A short chicken feed rant

[U_Stormcrow]

So, do you intend to breed your own replacements, or buy periodically?
Birds for eggs? (and how many eggs is your daily target)?
or birds for meat?
or birds for both? (understanding that no bird does both very well, and most birds do neither well) Its MUCH easier to get a better than average egg layer, then eat excess males and old hens if you raise your own, selecting successive generations for increased meatiness (which also means increased feed consumption - no free lunch). That's (part) of what I'm doing.

Oh, and fair warn - I'm not "wired" for social interaction. Its nothing personal, I simply lack the normal amount of human empathy. Useful when its time to butcher, among other activities. Best to think of me as the curmudgeonly old grandpa figure. Occasionally useful, sometimes entertaining, ALWAYS best in small quantities.

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

So, do you intend to breed your own replacements, or buy periodically?
Birds for eggs? (and how many eggs is your daily target)?
or birds for meat?
or birds for both? (understanding that no bird does both very well, and most birds do neither well) Its MUCH easier to get a better than average egg layer, then eat excess males and old hens if you raise your own, selecting successive generations for increased meatiness (which also means increased feed consumption - no free lunch). That's (part) of what I'm doing.

Ok, ok, questions, I can do this; I can reply intelligently . . . I would like to do both: breed replacements AND buy. Probably buy something I don't have/can't get readily. For instance, I am fixated on owning at least ONE Buff Brahma chicken rooster. When we lived in Florida a friend's son was in FFA and had a GORgeous white brahma. That bird had to come up to my thigh. I have been mesmerized/enamored with them ever since seeing his. But, I would like the experience of at least one breeding cycle (I KNOW there would be more). Perhaps for my Dixie Rainbows, would be nice to allow them to breed to make sure we always have some of those.

Daily I would say six is good for us. Me and hubby tend to eat three eggs each. If all the starvation due to supply chain diesel issues/depression/economic decline I keep hearing about actually happens no doubt we would eat more than three in a day. May be our only food

 

[samanthaoverton]

Went to Tractor Supply yesterday afternoon "for the fun of it" and oh boy do I agree with what you said about enjoyment. Now, I really can not wait to get started. My newest thing making me nervous is the electric chicken fence. I am sure hubby can help with that as far as getting the kind we need, blah, blah, blah.

Excitement over here in SE Georgia!!!!

I would avoid TSC. Everything is priced higher there.. seriously. Try rural king. It's cheaper counterpart. I love that place. Makes me feel like a redneck

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

I would avoid TSC. Everything is priced higher there.. seriously. Try rural king. It's cheaper counterpart. I love that place. Makes me feel like a redneck

Oh lord, you sound like my husband!
In his mind a "redneck" is a country boy, with a truck, a dawg (and maybe a red neck from the hot GA sun).

But seriously, we live in a small country town that don't even have a bowling alley, let alone a Rural King. Rural King!!! What is that?? Check it, I have to drive over 30 minutes, out of county to even get to the nearest Tractor Supply and Wendy's; geesh; pfffft.

 

[samanthaoverton]

I do have a dawg no truck. Hubby has a big truck..I'm scared of that thing..I'm short..that thing doesn't sit close enough to the steering wheel..not that I could see over the steering wheel I love Georgia and Alabama. I lived in both places as a kid..dad was army for his 20 years. So my family lived all over.. I hate the cold. And gosh I love the sound of damn it's hot bugs (cicadas).

Oh lord, you sound like my husband!
In his mind a "redneck" is a country boy, with a truck, a dawg (and maybe a red neck from the hot GA sun).

But seriously, we live in a small country town that don't even have a bowling alley, let alone a Rural King. Rural King!!! What is that?? Check it, I have to drive over 30 minutes, out of county to even get to the nearest Tractor Supply and Wendy's; geesh; pfffft.

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

I do have a dawg no truck. Hubby has a big truck..I'm scared of that thing..I'm short..that thing doesn't sit close enough to the steering wheel..not that I could see over the steering wheel I love Georgia and Alabama. I lived in both places as a kid..dad was army for his 20 years. So my family lived all over.. I hate the cold. And gosh I love the sound of damn it's hot bugs (cicadas).

I have visited AL and TN. Once made a list of states I have been to. Was quite surprised and proud/glad. I kinda done traveled some. My hubby, we'll call him Farmer Smith has a 1960 something truck. When he lifts the hood, boy is it massive. We have a dawg here, and one on the land. Girl, he is building us a "house" out of storage containers (3 of 'em). Long story which I will probably never own up to in writing; ha ha ha. He is heck bent on getting our bills as low as possible in preparation for what is coming.

Meanwhile, I adore this lil mobile we are renting from friends. No complaints on my part. I say put my babies out back and let's keep it moving. He'd rather live on his four acres; bless his heart. So, we have one dawg here and I think one out on the property. He goes out there to feed the animals (hogs), cats, dog. Oh and he is fiending for a pair of blue healers (or is it heelers?)

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Brahma are beautiful birds, I have some dark Brahma myself. They are NOT well suited to heat (though they tolerate it surprisingly well). They don't grow quickly, they aren't efficient eaters (not much weight gain per pound of feed consumed), they are slow to mature, infrequent producers of only medium eggs. If that's your "breeder", you will be reinforcing those traits in every subsequent generation - moving away from sustainability.

If you want Brahma (again, beautiful birds), get a hen. My opinion only.

I have "Rainbows" from Hoover Hatchery, all of which are production red sex links which look to have a lot of New Hampshire in their backgrounds, and maybe some buff Orp - I didn't get the promised range of colors in them. Good to very good layers, moderately fast to lay, decent egg size. They aren't a breed, actually, so the offspring can be a bit chaotic. Even so, they are well suited to what you are doing, if a bit smallish on the meat side.
For your egg desires, and your breeding intent, I'd target a flock around a dozen birds.

One rooster with traits you want. Roughly ten hens from "breeds" known for early production and very good egg laying. You can stagger purchases, half in spring, half in fall - that will help ensure, though it can't guarantee, a steady egg supply over the winter. Personally, I'm working towards a gold (red) base bird, but the Black sex links tend to be a little larger and meatier, owing to the parent stock.

and consider a small (12 egg) incubator purchase. Under $100. There is nothing more frustrating than waiting on a hen to go broody, and nothing more unreliable than a broody hen who may abandon the nest before any eggs have hatched. Hatch rates, even with an incubator, will be less than 100% - count on it. Hatches will average 50/50 male female over time - there's no way around that. If you hatch once a month, and routinely get 8 birds out of twelve, that mans you eat two chickens a week. A young, tender "excess" male, and an old hen you are retiring after her first year, at first molt.
That also means your flock of a dozen rapidly becomes 20-24 birds, because you will always have 4-5 hatchings worth of youngsters (minus some culled males) waiting to grow up and do their duty in egg production. It also means that you can replace your breeder male every year or so to keep things fresh, AND, if you lose him to illness, injury, or predation, you already have a replacement on hand (once one of your boys matures), without need to break bio security and bring one in from elsewhere.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Oh, and look for a family feed store with food from the local mill. Maybe you get lucky. I'm a 40 minute drive from my closest TSC - and feed prices are up, way up.
I have a family farm store up the road from me, not 10 minutes, they get feed from over the border at an AL mill, and pass their bulking savings on to us as a wa to drive traffic to the store. I then buy in bulk (500# + at a time - see my flock in my signature - its about a month of feed, and pay cash when I can for an additional discount). Much cheaper than TSC or others.

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

Brahma are beautiful birds, I have some dark Brahma myself. They are NOT well suited to heat (though they tolerate it surprisingly well). They don't grow quickly, they aren't efficient eaters (not much weight gain per pound of feed consumed), they are slow to mature, infrequent producers of only medium eggs. If that's your "breeder", you will be reinforcing those traits in every subsequent generation - moving away from sustainability.

If you want Brahma (again, beautiful birds), get a hen. My opinion only.

I have "Rainbows" from Hoover Hatchery, all of which are production red sex links which look to have a lot of New Hampshire in their backgrounds, and maybe some buff Orp - I didn't get the promised range of colors in them. Good to very good layers, moderately fast to lay, decent egg size. They aren't a breed, actually, so the offspring can be a bit chaotic. Even so, they are well suited to what you are doing, if a bit smallish on the meat side.
For your egg desires, and your breeding intent, I'd target a flock around a dozen birds.

One rooster with traits you want. Roughly ten hens from "breeds" known for early production and very good egg laying. You can stagger purchases, half in spring, half in fall - that will help ensure, though it can't guarantee, a steady egg supply over the winter. Personally, I'm working towards a gold (red) base bird, but the Black sex links tend to be a little larger and meatier, owing to the parent stock.

and consider a small (12 egg) incubator purchase. Under $100. There is nothing more frustrating than waiting on a hen to go broody, and nothing more unreliable than a broody hen who may abandon the nest before any eggs have hatched. Hatch rates, even with an incubator, will be less than 100% - count on it. Hatches will average 50/50 male female over time - there's no way around that. If you hatch once a month, and routinely get 8 birds out of twelve, that mans you eat two chickens a week. A young, tender "excess" male, and an old hen you are retiring after her first year, at first molt.
That also means your flock of a dozen rapidly becomes 20-24 birds, because you will always have 4-5 hatchings worth of youngsters (minus some culled males) waiting to grow up and do their duty in egg production. It also means that you can replace your breeder male every year or so to keep things fresh, AND, if you lose him to illness, injury, or predation, you already have a replacement on hand (once one of your boys matures), without need to break bio security and bring one in from elsewhere.

Now that's a hella lot of useful information. Think I'm gonna print this out @U_Stormcrow and place in my chicken journal. Yeah, I enjoy keeping records of things (journaling in general). I have a thing about placing important/meaningful things inside my journal. One reason I want to keep these words is so I can wrap my head around the concept. I know, it's simple to you; but I am feeling like I have to much to absorb because I wanna/gotta get this right.

Thank you for stepping up . . . again.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Is what BYC is for - sharing our mistakes so others need not repeat our experiences. Or at least can change the initial assumptions and maybe arrange for differing outcomes.
I encourage you and your significant other to sit down twhen you have the time and work your way thru my Culling project thread I linked earlier to see some of the hatchings, the weights, etc. I did not take nearly so good of notes as I had intended, and should have culled more agressively than I did, but at least it should help with expectations some.

I also have Comets (smaller-still red sex links, GREAT layers, very early start, also famous for reproductive problems in later years - being that small and that productive is like burning the candle at both ends), but if you plan to replace them after about 18 months with younger birds, that's much less of a concern. I should note that the high production comes with high quality feed requirements to support it. The Rinbows are larger birds, eat about the same amount, but are a little less "needy", though they are also a little less productive.

I also have SLW - they were intended to be an improvement on the Brahma. Good free rangers, very predator alert, lay sooner, on average, than the Brahma. But like the Brahma, they don't get big fast, they get less big on average, and they are relatively poor layers of usually medium eggs. Smart though, very smart. And slightly more heat tolerant than Brahma (smaller, cleaner legs, larger combs).

Mostly, now, I have mutts. Which have some of the best, and worst, traits of all the birds I started with.