Advice needed!

[tiki244]

Quote:

 

[wjallen05]

Really?? Why does everyone tell me they stop laying at the age of 2?

I have been planning on placing an order with McMurray... once I decide for sure which type of hens I want. I was planning on order 6 or so CornishXRock so my husband can happily have his meat birds.

I don't know which breed to RAISE though.... all this info is mind blowing and totally stressing me out. Maybe I should give it a rest and start again when I am NOT pregnant??

 

[MissPrissy]

Do it this way -

What color and size of hens do you want to see in your laying flock? You will invest time and money in all of them to get them to laying age. I do prefer orpingtons. They are my favorites of all chickens. I like a colorful laying flock. I have white wyandottes, rhode island reds, buff orpingtons, partridge rocks, barred rocks, jersey giants cuckoo marans - to name a few. They all lay me lovely large brown eggs.

Roosters are gorgeous. Have you seen Speckledhen's or Tougholdhen's or Hinckjc's orpington roos? I even have one of those big blue roos! Pick a beauty and enjoy him! You will learn to love his call in the morning. They don't crow all the time all day long. They will protect your flock of layers as best they can. A good roo will lay down his life for his hens.

The cornish cross rocks are good. I raised 27 jumbos last fall. The best chicken ever!

 

[Keisha]

Really?? Why does everyone tell me they stop laying at the age of 2?

I have been planning on placing an order with McMurray... once I decide for sure which type of hens I want. I was planning on order 6 or so CornishXRock so my husband can happily have his meat birds.

I don't know which breed to RAISE though.... all this info is mind blowing and totally stressing me out. Maybe I should give it a rest and start again when I am NOT pregnant??

They just start laying less eggs around then.

I suggest you pick a breed that you like for laying, (I really like my Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks, and my Buff Orpington) and get some chicks, keep the hens, and a rooster. That way you will have your fresh eggs and also have the option to incubate some of your eggs when you need more hens. Ive read that hatcheries breed broodyness out of hens, so its not likely that you will have a hen raise chicks herself, so you'd just as soon buy an incubator and hatch them yourself. As for the rooster, I know in the area where I live roosters are stereotypically mean and loud. But for mine thats not the case, we raised ours from chicks, and they are well socialized and are not mean. Though they do make some noise occasionally. When they crow in them morning Ive actually learned to sleep through that for the most part. And one rooster shouldn't make a huge ammount of noise. Whenever its noisy at our house its because all of the roosters are crowing at once, its not bad when one of them does it by himself.
Then you could raise some Cornish Rock and then your husband can get his meat....​

 

[wjallen05]

Thanks for the tips!!

So I think I have it figured out... what do yall think?

I'll RAISE CornishXRocks (duh!!) (and incubate the eggs) (and just put up with the rooster near the house). Wonder how many hens I'll need? And what breed? What breed Roo? (assuming there are diff types of Cornish and Rocks...?) Do they lay year round?

Now that I've got THAT figured out... I already have 7 (straight run) Orpington chicks, HOPING they are mostly females. I will keep the girls and get a few other hen breeds to have for eggs. 10 total? Maybe? We'll let them free range during the day and keep them up at night. (unsure how I feel about free-ranging roos since we're outside A LOT and our girls are 4, 2, and 1... "everyone" tells me that roos will go after you) Anyway, and keep an Orpington roo in our already made (10X10) chicken house (with a small attached preditor proof/chicken escape proof yard). And another roo to keep him company? I don't think they'll fight since the girls won't be near them.
Oh yeah, and only put the Orp roo with the Orp hens in the spring and incubate the eggs.

Now what to do with these CXRs as they mature... 6 weeks right?

Sorry for all the questions... I REALLY appriciate the help!!

 

[MissPrissy]

I have a thread where I documented my cornish. I'll try to find it.