Help me fill my chicken tractor (newbie)

[Egg_newton]

You might want to just get bantam breeds. They are smaller and require less space. The eggs will obviously be smaller too. Or golden comets. They are a sex link who are very friendly and lay an egg almost every day. The don't get nearly as big as orpingtons.

edited to add lots and lots of the standard breeds come in bantam sizes too.

 

[OverEggstended]

Tracy... tell ya what:

I see you are in south central PA. I am near Warrenton/Culpepper VA. You are about 2 hours from us. Perhaps less if we decide to visit my sweety's parents in Harisburg (sp?).
If you want just 3-4 eggers... you have a problem. Nobody I have found sells that few.
I have to put an order in for OUR chicks. We can do the 15 or so needed... so we have no problem.
BUT... I really would have no problem ordering a few extra for you if you would like.
(Anyone here will tell ya that this is a pretty decent deal).

We are ordering from Perfect Poultry. They will combine whatever chicks I want. I will tell you that MY list is:

2 BCM - Black copper marran pullets (may not get these... not quite decided)
1 Welsummer Roo (I would get 2... but knowing my luck, there would be one in with the pullets!)
::: would like a nicer roo from breeder... but no one has any around here :::
5 Welsummer pullets (so that even if one is a roo I will not have to worry)
6 Cherry Egger pullets
4 Green Egg Layer pullets (they are ameracaunas that are green layers not blue)
2 Blue laying Ameracaunas pullets (if they have onsies available, right now they only have batches of 25)

I originally wanted bantams... but do not want to deal with straight runs (unsexed birds).

If you want to throw a few on my order, split the shipping with me, and meet me to pick up yer chicks... I would be happy to throw 3 or 4 on there for you. They should give you close to a dozen eggs a week if you get a prolific laying species.

The Americaunas are decent and interesting guys on the smaller size of the large fowl (LF) family and I have heard they are nice personality wise. All the above were picked due to having supposedly nice temperments, being big enough for dual purpose (we plan to eat the extra roos and make wine roasted birds from older layers that are nonproductive), and lay good size eggs in proportion to feed consumption.

I actually picked them for a little fun doing breeding experiments. I have a pre-vet degree and always liked and did well in genetics. My hope is to breed a chicken with a decent personality that is cost effective in laying a good number of good sized colored eggs for resale. Granted... this will not be truely possible until around the 4th year or so at best most likely. (I could go on about the fact that deep color is adversely connected to egg production and all... but doubt you want to get that indepth.)

In any case... let me know if you are interested. Chicks go on sale Feb 1st and I want to get an order in as fast as possible as they will not lay for 5 months or so.

If it helps... we too are planning on tractoring them and letting them forrage to cut down on pests and weeds... not to mention all that free fertilizer!

 

[crosbygroup]

Maybe you should just start off with 3 BO's instead of 6 and still get the two silkie bantam hens too.

I am also new to chickens, but I went with a mixed flock - each of my 3 children have a different breed and I have the EE. You can see the types in my signature. So far, of the 4 different chickens, I like the Barred Plymouth Rock best. She is by far the most friendly. When she was very small she would roost on my sons PS3 controller while he played video games. She is always the first to come over and visit and will even fly up and roost near us in the yard.

Good luck

 

[OverEggstended]

Quote:
Barred Rocks are good little layers as well... if what I read is true. And a great eating bird with naturally yellow skin (JIC).

 

[chaneg78]

Fence in your yard and let them free range. Then you could build a permanent coop (You want to build it big because you will end up wanting a lot more) in your yard and not have to fear them getting run over. You can get just a few from TSC or a place like that, so you don't necessarily have to order from a hatchery. We have red sex links that we got from TSC last spring, they are awesome layers. We get eight to nine eggs a day from nine hens even now in the middle of winter.

 

[traceyleezle]

Quote:
This isn't really an option for us, we just don't have the money to fence in our back yard, and we have quite a populations of feral cats around here. I'm afraid they would be getting in the yard and eating my poor hens.


We decided that as we are just starting out we are going to stick with the tractor this year and just get fewer birds. We definitely want one silkie as a pet, so we will probably just get 3 or 4 other birds and start from there, I would rather have too few birds, than too many. I figure this way we can really watch how things work in our backyard and with our plan and then decide if we want a more permanent (bigger) solution the following year.

Someone offered to pick up a few chicks for me (still learning names) I may take you up on that. I have to wait and see, I have a friend in MD who was looking to split an order from McMurray, but I only need a handful of chicks, so if she passes I will take you up on that offer. Please PM, we actually are about an hour south of Harrisburg so I may be even closer to you than we think.

I think I may just get different birds to "try" them on to see how they work with our family.

 

[FortWorthChicks]

Hi there! I wanted to tell you that it is a great idea to do a larger coop that would not be moving mainly because chickens are addicting. Kids love finding eggs, its like Easter every day and there is always a reason to be found for getting one or two or alot more.

Best of luck and kind regards!!

 

[traceyleezle]

So we had another chicken discussion...lol, this is just getting ridiculous. I think I'm going to post over in the coop area as that seems to be where my thread is drifting. Thanks everyone for the breed suggestions. I'm thinking that we may be getting a few different breeds to see who we like.

 

[thegreypony]

I know you are now off to coop discussions but wanted to add my 2 cents about friendly breeds. Our daughter started this as a 4-H project for husbandry and eggs. We have had Australorps, EEs, BRs, BOs, mixed breed bantams, a Delaware, Wyandottes (GLW & SLW). For a friendly breed, my experience has been that you just can't beat the Barred Rocks. One of ours was raised my us from a chick, the other we got from a breeder and the bird wasn't really handled. Both of these girls are like lap dogs! Very sweet. Their eggs are usually just mediums and they don't lay everyday but they are very tolerant of just about everything. As for egg laying - nothing out lays our Wyandottes. They aren't as friendly as the BRs but they are egg laying machines! They aren't flighty but they don't relish being picked up - then again, they weren't hand raised as chicks.

Good luck with your chicken adventure! We really enjoy our birds and I can't imagine not having them now! The eggs are a plus at this point b/c the birds are just a joy to be around! Our daughter Sophie sits on a milk crate in their run and sings to them, etc. Excellent!

 

[Lund121671]

I would just watch your chickens. If they are over crowded you will usually see feathers missing on hens from pecking each other. We had 90 laying hens in a very small building and everything was fine because they had a huge yard outside. We hung weather proof nest boxes on the outside of the building as well as inside. Never had a problem (just had to clean almost weekly because of the large amount of poop in the little building) Good Luck!