Indecisive Newbie: Start with Fertile Egg? Day-old chick? Pullet? or..

[Lifestyle Lift Journey]

Hello all,

My name is Tomo and I live in Australia. I'm thinking about raising chickens in my backyard.

Watching healthy hens pecking and scratching in the yard or run would certainly give me huge satisfaction, and quality eggs would definitely lighten up my lifestyle.

Although my grandmother had chickens when I was very little, I have no practical experience on raising chickens. I've been researching on the web and reading books to get myself ready, but my head is overloaded with too much information!! There are so many breeds, chicken houses, food types and care products!

Given the size of my back yard, two chickens would be a good start. Firstly, I decided to choose what I want to get in terms of how old the chicks are. Options available in my area are:

- Fertile Eggs
- Day-old chicks
- Pullets
- Or Ex-Battery hens from an adoption program (they apparently still have a good year of laying left)


How did you start (or thinking about starting) with chickens? Lots of questions are circling in my head... I hope this forum helps me getting somewhere to start.

It's encouraging to know about chick-lovers all over the world!!

New chook fancier,
Tomo

 

[zoo2u]

Hello! Started with pullets then over the years raised some in the incubator. lots of fun, enjoy!

 

[4-H chicken mom]

and

from Ohio. We got started with a lone chick that was given to my DD many moons ago. That turned into showing ducks, turkeys, fancy poultry(standard and bantam), lambs, dogs and meat birds. I would recomend starting with sexed chicks, especially if you want just hens to start. Good Luck.

 

[math ace]

Go with sexed chicks - - - WONDERFUL ADVICE. You need to get at least 3 chicks. One will be lonely. Two - - one might die. Three - - MIN. for your start. MAKE sure the chicks are all the same size / age when you start.

I started with 11 chicks. I sold a couple later on because they didn't play nice with everybody. One she turned out to be a HE, so this chick had to leave when it got big enough to crow. Now, I have 8 of the original chicks. I've acuired another 10 since then.

So, you may start with only 3 BUT WATCH OUT - - - BE WARNED - - - YOU WON't STAY with 3 !

 

[nuts4chickens]

from Georgia. I would start with hatching eggs or day old chicks. We started with pullets and didn't have a clue we were buying sick birds. So we had to cull and start over. Also it is so much fun to have new babies that you can raise from day 1, IMO. We ONLY hatch ours out or get day old hatchery chicks here, because of the bad experience we had getting sick birds. Not saying it can't be done, as many people do it... But I personally won't do it.

 

[TigerLilly]

from Florida!

I'd say what you start with depends on what you want. I started with pullets that were within 1-2 months of laying. Realized I was impatient to the point that I bought some that were 6 months to just over a year so I could have eggs NOW! I don't want to breed my own, I don't want to raise them from chicks. I just want the eggs, plain & simple. When the hens slow down on production, I'll invest in more pullets & keep rotating them out that way.
Maybe one day I'll get the hatching/raising bug...but not today.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

We went with 6 day old sexed chicks and were so lucky that all survived and all were hens. It was great fun watching them grow up. Good luck!

from Tucson, AZ

 

[duckyfromoz]

Hi there and

from Melbourne.

There are many people hatching now here in Australia if you were wanting to get some day olds- but do your research first about the breeder- the breed of chickens and what they will need if thats what you decide. It would be months before you see eggs of course with that option- but you also get the fun of raising them.

Buying point of lay - you could expect eggs within days or a few weeks. For starters - I would suggest to stay away from an ex- battery. Although it would be nice to give them a new home- starting off with a healthy young bird may be better off in the long run.

Choose a breed you like the look of- they will be living in your yard a long time - so You may as well get something pretty to look at as well.

 

[Lifestyle Lift Journey]

Thank you everyone for your warm welcome messages and advices.

In my research to raise backyard hens, chickens made me cry... see why here

I decided to adopt ex-battery hens, two of them.
I bought a feeder and a drinker over the weekend, I'll be busy building a coop for my chickens.

There are lots of tips and advices to take care of chickens, I think I'll go for the natural way possible, so that I don't have to use toxic chemicals on them.

Thanks again for your replies. They are helping me to move forward on my chicken project.