Consolidated Kansas

[coricorndog]

Hi Kansas Chicken People! I've been lurking around here for over a year, I think and have officially decided to take the plunge and get a few chickens. I've read that for a beginner it's best to get some teenage girls. Would you agree? Where could I find them? I live in Arkansas City.

 

[ctrymama]

Well here is the progress on our coop so far, everything has been found and repurposed except chicken wire.

still have lots of work to do but it will surely be unique.

 

[chicken danz]

coricorndog, I don't know. If it were me I'd read up on chick keeping and start with chicks. You will be able to get them "attached" to you where an older chicken might be flighty and untamed. Or buy some in the 8 week to 2 month old range if you can find them if you don't want to deal with heat. Figure out what you want in a chick -what qualities, what breeds you would like to own. Or even ask us questions if something in particular interests you. If you want mixed chicks that is fine too but try to get mixes of breeds that have the qualities you are looking for. Do you want prolific egg layers just as egg layers or do you want pets and or egg layers? Do you want fancy colors or markings or plain colors. Will you have a covered pen or a lower fence? Do you plan to keep them in a pen or free range in a back yard? City or country?
Do you want bantams or large fowl? The biggest differences here are the amounts of feed consumption and the size of eggs. You often trade one for another.
Do you want egg layers, pets, or both? Do you want brown eggs, white, or colored? Do you want birds you can show or just birds for your own needs?
The one thing I will definitely say is DO NOT get cornish cross if you are looking for egg layers. They are bred strictly for meat.

 

[chicken danz]

Well here is the progress on our coop so far, everything has been found and repurposed except chicken wire. still have lots of work to do but it will surely be unique.

Great progress. I've been looking for a wooden swing set with a fort to re-purpose but everyone is silly rediculous on their price or they are spoken for before I can contact them. Looks like the kids are enjoying the process. If they are like my kids were they'd be playing in the "cage".

 

[sharol]

Hi Kansas Chicken People! I've been lurking around here for over a year, I think and have officially decided to take the plunge and get a few chickens. I've read that for a beginner it's best to get some teenage girls. Would you agree? Where could I find them? I live in Arkansas City.

Welcome to the family.

I was where you are 4 years ago. I decided to get baby chicks of a variety of breeds. I had decided I wanted some green or blue eggs as well as other colors, so I made sure to get some Easter Eggers.

Some advice:

1. If you are limited in the number of chickens you can have (in town for instance), your coop size will be dicatated by that number. That 4 sq. ft. per bird INSIDE THE coop number works really well as does the 10 sq ft. per chicken run size (if they aren't free ranging during the day). When I first set up my flock, I bought a movable coop (Hen Hoop) that the manufacturer said could house 7-8 hens. Right. 3-4 maybe, but not my 7 large fowl hens. I ended up getting a second coop (a metal building that we adapted). I intentionally got one that was 6x8 to avoid the temptation to add larger numbers of chickens later. If I keep the numbers to 12-18, I should be fine. Right now I have 13 counting my roo, and 3 chicks with the broody. The Hoop has come in really handy as a broody quarters and a quarantine area. If you can have unlimited numbers, chicken math is a reality in this hobby, so you might want to get something bigger than you think you will need.

2. Danz is right. Think about what your priorities are. Egg color? Egg numbers? Yard art birds (that is my priority) -- I love looking at the variety. Color of eggs is second, and I have a very colorful egg basket -- dark egg layers (Marans), green egg layers (EE's), lighter brown (buff orpington and Delawares), and white (Campine - who by the way is the head hen at half the size of any of the other chickens).

3. I would start with babies because they are fun. Baby chickens are adorable, and if you handle them when they are little, some of them will become lap chickens.

4. I ordered my first group from My Pet Chicken. While they are/were sturdy, healthy chicks, they were also very expensive if you count the shipping (in their defense, they have a huge variety available,and they are honest about their EE's), and there are baby chicks available in most localities. TSC, Orshlen's, Bluestem here in Emporia all have "chick days." The trick is to show up the first day they have the babies so that you will get recent arrivals. Even driving to another place is cheaper than the shipping. That said, I couldn't have gotten my wonderful, chatty Campine locally at the time. Another alternative is to buy chicks from a local breeder. I'm sure someone in this list knows someone in your area with chicks for sale. You might have to travel a bit for specific breeds, but you will know what you are getting (breed wise, not gender wise since most individuals don't sex their chicks at hatch).

Just have fun browsing. The Chicken Whisperer has a nice magazine that is free (digital version) http://www.chickenwhisperer.com/ and while I don't agree with everything he says, he gives good, sensible advice. He is affiliated with TSC -- they sponsor his radio show. This site is amazing with all the good help and advice not to mention the sense of community support. There is also a Dummies Guide available from the BYC store, but most of the info in it is available here if you have time to dig it out.

 

[22qZoo]

Well here is the progress on our coop so far, everything has been found and repurposed except chicken wire. still have lots of work to do but it will surely be unique.

Way-to-go ! we made a swingset coop too and use it as a grow out pen. I think we went a little overboard but it's pretty sturdy . The two geese stayed in it this winter


CORICORNDOG~ I would suggest chicks too. They are "cheep"er and as with any first time experience there can be a bit of a learning curve.

 

[22qZoo]

I know what you mean about your chickens not liking the show environment. When you get to know them, you want them to be happy and comfortable, right? They are people, too.

When I was (much) younger, I bought a Burmese cat to show. She was a lovely little thing, and she got her championship in just 3 (I think) shows. She had potential to be a real winner, but she hated the shows. Strangers handling her and nowhere to hide from the crowds. After she had one litter of kittens, and I sold them easily, I decided that the show life wasn't for her, and I had her spayed. When I had bought her, the breeder said not to expect a long life, that Burmese (in the 70's) were so inbred that they rarely lived to be 10 years old. When she died at 17, I called the breeder to tell her how much I had loved Coco and how much pleasure she and her son had given us. The breeder said that her longevity was due to the lack of show stress and good medical care she had received throughout her life. I think that is true of other species, too. Maybe there is a human lesson in there somewhere.

Quote:
I don't know if anybody out there does this but, I think a fun way to show chickens would be to combine it with another layed-back event like,,,a bluegrass festival or fiddle contest, or an antique car show, or retro camper rally ,or even a miniature livestock show. 3 days max, with some down time to go do something else while the birds had some quiet time. But then again I can be one of those "ideas people" with out the ability to back any of it up.

 

[Trish44]

Hi Kansas Chicken People! I've been lurking around here for over a year, I think and have officially decided to take the plunge and get a few chickens. I've read that for a beginner it's best to get some teenage girls. Would you agree? Where could I find them? I live in Arkansas City.

Welcome, as sharol said there are many places right now you can get chicks from. I agree with Danz, I would get chicks instead of older birds, they will get accustomed to you easier starting out. If you don't want day old chicks you can find them from people hatching usually that are starting to feather out. I'm not far from you, send me a PM & we can discuss that further. I also agree with deciding what your goal is with the chickens, that makes a difference in what breeds you choose.

Well I drove over to Wellington today for the swap & it was pretty much a bust. It was only me & the guy who runs the thing, really disappointing. I think the problem is they don't promote it enough.

 

[ctrymama]

Well I am now banned from the feed store, lol. Went in for more wire came out with 2 more chickies. Hubs not happy but I can't let the kids have all the fun, so I got me a couple of buff orpingtons.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

Well I am now banned from the feed store, lol. Went in for more wire came out with 2 more chickies. Hubs not happy but I can't let the kids have all the fun, so I got me a couple of buff orpingtons.

Looks like chicken math is catching up on ya... . I was just like you 2 years ago. I told myself I ONLY needed x number of chickens because we want eggs and sometimes meat from them. Well... I got bit by chicken math and continue to add chicks to my flock. LOL. To be honest, I'm still trying to narrow down the breeds I want/need so I'll continue to get different breeds until I got it figured out.

Good job on your chicken coop. It is coming along very nicely. I love to repurpose things around. Free is always good. Money definitely doesn't grow on tree for me.