- Apr 24, 2015
- 5
- 3
- 57
Hey all!
I am new to chickens and to ducks. We moved from the suburbs in Southern California to Northern Alabama in October and bought a 20 acre farm in late November. Over the past few months we've been trying to decide how we want to utilize our farm (it is set up as a horse farm and yes, I have horses) to be the most beneficial to us and we originally started thinking about raising poultry to 1) become more self-sustaining and 2) to go back to feeding our dogs a raw diet.
As I started to research chickens I started really getting into the thought of raising some chicks and keeping a small flock. I was previously scared to death of chickens (chased as a child by a very mean rooster) and once I realized that they are nothing to fear, I started to fall in love with the idea of raising them for eggs and to cull. Since we have a pond on the property it made sense to add ducklings to the mix to aerate the pond, plus duck eggs couldn't hurt either!
So, in a matter of a month I went from 0 chickens to 21 and from 0 ducks to 5.
What do I have?
6 mix breed - "Asians" I bought from Tractor Supply that I refer to as my test batch - basically, I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to kill the chicks. It appears as though I have 3 hens and 3 roosters. The plan is to cull the roosters.
3 Ameraucana - I picked these up from a NPIP breeder who had the original buyer fall through on them. They are black and it looks like I may have 2 hens and a roo. I am not positive yet but I am hopeful and will possibly keep the roo.
10 Wyandottes - I really loved the pattern on the silver laced and since they are a good dual purpose bird I thought they would fit right in. I am not sure what I have for these guys yet since they are straight run and young. The roos will be culled, the hens will be kept for egg laying.
2 Silkies - I nabbed two silkies in hopes that I get a hen from one of the two. I have one black and one blue. They are adorable little things and I am planning on keeping the hens in case I decide to breed and my hens abandon their eggs. I hear they are great moms and will even look after ducklings. In addition, I am happy to have a little fuzzy pet running in my personal garden.
5 Magpie Ducks - I bought these ducklings (4 ladies, 1 drake) and plan on breeding these guys and keeping them all as pets. I don't have any intention of culling them unless they prove to be super aggressive or some other anomaly for the breed.
Right now we have 2 coops that are already set up but my husband and I are building them a luxury mansion in our older barn. We are creating a large, protected/enclosed, outdoor area and planting their own personal garden with leafy greens and sunflowers. Their indoor will also have some garden boxes and roosts/nesting boxes/feeders. We plan on letting our flock free range and then put them up at night but to start we want them used to the indoor coop and the enclosed outdoor area until they get the feeling they are home.
Our ducks have a coop of their own and the same concept applies - they will be put up at night but free range during the day.
So yeah, that is our flock in a nutshell. We are excited to start the venture and I am looking forward to having fresh eggs and delicious home-grown chickens.
I am new to chickens and to ducks. We moved from the suburbs in Southern California to Northern Alabama in October and bought a 20 acre farm in late November. Over the past few months we've been trying to decide how we want to utilize our farm (it is set up as a horse farm and yes, I have horses) to be the most beneficial to us and we originally started thinking about raising poultry to 1) become more self-sustaining and 2) to go back to feeding our dogs a raw diet.
As I started to research chickens I started really getting into the thought of raising some chicks and keeping a small flock. I was previously scared to death of chickens (chased as a child by a very mean rooster) and once I realized that they are nothing to fear, I started to fall in love with the idea of raising them for eggs and to cull. Since we have a pond on the property it made sense to add ducklings to the mix to aerate the pond, plus duck eggs couldn't hurt either!
So, in a matter of a month I went from 0 chickens to 21 and from 0 ducks to 5.
What do I have?
6 mix breed - "Asians" I bought from Tractor Supply that I refer to as my test batch - basically, I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to kill the chicks. It appears as though I have 3 hens and 3 roosters. The plan is to cull the roosters.
3 Ameraucana - I picked these up from a NPIP breeder who had the original buyer fall through on them. They are black and it looks like I may have 2 hens and a roo. I am not positive yet but I am hopeful and will possibly keep the roo.
10 Wyandottes - I really loved the pattern on the silver laced and since they are a good dual purpose bird I thought they would fit right in. I am not sure what I have for these guys yet since they are straight run and young. The roos will be culled, the hens will be kept for egg laying.
2 Silkies - I nabbed two silkies in hopes that I get a hen from one of the two. I have one black and one blue. They are adorable little things and I am planning on keeping the hens in case I decide to breed and my hens abandon their eggs. I hear they are great moms and will even look after ducklings. In addition, I am happy to have a little fuzzy pet running in my personal garden.
5 Magpie Ducks - I bought these ducklings (4 ladies, 1 drake) and plan on breeding these guys and keeping them all as pets. I don't have any intention of culling them unless they prove to be super aggressive or some other anomaly for the breed.
Right now we have 2 coops that are already set up but my husband and I are building them a luxury mansion in our older barn. We are creating a large, protected/enclosed, outdoor area and planting their own personal garden with leafy greens and sunflowers. Their indoor will also have some garden boxes and roosts/nesting boxes/feeders. We plan on letting our flock free range and then put them up at night but to start we want them used to the indoor coop and the enclosed outdoor area until they get the feeling they are home.
Our ducks have a coop of their own and the same concept applies - they will be put up at night but free range during the day.
So yeah, that is our flock in a nutshell. We are excited to start the venture and I am looking forward to having fresh eggs and delicious home-grown chickens.
and Welcome To BYC!
