OHIO TRADERS!!!

[DelcoChix]

Welcome to BYC chickadee007!

My personal preference is to start with day old chicks....it's not terribly difficult and it's hugely fun...downside is it is addictive. If you consider that a downside
Benefits of starting with chicks is you would be starting fresh--you don't have to worry about questionable sellers (selling you older birds, ill birds,etc.) and if you end up finding one breed from one person and another from someone else you have the concern about sharing of diseases,etc...you can handle them and sort of bond with them from the get-go...you know exactly how old they are...and, it's fun!
I would suggest you start with a hatchery unless you intend to show and/or breed to standard...personally I really like Meyer Hatchery (OH) and Papa's Poultry(CA). Biggest benefit is you can order females only and you don't need to order a dozen chicks this time of the year. If you drive to Meyer (a haul for you--probably 2 1/2-3 hours each way..) you can get one chick if you want, shipping costs of course, and you have to order a minimum but they usually ship well and you should get them within 1-2 days from hatch date. Meyer and My Pet Chicken each have "available now" where breeds that might have been sold out are available last minute (due to overhatch or canceled orders). If you go to a breeder of specific, 'higher quality' birds that are bred according to show standard (Standard of Perfection) you will get birds that breed true to the standard but unless the breed is a sex link breed (one you can tell from hatch male from female due to coloring patterns)you will only get straight run...no way to know cockerel from pullet until they are anywhere from 6 weeks to 4 months what you have. If you have a limit due to regulations from your town you might end up with all boys...or all girls...no way of knowing.
As far as breeds go...what do you want with them? Purely egg production? Variety? Colorful eggs? "Fun" birds? I can tell you what I like after a few years and a few breeds, but the next BYCer will have other wonderful breeds they love so enjoy the experience while you research the breeds! And a word of warning...six birds is the gateway drug, you're just going to "have" to get one more breed, and then another...and so on...

I like a variety of pretty birds that lay colorful eggs. Would love to have better production but not willing to swap out/sell/eat the older girls for younger more productive birds. I have about seven of my original girls and this is my 7th year with them.
Here's my favorite breeds (so far!)based on those I have raised from day one:
Buckeye--incredibly personable and good layers of light brown eggs. Patty is my favorite(I have 3), comes to the back door for treats, lays an egg occasionally
Welsumer--so pretty and love the speckled, terra cotta eggs. Old girls so I don't get many eggs, but now they're huge, jumbo eggs, maybe 1-2 a week
Speckled Sussex (and Light Sussex)--Annie is a special bird, very chatty and sociable.
Marans--I have Black Copper, Blue/Splash and Blue Copper....LOVE their feathered legs and dark brown eggs
Orpington--Buff and now Lavender, Chocolate and Black. Sweet, big, fluffy birds.
Ameraucana or Easter Egger--there is a difference. With the more expensive Ameraucana you will get a light blue egg and they breed true. Easter Eggers are mixes that can lay blue, tan or pinkish eggs. I have both---just like their looks and pretty blue eggs.

I also have 11 new chicks from Papa's Poultry in California--I was hesitant about ordering chicks from so far away but he was great to work with and had the breeds I wanted available in an all-pullet pack. All 11 are doing awesome, looking gorgeous, but won't know about eggs for a few more weeks (March chicks). I have Crested Cream Legbars (spectacular mohawks on their heads! And they lay blue eggs and are sex linked so they are girls), Rhodebars, Olive Egger and Golden Cuckoo Marans...plus the Chocolate and Black Orpington.

For 'fun' birds I'd highly recommend Silkies, Mille Fleur D'Uccles, Sultans and Bantam Cochins..fantastic personalities, fun to watch and they do lay cute little eggs, just not a lot of them.

Believe it or not, I still have a wish list....sigh. Good luck with your decision--it's a fun task! Make sure you update what you end up deciding upon--lots of enablers...errrr...encouragers here

 

[chickadee007]

Thanks so much for the information!!! Some great ideas on breeds, very helpful! What about starting with pullets? I live close to Murray McMurray Hatchery. Any experience with them? What is the additional cost for starting with chicks vs pullets? Where/what do I keep the chicks in and how long before I can put them in a coop? Suggestions on getting a roo? I would like 3 good egg layers, 2-3 fun birds/easter eggers.

 

[big medicine]

Greetings Chickadee. I also have a Waynesville mailing address, I'm a little south of town.

I suspect you may be thinking of Mt. Healthy Hatchery, McMurrey is in Iowa I believe.

Maybe we could talk, and I may be able to share some of the things I have experienced with raising birds,

 

[DelcoChix]

Thanks so much for the information!!! Some great ideas on breeds, very helpful! What about starting with pullets? I live close to Murray McMurray Hatchery. Any experience with them? What is the additional cost for starting with chicks vs pullets? Where/what do I keep the chicks in and how long before I can put them in a coop? Suggestions on getting a roo? I would like 3 good egg layers, 2-3 fun birds/easter eggers.

You're welcome! If you mean 'started pullets' vs. chicks the biggest differences would be you're paying a bit more because someone else is raising them the first few weeks and you won't have a variety to choose from. Also, some hatcheries trim or debeak their beaks to prevent them from pecking each other as they are being raised. I see some breeders might have older pullets or hens for sale but I don't think as a rule many of them intentionally raise pullets for resale--the bigger hatcheries on the other hand, do. Biggest benefit to started birds is of course, eggs a lot sooner, and you don't have to mess with raising chicks, which is perfect for some folks--depends on what you want. You'd have to check the hatcheries and/or breeders for costs, as a ballpark I'd guess (hatchery cost est.)you're looking at a day old chick for $3-5 (for a common breed, not the fancy/rare breeds) and then maybe $15-25 for a 'point-of-lay' pullet, which might be around 14-16 weeks old. Shipping would be substancially higher if you'd need that.
For brooding chicks there's a bazillion ways to house them--check out the "Raising Baby Chicks" forum. Biggest thing is secure space/safety, ventilation and heat source. Heat lamps are cheap but huge fire hazard--must be very cautious with them. Safest are the infared heater, EcoGlow by Brinsea is the best known. I have one and love it and for the 5-6 chicks you want it's plenty big, but it's not cheap, I think around $80. Heat lamp/bulb, maybe $10? I still use a heat lamp when we had some serious cold in March/April--along with the Ecoglow (I had 21 chicks and temps dropped to the 30's, my mudroom was pretty cold), but I tie it to a crosspiece in my brooder and then also secure it with wire (paranoid). I usually use wood shavings for bedding which adds to the fire risk, make sure the heat lamp is high enough above the bedding, unless you use sand as some do. I have an old whelping box from when my dog had puppies a few years ago that I use for my brooder. It's a wood box, 4'x4'x2'high, and has an opening about18" wide where I have two pieces of wood that slide down to close it as the 'door.' Then my DH made a wood frame of 2x4's that has hardware cloth stapled to it for the cover--lift it for access, and slide wood 'door' up when I need/want to 'play.' That's huge for 5-6 chicks, but I've raised 20 meatbirds in there for the first 4-5 weeks without issue so it's practical for me. You can easily use a large plastic storage tub, at least for the first few weeks, just make some sort of cover of wire for ventilation and protection from dogs/cats,etc...plus they'll be jumping out before you know it I use one in my mudroom when it's too cold for the big brooder in the coop, then move them out once weather improves.

Sounds like you have a neighbor, big medicine, who's close by for a helpful resource too! They're right about the hatchery closer to you--all I know is our local feedstore gets their chicks from Mt. Healthy and they are very satisfied with them. I've bought four chicks from the feedstore, two this spring, because I have no willpower. They have all done quite well so I have no complaints, but I have no direct experience with Mt. Healthy beyond that.

You normally put chicks into the coop/run once they are fully feathered--they don't need the heat source by then, but depending upon your coop set-up you might transition them sooner if August is the usual hot, humid August we end up with, even if you provided the additional heat if needed, as long as you have them in a secure place from predators.
As far as a rooster my advice would be to ask, why? I love my two boys, but I didn't get them until the last couple of years. You can always get one if/when you want/need one, but with 5-6 hens for eggs/pets you don't really need one. If you want one for looks and crowing, cool--he will be jumping your girls, all the time, so be prepared. And if it were me, I would definitely want to raise it from a day old chick so you can mess with him and be comfortable from day one, not have to 'prove' yourself as boss if he arrived a little older. I could be wrong ont hat, but I'm just going from what worked for me. Like I said, you can always get a rooster--but are you ok with rehoming or eating him if he becomes aggressive to you, family or hens? Just something to think about. I like my boys and they are great, very respectful of all of us but awesome protectors--not afraid of people, but not lap pets either. If either showed any sign of aggression he would be gone in a heartbeat--life's too short to deal with that. Anyways, as I said, fun decisions to make--best of luck!


Here's some pics of my brooders--the first is with the infared heater (has the Blue Moon cardboard over the top as they love to hop on it later..and poop all over it)
The pic on the right is what was under the heat...they love the Ecoglow, but they outgrow it quickly.
.

The pics below are the wood brooder, the big one. A couple different batches of chicks, obviously, but it is a nice size for them to be able to run around and still get under heat when they want to.
The pic on the left is this spring with only the Ecoglow. The other two are last year when I used both Ecoglow and heatlamp, and the last pic on the right shows the removeable wood 'door' I open up whenI want to play. Hope it helps

 

[chickadee007]

big medicine - That would be great! Thank you

DelcoChix - thanks again for so much info - very helpful!

 

[chickadee007]

Has anyone purchased a coop from CConly in Delaware, OH?
I'm looking at purchasing a mobile coop from them to get started (CC-32-R2) and eventually building my own larger coop in a year or two.

 

[big medicine]

Not sure what you are looking for, but some local options might be to check a couple places nearby that sell premade sheds. They also sell ready to go chicken coops and smaller coop systems I believe. Not sure what either is called, but the one is on 73 going east, out past the flea market, just past I-71, on the right. The other is on 42 going north past Spring Valley on the left.

 

[Sunshine0235]

Thanks so much for the information!!! Some great ideas on breeds, very helpful! What about starting with pullets? I live close to Murray McMurray Hatchery. Any experience with them? What is the additional cost for starting with chicks vs pullets? Where/what do I keep the chicks in and how long before I can put them in a coop? Suggestions on getting a roo? I would like 3 good egg layers, 2-3 fun birds/easter eggers.

Im in Lebanon Ohio, so we're neighbors too, and I just had some cream legbar hatch last Saturday, they are sexable at hatch, and lay blue eggs, it looks like 2 females and one male. I thought the guy i got the eggs from said they were ameraucanas, but they have single combs and are colored like cream legbars. I really wanted ameraucanas though, so they are up for sale if you are interested in them. They hatched from large blue eggs. If not I'll grow them out for eggs myself.

I personally like starting from chicks/eggs. I think they are easier to hand tame that way, and I like seeing them develop from fluffy little chicks to adults, they go through so many changes.

I have 4 brooders going right now, mainly polish and brahma, but had an assortd hatch from some free replacement eggs since the guys rooster wasnt doing his job. So i definitely enjoy the chicks. Did have 5 brooders, but one set of chicks in the a brooder got to go out to the coop today. Glad for the slightly less work.

 

[chickadee007]

Thanks big medicine I will check both of those out. I know the one on east 73 you are referring to, I didn't realize they sold coops- I never checked.

 

[chickadee007]

Sunshine0235 are you selling as a group or would you be willing to sell one female? Do you have any others you would like to sell in the next few months?
I would like to start with 5 initially, next year build a larger coop. I can get an Ameraucana & Buff Orpinton from Mt. Healthy. I'd still like a Speckled Sussex and a Silkie or Sultan for fun. I guess I'm a little out of season as Mt Healthy & Meyer are sold out for the others.