Kentucky people

[McKennA]

Sorry! I started this response 2 days ago and never finished it.

I am in Sparta, too! I have been to the Vineyard many times. If I had to choose, I would say my Isbars are hands down the winner, though my Swedish Flower Hens come in a close second. These are both rare breeds from Sweden. As heritage breeds go, they are both very good layers, but will not come close to a production red or other hatchery production breed.

The Isbars are a very rare, small breed that is very docile and lays lots of large, pretty green eggs in shades from olive to sage to mint. Generally 150 - 200 eggs/year. They are good foragers and very feed efficient. I find they get along well with other breeds. These are eggs from my second year layers (that is a quarter in the picture for size comparison).


The Swedish Flower Hens are a very friendly, rare breed that comes in lots of lovely colors. I often find it hard to walk in their coop/run because there are hens at my feet. I have quite a collection and am still adding more. You can see my album here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/a/6152521/swedish-flower-hens/ They lay a medium to large, cream to light brown egg. There has been an occasional belligerent rooster, but they are rare. They are good foragers and the roosters take excellent care of their hens.

For a dual purpose breed (eggs and meat), I would recommend the White Bresse. There are very good layers of medium-sized cream colored eggs as well as an excellent meat bird.

If you like a colorful egg basket, you need to add a Black Copper Marans. They lay large dark, chocolate brown eggs. They are also a heavy, dual purpose breed.

I forgot to mention that I have black Ameraucanas (true Ameraucanas, not EE), too. They lay a beautiful blue egg. They are in a project pen now, but I should have purebred later this year. They are a talkative breed and friendly to people, but don't seem to like other breeds of chickens, at least not Rhodebars.

I like a colorful egg basket

I hope this helps. I am sure others here would have other recommendations for you.

Gorgeous eggs, and that chicks pretty darn cute too!!

 

[Nofowlplay]

Sorry! I started this response 2 days ago and never finished it.

I am in Sparta, too! I have been to the Vineyard many times. If I had to choose, I would say my Isbars are hands down the winner, though my Swedish Flower Hens come in a close second. These are both rare breeds from Sweden. As heritage breeds go, they are both very good layers, but will not come close to a production red or other hatchery production breed.

The Isbars are a very rare, small breed that is very docile and lays lots of large, pretty green eggs in shades from olive to sage to mint. Generally 150 - 200 eggs/year. They are good foragers and very feed efficient. I find they get along well with other breeds. These are eggs from my second year layers (that is a quarter in the picture for size comparison).


The Swedish Flower Hens are a very friendly, rare breed that comes in lots of lovely colors. I often find it hard to walk in their coop/run because there are hens at my feet. I have quite a collection and am still adding more. You can see my album here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/a/6152521/swedish-flower-hens/ They lay a medium to large, cream to light brown egg. There has been an occasional belligerent rooster, but they are rare. They are good foragers and the roosters take excellent care of their hens.

For a dual purpose breed (eggs and meat), I would recommend the White Bresse. There are very good layers of medium-sized cream colored eggs as well as an excellent meat bird.

If you like a colorful egg basket, you need to add a Black Copper Marans. They lay large dark, chocolate brown eggs. They are also a heavy, dual purpose breed.

I forgot to mention that I have black Ameraucanas (true Ameraucanas, not EE), too. They lay a beautiful blue egg. They are in a project pen now, but I should have purebred later this year. They are a talkative breed and friendly to people, but don't seem to like other breeds of chickens, at least not Rhodebars.

I like a colorful egg basket

I hope this helps. I am sure others here would have other recommendations for you.

What is the Vinyard? Love your egg basket!!!!

 

[KYTinpusher]

What is the Vinyard? Love your egg basket!!!!

It is a local winery. They have a wonderful restaurant that sources local produce. It is only open for lunch, if I remember right. They also have skeet shooting and concerts there.

 

[kyyada]

Welcome to BYC and the KY thread!

I agree on the sawdust not being a good idea. Sand is a much better base. You can buy chicks at your local Tractor Supply in the spring and their minimum (actually a state law minimum) is 6 chicks. Other farm stores probably have them, too. Another choice is a local breeder or small animal swap. There are lots of those in KY and there would be no shipping stress on the chicks. Where are you located? The swaps should start up again in March or April. There you will be able to find chicks, started pullets, or hens that are already laying. If you buy from a swap, just make sure you buy from a reputable seller and have some help picking out healthy chickens.

Nice coop! You're doing great with it!

I don't think sawdust is a good idea for the bottom of your run. It is dusty, small enough to eat (and they WILL eat it, but get no nutrition from it), and will be a wet mess in rainy conditions. I have read that a lot of people use landscaping sand (not play sand) in their runs because it's easy to clean and drains well.

Giving them garden waste and lawn clippings to eat is fine, as long as the clippings aren't too long. They eat them whole, and can get impactions from it. Believe me, I know, because I almost lost one. They were getting into some very tall "grassy" flowers we planted around our separate garden to draw good insects, and they eventually leaned close enough to the fence so the girls could get at them from their side. Had to fix that situation!

We bought some inexpensive bird netting (2" x 2") from Amazon.com that has done a superb job of stopping hawks from killing our birds. We only lost one that way, but that was enough, and it left her in quite a mess. I agree with others that there are minks and/or weasels almost everywhere in the US, whether you see them or not, and they will cause some predation losses if the birds stay up past their usual bedtime.

You will want to use 1/4" hardware cloth for your coop to prevent critters from tunneling in--we buried it about a foot, and nothing has ever gotten inside our coop. You may or may not need supplemental heat (if only for your waterers), so think about how you can tap off your existing electric supply or run very long thick gauge extension cords. My husband finally just ran a line directly from the house and it has made our lives much easier.

Good luck to you! It's addictive!

I will skip the sawdust then, how about wood chips? I was planning on insulation in the floor, sides and roof and a greenhouse vent opener or two in the roof. I will run a wire out there it's not far from the house and I will bury wire cloth in the ground. One thing I can't figure out is how much ventilation is needed, The coop will be pretty air tight with walls on the inside. This question may sound silly but are the chicks at tractor supply straight run?

 

[Nofowlplay]

I want to visit the Vinyard!

 

[Nofowlplay]

It is a local winery. They have a wonderful restaurant that sources local produce. It is only open for lunch, if I remember right. They also have skeet shooting and concerts there.

Where is it?

 

[KYTinpusher]

Where is it?

http://www.elkcreekvineyards.com/directions.php

 

[KYTinpusher]

I will skip the sawdust then, how about wood chips? I was planning on insulation in the floor, sides and roof and a greenhouse vent opener or two in the roof. I will run a wire out there it's not far from the house and I will bury wire cloth in the ground. One thing I can't figure out is how much ventilation is needed, The coop will be pretty air tight with walls on the inside. This question may sound silly but are the chicks at tractor supply straight run?

Make sure your ventilation is very good. Chickens can handle the cold just fine, so insulation is not necessary, but they NEED good ventilation. Their respiration has a lot of moisture in it that will build up quickly in a closed coop. Moisture + cold is bad news for chickens.

My main coop has open windows and an exhaust fan running 24/7/365. If it is really cold, I will close the windows a little. You also have to worry about the build up of ammonia in a closed coop. Wood chips on the floor of the coop is fine and a little Sweet PDZ (horse stall refresher) can help.

 

[terrilee]

It is a local winery. They have a wonderful restaurant that sources local produce. It is only open for lunch, if I remember right. They also have skeet shooting and concerts there.

I was there mid December on a Saturday evening and they had dinner, but I'm not sure if that is all of the time either.

 

[terrilee]

Sorry! I started this response 2 days ago and never finished it.

I am in Sparta, too! I have been to the Vineyard many times. If I had to choose, I would say my Isbars are hands down the winner, though my Swedish Flower Hens come in a close second. These are both rare breeds from Sweden. As heritage breeds go, they are both very good layers, but will not come close to a production red or other hatchery production breed.

The Isbars are a very rare, small breed that is very docile and lays lots of large, pretty green eggs in shades from olive to sage to mint. Generally 150 - 200 eggs/year. They are good foragers and very feed efficient. I find they get along well with other breeds. These are eggs from my second year layers (that is a quarter in the picture for size comparison).


The Swedish Flower Hens are a very friendly, rare breed that comes in lots of lovely colors. I often find it hard to walk in their coop/run because there are hens at my feet. I have quite a collection and am still adding more. You can see my album here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/a/6152521/swedish-flower-hens/ They lay a medium to large, cream to light brown egg. There has been an occasional belligerent rooster, but they are rare. They are good foragers and the roosters take excellent care of their hens.

For a dual purpose breed (eggs and meat), I would recommend the White Bresse. There are very good layers of medium-sized cream colored eggs as well as an excellent meat bird.

If you like a colorful egg basket, you need to add a Black Copper Marans. They lay large dark, chocolate brown eggs. They are also a heavy, dual purpose breed.

I forgot to mention that I have black Ameraucanas (true Ameraucanas, not EE), too. They lay a beautiful blue egg. They are in a project pen now, but I should have purebred later this year. They are a talkative breed and friendly to people, but don't seem to like other breeds of chickens, at least not Rhodebars.

I like a colorful egg basket

I hope this helps. I am sure others here would have other recommendations for you.

I'm sorry if I missed if you mentioned this or not but are you selling "pullets" this year? If so I would like to buy from you as opposed to ordering online. I love the look of the Swedish Flower Hens....they are like calico. I do want a variety flock.