If you could start over with your flocks?

[GhislaineDel]

I'm curious to know what you'd do if you were to need to start again with a flock?

I have a 3x5ft duck house with attached 5x7ft enclosed "porch" (pic for the curious in my avatar). There's also a 4x8 foot raised coop with 10x8 foot covered run, and a 4x8 foot tractor that fits just right on my raised beds. They'll all be empty this fall so I'm trying to decide what I want to keep. I have experience with ducks, guineas, and quail, but I am considering dual purpose chickens too. I have plenty of time to dream and scheme so I would love to know what others would do given the opportunity to start again.

Anyone else want to dream and scheme with me?

 

[cavemanrich]

In my opinion chickens are the easiest to keep. Quail ....... will escape if you let them. Ducks need water to swim in (if you want them to be happy, ) Guineas, never had them , but understand that they like to stay in trees. Not sure if they like to run away. They are good guard fowl though. Not necessarily friendly to people. ,SO THAT LEAVES CHICKENS as the best choice. You can free range them. Of course it all depends on your predator situation.
You should make your dream decision on what would be easiest """" for you """ and what """ You Like keeping """
What is in your possession that will be all gone by fall ??? And the reason you will be doing this clean out, ???

 

[Michael OShay]

If I could start over, I wouldn't do anything different than what I'm doing now. After 50 years of raising chickens, I have figured out exactly what I like and what works well for me. )

 

[Teila]

If I could start over I wouldn't do anything different with my flock, I love my mixed batch of bantams.

I would, however, have built or purchased a coop big enough to handle them all rather than a coop for the original two I intended to keep. I didn't know about 'chicken math' at that time and I now have 6 gals and have extended and remodeled on countless occasions to accommodate 'chicken math'

 

[GhislaineDel]

In my opinion chickens are the easiest to keep. Quail ....... will escape if you let them. Ducks need water to swim in (if you want them to be happy, ) Guineas, never had them , but understand that they like to stay in trees. Not sure if they like to run away. They are good guard fowl though. Not necessarily friendly to people. ,SO THAT LEAVES CHICKENS as the best choice. You can free range them. Of course it all depends on your predator situation.
You should make your dream decision on what would be easiest """" for you """ and what """ You Like keeping """
What is in your possession that will be all gone by fall ??? And the reason you will be doing this clean out, ???

I have yet to have chickens so I may be starting that adventure. I have had a test for allergies come back positive for chicken eggs and I definitely react to most of them. I recently discovered that if the chickens aren't fed soy then I have no reaction.

But the allergy (and a pond on the property) is what led to keeping ducks (and guineas and quail). I don't react to duck eggs at all. So if I keep chickens, they won't be getting a soy based feed.

My husband's uncle wants the birds we currently have. We are planning to do some traveling this summer, so we'll just start over in the fall.

If I could start over, I wouldn't do anything different than what I'm doing now. After 50 years of raising chickens, I have figured out exactly what I like and what works well for me. )

Uh oh! Did it really take 50 years to figure it out?

If I could start over I wouldn't do anything different with my flock, I love my mixed batch of bantams.

I would, however, have built or purchased a coop big enough to handle them all rather than a coop for the original two I intended to keep. I didn't know about 'chicken math' at that time and I now have 6 gals and have extended and remodeled on countless occasions to accommodate 'chicken math'

Hahaha, I'm already thinking about another coop! The existing duck house is a little too close to the porch for my nose. I'd like to move it. Too bad it isn't big enough to turn into a playhouse for the kids!

 

[cavemanrich]

If I was in your situation. I would just keep ducks. No allergies no problems. And you have a pond.

 

[Michael OShay]

Uh oh! Did it really take 50 years to figure it out?

LOL! For the most part, no. Although there are always new things to learn about chickens (I'm still learning). ) Also, your goals can change over the years. In my earlier years, I was more aesthetic orientated and wanted some colorful and fancy breeds in my flock. In my later years I have become more utilitarian and have concentrated more on high yield layers.

 

[tigerchick]

Ok with everyone's experience I need some advice. My coop should be finished tomorrow. I am so happy to get my 10 five week old chicks out of my bathroom! I have been reading the forums but still I do not know which way to go. What do I put in the bottom of my coop? Sand, chopped hay, or pine shavings? I want to do it right the first time. I have used both in their indoor pen. My compost bin outside is not heating up due to the weather and I have some mold starting to grow. Once the leaves dry from the rain I will add them. So do I use sand and add the poop to my compost bin or do I do the deep litter method in the coop? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[GhislaineDel]

LOL! For the most part, no. Although there are always new things to learn about chickens (I'm still learning). ) Also, your goals can change over the years. In my earlier years, I was more aesthetic orientated and wanted some colorful and fancy breeds in my flock. In my later years I have become more utilitarian and have concentrated more on high yield layers.

I've only kept ducks for 5 years but my goals have certainly changed. We live in the woods so there are a lot of predators here. The more aesthetically pleasing ducks seem to get picked off first so that is definitely a consideration for future flocks!

@tigerchick
I can tell you that after reading lots of posts I went with pine shavings/deep litter. I have not regretted it.

 

[cavemanrich]

Ok with everyone's experience I need some advice. My coop should be finished tomorrow. I am so happy to get my 10 five week old chicks out of my bathroom! I have been reading the forums but still I do not know which way to go. What do I put in the bottom of my coop? Sand, chopped hay, or pine shavings? I want to do it right the first time. I have used both in their indoor pen. My compost bin outside is not heating up due to the weather and I have some mold starting to grow. Once the leaves dry from the rain I will add them. So do I use sand and add the poop to my compost bin or do I do the deep litter method in the coop? Any advice is appreciated.

Deep litter method is not ideal for all coops. That is my opinion, I speak from practical terms. If you have a small coop and few chickens. sand or pine shavings will do fine. You clean up as often as needed. If you have a large coop with many chickens, deep litter will be more practical. Less work. Deep litter works well in a run. All this also depends on the number of chickens you have. I use hay inside my coop. In the run area, I spread all my grass clippings all summer long. The grass dries into hay. Obviously it is a little different texture than the long strands of hay that you buy in bales. The way I am doing , works for me. There are no nasty odors in my coop or chicken area.
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