chickens

[ebeacham]

What are good egg laying chickens? I don't know anything about chickens except I don't want any of those mutated monster Perdue chickens.

 

[RJohnson]

If you want lots of white eggs, try a leghorn. They are on the mean side though. I always wanted brown eggs so I stayed with large meat/egg hens like the dominque, road island red, and buff orpingtons. Buy you some quality chicks from a good supplier and go for it.

Randy

 

[ebeacham]

thanks!! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[pruntyc]

They have mentioned some good breeds.. The best one I ever had was called cherryegger. They look like the Road Island Red. But I believe they are better layers, and very tame and easy to work with. I have had about all kinds over the years, and any one of the one they have told you are good though.

 

[pruntyc]

One other thing though, if you haven't had chickens before, you might want to get some that are about 6 months old. They would be getting ready to lay and baby chicks can be hard to start with, till you learn more about chickens.

 

[uno]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I always wanted brown eggs )</font>

Brown eggs/white eggs whats the difference other than the color of the shell ??? None.Its all in how fresh the eggs are and the type of feed that is available /laying mash/free range etc.... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[ejb]

I have Rhode Island reds and Pearl White Leghorns...both are good layers. I have about a dozen of each and they all get along fine.

The can be ordered as day old chicks from MurrayMcMurrary.com. Raising baby chicks is really not all that hard, and you don't need much equipment. Box/light/feeder/waterer and chick starter...all can be had at a farm store for about $20-$30.

I like having my chickens, and manage to make a small profit on the eggs to boot. During the good laying season you get just about one per chicken per day..keep that in mind. If you don't have a plan for the extra eggs, don't order a lot more chickens than you need. I have about 25 and will probably get another 25 or 50 this fall so they can be ready for laying in the spring. Luckily I can sell all that I can produce, and probably a lot more.

Make sure you give them all enough spave to live and roost or else they will occaisonally kill each other /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[pruntyc]

Chickens don't have a laying season. They will lay all year, except to molt some time. All it takes is 14 hours of light. In the fall, when the light becomes less than 14 hours, they will start to stop laying. But if you put a light in the house, they will keep on laying. I don't now, as I am retired and don't want the work anymore. But up till the last couple of years I sold eggs year around with the same chickens. Of course after so many years they will stop. First they will go to about 1 egg every couple of days and keep getting less as the years go by. People in the business that only sell eggs change every couple of years, so they can be sure of an egg a day all the time. Hobby farmers like myself don't generally do that.

 

[Docsknotinn]

Hay Dick .....Dont egg me on /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Dave

 

[ronjhall]

Eric
MurrayMcMurrary.com. seem like a good place to start for getting chicks. Click Here
They have a very good FAQ section.
Recommending the best chickens of your area may not be the same as further north. Some of the breeds we had are, Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, and Barred Plymouth Rock. These are all brown egg layers. People seem to prefer them around here. Probably because they are not readily available at the local stores.
We have not raised and chickens in over ten years.
One of my fondest memories of buying chicks was the day they arrived at the Post Office. The people there would do everything possible to contact us so the chicks could be pickup or delivered including staying open after normal hours. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Then the care of the chicks until they were able to care for themselves. A great experience for our kids. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Before the area, that I live became residential. We could go to the local Co-Op and order chicks.
In the spring, we can still get chicks at the local TSC stores.

 

[Boondox]

Eric -- We've tried several breeds, but like the bigger birds as they winter over better up here in northern VT. And among the bigger birds, buff orpingtons are our favorite as they have a very mellow personality. Plus we like the brown eggs for some aesthetic reason.

Extreme winters are probably not an issue with you in NC. Check out some of the *** link birds like the Black Star. Those and the leghorns are prolific layers, but consider personality if that's an important issue for you. Chickens really are low maintenance...but we get a lot of enjoyment out of the birds that let you scoop them up and carry them around without them trying to scratch and peck you.

Pete

 

[ebeacham]

Many thanks to all of you who have replied! After I get my pond dug and my fence put up I will be getting some chickens. My new daughter ( age 6 ) is very excited and is already talking about a Pony /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[pruntyc]

Oh yes I forgot to say, if you put a light in the house, you should put a timer on it, so they only get the 14 to 16 hours of light. They need a rest from the light, the same as we do. I know people that have used a light all night and it didn't work as well. I'll bet you are surprised, aren't you Dave, I admit I forgot something???????

 

[pruntyc]

Oh yes, I mentioned Cherry Eggers, you can find them under Production Reds at some places, very heavy layer, and good meat size to.

 

[jdrotert]

If you have the space, look into pasturing the birds. Some people just let the birds run free, with trained dogs to keep predators out. Some, like me, have built lightweight open-bottomed pens which we move everyday. The idea is that up to 1/3 of the chicken's intake could come from grass and bugs. Also, they are not walking on manure all the time. My grass takes about 5 days to fully recover. I have 22 RIR hens in a pen with six nest boxes attached to the back wall. They are right at 7 months old and and I'm getting 8-10 eggs a day right now. I'm looking to get about 20 eggs per day very soon. Check out the PasturePoultry group on Yahoogroups.com here. When you sign up, check out the photo albums. I have uploaded pics in a folder named "John's hoop house". One good cheap way to built these pens is to use two cattle panels. In the winter, we will put the hens in a traditional chicken house. I have attached a picture of the pen (or "hoop house").

 

[ebeacham]

I am thinking about fencing in an acre or so including a 1/4 acre pond. Are predators a big concern? I have fox in the area, I'm pretty sure I dont have bobcat. Do I need a fence or will they stay in the general area that you feed them?

 

[uno]

Get some game chickens.
Very hearty,lay good and can survive the elements.

 

[kokopelli2]

foreget chickens get turkeys! they dont get eaten by fox as much, and their eggs are soo good! plus they are huge eggs. we used to get about 1 aday per hen.

 

[ebeacham]

How many chickens can I put on a half acre without feeding them a whole lot of store bought food? What kind of fence is required for keeping them in? Do they fly enough to get out of a 5 ft fenced in area?

 

[Boondox]

Eric -- You can free range quite a few birds on half an acre, but if you get up in the numbers it's best if you can rotate them around the property. We had (prior to locking them up for protection from predators) about 20 birds free ranging on 7 acres, but they pretty much stayed on two acres and it easily supported them with bugs and grazing. Very happy birds! On the other hand, when we concentrated 35 young NH Reds on a quarter acre, they ate everything right down to the roots! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif That section of land is like a desert now. It was the first time we did not confine the youngsters to portable chicken tractors to enforce the rotational grazing thing. Won't make that mistake again!

Not sure what your predator situation is, but we have foxes, fisher cats and the occasional hawk to deal with. Our worst predation by far is domestic dogs off leash, but the furious shotgun blazing wife scared the worst offender so badly he hasn't come back in months. The sad thing is she's such a bad shot when she gets excited the only thing she managed to hit was my backhoe! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif That's why I only give her #8 shot. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Best of luck.