I am new to raising chickens. I got my first ones on April 23 and all of them have surrvived. I ordered 6 Ridgeway New Hampshire hens from Jand B feed. When we picked them up at the store there was one that was in the corner of the box and not by the others. I checked for pasty butt and everything looked good, I guess. Now, they are all outside. About two weeks before they went outside, I got two Millie Fluer D'uccle roosters. All of them are doing great together. The measurements of the coop are 7 ft wide by 10 ft long by 6 ft tall. The run measures 8 ft wide by 10 ft long by 5 ft tall. I have way more than enough room for 8 chickens i think. Anyways, I am going to be selling some of the eggs that I get. They hens will be laying brown eggs soon. I was wondering if most people prefer brown eggs? If not, I can get 6 more chickens from a 4-h kid. I want to get 3 Arucaunas and 3 White Leghorns so that I will have 3 different color eggs to sell. Should I do this or stick with the chickens that I have? Another question I have is how long do I need to have a light on for them? I have a regular 125 watt bulb for the day and a 250 watt red bulb for night. I am going to be putting a 8 by 8 window in the door and a 8 by 3 ft window on the side. I have three nest boxes right now and if I get six more chickens they will be using all of them to lay eggs. Please tell me what you think I should do. Thanks
I think people like brown eggs just because they're different from what you get at the store. But yes, I think most people do like brown eggs. If you got the chickens back in April, they don't need any lights anymore. I put my chickens outside at 5 weeks and took the light out of the coop at 6 weeks.
Thanks. My parents have been getting on me for the electrical bill. I made a joke to them saying that I will pay them back with fresh eggs. Ha ha. Today I will turn the light off and see how they like it. Chickenman8
When I was deciding on what colour eggs I wanted, I found a site that detailed regional preferences in egg colour. I can't remember the site, but I do remember they said brown eggs sell better in the SE and white eggs sell better on the west coast. That might not help you for your area, but the resources are out these somewhere. I finally decided on a rainbow egg basket. I figured I'd buy it.
You have room for more chickens. Go ahead and get the six others you want. There will be drama at first, chickens do not play well with others and for about 2-3 weeks there will be chasing and pecking, so if the new ones are a lot smaller than the other ones keep them separate until they're big enough to fend for themselves. Keep food and water in a few different locations around the pen and coop so that the new ones can eat and drink wherever they are, the established chickens will chase them away at first and you don't want them to starve. Good luck and have fun!