East RIver - South Dakota

[SD Bird Lady]

Also,

Amicus Will

I am only about 60 miles south west of Mitchell, not too far from you!

 

[amicuswill]

Thanks for your reply. I am just starting and have nothing so my first year will be I'm thinking more expense than what I might get in return. Retirement does put a limit on your budget especially if you are only on SS.

 

[SD Bird Lady]

Thanks for your reply. I am just starting and have nothing so my first year will be I'm thinking more expense than what I might get in return. Retirement does put a limit on your budget especially if you are only on SS.

Start - up will be the most costly part. Once you have a shelter/coop the rest of the expenses are pretty minor. I did luck out and get a garden shed from a relative for free when they built a new garage, but my nest boxes are 5 gallon buckets that I got from the nursing home and screwed to a board. My perches I tore out of an old grainry. I don't have proper chicken feeders just an old piece of eavstrough that I found in the scrap pile and nailed to the wall. My run is a dog kennel that we already had, but for the first 2 years i used welded wire with t-posts at the corners and deer netting over the top. I did have to lock them in each night to avoid predation until I started using electric fence. So there are many creative ways to use items that most people are throwing away or have no use for you just have to use your imagination.

I understand the budget aspect... we are a family of 5 with one income so money gets tight. In all honesty, it is cheaper to buy eggs & meat then it is to raise it. Home raised is healthier, but you aren't going to be saving yourself money unless you do extra for sale to others who want home raised and charge them a small "premium" for quality.

 

[spartman]

Im looking at getting some chickens to replace what I have and have lost over this long winter.

My criteria has been to get cold hardy birds and or broody birds.

This is the list I have come up with, and they meet one or both of the criteria.

Partridge,Barred,White Rock
Light Brahma
Partridge Cochin
Egyptian Fayoumis
Americana
Buff Orpington

What are your experiences or inputs etc on the various birds Im looking at.

Have been toying with getting 5 of each and going from there, or would it be best to just pick one breed?

Looking forward to your comments.

 

[SD Bird Lady]

My Light Brahmas are very docile birds, they do eat more than my EE's and California whites but are fairly consistent layers. Some lay an egg a day while others are on an every other day schedule. I haven't yet had anyone go broody. My EE's (hatchery ameracauna) are very skittish but are very cute with their beards and I love the color they add to my egg basket. I had a buff orpington a few years back and loved her, she was a very good layer and very friendly.

I like having a mixed flock. I have Light Brahma Roos and then 10 brahma hens, they are my only brown egg layers so if I want to hatch more I can easily tell which eggs to hatch but I have a soft spot for Brahmas & their feathered feet. I also have 4 California Whites & 4 EEs Good Luck!

 

[SouthDakotan]

I raised Buff Orpington before & found them quite nice. I don't think however the Egyptian Fayoumis is cold hardy. Egypt doesn't get down into the temps we get. I will be raising a couple of them as my granddaughters are also "Egyptian" (Literally born there) and so we're getting them "Egyptian chickens" for fun.

I will be selling some varieties too that are known to do well in our climate.

The Jersey Giants, Red Cap, Silver Gray Dorking, Lakenvelders, and Crevecoeurs are also supposed to be descent varieties. It really depends on whether one is free ranging or pen raising the birds. I have one friend who doesn't want birds that will fly out of their yard, due to her dogs & coyotes. Another has an interest in free range. Each has their own unique qualities they have to have, to survive their setting.

I want birds that will stay in poultry pens & not be flying out. So heavier breeds are bed. Also with the trees I have in my area, birds of prey could be a problem so I don't want birds that are readily carried off. The Dark Brahma and the BLACK GIANTS will be raised on my place his year as well as BLACK AUSTRALORP who is the ancestrial breed of the Orpington, to my understanding. I didn't focus this year on comb styles, which may help me further in selecting my ideal. I didn't loose any birds over the winter and that may have been because of the level of straw I made available for them in the coop. Not really sure, but I have seen a lot of comb frost-bite. So in the future I'd like to cull out breeds from my flock with large combs.

SILVER-LACED COCHINS straight run 3 Std $4.39
PARTRIDGE COCHINS Pullets 3 Std $5.34
BLACK LANGSHANS St. Run 2 Std $4.39
WHITE ORPINGTON Pullets 5 Std $3.22
Buff COCHINS Pullets 3 Std $5.34
SALMON FAVEROLLES St. Run 6 Std $3.79
CUCKOO MARAN Pullets 3 Std $5.39
BLUE COCHINS Pullets 3 Std $5.39
BLACK COCHINS Pullets 2 Std $5.34
LIGHT BRAHMAS Pullets 2 Std $3.40

The other major issue will be egg production over the winter. I want to see in the mix of breeds I am getting if I can improve my winter egg production with the use of warmer conditions via a solar panel and some well lit conditions. I have ready cold isn't what affects egg production, but rather its light. So as I get ready to build their new coop I am trying to remember some of these aspects & see if I can design into the coop better lighting and even a bit less extreme cold -- by installing a rocket stove system into the building.

 

[spartman]

Thank you for the info!

Are the prices etc you have there for birds you are selling or what you paid for your birds?

Im looking at Welp's this year over the local Runnings, since they really jacked their prices up this year.

I forgot to take the egyptians out, I had some that were actually pretty good and the last one I had actually got broody and hatched a couple of chicks.

I guess they get broody in their second year, so they made the list but not the combo of course.

 

[SouthDakotan]

Thank you for the info!

Are the prices etc you have there for birds you are selling or what you paid for your birds?

Im looking at Welp's this year over the local Runnings, since they really jacked their prices up this year.

I forgot to take the egyptians out, I had some that were actually pretty good and the last one I had actually got broody and hatched a couple of chicks.

I guess they get broody in their second year, so they made the list but not the combo of course.

The prices are the list prices for each that I paid & I'd want (plus the few cents the hatchery (McMurry) charges for vaccinations, etc. I wasn't doing it to make money, merely help fellow Chicken people in our area get diverse flocks. Some Urban chicken people just don't want to buy as many as the hatcheries require for a shipment. So since I'm close to Brookings & not far from Sioux Falls, I figured I'd make more varieties available to our local chicken hobbyists. My final chick order arrives in early June. So figure no more than 25 cents more on each of those listed. With pickup in Bushnell. That covers shipping costs to S.Dakota and the vaccinations, etc.

Anisah

 

[spartman]

Ahhhh ok.

Thanks

I could order with you some of the birds Im looking at if you would want to do that.

 

[SouthDakotan]

So far we have over 65 chicks coming to my house -- starting in May and ending in June. Everything under the sun it seems, including --

Crevecoeurs, Golden Polish, White Crested Black Polish, Black Australorp, Blue Cochin, Partridge Cochin, Silver laced Cochin, Black Cochin, Buff Cochin, Black Langshans, Cuckoo Maran, Light Brahmas, Dark Brahma, Buff Brahma, Salmon Faverolles, Black Giants (aka Jersey Giants), Silver Gray Dorking, Egyptian, Lakenvelder, Golden Campines, Andalusian, Buff Orpington, & White Orpington.

Not to mention we're also ordering three varieties of heritage turkeys between three families.

This doesn't count the various varieties of Pigeons that are arriving in the next month!

My little meager flock of survivors of a coon attack of my coop two years ago won't know what to think when all the new birds arrive!

Should be a great time as we watch the different varieties grow and mature in our climate, to see which are REALLY suitable for S.Dakota cold -- not merely zone 5 cold weather.