Beginner's Suggestions?

[NewHomesteader2010]

We are in the process of researching and would like to start raising some good layers that are excellent around young children. What is the best piece of advice you can give someone before or during the acquisition of a flock? What is an ideal starting number for a small flock? Should one begin with adults or chicks or a combination of both? Should we try to find a local breeder/seller or is ordering through other hatcheries ok as well? So many questions, sorry. Thank you so much in advance!!

 

[paddock36]

I had various types when I first started but found my BO to be the calmest of what I had and she was a good layer. I also have children but just like with any animal things can happen. So depending on the age of the children would depend on how involved I would allow them to be. I started with a local breeder and bought chicks to raise. That will take approx. 6 months before they are ready to lay (give or take a couple weeks). The kids loved holding the chicks and I think it made the grown hens tamer. We started with 7, one died and one turned out to be a roo that we rehomed. We got five eggs a day once they started laying until they got older. With only five hens we had so many eggs we were giving them away too. I have also purchased chicks from a hatchery and grown birds from swaps. You will spend more from a hatchery because you also have to pay for shipping, but you might have access to birds that you can't find in your area.

 

[stargazer2014]

We're about to do the same thing!!

We knew we didn't want to start out with 25- the minimum number in most chick orders, but luckily we found someone who wanted to add to their flock, so we're splitting an order. We're doing pullets only, and might get a roo later on...maybe.

We've been arguing/discussing breeds for over a month now. There's good things about each breed, and it's really hard to choose! We have a daughter who turns 2 in June. so we want them to grow up with here and eventually she could show later on..but I digress...

I would love to hear what everyone has to say about breeds around children. We're not doing roos, because a friend had a roo try to attack her toddler the other day!

 

[10 point]

The best advice I can give you is to pick up a book on raising chickens. My favorite is raising Chickens by Gail Damerow. It has alot of information on befor and after starting your flock. A good starting number would be about three or four, and a good layer would be anykind of sex link.

 

[wsdareme]

Quote:
I agree with Canton Kangaroo. Everybody on BYC will tell you why THEIR favorite breed of chicken is the one you should have. The book by Gail is fantastic. There are also other resources that are good. MyPetChicken.com has a breed selection tool at http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/which-breed-is-right-for-me.aspx. It will help you select chickens that tend to be friendly, are good in confinement (some are NOT happy unless they're free ranging), and which are hardy (important if you live in a cold climate -- I'm in WA state and my BCM roo has a frost-bitten comb). It will help you pick chickens that are good layers, if that's important to you, good mothers if you want to raise chicks, and the color and frequency of their eggs -- which I find to be the most fun of all!

Three to four is a good number, but you'll soon succumb to "chicken math" and will have many more than that. (Note: If you want to have a few laughs, do a search on this site for "chicken math" and you'll understand what you're getting into...)

 

[Arielle]

I'm new to chickens too!

I spent several months researching the breeds which helped me realize I needed to clearly define the reason for wanting a particular breed. Was it egg laying? Temperment? Cold hardy? heat tolerant? Standard size or bantam? Just beautiful to look at? did I want to breed them?

I have 2 young boys. I wanted just laying hens; buy chicks as needed; concerns about hawks and coyote; lots of land. I picked pullets of brown egg type, large enough to handle New England winters; passed over fussy feathering like faveroles who also have very timid characters (they are very nice birds I think) and great egg layers. All with coloring to hide and avoid the hawks.

I got 5 RIR, 4 silver wyandotts, 5 Black Australorps, 5 speckled sussex 5 back star of which so far one is a boy! Statistically, some of the others will be boys too. Boys will show up in pullet only orders.

My sister in law goes to a supplier who will take back a boy and provide another chick. You will want a way to find cockerels a new home.

BO are my favorites; along with the other beauty the golden wyandotte. HOpe to add them in the future. (my boys are a little older and used to dealing with large livestock).

You might try My Pet CHicken for a pretty good breed selection tool. It's a web site.Lots of breed info here, too. MPC will help you determine breed names then search here for lots of detail. Hope you enjoy yours as much as we are enjoying ours!

 

[suburbanchickymama]

Thanks for asking these questions! I will stay posted so I can get some tips myself! My eldest son will be 2 in June so I'm looking for kid friendly birds myself! Good luck, neighbor!

Lisa

 

[wingsofglory]

It is impossible to combine adults and chicks, also difficult to combine chicks more than a week to ten days apart in age. You end up building separate quarters and can't combine any till they are all the same size - around 5 months old. It can be sometimes impossible to combine adults from different sources - depends on the birds.

I think getting chicks and raising them is a wonderful way to get into chickens. Simply get all the chicks you want at once so they are same age and go in the same brooder box. Their growing up together, they hang out as one flock.

I also wondered how many. My experience - I got a box of 25 because that was the minimum. Another time, I got 2 of every kind at the feedstore because I wanted to see what they were like myself - it came to 25!!!

Both times, 25 or 30 were overwhelming. Each time I gave away hens till I had ten - that was manageable.

A third time, I picked up seven at the feed store. That was the easiest number. It was a breeze, not much work at all compared to my other years. They ranged around the yard and weren't any trouble in that number.

One what kinds for children - brown egg layers and blue/green egg layers are the calmest. All the common ones are good egg layers, just pick the ones you like the looks of.

The different white egg layers I got would explode into feathers beating themselves senseless against the walls and fences when I got too close - they were Ancona, Ladenvelder, and Andalusian. I never could touch them after they were 3 months old. They were pretty, but it was distressing to watch them do that.

Easter Eggers (sold as Ameraucana's by hatcheries and Auracana by feedstore) became my favorite.

Good luck

 

[Judy]

You will get by far the best quality of bird if you can find a GOOD breeder in your area. You may very well be able to do that here. An ordinary seller opens up the risk for buying diseased birds, and you would have a better chance of having healthy birds if you buy hatchery/feed store chicks. Chicken diseases can be devastating and may not be evident when you see the flock. 5 or 10 is probably a good starting number; do the research and have the coop ready first; always build bigger if in doubt. You can usually brood baby chicks in the coop with a little planning. Don't get birds of different ages unless they are already part of a single flock, or you will have integration issues.

 

[Mrs. K]

Really 5 young hens would meet your egg needs, and you will probably have eggs to give away. I like a mixed flock, that way you get to see, which kinds you like best, and it makes it easy for you to tell them apart, which makes it easy to get to know them.

I would strongly strongly recommend no mature roos until your children are much older. Way too many kids have been attacked by a rooster that was just a pet a little while ago. Roosters can cause serious danger to a child, and even an adult if they are ornery enough. You want this to be a good experience for your kids.

While many people here, love the chickens to perch on them, I do not recommend that for children, they can have their eyes pecked. Children do need supervision around chickens like most animals. I have bought eggs, chicks and point of lay hens, and hens after their first molt. They all became friendly enough, and would all come running to me, when the red coffee can comes out and I call, 'here chick chick chick" They gather around my feet, and that is friendly enough for me. I like to watch them, not play or pet them.

If you can, I would start out with part of someone elses flock, point of lay hens. It is more fun if there is a mix, but there is no perfect chicken. Wing it. You will be into getting eggs quickly and they are sturdier and less likely to die right away, while you are learning the ropes. However, buying chicks at the feed store is perfectly fine to start out with. They will ofen make great hens. Beware that you can lose some baby chicks, they under go quite a bit of stress, but that can be a good learning experience for your daughter too. Dying is part of living.

After you try this a while, try and get a breed that will go broody, nothing is more fun to watch than a hen and chicks.

Good luck, and remember it is better to do poorly at first than not to do at all.

MrsK