Advice on beginning breeding chickens, please!

[My Pretty Pekins]

To cull means to remove, not necessarily to kill. You can sell the ones you don’t want to keep.

Sometimes you do have to euthanize a young chick with an obvious issue: missing or underdeveloped parts (it happens), genetic issues like scissor beak, etc. Young or old, generally cervical dislocation is considered bloodless - pull the head away from the neck, many cite using a broom handle on older birds to hold the head still with your foot on the broom handle and pull the body away. Birds are more calm in a darker setup, so putting them into a darkened area prior to this can get them calm, then you can keep them calm by keeping any noise low and have definite and quick movements. One bad moment in an otherwise good life.

what breed do you want to focus on? If there is a club, see if they have a directory. Where are you located, maybe other know of a breeder in your area/region.

coop: generally best to build your own or modify a shed. However, you want bantams, so you might do ok with a large/sturdy pre-built one. It’s just that the boxes on the kits usually grossly overstate the number of birds it can hold. A farm store near me sells handmade coops from a local family, so maybe a similar resource near you.

Yes - okay. There's quite a demand for Pekins in my area, actually.
With the coop - would an Omlet Eglu Cube be okay? Do you think?

 

[My Pretty Pekins]

Premade kit coops are generally awful, avoid them! A garden shed, with modifications, works well. For separating breeding groups, you will need pens for pairs or trios at least, and then areas for chicks and youngsters being integrated into the flock. Hens can keep sperm for almost three weeks after mating, so having breeders separated for three week at least is necessary to make sure that the right cock bird is siring the chicks.
In flock mating, you might not care, but plan ahead!
Small birds doesn't make you smaller, so have a walk-in structure, and space, not minimum for your flock. Bigger is always better!
I agree, start with one color, and see how it goes.
Notice that I'm doing WHITE Chanties, not those beautiful and complicated partridge!
Mary

As mentioned earlier, I am considering the Omlet Eglu Cube. What sort of modifications would a garden shed need?
Also - I see your point about the colour. I would probably do black or cuckoo for starters.

 

[Folly's place]

I highly recommend a shed, not that eglu thingy. Most sheds need bigger window openings on the leeward side, and upper venting in the end wall peaks, all covered with hardware cloth. And a dig proof foundation, either wire or poured concrete. Much more user friendly!
Mary

 

[My Pretty Pekins]

I highly recommend a shed, not that eglu thingy. Most sheds need bigger window openings on the leeward side, and upper venting in the end wall peaks, all covered with hardware cloth. And a dig proof foundation, either wire or poured concrete. Much more user friendly!
Mary

But wouldn't that make cleaning for mites much more difficult?

 

[Folly's place]

Harder than crawling into that overpriced little box? Cleaning doesn't clear mites, spraying does. After clearing out the bedding, we spray with permethrin, all surfaces, and then add new bedding.
Woods coops look like the best coop design ever, and I'd love one here, but we have a shed, with additions.
Mary

 

[My Pretty Pekins]

Harder than crawling into that overpriced little box? Cleaning doesn't clear mites, spraying does. After clearing out the bedding, we spray with permethrin, all surfaces, and then add new bedding.
Woods coops look like the best coop design ever, and I'd love one here, but we have a shed, with additions.
Mary

I mean that with the Eglu, I could literally take it to pieces and hose it down, and it would not take hours.

 

[Ratchnick]

The eglu is 9 sqft, different people quote different numbers but somewhere between 1 to 5 sqft per bird with 3-4 being normal. Could you keep 4 or 5 bantams in there, sure. Would a bigger coop be better, yes. Especially with chicken math.

 

[Folly's place]

If you really plan to raise chicks, it will be totally inadequate. Unless you will be having multiple coops? Then, it would cost more than having one larger coop, with dividers.
Mary

 

[My Pretty Pekins]

The eglu is 9 sqft, different people quote different numbers but somewhere between 1 to 5 sqft per bird with 3-4 being normal. Could you keep 4 or 5 bantams in there, sure. Would a bigger coop be better, yes. Especially with chicken math.

If you really plan to raise chicks, it will be totally inadequate. Unless you will be having multiple coops? Then, it would cost more than having one larger coop, with dividers.
Mary

Okay, thanks for the advice. So what would be (a) good space (b) easy clean?

 

[Ratchnick]

A garden shed, cut holes in the top of the walls for vent and add roost bars. A least 50 sqft.