Buying chickens soon

[mcarls22]

Happy to find this site and now a member . I'm from Cedar Park , Tx . My daughter just started FFA this year in here freshman year we decided to raise chickens they will be raised at the school because are city does not allow chickens unless you have a acre of land and I'm sure the HOA wouldn't like it either . We really wanted to raise them at home . Well we are in the process of making a chicken trailer trying to find the most economical way of making one or trying to find one on Craigslist . The school doesn't have enough chicken trailers we will be donating it to the school when we are done we get free rent that way also . We are getting four young egg laying chickens not baby and we are thinking of buying Rhode Island Reds I have heard some good things about them and they are good egg layers . My daughter and I are looking forward in learning about chickens from this site along with some help from her AG teacher .

 

[drumstick diva]

Welcome to Backyard chickens. Do head for the "Learning Center," a great place to begin a chicken education.

 

[Percheron chick]

RIR enjoy the name recognition in the chicken world. There are dozens of worthy breeds out there. Showing is part of the FFA experience so first you need to identify show quality heritage birds available to you. Start with the best. A bird with interesting feathers will stand out in row after row of plain janes. I would explore endangered breeds.
Check out the TX "where are you". You might find a great mentor for your daughter and a source for chickens. Have fun.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[trailrider330]

Welcome to the BYC flock! We are glad you joined us!

FFA and 4-H are wonderful avenues to learning about a lot of different topics related to agriculture and livestock. Glad your daughter is involved and excited that you have a school willing to house the chickens for you. Good luck!

 

[Birdrain92]

Happy to find this site and now a member . I'm from Cedar Park , Tx . My daughter just started FFA this year in here freshman year we decided to raise chickens they will be raised at the school because are city does not allow chickens unless you have a acre of land and I'm sure the HOA wouldn't like it either . We really wanted to raise them at home . Well we are in the process of making a chicken trailer trying to find the most economical way of making one or trying to find one on Craigslist . The school doesn't have enough chicken trailers we will be donating it to the school when we are done we get free rent that way also . We are getting four young egg laying chickens not baby and we are thinking of buying Rhode Island Reds I have heard some good things about them and they are good egg layers . My daughter and I are looking forward in learning about chickens from this site along with some help from her AG teacher .

I'm part of the Nampa FFA chapter in Idaho! FFA is an amazing organization. It's a lot of fun for being recognized for your accomplishments through degrees like Greenhand, Chapter, State, and American degree. I got my State Degree last year and it takes a lot of work. I've shown poultry for a few years mainly peafowl, and now I am a Senior so I'm coming up on my last year. Rhode Island Reds are a good egg laying chicken. This is just my opinion but I strongly recommend the Black Australorp, dual purpose breed, fantastic layers and the roosters produce a good amount of meat. If you can get the nutrition right it will help bring out the best egg production of any laying breed. If you feed them a 16% protein feed they will be more of an egg layer if you go 20% or above your promoting a meat bird. Also have some oyster shells for feather and egg quality. Have some sort of parasite control because I know that most fairs if they spot an external parasite the bird can not be shown. If they have fleas, ticks, mites, or lice they can get disqualified. I know that here in Idaho the fair allows any breed of chicken to be shown in Showmanship except Broilers. Welcome to BYC! Hope your daughter loves FFA as much as I do.