My Intro

[MommaSparrow04]

Hi there,
I am a beginner farmer in KY and I am hoping to start with chickens for meat and of course eggs. Trying to build my flock, as of right now I have 1 chicken, a rooster, and 2 ducks. All are lazy bums (no eggs) lol, but we like having them around. Hoping to learn and grow this year.

Thank you!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC- great to have you join us. Keeping chickens involves a steep learning curve, so its good to start off small and build your experience before going for it it big-time. I would suggest that you get 5-8 new hens for your roo, as he will over-mate with any fewer which can result in stress and physical harm. Maybe you should consider buying a variety of breeds in order to give you an idea of what breeds you may wish to go for in a big way later down the line.

Best of luck

Ct

 

[Birdrain92]

Hi there,
I am a beginner farmer in KY and I am hoping to start with chickens for meat and of course eggs. Trying to build my flock, as of right now I have 1 chicken, a rooster, and 2 ducks. All are lazy bums (no eggs) lol, but we like having them around. Hoping to learn and grow this year.

Thank you!

Welcome to BYC!

How old are the chickens and ducks? What breeds do you have? Also you are going to need more hens having a rooster. 1 rooster can breed about 10 hens. If only have a pair he might not be so nice and breed the hen too much causing stress and egg production to go down. Also she will probably be missing feathers. My duck hen was laying eggs when she was 6 months old. She's an Indian Runner duck. My Black Australorp hens were layed their first eggs between 5 and 6 months of age. I recommend the Black Australorp for a breed.

Here's my rooster.

Here are my pullets.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[drumstick diva]

CTKen has given you excellent advice. Get a variety of breeds (hopefully pullets) and then over time you will discover which work best for you. Get more of those and rehome the others.

If you are going to keep a rooster, make it the very best one you can afford - sound temperament is essential.