Flock Management--set up questions

[penella22]

(Hope this is in the right section! I did read the little warning at the top here!)

So, I am very new to owning chickens--I haven't even bought them yet. I've read a few books though and spent some time here in the Learning Center. My goal is to eventually have Russian Orloff's and raise them as meat birds. I am allergic to eggs so meat birds make more sense for me. However, the Orloff's are a fairly rare breed and I'm wondering if it would be better for me to start with a more common breed, so that if I lose a few through newbie mistakes at least it's not hurting the Orloff's as a breed. What do more experienced chicken owners think?

I currently do not have much of a chicken coop. I found a small used coop that is just 3 x 4. That means 12 square feet, so 3 hens as far as I can tell is what I can comfortably house in there. Right? It sounds to me like having 3 hens and no rooster is ok but I wanted to double check on that as well.

I read through some of the threads on dogs. I have 2 dogs, each of which weigh a mere 9 lbs. My mini poodle shows no interest in birds, but on a field trip to my aunt's house my cairn terrier mix had the time of his life escaping from the fenced in dog yard to chase my aunt's chickens. He has bad knees and is a slow awkward rescue dog, so all the chickens fairly easily outran him. Still, I am thinking it might be best to start with full grown birds that are close to his weight while I train him to be around the birds. It seems like this might be safer than chicks. I found an ad on craigslist where a woman nearby is selling her flock of 1 yr old birds for $20 a piece.

She has mostly Wyandottes and Orps, so I was thinking I would buy 3 Wyandottes. I have plenty of friends and family who will eat the eggs and it will give me a chance to get my feet wet and figure out what I'm doing. BUT--I don't know much about assessing her birds for age aside from looking at the scales on their legs. Are there other ways to tell? I've read a little about determining health--check the feathers are smooth, eyes are bright--but any pro tips on that would also be appreciated.

Thanks so much for passing on advice to a newbie!

P.S. I'm here in VT where the snow hasn't even left yet!! I think Wyandottes are slightly more cold tolerant than Orps, right? I just want to make sure I don't end up with aggressive individuals!

 

[gatorshark75]

(Hope this is in the right section! I did read the little warning at the top here!)

So, I am very new to owning chickens--I haven't even bought them yet. I've read a few books though and spent some time here in the Learning Center. My goal is to eventually have Russian Orloff's and raise them as meat birds. I am allergic to eggs so meat birds make more sense for me. However, the Orloff's are a fairly rare breed and I'm wondering if it would be better for me to start with a more common breed, so that if I lose a few through newbie mistakes at least it's not hurting the Orloff's as a breed. What do more experienced chicken owners think?

I currently do not have much of a chicken coop. I found a small used coop that is just 3 x 4. That means 12 square feet, so 3 hens as far as I can tell is what I can comfortably house in there. Right? It sounds to me like having 3 hens and no rooster is ok but I wanted to double check on that as well.

I read through some of the threads on dogs. I have 2 dogs, each of which weigh a mere 9 lbs. My mini poodle shows no interest in birds, but on a field trip to my aunt's house my cairn terrier mix had the time of his life escaping from the fenced in dog yard to chase my aunt's chickens. He has bad knees and is a slow awkward rescue dog, so all the chickens fairly easily outran him. Still, I am thinking it might be best to start with full grown birds that are close to his weight while I train him to be around the birds. It seems like this might be safer than chicks. I found an ad on craigslist where a woman nearby is selling her flock of 1 yr old birds for $20 a piece.

She has mostly Wyandottes and Orps, so I was thinking I would buy 3 Wyandottes. I have plenty of friends and family who will eat the eggs and it will give me a chance to get my feet wet and figure out what I'm doing. BUT--I don't know much about assessing her birds for age aside from looking at the scales on their legs. Are there other ways to tell? I've read a little about determining health--check the feathers are smooth, eyes are bright--but any pro tips on that would also be appreciated.

Thanks so much for passing on advice to a newbie!

P.S. I'm here in VT where the snow hasn't even left yet!! I think Wyandottes are slightly more cold tolerant than Orps, right? I just want to make sure I don't end up with aggressive individuals!

if you want to grow meat birds the jersey giant is a good choice or the black jersey giant or even a red broiler stay away from the true production meat birds like the cornish cross they are aggravating even for a seasoned keeper i raise them but its a pain sometimes

 

[gatorshark75]

i would start out with chicks and stay away from grown birds unless you know the grower and know how their birds have been taken care of

 

[misbhaven]

I would add dorkings to your list they have a gentle nature, roo's are usually good also. I got mine from a breeder she only ever had one mean one in years. google then their meat is very good , year round layers.

 

[Den in Penn]

Your plans sound about right. Start with a few adults till you are confident. No need for a rooster, in fact not having one for a beginner makes things easier. Even with bad wheels that terrier may still be able to surprise and catch them, so make sure he can't get near them. There really is no sure way to tell the age of a chicken between starting to lay and way, way to old to lay. They molt and grow new feathers every year, so just after they grow the new feathers their coat looks good. Scales on the legs vary too much between individuals and to some extent by breed. Scale mites can be a problem so. If you can check for external parasites, lice and mites. The Wyandottes are a cold tolerant breed. The ones I have aren't aggressive, but that can be a problem with any individual.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think $20 a bird is a bit high. Personally, if I could get full grown hens, that is the way I would go, they are sturdier and you get eggs quicker, but the thing is, is that by the time they are laying, they are ready for butchering..... so you would be buying the birds to keep a few weeks to butcher?

I read that you are not interested in eggs, but rather the meat..... perhaps you have thought of this, and I do and have butchered my own, but with only three birds it is going to be quite hard to raise something up and butcher it in 6 months. When I am getting ready to butcher something, I think of it differently.

I think there is a learning curve that one develops the hard way, so I would recommend that you try some just ordinary birds and see how it goes.

Good luck,

Mrs K

 

[austinm]

I'd look at Australian Austrolorp bread they are hearty egg layers in cold weather I'm in the Chicago area so I know about cold weather and my Austrolorp's layed great even in below zero temps

 

[Ridgerunner]

Don’t worry about your raising orloffs or anything else and hurting the breed if you lose one. Those chicks probably would not have lived to start with if you didn’t want them.

There’s a lot more to continuing the breed than just getting some and letting them breed. You need to get hold of a copy of the Standard of Perfection (SOP) and choose your breeders according to that. If you are interested in doing that, you need to get hold of an “Orloff” club and talk to them. They can provide a lot of help with getting good stock to start with and help on how to keep your stock good.

There is nothing wrong with starting small with other birds and learning how to go about it. As much as I enjoy it, raising chickens is not for everyone. My main goal with mine is for meat. Most of my eggs go to a church group that sells them with the money raised going to a special fund or they go to a local food bank.

 

[penella22]

Thanks everyone for the advice and feedback. I'll research australorps and dorkings some more and add them to the list. I appreciate people's feedback on learning curve vs. getting the chickens you really want.

If I did start with just a few layers this year, and then tried meat birds next year, I'm curious how much time it takes to care for them through the winter? Also wondering what people recommend to ensure they have access to water that isn't frozen?

Everyone around me is gearing up to have their chicks delivered and I haven't ordered any yet!!! I may have to wait until next year, and it's tough seeing everyone else ordering their birds!