Brand New - Looking for positivity with a healthy reality

[Kiki]

I agree with Kiki, but there is a difference in chicken vs. duck (etc) eggs. Duck eggs are most fabulous for baking!

And since you want reality and honesty.... Be prepared, if you visit here often, we are a crazy bunch of enablers that will school you in chicken math. More addition and multiplication, and some division for extra breeds. Very little subtraction.

Agreed.
Ducks...and quail.
You are going to want quail too.

 

[lazy gardener]

Just my 2 cents worth. My opinion is worth exactly what you'll pay for it. Silkies are prone to broodiness. Unless you intend to be hatching chicks, you might want to avoid a "prone to broodiness" breed. You will spend a lot of time fighting the nature of the breed. Better to choose a breed that is not a broody beast. Orpingtons are also prone to broodiness. Check Henderson's chicken breeds chart to find breeds that will do well in your area and are known to "play well with others", and do well in confinement. I suggest Dominique, EE, and Plymouth Barred Rock. Australorpe is also a nice mellow breed and good layer.

Lovely yard. You might consider building your coop so that it can be dismantled into panels so you can move it when you find your dream home. Build bigger than you need. I suggest a bare minimum of 4 x 8 walk in style. This will allow you to expand in the future, or you can turn it into a tool or garden shed if that need should arise. If you want to build cheap, consider a cattle panel coop. This could be repurposed into a green house.

 

[lazy gardener]

Egg colors: Inside, they are all the same. Kind of like people's skin color! But, when you put the different colors in a carton or basket, having an assortment makes the colors "pop". Kind of like having a bouquet of flowers. You don't want them all to be the same color!

Where white eggs really shine (literally!) is in the incubator. When you candle a white egg, it's like staring into a glass light bulb. You can see that baby dancing in that white egg with amazing clarity. I swear you can even see what color her feathers are!

Your climate is going to play a huge role in what breeds you choose. Large combed birds excel in southern climates, and small combed birds excel in northern climates. Some breeds come in varied comb style. Leghorn comes in rose and single comb and lays a white egg. RIR has single comb, while the Buck Eye cousin has a pea comb. Did you put your general location in your profile?

 

[CannedMonster]

Hi and welcome!
Chicken math is real!
I started with 5 and now have 13 and plan on making some adjustments rehoming some aggressive Wyandottes and adding Speckled Sussex, Partridge Rocks and Silver Gray Dorking.

May I suggest Naked Necks (aka Turkens)?

Not everyone likes them as their looks can be somewhat disturbing lol however I think they’re weird and cute!
They do well in the heat and are surprisingly cold tolerant also.
I’ve read they’re good layers.
I have two NN girls that are only 9 weeks old currently so I don’t expect any eggs until late August.

My red sex link is hands down my best layer. She’s missed 1 day since she started laying at 20 weeks.
Jumbo 2.5 oz (minimum!) eggs too.
Sex links are laying machines but are prone to reproductive problems and a shorter life span.
I eat a lot of eggs though so I’ll probably always have 1 or 2 in my flock.

I like friendly breeds that lay at least fairly well.
Speckled Sussex, Australorp, all the Plymouth Rock colors and Easter Eggers are all breeds that lay well and aren’t too prone towards broodiness (there’s always exceptions).

I highly recommend researching hatchery websites and breeds.
This book has been helpful to me:

 

[JustDadWithChickens]

I agree with Kiki, but there is a difference in chicken vs. duck (etc) eggs. Duck eggs are most fabulous for baking!

And since you want reality and honesty.... Be prepared, if you visit here often, we are a crazy bunch of enablers that will school you in chicken math. More addition and multiplication, and some division for extra breeds. Very little subtraction.

Does not surprise me one bit !

 

[JustDadWithChickens]

Agreed.
Ducks...and quail.
You are going to want quail too.

I think ducks and quail will be in the future for sure when we have more land! I plan on having a huge farm. There was a beautiful 19 acre plot that we almost bought but the house was foreclosing and not safe to live in .

Just my 2 cents worth. My opinion is worth exactly what you'll pay for it. Silkies are prone to broodiness. Unless you intend to be hatching chicks, you might want to avoid a "prone to broodiness" breed. You will spend a lot of time fighting the nature of the breed. Better to choose a breed that is not a broody beast. Orpingtons are also prone to broodiness. Check Henderson's chicken breeds chart to find breeds that will do well in your area and are known to "play well with others", and do well in confinement. I suggest Dominique, EE, and Plymouth Barred Rock. Australorpe is also a nice mellow breed and good layer.

Lovely yard. You might consider building your coop so that it can be dismantled into panels so you can move it when you find your dream home. Build bigger than you need. I suggest a bare minimum of 4 x 8 walk in style. This will allow you to expand in the future, or you can turn it into a tool or garden shed if that need should arise. If you want to build cheap, consider a cattle panel coop. This could be repurposed into a green house.

I am thinking only about getting two or so silkies because they are adorable, the rest I plan on getting Australorpes. Everywhere I am reading state that as long as they all grow up together, they should be fine, and more often than not the tiny silkies become top of the pecking order.

Egg colors: Inside, they are all the same. Kind of like people's skin color! But, when you put the different colors in a carton or basket, having an assortment makes the colors "pop". Kind of like having a bouquet of flowers. You don't want them all to be the same color!

Where white eggs really shine (literally!) is in the incubator. When you candle a white egg, it's like staring into a glass light bulb. You can see that baby dancing in that white egg with amazing clarity. I swear you can even see what color her feathers are!

Your climate is going to play a huge role in what breeds you choose. Large combed birds excel in southern climates, and small combed birds excel in northern climates. Some breeds come in varied comb style. Leghorn comes in rose and single comb and lays a white egg. RIR has single comb, while the Buck Eye cousin has a pea comb. Did you put your general location in your profile?

Ah, about the eggs, that will be cool to see! Lafayette Louisiana is where we are moving. Really thinking we might be sticking with Australorpes and a few silkies (just the silkies because they are cute).

Hi and welcome!
Chicken math is real!
I started with 5 and now have 13 and plan on making some adjustments rehoming some aggressive Wyandottes and adding Speckled Sussex, Partridge Rocks and Silver Gray Dorking.

May I suggest Naked Necks (aka Turkens)?
View attachment 1409859 View attachment 1409860
Not everyone likes them as their looks can be somewhat disturbing lol however I think they’re weird and cute!
They do well in the heat and are surprisingly cold tolerant also.
I’ve read they’re good layers.
I have two NN girls that are only 9 weeks old currently so I don’t expect any eggs until late August.

My red sex link is hands down my best layer. She’s missed 1 day since she started laying at 20 weeks.
Jumbo 2.5 oz (minimum!) eggs too.
Sex links are laying machines but are prone to reproductive problems and a shorter life span.
I eat a lot of eggs though so I’ll probably always have 1 or 2 in my flock.

I like friendly breeds that lay at least fairly well.
Speckled Sussex, Australorp, all the Plymouth Rock colors and Easter Eggers are all breeds that lay well and aren’t too prone towards broodiness (there’s always exceptions).

I highly recommend researching hatchery websites and breeds.
This book has been helpful to me:
View attachment 1409858

Not sure about the naked necks although interesting. Really thinking Australorps are the way to go. See if others agree or not.

 

[JustDadWithChickens]

Two weeks until close on the house, getting excited. Do people do like "build" threads on here? I might make a new one about planning the chicken coop, building it, getting the chickens and other adventures..maybe I should start a youtube channel.. what are the kids doing these days?

 

[Kiki]

Two weeks until close on the house, getting excited. Do people do like "build" threads on here? I might make a new one about planning the chicken coop, building it, getting the chickens and other adventures..maybe I should start a youtube channel.. what are the kids doing these days?

Absolutely...people start threads to document different parts of their chicken journey.


Good luck on the close.
You better start packing!

 

[JustDadWithChickens]

In researching it seems you should start your flock in spring. Is it going to be too late to get my girls this year? We will be down in Louisiana June 3rd.

Figured if it’s wasn’t too late. We would order them instantly and while they grow up inside, I could build the coop.

Also, what is a reasonable number of hens for a 2500 sqft back yard and how big should the coop be? I looked around and everyone has different suggestions on size. I know bigger is better, but what is recommended?

I plan on letting the chickens roam around the backyard a few hours each day. With how hot and humid Louisiana gets, I figured they would appreciate being outside instead of stuck in the coop/run.

Thanks!

 

[Kiki]

I ordered chicks in August from Ideal.
They lived outside too!

At the very minimum the coop should be at least 4 sq feet per bird.

You may want to look into an open air type coop too.
Not the closed in ones people up North use.

It is entirely too hot in Houston to lock birds in a completely closed in "regular" coop.