I just found this Which Chicken Breed Selection pageat My Pet Chicken. It's kinda fun to play with, especially if you want all sorts of different colored eggs. Good luck with whatever you decide!
Getting started - how many and which breed(s)?
- Thread starter MamaSteph
- Start date
Do your research, read up on the different breeds and decide which ones you'd like to try based on what you're goal is (meat, eggs or both). Take your time. One thing everyone always says is don't start with too many. Why not try a sample, two or three of a few different breeds. Many hatcheries sell packages of mixed breeds to give the buyer a wide variety to experience. When you find the breeds you really like, it'll hit you square between the eyes!
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Oh, Sandra. I think we could become very good friends.
Oh, Sandra. I think we could become very good friends.
- Thread starter
- #15
Apologies in advance for a super-long reply. Thanks so much for all of the input. After I wrote this post, my husband informed me that he wants bantams and likes EEs the best, which is not at all what I had in mind
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Of course not! I was just looking for some input and wanting to see how others have done it or what they would do in my situation.
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I totally feel you. There have been chickens up on my local freecycle every few days recently and it's taken a lot of self-control not to take them, even though we aren't moved in (I need to get packing too!) and don't have a coop ready yet. As a side note, I think I know you from the LJ Winter/December DDC (I'm Sihaya48). Nice to see a semi-familiar face!
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Thanks, Pat. Good point about plans changing and being able to get more chicks later on instead of getting them all at once.
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I remember the RIRs from when I was a kid being pretty aggressive. Since we have a young child and plan to have more kids, temperament is a priority for me. Is egg production similar to RIRs or less?
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Lots of good tips here. Thank you so much!
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Well, I am a city girl, but had chickens as part of a school project so I think I can tell between a pullet and a 4 year old!
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Interesting. This is something to consider, but will mean two separate coops, right? Not sure if that's going to be feasible...
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This was what I was originally wanting to do. Glad to hear it as advice from someone else.
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This is exactly the kind of advice I was hoping to hear! Thanks for bringing up the production cycle - that's something I didn't consider.
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Is it going to be a problem to start with a coop large enough for 50-75 chickens but only have 10-20 in it? I was under the impression that it could be bad for the chickens in the winter if they have too much room (Michigan winters can be pretty rough).
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If it was up to me, we would hire it out. I have no interest in doing it myself, having watched it done before. However, my husband is very interested in doing it as both of his parents are butchers and he grew up with deer carcasses hanging up in his garage every hunting season.
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Thanks for mentioning McMurray as an option and that you wouldn't get an assortment again in the future. Thanks for sharing what you would get. Is there a reason that you would prefer more variety? I guess I don't understand the appeal of having 1-2 of a bunch of breeds vs. a bunch of 2-5 breeds.
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This is all good to know. Thanks so much!
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I found that yesterday and took it. It's a good tool for layers, but not so much if you want meat chickens. Unfortunately, my husband and I want opposite things (he wants all bantams and different colored eggs, while I want bigger breeds and all brown eggs).
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We don't have a pond, so we aren't planning on ducks any time soon, though my husband thinks we need "guard geese"
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I didn't know I could order mixed breeds without choosing which ones I wanted. This may be a good way to start out the first year and see what I like and what I don't.
Again, thanks so much and keep the good advice coming!
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Of course not! I was just looking for some input and wanting to see how others have done it or what they would do in my situation.
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Thanks, Pat. Good point about plans changing and being able to get more chicks later on instead of getting them all at once.
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I remember the RIRs from when I was a kid being pretty aggressive. Since we have a young child and plan to have more kids, temperament is a priority for me. Is egg production similar to RIRs or less?
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Lots of good tips here. Thank you so much!
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Well, I am a city girl, but had chickens as part of a school project so I think I can tell between a pullet and a 4 year old!
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Interesting. This is something to consider, but will mean two separate coops, right? Not sure if that's going to be feasible...
Quote:
This was what I was originally wanting to do. Glad to hear it as advice from someone else.
Quote:
This is exactly the kind of advice I was hoping to hear! Thanks for bringing up the production cycle - that's something I didn't consider.
Quote:
Is it going to be a problem to start with a coop large enough for 50-75 chickens but only have 10-20 in it? I was under the impression that it could be bad for the chickens in the winter if they have too much room (Michigan winters can be pretty rough).
Quote:
If it was up to me, we would hire it out. I have no interest in doing it myself, having watched it done before. However, my husband is very interested in doing it as both of his parents are butchers and he grew up with deer carcasses hanging up in his garage every hunting season.
Quote:
Thanks for mentioning McMurray as an option and that you wouldn't get an assortment again in the future. Thanks for sharing what you would get. Is there a reason that you would prefer more variety? I guess I don't understand the appeal of having 1-2 of a bunch of breeds vs. a bunch of 2-5 breeds.
Quote:
This is all good to know. Thanks so much!
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I found that yesterday and took it. It's a good tool for layers, but not so much if you want meat chickens. Unfortunately, my husband and I want opposite things (he wants all bantams and different colored eggs, while I want bigger breeds and all brown eggs).
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I didn't know I could order mixed breeds without choosing which ones I wanted. This may be a good way to start out the first year and see what I like and what I don't.
Again, thanks so much and keep the good advice coming!
Google Henderson's chicken chart. It lists many breeds and their particular characteristic. Also keep in mind your local weather/climate. I have BRs, RIRs, SLWs, Delawares, and EEs. Ilike them all, but I LOVE my BRs!
- Thread starter
- #17
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I have it open in another window right now
It's actually what I used to choose the three breeds I listed in my first post and I'm looking at it again and thinking about expanding to more breeds to start.
I have it open in another window right now
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If you want efficient production of meat birds, even if it's just a matter of feeding up your surplus layer-breed chicks before slaughter, it'll be pretty hard I think unless you *can* separate the flocks.
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No, there is no such thing as too large a coop, even way up north. Honest. You can always put up a temporary partition to give the chickens a smaller area they can more easily keep warm for the coldest part of the winter, no big deal.
However, your ideas about coop design may very well change as you get more chicken experience under your belt. If you are wanting both meat and eggs, what about building one coop now, designed so that you can either add onto it later or build a second nearby one later?
If you want efficient production of meat birds, even if it's just a matter of feeding up your surplus layer-breed chicks before slaughter, it'll be pretty hard I think unless you *can* separate the flocks.
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No, there is no such thing as too large a coop, even way up north. Honest. You can always put up a temporary partition to give the chickens a smaller area they can more easily keep warm for the coldest part of the winter, no big deal.
However, your ideas about coop design may very well change as you get more chicken experience under your belt. If you are wanting both meat and eggs, what about building one coop now, designed so that you can either add onto it later or build a second nearby one later?
I found that yesterday and took it. It's a good tool for layers, but not so much if you want meat chickens.
If you want meat chickens there is not too much to choose, really. I mean, basically you have only four choices: CornishX type broiler chicks (which you buy anew each year, you can't breed them yourself); or other (slightly smaller, slower growing, less efficient, but hardier) broiler chicks such as Freedom Rangers etcetera, which you buy anew each year; or any sort of heavy dual-purpose breed which will not get you anything like the kind of chicken carcass you get at the store; or breeds that are never going to be much more than sorta 'boullion cubes', e.g. mediterranean breeds and bantams (you can eat them of course but the work-to-meat ratio is very poor).
Within the dual-purpose category, which is not particularly dual-purpose from modern ideas of what a cooking chicken "should" be like, it is not clear to me that it really matters very much what breed.
It sounds like you and your husband may need to divide up the coop into his flock and your flock
(No, seriously, you actually could).
Just some thoughts to consider, anyhow.
Good luck and have fun,
Pat
If you want meat chickens there is not too much to choose, really. I mean, basically you have only four choices: CornishX type broiler chicks (which you buy anew each year, you can't breed them yourself); or other (slightly smaller, slower growing, less efficient, but hardier) broiler chicks such as Freedom Rangers etcetera, which you buy anew each year; or any sort of heavy dual-purpose breed which will not get you anything like the kind of chicken carcass you get at the store; or breeds that are never going to be much more than sorta 'boullion cubes', e.g. mediterranean breeds and bantams (you can eat them of course but the work-to-meat ratio is very poor).
Within the dual-purpose category, which is not particularly dual-purpose from modern ideas of what a cooking chicken "should" be like, it is not clear to me that it really matters very much what breed.
It sounds like you and your husband may need to divide up the coop into his flock and your flock
Just some thoughts to consider, anyhow.
Good luck and have fun,
Pat
- Mar 25, 2007
- 1,310
- 10
- 181
Is it going to be a problem to start with a coop large enough for 50-75 chickens but only have 10-20 in it?
Last winter in Massachusetts, with several blizzards and months straight of freezing weather with no thaws at all, many of my chickens decided they preferred to roost in the barn rafters rather than go in the proper chicken coop section of the barn. There is a heater in the coop section, yet the buggers chose to roost in the hayloft. They were perfectly fine.
Last winter in Massachusetts, with several blizzards and months straight of freezing weather with no thaws at all, many of my chickens decided they preferred to roost in the barn rafters rather than go in the proper chicken coop section of the barn. There is a heater in the coop section, yet the buggers chose to roost in the hayloft. They were perfectly fine.
- Thread starter
- #20
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Good to know. But, how separate do they have to be? Would separate sections of one big coop be adequate? How about two coops connected by a hallway?
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Great, thank you both! Now I just need to decide which of our 8 outbuildings to turn into a coop...
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We have no shortage of pre-existing buildings and building materials here, so that is probably what I should do. Or build a duplex coop, so they can be in the same building for my convenience, but still separate from each other.
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My husband absolutely doesn't want to raise anything that we can't breed on our own and thinks we should have a flock of bantams year-round. I would rather view the meat chickens as a "crop" as someone else mentioned, and just get a couple dozen chicks 1-2 times a year, feed them for a few months, then have them butchered and put in the freezer. We're still negotiating a solution...
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We've discussed this, especially since our ideas are almost exactly opposite. But, since I stay at home, I have a feeling his flock would become my responsibility eventually and I don't want to take on chickens that were the exact opposite of what I wanted. My biggest issue is that I don't want to be caring for meat chickens in the winter, while he wants a year-round, self-sustaining meat flock.
Good to know. But, how separate do they have to be? Would separate sections of one big coop be adequate? How about two coops connected by a hallway?
Quote:
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Great, thank you both! Now I just need to decide which of our 8 outbuildings to turn into a coop...
Quote:
We have no shortage of pre-existing buildings and building materials here, so that is probably what I should do. Or build a duplex coop, so they can be in the same building for my convenience, but still separate from each other.
Quote:
My husband absolutely doesn't want to raise anything that we can't breed on our own and thinks we should have a flock of bantams year-round. I would rather view the meat chickens as a "crop" as someone else mentioned, and just get a couple dozen chicks 1-2 times a year, feed them for a few months, then have them butchered and put in the freezer. We're still negotiating a solution...
Quote:
We've discussed this, especially since our ideas are almost exactly opposite. But, since I stay at home, I have a feeling his flock would become my responsibility eventually and I don't want to take on chickens that were the exact opposite of what I wanted. My biggest issue is that I don't want to be caring for meat chickens in the winter, while he wants a year-round, self-sustaining meat flock.
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