Gonna be a chicken mamma soon; but . ..

We are greedy guts. Hubby has me on three a day. Add his three; that is six eggs daily between us times seven days is 42 eggs. :D He listens to a lot of You Tubers speaking about what is on the near horizon and he swears we NEED them. Not arguing that, but I do want to be successful in this venture for us and the birds.

He also is going to have birds. It was me that decided I wanted MY own flock because we do things differently. I want my ladies to have a clean, nice environment. When he kept chickens in FL I felt his set up was a hot mess. All I want from him is the building of the coop. Everything else I will learn from here. :celebrate
I have 7 girls and when all were laying (or at least 6 of them) I got around 3 dozen a week. but I also have some that aren't high egg producers or it would have been a lot more. some of mine only lay 3 a week, others will lay 5-6 a week. Once my new ones start laying I will get about 7+ dozen a week since I just added a lot more. LOL
 
I personally wouldn't have them inside but can see this would be an individual thing based on what you are prepared to put up with noise and smell wise.

I would go with 10 to start wait 6 months and get more, this will help with consistent supply of eggs otherwise you are likely to end up with them all moulting and going off the lay at the same time.

Don't worry chicken math will get you and you will constantly be thinking about what breed and how many you are getting next time 😊
 
I have 7 girls and when all were laying (or at least 6 of them) I got around 3 dozen a week. but I also have some that aren't high egg producers or it would have been a lot more. some of mine only lay 3 a week, others will lay 5-6 a week. Once my new ones start laying I will get about 7+ dozen a week since I just added a lot more. LOL
Way to go! Ever thought about selling them?

I don't have the patience to be dealing with folk; ughh. Not to mention I would not want anybody coming to where I reside. Nope, nada, not. If/when I get that good with it all I suppose I could give them to friends with whom I worship.

If things get as bad; no let me rephrase, apparently very soon, this may be all we have to eat and if that IS the case I am sure we will gobble up what our girls lay.
 
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Way to go! Ever thought about selling them?

I don't have the patience to be dealing with folk; ughh. Not to mention I would not want anybody coming to where I reside. Nope, nada, not. If/when I get that good with it all I suppose I could give them to friends with whom I worship.

If things get as bad; no let me rephrase, apparently very soon, this may be all we have to eat and if that IS the case I am sure we will gobble up what our girls lay.
I sell extras to family and friends for $2/dz so cheaper than store here and helps me with their food cost. Since I have 2 broody now and we have been camping with groups I haven't had extra eggs and everyone is missing the eggs. Lol
 
good luck with your plans! I’d say don’t underestimate the time it takes to build a coop and run. (new chick mama here too). we started our build in March and just finished first week of June, and that was 2 or 3 days a week of multiple hours of work between three people!

I wanted to start with 10, ended up ordering 8. we lost one in the first week. turns out I’m really happy with our beginner flock of 7. they’ve all gotten loads of individual time and attention from us over the last 6 weeks. as a result they’re all super docile and friendly and lovey (lap jumpers). they’ll happily snuggle in and close their little eyes on my kids’ laps. starting around two weeks old, each morning I’d bring them out into an outdoor playpen for the day, and back inside to the brooder at sunset. transferring and managing 7 of them for this was just fine — the food, the water, the poop levels, the relocating the pen to new fresh sites — and I was thinking to myself man, maybe I’d do up to 10 chicks max, but that’s about all I feel I could handle well enough with my focused attention. I know people jump right in and start with 15 or 20… more power to them! I definitely cannot fathom doing 40, and I feel like most people on BYC don’t keep 40 egg layers. if you go that route you’re a farm, and you’d need a huge coop setup — and you’ll have to sell a whole lot every single day to keep yourselves from drowning in eggs!

tell hubs literally not to put all his eggs in one basket! he’s right about preparing for an uncertain future, but the key may be to diversify. start a garden, start canning, baking bread, finding local sources of meats, etc. he may feel better situated with an all of the above approach! good luck!
 
I would NEVER raise chicks indoor. The first week or so may be fine but after that they become disgusting ND the dander is not something I want getting into my air ducts. That said,I understand your husband. I currently have 40 chickens ranging between 5 yrs and 10 weeks. We get at minimum 14 eggs a day. I water glass mine and sometimes sell some off. I've also made my entire backyard clover so y girls can free range if food ever runs out (as well as a huge vegetable and fruit garden for us).it may be overkill but we have 6 kids and I'm one to want to be blessed to help my friends nd family should they ever need it. Food should not be something we worry about.
 
I would NEVER raise chicks indoor. The first week or so may be fine but after that they become disgusting ND the dander is not something I want getting into my air ducts. That said,I understand your husband. I currently have 40 chickens ranging between 5 yrs and 10 weeks. We get at minimum 14 eggs a day. I water glass mine and sometimes sell some off. I've also made my entire backyard clover so y girls can free range if food ever runs out (as well as a huge vegetable and fruit garden for us).it may be overkill but we have 6 kids and I'm one to want to be blessed to help my friends nd family should they ever need it. Food should not be something we worry about.
Bless your heart re. the food/worry comment. Yes, in a perfect world; yet I fear we are facing upcoming food shortages of an immense nature (not to be a negative Nelly; but can not ignore what is right in our faces). That being said, it is written the shrewd one sees the calamity and protects themself (or something to that nature).

Thanks for the indoor brooding comment. Something to consider (though it is looking like they will be indoors for this first time). We have a pitt mix puppy outside - nuff said. While building the coop will have to come up with a solution for her. By the time chickies go to their beautiful new coop Snuffy Smith (our pup) will be situated. Oh, and I am woman enough to admit and share when I see how everything you said (smell, dander) comes a true for this household. :thWill have a ball writing about it all in my journal.

"Water glass"; hmmm, something else for me to research. Can you tell me more about this "clover" too? Is it difficult to grow (SE GA here; nice and hot in the summer). Is there a preferred time to grow it; does it take long to grow? Is it too late for now to have for Fall?

Thank you SO much for responding and helping.
 
good luck with your plans! I’d say don’t underestimate the time it takes to build a coop and run. (new chick mama here too). we started our build in March and just finished first week of June, and that was 2 or 3 days a week of multiple hours of work between three people!

I wanted to start with 10, ended up ordering 8. we lost one in the first week. turns out I’m really happy with our beginner flock of 7. they’ve all gotten loads of individual time and attention from us over the last 6 weeks. as a result they’re all super docile and friendly and lovey (lap jumpers). they’ll happily snuggle in and close their little eyes on my kids’ laps. starting around two weeks old, each morning I’d bring them out into an outdoor playpen for the day, and back inside to the brooder at sunset. transferring and managing 7 of them for this was just fine — the food, the water, the poop levels, the relocating the pen to new fresh sites — and I was thinking to myself man, maybe I’d do up to 10 chicks max, but that’s about all I feel I could handle well enough with my focused attention. I know people jump right in and start with 15 or 20… more power to them! I definitely cannot fathom doing 40, and I feel like most people on BYC don’t keep 40 egg layers. if you go that route you’re a farm, and you’d need a huge coop setup — and you’ll have to sell a whole lot every single day to keep yourselves from drowning in eggs!

tell hubs literally not to put all his eggs in one basket! he’s right about preparing for an uncertain future, but the key may be to diversify. start a garden, start canning, baking bread, finding local sources of meats, etc. he may feel better situated with an all of the above approach! good luck!
He is def interested in gardening (not me). I'd rather grow meat on hoof; i.e., chickens, goats, maaaybe rabbit, to feed ourselves. Alas, he I N S I S T S that I get "at least 20; no less than 20"; bless HIS heart. Yes, he is building us a homestead. Once I looked up the difference between a "homestead" and a "farm". He wants as much self-sufficiency as possible. We'll be off the grid as well.

For now I work two part time jobs and will probably be going the route where chickens will know their coop; let them out at daybreak, they will be out doing their thing all day. In the evening they will come home to roost. Have a couple of roos to fertilize eggs and help look after my gals. Oh, and he wants his own chickens. I want my own to raise my way (which I believe will be superior to his, LOL) We'll see.

He def is interested in gardening. Not me; I'd rather grow meat than veggies on hoof in the form of goats, for instance.

Thanks for the well wish. 'Preciate it. :)
 
My are currently in my in home office until they get big enough to go into a coop… maybe by 2 months? We haven’t built a coop yet… this is our first spring/summer at our house

The last time we had chickens we had a very small house and we had a tote in our bathtub for a long time until they were old enough to go into the outside coop haha
I am SO excited for you. Please keep us posted. DH says I should order "at least 20". Ay yi yi. I am prepared to clean daily - not a problem. Rather than than a nasty smelling house.
 
I like to raise chicks in smaller groups so I can spend more time with each. I will raise 4 or 5 inside the house but no more. I did 9 for 2 weeks inside, never again.
I think you should build your coop first or at least get it mostly finished before getting chicks. They grow soooo fast!
One more thing, build the coop for 40 but start with the 10. They will come! Chicken math!
 

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