Getting ready to jump in!

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stephsicola

stephsicola

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We finally moved to the country after six years in a townhouse where chickens were not allowed, and we are waiting on our first chicks to arrive later this spring! We will have 25: 5 Scots Dumpys and 20 Orpingtons (an assortment).

I've been reading for almost a year and now I'm ready to jump in. We just need to get building!

Any tips on raising 25 chickens on a budget? Most of the tips I've seen seem more helpful for smaller flocks.

Also, any guesses on how many chicks I can expect to lose?
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
frow.gif


Hard to say how many you may lose as you may not lose any! If the weather is good and the shipping goes smoothly you may receive them all or only lose one or two. But I sure hope they all make it!!

You will love your Orps. Wonderful breed to keep!! Just friendly, docile, great layers and if you are looking for meat birds they dress up nicely for the table. If they are just pets, they make wonderful lap warmers!! :-)

Enjoy this new journey you are on and if you have any questions along the way, feel free to ask. Welcome to our flock!
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Since the coop etc is usually the biggest expense, craigslist etc where you can find things to recycle (check out pallet coops also) are usually good places to look, if you do a search some nice threads on limiting expenses https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/850321/diy-homesteading-life-on-a-budget you might also check into fermenting feed to help the feed costs, lots of nice threads on that ie https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds
Are your chicks getting shipped? (Sand Hill?) If everything goes well, usually figure on losing about 5% of shipped chicks the first week (doa/shipping stress, and the chicks that have problems not visible when they were packed.) is pretty normal... often you do get lucky and every chick makes it. If you get unlucky, hard trip, the post office does something dumb, poor quality chicks etc your losses can be a lot higher. Always go with Express mail also if they offer it.
If you are talking picking up the chicks, you really shouldn't lose more than the occasional one since you should be able to pick out healthy active chicks.
 
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Yes they are from Sand Hill :) They're the only place that I found that sells Scots Dumpys, and I really wanted them (I am in a 1745 Scottish Jacobite reenacting group and they are period accurate). I hope I don't lose all the Scots Dumpy hens!
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. I've always ordered chicks in batches of 25 and typically lose 1 or 2 in shipping. However, since the hatcheries I've ordered from always put 2 or 3 extra in the boxes, I've always gotten what I've paid for. Orpingtons are a wonderful breed; very hardy, calm and gentle (my children, and now my granddaughter, made lap pets of them), and good layers of large, brown eggs. I've never owned Scots Dumpys, but I've heard good things about them, and I like the look of them. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Cheers.
 

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