breeds are more apt to be good mothers, and I've had 2 different of my bantams hatch and raise chicks. It's very neat and I recommend it. It's very easy. But, you'll have to deal with bantams, which is no problem, just that they don't produce as many eggs, and the ones they give you are much smaller.

I think you've got a good plan, assuming you're wanting to eat some roosters and understand that they won't be the same as what you get from the store. They do taste like chicken though !

 

[Tororider]

I agree, you will probably get some roosters, hopefully not 13 but you never know. I don't know about how tough they will be but you should be able to start telling roosters apart at a couple months and maybe I am wrong but I didn't think that would be too late to eat.

I had one of my orpingtons go broody on me this spring but I didn't have any fertile eggs to give her. She sat like a champ though. I agree if you are interested in hatching, bantams are probably the way to go, and being smaller they eat less so keeping a few hens around shouldn't be a problem. I have hatched a bunch out using an incubator, but I think it is probably far easier to let a momma hen take care of it.

It sounds like you are thinking it through, you won't have any problems.

 

[nmu98]

I plan on buying pullets, not straight run. Thats why I am hoping that the hatchery makes an error.... I am thinking of Buff Orpingtons. My kids are will soon be 3 and 5 years old. I need a friendly quiet bird.

I don't know why, but bantams don't get me excited. I want a big bird... Why, I don't know....

I would like to get one set and keep them pure breed, just so I don't have to wonder what is hatching. Easier to sell the chicks if I need to.... And I guess I have no use for tiny eggs...

With that said, I have started to can chicken, and I love it. So I assume the meat from these would be fine canned....

I originally only wanted to buy 10 birds, but to get the type i want, it looks like I need to buy 25... So I will have some meat....

I also have a chocolate Lab that will live about 200 feet from my coop.... So I might have to plan on a few missing.... Its the neighbors dog, and they only take it out once a week, to let it poop in my yard.... So this might be interesting.... We have 20 acres, thed they own .75.... And you would think it was the other way around. They have little respect for property... Sorry about the rant, but I need a loud rooster just to bug them

 

[dooleysm]

I don't think they're ever too old to eat. Too old to fry, yes. They just get tougher the older they get. For the non-meat breeds it takes too long for them to get to a suitable size for eating. By the time they are big enough to mess with butchering, they're more apt to be tough. They are still very much worth eating, you just have to treat them like a beef roast, not a filet mignon.