knotquiteawake
Hatching
Not entirely new to Chickens. We had 12-14 chickens growing up in the country when I was between 7 and 15. I remember a lot about them. It was fun and the eggs were good.
Now I'm in my mid-30s and have got 3 kids (1,6, and 8). I'd like my kids to have some of the same experience and also not be reliant on the grocery store for all our eggs (the kids, left unchecked, could easily eat 2 to 3 dozen eggs a week).
We are in a suburb though and unfortunately the city ordinance says we can only have TWO hens. Which isn't really much. My neighbors had two and then three chickens before they moved away and I noticed no difference between 2 and 3 and also nobody called code compliance. So that being said I'm planning to get some help building a coop and getting 3 pullets.
My delima is that the primary desire for the chickens is access to fresh eggs and only secondary is a pet/animal for the kids to help care for. So what breed would be good? I've read about the high yield producers pumping out most of their eggs in the first 2-3 years and then sharply falling off. But since my flock has to be kept so small I can't have dead weight for those last 5 years of life they might have. I think maybe I'd rather just have slightly fewer eggs per week but more consistantly laid over the chicken's 5-7 years of life. Otherwise I'd need to be re-homing, processing, culling, the hens every 3-4 years. I'm wholly comfortable eating them from a mental standpoint but the actual physical processing of the bird is something else.
I would appreciate any advise on the subject of breeds. I feel like the two options I would pursue would be to either get a high yield bird and do "something" with them when they slow down every few years, or get some breed that will lay more consistently over a longer time.
Another thing I've seen a lot of talk about online is putting the hens up and letting them out every day. We never ever did that growing up. We had a fairly secure coop. We had mountain lions, the occasional coyote, and snakes. Never had a problem other than the neighbor's dog getting in one time and killing several. That was during the day though. If I have a secure coop and run why would I need to hassle with closing and opening a door every day?
Now I'm in my mid-30s and have got 3 kids (1,6, and 8). I'd like my kids to have some of the same experience and also not be reliant on the grocery store for all our eggs (the kids, left unchecked, could easily eat 2 to 3 dozen eggs a week).
We are in a suburb though and unfortunately the city ordinance says we can only have TWO hens. Which isn't really much. My neighbors had two and then three chickens before they moved away and I noticed no difference between 2 and 3 and also nobody called code compliance. So that being said I'm planning to get some help building a coop and getting 3 pullets.
My delima is that the primary desire for the chickens is access to fresh eggs and only secondary is a pet/animal for the kids to help care for. So what breed would be good? I've read about the high yield producers pumping out most of their eggs in the first 2-3 years and then sharply falling off. But since my flock has to be kept so small I can't have dead weight for those last 5 years of life they might have. I think maybe I'd rather just have slightly fewer eggs per week but more consistantly laid over the chicken's 5-7 years of life. Otherwise I'd need to be re-homing, processing, culling, the hens every 3-4 years. I'm wholly comfortable eating them from a mental standpoint but the actual physical processing of the bird is something else.
I would appreciate any advise on the subject of breeds. I feel like the two options I would pursue would be to either get a high yield bird and do "something" with them when they slow down every few years, or get some breed that will lay more consistently over a longer time.
Another thing I've seen a lot of talk about online is putting the hens up and letting them out every day. We never ever did that growing up. We had a fairly secure coop. We had mountain lions, the occasional coyote, and snakes. Never had a problem other than the neighbor's dog getting in one time and killing several. That was during the day though. If I have a secure coop and run why would I need to hassle with closing and opening a door every day?
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