chicks, pullets or chickens for a NEWB???

[khaines628]

Hello everyone, (here are a few questions i have not found answers to yet)
I am new to the community and looking at starting to raise some chickens. I have just bought a house on alittle over half an acre and finally got the wife to agree to me getting "2" chickens when we move in. From your experience should someone with no experience raising anything except a dog start with chicks? I was thinking my best bet is to just go ahead and buy some hens that are already grown since I will be learning as I go. Or would you suggest i buy some chicks that are "x" weeks old that have already feathered? I plan on building a coop/run big enough for 4 chickens so i have room to expand. From what i have read on here the rule of thumb is 4sqft of coop space and 10sqft of run per chicken....so i was going to do a 12sqft coop and 40sqft run. Thoughts?

Also I was thinking that before buying the chicks/hens that I would plan some grass seed in the run and let it grow a bit wild before putting them in there so they immediately have something to peck and eat at. is this logical or stupid? lol. What grass would you recommend if i were to do this?

I know you can feed your birds scraps from the kitchen to save on feed money and provide them with additional nutrients. Is there any veggies or fruits i CANNOT feed them? I have read that bread is not good for them because it lacks nutrients for the birds. Also is there anything special i have to do to egg shells before I give them to the birds?

I am looking for hens to lay eggs but that are also docile to be "pets" and not too large because my wife does not want big chickens running around the yard lol. Right now I am thinking buff ophs, delaware, leghorn, RIR, or barred rocks......all depending on availibility. I will be in middle TN neark clarksville/ft campbell. (anyone here in that area that I could link up with?) based off what i have read and looked up these breeds should do the trick for what i am looking for. Does anyone suggest one of these breeds over the other based off my needs and lack of experience? are any of these easier/harder than the others to take care of?

If i clips the wings of my birds will it prevent all flying? I want them to be able to flutter up to a perch/branch in the run that way they can still be "birds" I dont want them confined to the ground. but i also dont want them flying off my property (4ft chain link fence) if i let them out in the yard.

Thank you for any and all input and help. Like i said I am new to this. I have been reading and "googling" but cant find all the answers.

-Kyle

 

[khaines628]

Sorry forgot another questions.
Can i put my yard scraps (leaves, grass clippings, garden clippings) in the run for them to forage through? Ive heard of people using their run as a sort of "compost" pile. Any truth to this? I was thinking that I could put all the aforementioned items in the run along with my banana peels, left over/scrap food, veggie scraps as food for them and compost. I could then clean that stuff out and use it as compost/fertilizer in my wife's garden. Will this work?

My wife's fruit/veggie garden will be fenced off with stakes and chicken wire so my dog doesnt get into it. If i put the birds in there to scratch around and clean up a bit, will they eat the actual plants or just what is on the ground?

Thanks again!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Plenty of people who never had chickens start with chicks and do fine. Chicks or started pullets/layers is kind of a toss up for benefits, chicks are going to need more specialized care and are touchier to care for, going to take considerably longer to start laying, you may get oops roosters or wrong breeds... but they tend to be tamer/friendlier if you raise them from the start, it is usually a lot easier to find chicks, especially in more varieties, and chicks are just so darn cute ... if you start with pullets you will get eggs sooner, you know you have pullets/breeds you wanted.
With the coop size, take chicken math into account, you are probably going to eventually want more chickens, so consider building bigger than you think you need right now.
Chickens are destructive and will decimate the grass inside the run sooner or later even if you plant something in there it won't last long, you might want to look into fodder systems, grazing frames, or consider a chicken tractor.
BYC Chicken Treat Chart, list of things to feed them, and not to feed them at the end https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens
How big do you consider big for a chicken? Check out the BYC Breeds section for member reviews of a lot of breeds, and the Henderson chicken breed chart compares a lot of popular breeds, http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html In general the brown egg layers tend to be somewhat calmer and more docile than the white egg layers. Orpingtons are really popular as pets and are decent layers though they have a tendency to go broody. RIR are really nice layers, but can be bossy with other breeds if you decide you want a mixed flock. Plymouth Rocks are good layers and nice birds, Wyandottes and Sussex are two other similar breeds you might consider. I have really come to like Delawares, nice friendly birds, good duel purpose, good layers of jumbo eggs, just wish they came in more colors.
Clipping wings will help but some birds will still be able to fly/hop/scramble over a 4" fence, especially when they are young and especially if they have anything near the fence it use as a launch point. When they are older the heavier breeds are less able/inclined to do that.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Some people do have a compost type thing in the run, do a search and you will see the different setups, depends on the size of the run and how much stuff you will have. Most people throw their grass clippings (be sure the lawn has not been sprayed / treated) kitchen scraps etc in the run for the chickens to go though. There are various opinions on how long chicken manure should be composted before using it on the garden so it doesn't burn the plants and to kill bacteria, so you may wind up wanting a seperate compost area anyhow.
Chickens can destroy your garden plants, they will eat stuff like tomatoes right off the vine if they can get too them, so you'd need to protect delicate or tempting to chickens plants ... so you can put them in the garden when you are there, but you will probably want to supervise them and keep them out of things they will destroy.