Hello I'm new here but I'm in way over my head with chickens

I started a flock back in July-August (I actually worked my cousins farm for a week 14 chickens, 2 goats, 6 ducks, 2 geese, a farm dog, 2 small dogs, while she was on vacation and used the money she paid me to buy the materials to build my own chicken coop) we built a rather large chicken coop my husband designed himself and an attached 7 feet tall fenced 52ft chicken run/pen with 3 seperate access gates. The nesting boxes are acessed from outside the chicken run and the pen/run which is nice with a big bossy rooster lol. The original intention was a good egg laying flock until my husband became interested in raising meat breeds. It started with 3 hens, 3 pullets, and a big beautiful rooster, but I've friended a chicken breeder of a very rare and highly sought after chicken breed and kept adding more and more birds to my flock. Then two roosters showed up in the woods right next to my chicken run and coop go figure! They joined the flock but now they are currently in cages because I have decided I just cannot keep them due to the breed. The chicken breeder had the very last color of her birds available as a breeding trio of pullet hens and young cockerel so I jumped on the chance with the future plans on breeding because she's busy with other farm animals and asked me if I would work on it for her or take over. So I started with 7 birds, 6 hens, 1 rooster. I am now sitting at, 27 chickens, 7 roosters, 5 in the flock with no problems, 2 rescued roosters soon to be rehomed, 20 hens, 10 of which are pullets under 6-7 months old. The original intention was a flock of No more than 30 birds maximum, as that is what the larger coop is intended to hold. and to naturally breed birds to sustain new members to the flock to supply the family with eggs and meat. Now there's talk of building another same size chicken coop in 2015 in a 1/2 acre fenced field of pasture, to be used for separating the meat birds from the egg layers. However I'm not sure if I can handle 60 birds on my own lol. I am having a hard time now with 27. My husband works full time so I'm doing the majority of the work myself. I am looking forward to my first baby chicks next spring. But I am definitely starting to feel a little overwhelmed with the workload. We are below freezing in a cold snap and the snow ice and cold is a becomming a battle, on the plus side when the ground is frozen there is no soft stinky squishy mud in my chicken run to step in lol. We are feeding non GMO certified organic feed and growing a garden and a field of grains to supplement feed and reduce costs. I also add raw apple cider vinegar to the drinking water. I am currently getting 3+ dozen eggs a week and not all of my hens are laying. I can't wait until spring, to start everything from seed and get the garden going and see some newly hatched chicks!

 

Hi there - we are keeping production records as small family farmers would with the goal of getting a USDA farm. I would not consider myself an average chicken keeper with a small backyard flock for eggs only. We are raising meat birds also to be able to sell eggs and meat raised organically free of GMO's. We want to be farmers. That's what we signed up for. To us its a business and not a hobby, but we are blessed to be feeding ourselves nutrious food in the process. We feel proud about the eggs and meat that we are selling and how humanely our birds are being treated and raised. To help get people away from factory farmed and gmo meat and eggs if that's what they choose to do. It goes beyond that though. No animal living, including a chicken deserves to be treated with disrespect. Respect animals, food, water, and it all goes back in to the health and productivity of the land.

 

I'm working with heritage breeds for both eggs and meat - ones that are considered dual purpose heritage breeds good for both meat and eggs as well as some others for the egg laying, and a few known for broodiness. I did a lot of research before we decided on which breeds to get that were available locally from breeders and NOT feed stores, or mail order hatchery's. We were also not willing to wait 6-9 months to get baby chicks to start out with. So we purchased known broody hens (mothers) and hens in lay and pullets and cockerels from a few local breeders. We have the ability to separate one breed from the other. Or to separate the egg layers from the meat birds. However all of the birds are happy free ranging together with my supervision. I let them range pasture and also a organic garden free choice. It helps cut down on feed costs. Over the winter I'm storing excess produce and foodstuffs to help supplement winter feed. I use things like ACV, DE, Zeolite, Yogurt, Herbs, to keep them with healthy immune systems and prevent and treat illness. The two roosters have NO meat on them worth processing. Another two roosters will eventually be processed. I can sell any meat that I do not process myself if it is done in a USDA facility which I will factor into the cost of the product. I have been legally selling organic eggs for $6.00 a dozen scince August. I have a market here for both eggs and meat so much so that I cannot keep up currently with demand for my eggs.(It being winter) but even in winter I am producing enough eggs to sell that completely pays for the feed that is consumed in a month and output with eggs in a month. That means that I am at least currently (in winter with snow on the ground) breaking even.

 

Because the eggs I'm selling are paying for the feed that both the meat birds and the egg layers are eating, either once I have processed meat to sell, or my chickens produce more eggs or chicks or meat to sell which they will, I will then be making profit. I plan to learn as I go along.