Need Advice For Start Up

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Pretty Poultry

Pretty Poultry

In the Brooder
7 Years
Feb 12, 2012
24
1
22
I am wanting to start raising chickens this spring. I want to raise both egg laying chickens and meat poultry. I use to clean chickens for my Grandmother by hand. I've been reading up on how to raise them. I know I should start out small. I don't have a chicken coop yet either. I don't know what kind of chickens is recommended for a beginner. I have 2 1/2 acres. One neighbor on the north side. Any advice is greatly welcomed. I live in Iowa. T
 
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Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan
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The Frequently Asked Questions section has many useful links in it. And the Henderson chicken chart (you can google that) is a great place to research breeds.
 
Pretty Poultry said:
I am wanting to start raising chickens this spring. I want to raise both egg laying chickens and meat poultry. I use to clean chickens for my Grandmother by hand. I've been reading up on how to raise them. I know I should start out small. I don't have a chicken coop yet either. I don't know what kind of chickens is recommended for a beginner. I have 2 1/2 acres. One neighbor on the north side. Any advice is greatly welcomed. I live in Iowa. T
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Try filling out the form on this Breeds site. It might be helpful. https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/category/chicken-breeds Also click on Coops at the top of the BYC home page for wonderful coop designs. Remember you will always want more chickens than you think you will at the beginning. No one ever complains that they built their coop too big! Welcome to BYC!
 
:frow Welcome to the forum! :frow Glad you joined us! :frow

Your problem is probably going to be deciding which way you want to go forward. There are several different ways you could choose and they all work. There are just so many different things you could do it's hard to give any real advice.

The way I see it, you have two basic choices. You can raise specific egg layers and specific meat birds or you can get the dual purpose that are good for both eggs and meat. Since they are not as specialized for either meat or eggs but are a compromise, they won't be as efficient but they are more sustainable.

Some things that might enter in the basic decision is whether you're going to free range them where they forage for a lot of their own food or are you going to keep them confined and buy all their food? Do you want to hatch or buy replacements? Do you want to process a bunch of meat birds at one time and fill a freezer with meat or would you prefer to process fewer at a time in case you have a power outage and a lot of meat in the freezer? Do you want chicken meat tender enough to fry, like the meat you buy at the store, or will you be happy using slower moister methods to cook it?

You'll find people on this forum that answer these questions differently and do things differently. It's not a case that one way is right and another is wrong, but that we have different goals and circumstances and use different ways to get there.

It may seem overwhelming, but its not. I suggest you read a lot in the Learning Center above and follow some posts in this forum. Ask specific questions. The only dumb question is the one not asked. There are plenty of people on this forum with different experiences that will be glad to help you.
You've got time. Keep at it and once again, :frow
 
Thank you so much for your reply! You gave me alot to think about. I don't think I want to hatch chickens yet. I was thinking of free ranging the egg laying hens. Not free ranging the meat chickens. My goal is to have organic eggs and more organic chicken to eat. Besides I love birds and chickens. Ok I love all animals
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I do want to clean the meat chicken a few each weekend. I believe it is extremely important to take good care of animals. How much time does it take to care for, let's say 10 chickens? How many egg laying hens would I need for a family of 3?

I will take your advice and do alot more research. Thanks Teri
 

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