Flock Mgmt - Long Term

[Hillbillenigma]

I’m one of “those“ people ~ a Researcher, a Planner, a list maker. However, one of the aspects of keeping chickens that I think can only come from experience is long term flock management. Here’s a quick summary before I ask for advice:

I kept a few bantam pairs about 30 years ago, but had no real plan or purpose. My main reason to keep chickens now is for the enjoyment of the birds with a side benefit of having fresh eggs. I have now completed my Coop and Run plans (after hours of research on BYC). I’m starting the build at the end of this month. I ordered 20 chicks from Cackle in early Feb and the earliest hatch date I could get (after choosing 4 different breeds) was July 31st. The dimensions for my Coop / Run are based on 20 full grown chickens.

I plan on keeping one Rooster and approximately 15 hens. I’d like to breed Barnevelders as a hobby / not for show (hoping one of the Roosters I receive will work out), but the other breeds I ordered are just for pleasure. I would try to improve the Barnevelders over time by buying replacements from breeders (when necessary). I will incubate eggs when needed / desired.

What are some long term management situations / questions I should be considering? Ie. Do I need to plan a separate space to house the breeders? Will a collapsable brooder in the Coop area be sufficient for future chicks? Should I plan on retiring most of my Hens after 2 years… or 3…or longer? I don’t really mind feeding some Hens that are inconsistent layers (especially if they are friendly). Should I plan on replacing my Rooster every other year.. or longer?

I just don’t know what to plan for beyond the first year. Any advice (not just specific to the questions above) would be appreciated.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Main issue if you're planning on breeding/hatching consistently is you have planned on keeping 15 chickens initially but built for 20 total. So that doesn't give you a lot of wiggle room to be adding more birds regularly unless you're also cycling out old ones regularly. Not saying it can't be done but it will make it harder to integrate newcomers, manage flock size, etc. I'm kind of in that situation now where I do have a staggered age flock, but only have room for 2 more birds, so until one of my older hens moves on to the pasture in the sky, I really can't add chicks to help boost egg production.

IMO best plan is to have brooding hens or newly purchased chicks housed within view of the flock, for easier integration/re-integration. So if the coop is built to allow for a section to be fenced off for that purpose (and especially if you can run power out there) that would be optimal.

Roosters should be good for a few years of breeding I think, especially if you feel you have a good one. After that you'd want to cycle in fresh blood, so to speak.

 

[Kiki]

The one big problem I see often on the forum is people bringing disease home. Most people don't quarantine properly. Don't forget, learn about, how easy it is to bring nasty diseases home. Prevention is worth it's weight in gold. Having to nurse sick birds all the time is not fun and will end your chance of selling birds.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do I need to plan a separate space to house the breeders?

If your only rooster is a Barnevelder and you can tell which eggs are from the Barnevelder hens, no, you don't need to. Otherwise yes. But for the long term if you plan to breed it would probably come in very handy to have a second facility. You can build it later.

Will a collapsable brooder in the Coop area be sufficient for future chicks?

How many chicks? How big of a brooder? My brooder is permanently built into the coop, I like brooding out there.

Should I plan on retiring most of my Hens after 2 years… or 3…or longer?

Not sure what you mean by "retire". After a certain point the older they get the less they lay. I eat my older hens at about 2-1/2 years and rotate in about 1/3 of the flock numbers every year. That's partly to keep egg numbers up and because I play with genetics. We all have to find our own system to match our unique goals. That can take some trial and error and goals can change as you gain experience.

Should I plan on replacing my Rooster every other year.. or longer?

In some respects you can go several years. It depends somewhat on the quality of your current rooster and some on what can you replace him with. Will the replacement be of better quality?

I just don’t know what to plan for beyond the first year.

That is hard. Partly because there is no one way to get to where I think you want to go. I'm not sure you truly know where that is but you have a lot of options to get to wherever that is. Partly because as you gain experience some plans will change. My goals sure did.

My suggestion is to make general plans as you are trying to do and get started. Gain that experience but be flexible as you find out what works and what you don't want to ever do again.

I have now completed my Coop and Run plans (after hours of research on BYC). I’m starting the build at the end of this month. I ordered 20 chicks from Cackle in early Feb and the earliest hatch date I could get (after choosing 4 different breeds) was July 31st. The dimensions for my Coop / Run are based on 20 full grown chickens.

That's risky though you said you plan to only keep 16.. The BYC magic numbers assume you have an integrated flock of the same sex, though one rooster is OK), that you will never let a broody hen raise chicks with the flock, and you will never integrate new chickens of any age. It sounds like you are going to use an incubator instead of depending on broody hens (which I think is wise) but this is still not your operation. You are going to be integrating chickens since you are brooding them and improving your flock. There is an excellent chance you will go over 20 total chickens. If you build to these standards where will you put the brooder in the coop or if you need a breeding area will that be a totally new construction or will you use some of this space? I assume you are planning on an 8 x 10 building. That will probably work for a year or two but I think within a couple of years you will either downsize your plans or do some more building. Still, it's not a horrible size to start with and may be a good finishing point.

One thing you have in your favor is location. You should have weather so your chickens can be outside practically all day every day of the year. That takes a lot of pressure off of the size of your coop.

 

[Hillbillenigma]

Thanks to everyone who responded. Based on your advice, I think it may be beneficial to increase the planned size of my run. I think my 10’ X 12’ Coop plan should suffice.

@Kiki Yep, I learned that lesson watching other chicken keepers long ago.

@rosemarythyme Thanks! The eventual “staggered age flock” that you forecasted is something I need to consider.

@Ridgerunner - Great advice. you are correct in that I don’t have a real long term plan, I think I will have to evaluate (possibly more than once) as time goes along. You are correct in that the weather here is fairly moderate - some 90+ degree Summer days with high humidity. I hadn’t thought of that as a positive, but you’re right.

 

[Mrs. K]

First - I will admit, I have had numerous plans, but seldom do chicken plans work out for me.
2nd - Do not be surprised, if there is a breed that you are pretty sure, this will be my focus...only to find out, for what ever reason - they really don't float your boat.
3rd - Plan on keeping a flock, not individual birds, a flock where birds come into and out of the flock.
4th - you can cheat on the numbers with chicks and the long days of summer...but come the fall- you MUST have a flock that fits into your set up.
5th - no matter how you measure, sometimes you will get a bird that just does not fit into your flock. No matter how you raise the roosters - sometimes you get one that is just mean

Always solve for peace in the flock. The flock is not static and is always changing.

Mrs K

 

[aart]

You are correct in that the weather here is fairly moderate - some 90+ degree Summer days with high humidity. I hadn’t thought of that as a positive, but you’re right.

Heat can be really hard on chickens, make sure they have plenty of deep shade.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You are correct in that the weather here is fairly moderate - some 90+ degree Summer days with high humidity. I hadn’t thought of that as a positive, but you’re right.

I was thinking more in terms of winter. I was raised in the Cumberland Gap area, the chickens were not locked in the coop because of weather very much at all in winter. Winter is often when people get in trouble with overcrowding because they lose the use of the run.

Aart is correct, heat can be more dangerous than cold. With shade and water you should be OK in your summers unless you get a freak heat event.