Chicken proposal

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chickenink

chickenink

Hatching
7 Years
Jan 2, 2013
6
0
7
Hi I'm new here (obviously) and am researching about chickens as much as I possibly can. I want to have them as pets, but my dad has this whole 'pet proposal' thing. It's 25 questions such as 'what is the monthly cost?' and 'why do you want a chicken?' that I have to answer and present to him. I'm hoping to get four Minorca chickens, possibly 1 years old? IDK. I just want to have some cute, cuddly, egg-laying, used-to-heat chickens. Love this website, has definitely topped my "good chicken websites' list. :)
 
The average adult hen will eat 1/3 lb of feed every day. It will rise a little more in the winter and will fall if you allow they to free range. A fifty lb bag of feed costs $16. 50 divided by 1 1/3 (because you have four girls) gives you 37.5. So every 37 days you would have to buy feed. Plus you have your housing and what not. I do not know if you already have a coop, or an area that can serve the purpose of a coop. I hope i did the math correctly haha. I would also personally raise the hens as chicks if possible, that way you can hold them everyday and they will be more cuddly. Good luck!
 
Thanks a ton! I want to get them as chicks, but it looks like it'll be too expensive. Plus, I'm a worry wart and I'll be afraid that they'll all die or something. Thanks for the info, though! Where do you get your feed?
 
Loosing your chickens is always a risk with predators and sickness, but it is well worth the risk. I love my girls haha. I buy all my feed at my local tractor supply. You could probably find a cheaper place than that though.
 
Greetings from Kansas, chickenink, and
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! Great to have you here. Why are you wanting to start with 1 year old birds? At that age they will have already been laying for 5-6 months. Perhaps start with chicks???
 
Hello and welcome from Ohio....so glad you joined us. I have my fingers crossed for you that you get your new chickens soon. I have bantams and they dont eat a lot at all but they do free range if possible. Just make sure you have a very secure place to lock them up at night as most predators love chicken.
 
redsoxs, I want to get chickens at adult age, whenever that is. When would that be? I want them when they no longer need to be in a brooder and can lay good eggs. What age would that be? I don't want them as chicks because that would be too much work/time and money. Plus, like I said before, I'd worry about them too much! :(
 
Hello and welcome to BYC
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I think you must show your Dad that you are serious about this and know what you are getting into. Have a look at our Learning Center. That'll give you an idea about what you would need for chicks, or older birds and it will teach you the basics of chicken keeping and help you decide what age would be better for you. Chicks are more work, but they can be great fun and older chickens would be less hassle, but won't be as tame... Year old chickens would have been laying for awhile already, I'd say get point of lay rather, if you choose older birds.

There's a great breed chart here that'll tell you more about the different breeds and their eggs:

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html
 

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