I am grateful for the advice given! I finally got my hands on a chicken book this weekend. When I am done with it- I will get another one.
There are a bunch of free books available for e-readers on Poultry. Of course they are from the 1920s, but still fun to read. One of them said poultry was the easiest and least expensive to start with. The work level is lower than for just about any other type of farming, with infirm and disabled people still able to do the work. Cattle and such take a lot of strength, even with modern machinery to keep up.
A bit of advice, stick with the established breeds. It might be tempting to go for the ones that make a lot of money, but there is often a short period of time to make the money back. If you can get a good customer base and become known for having good birds, you can make a steady income from them. You also can have the benefit of fresh healthy eggs and meat.
A good plan would be to get a good incubator and hatcher. GQF make good ones. Dickey is another. If you can find them, them Redwood incubators are great. With the right set up, you can hatch a lot of chicks weekly. You can also run an incubating service. It seems like they charge a couple of dollars or so per egg. Selling hatching eggs can make money too.
You can start with something like a Genisis and work up to the big incubator\hatcher later.
I encouraged Papa Brooder to join this thread. The big threads devoted to a breed can have too many people lurking and not participating. Social threads like this one help create a local group to help each other. We get to know each other. I try to help people from this thread on other threads. If you have an emergency, I would post both on this one and the Disease threads though.
Sorry you have been ignored on other threads.
Ron
I don't have what it takes to be a 'breeder'. From the breeders threads those people are really intense and consumed with it. Seems like a lot of culling goes on, lots of hatchings and I don't really want to have 50 chickens at one time. I don't have the money to feed that many birds. I really do prefer to stick to the one or 2 breeds and just rest. Maybe one day I might change my mind- but for now I don't want to be all over the place with breeds. Are Marans established? I really like the way the look, their breed traits, they have proven to be able to handle our climate well, can be good dual birds, their eggs are a distinct color so I will never mix them up with my ducks eggs or even the Buffs eggs. I'd planned on giving extras to friends, or help with bartering for other things and for people I don't know well- charging a nominal amount to help go towards feed. Summers and Fall are huge egg eating seasons for us. Deviled eggs, boiled eggs, salads with eggs, baking etc... I look forward to this Fall. The ducks should start kicking out a few in September.
Even the threads I seldom get responses on- I do read a little bit and even that is helpful. Books + this forum has been a fantastic resource combo!
Does anyone know if the Wheaten Marans have different egg laying abilities than the BC? They sure are gorgeous but it seems like some people are trying to breed it out and other breed it in. My head is spinning.
Hope everyone is off to a good week. Looks like some 90s and then triples this weekend here in Redding. Hope your weather is nicer than that!
*fans self*
