Future thinking of being an organic chicken farmer :) Need help in deciding

[tigger19687]

@paintedChix started a Conversation? is that the same as a PM?

 

[mobius]

Yes...conversations same as PM

 

[mockingbird]

Have you considered Dominiques? They are a dual-purpose heritage breed with small rose combs and not a lot of fancy extras. They lay a large brown egg. I have 3 in my flock and they lay almost every day - better than my ameraucanas, and are a much denser/meatier bird. They are also pretty smart about foraging and the first in my flock to figure out new puzzles - like when I move the entrance to the coop or make some other change. Oh and they are auto-sexing.

 

[JaeG]

Would ducks be out of the question? It's just some breeds of ducks can outstrip a chicken on the annual number of eggs laid. Cold hardy and prolific egg laying breeds are Khaki Campbell (considered a light breed laying 250-325 eggs annually), Ancona (medium breed laying 210-280 eggs annually), Buff Orpington (heavy breed laying 130-180 eggs annually) and Welsh Harlequin (heavy breed laying 150-200 eggs annually). Food for thought anyway.

Apparently chickens are born with 1000 ova and ducks 1500. Here's a good site for comparison: https://www.tyrantfarms.com/a-fowl-battle-ducks-vs-chickens/

 

[paintedChix]

@paintedChix started a Conversation? is that the same as a PM?

yes and I got your "conversation"... PM stood for private message in the previous website/forum set up (and on the two mini horse/shetland forums I'm active on).

 

[tigger19687]

Ducks are out, too messy plus I love chickens

Yes other forums use a 'pm' so glad (after 15 min of looking) I thought the conversation would work LOL

I will probably start with one breed (or 2) for 2 years (not sex-linked due to not being able to breed them with what I have) then change to another breed for 2 years. That way I am not over breeding the same line. I don't want to haev to BUY chicks.

Glad I have so much time to decide ! So many that I want

 

[RezChamp]

It gets c-c-c-c-co-co-col-cold-d-d!!!!!!! here. Maybe not as cold as Interior Yukon but way colder than pretty much anywhere in the US. Last winter we got about 1&1/2wks -40*C and over a month of -30.
The year before we got -56*C for a whole week of 6AM's and whole days of -50/-40.
The Plymouth Rocks(buff, columbian&partridge) all did well except all the cocks suffered frost bite on their wattles and combs. It didn't effect their virility come spring tho'.
The Orps...same,
RIR...same.
The Brahma(buff,lite&dark) faired real well and were the first to start laying.
The original(white) Chantecler were least affected although not my fave egg layer.
Over the 30+ years that I've raised chickens the worst for my weather is the Leghorns then other large combed birds.
The feather footed birds with smaller combs did not so bad so long as I trimmed their feet and/or kept the coop real clean.
Bigger framed heavier breeds with better feathering did better.
It's gotten to the point where I have put certain breeds together and let the survivors perpetuate.
The few birds I have left are wary&watchful of avian and terra firma predators, and forage widely but mainly in my "yard"...which is actually quite large with a varied landscape.
Some might say my birds of choice are essentially combining into a type of landrace.
The roo I have rightnow on some heritage breed hens(above) and the "landrace" hens is a PlymouthRock Barred. I dubbed his comb and wattles because he is good with the hens in that he's a gentlemanly bird but also alert to danger and will "sound" then make sure all the 25 hens are safe. I witnessed him fight a Merlin that had grabbed a pullet but he has never gone so far as to give a second look to any of my kids or grandkids or the multitude of visitors we get. He does assert his dominance over the ducks and turkeys(yes the toms too) but the geese are, as my g-kids say, "the boss of him".
From 25 hens I get 20-25 eggs every day from mid to late March right till late October. Even though I try to keep my coops heated, eggs freeze so I don't go out of my way to encourage egg laying during the cold months.
I don't know if I can be any more "organic" than what I'm doing already except perhaps breed some RuffedGrouse, SharpTailed Grouse, Spruce Grouse and Ptarmigan into my flockand let them eat totally naturally and roost in a spruce.
And yes I have thought of it.........☝but not long enough to actually do any research and/or fetch some of them wild birds.
Good luck

And blessings

 

[Leihamarie]

Thanks PP, All of those were on my list but heard the good and bad about the Barred Rocks.
My chicken list note book is getting bigger LOL

Just wanted to chime in on the BR topic. The first flock I had came with a BR. They were all 5weeks old when I got them and I thought for sure the BR was gonna end up being the first one I culled for being a jerk. She ended up being my favorite bird by far. Her name was Mabel and she ended up being SOOO cuddly and always in my lap talking to me or napping. She was definitely head hen and kept the flock in order REALLY well. She also took on the role of protector for the flock and I watched her step in front of them when "intruders" were present almost like a rooster might do. It's because of her that I'll probably always have at least 1 BR in the flock.

I'm now on BR #2 and she's shaping up to be another friendly, brave, adventerous lap chicken.

In my experience so far, it seems to come down to the level of interaction I have with my chickens and in large part, the individual chicken's personality. I've read that Andalusians are really flighty and not very friendly and I have one that prefers to settle in my lap than go out exploring with the flock.
I've also read that Marans are super social and mine is a total nervous nelly and doesn't really much like me to be near her, despite being hand raised as a chick with the Andalusian and the 2bd BR, go figure!
Chickens always surprise me!

 

[Candice Jones]

I just want to add to the heritage bird issue. While it is correct a production bird is going to give you more eggs in the first two years compared to a heritage breed, the heritage breed will be able to keep her steady production for 5-7 years. I would like to see the cost analysis of raising production birds every two years to laying age vs the cost of raising heritage and seeing how that plays out. Especially in a hobby flock where personality would be considered a plus.

No matter which breed you get, if your raising your own chicks you will eventually have freezer birds, as you will have to cull your roosters just to give your ladies a happy hen/rooster ratio.

 

[tigger19687]

@Candice Jones "I would like to see the cost analysis of raising production birds every two years to laying age vs the cost of raising heritage"
I 100% agree and have yet to find anything beyond a guess on that exact thought !