New Farm Thread!

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Cupcake1243 said:
Tillie is gorgeous! I am not sure how big its going to be but I'm looking for around 5 acres.

On the subject of coops, I am an absolute newbie to Poultry and so, I was wondering how big my housing would have to be? Each coop will hold around 4-5 hens with a run attached and I was looking for some correct measurements for the coop and run. I know that it depends on the size of the hens, but I will not be getting bantams due to me being in England and I need hardy hens..
( And, hopefully roosters!)
Another question, can I keep hens and roos together AND still eat the eggs or should I keep both genders together just for breeding purposes????

Sorry for all the questions, as I say I am a complete newbie and do NOT want to mess this up!!!
Click to expand...
ONly 4-5 hens!?!?!? Go big or go home!!! Make them huge!!! Give yourself room for 20 hens and start with 5. Then when chicken math hits, you'll be prepared!! And if it doesn't (doubtful) then your girls will have loaaaaaaads of space. The general rules of thumb for space are the run should be at least twice as big as the coop, and each standard sized hen should have 5+ square feet of coop space and 10+ square feet of run space.

If you're going to have roosters, I'd recommend raising your hens to maturity, then finding a calm, mature rooster for sale. I wouldn't recommend adding a rooster to fewer than 10 hens, to prevent overmating. You can totally eat their eggs if they're fertile!! Just beware of broodies. You'd only need to separate a rooster and hens if you want to cross them specifically.

For starting chickens, I'll give you my top ten:
10. Rhode island red- These are so low on the list because I'm just personally not a fan of them, although they have a very nice color to them and they are great layers. The roosters are usually quite aggressive, and the hens tend to have dominant personalities,
9. Orpingtons- I personally hate the color buff, but american orps also commonly come in lavender and jubilee. English orps are far superior, as they are much puffier. @ColtHandorf has great examples. Orps are generally very friendly and come in loads of colors, and they are very popular.
8. Wyandottes- wyandottes also come in lots of colors, most commonly laced- my favorite is blue laced red. These are great pets, and their rose combs make them great for colder climates.
7. Marans- these birds aer gorgeous IMO, and lay stunning eggs of a really dark brown. They're super friendly.
6. Polish- these crested chickens are loads of fun! They come in lots of colors (my favorites are white crested blue and buff laced) and they look super funny with their poofy crests. If you get these, get more than one, because they like to hang out with other crested birds. YOu could also get a houdan or sultan to go with a polish. The downside to these is that their poor vision makes them bad free rangers and very easy for predators to take, as well as easy bullying targets.
5. Ameraucanas- these are the fancy versions of easter eggers, and are much more expensive. They come in standardized colors and have HUGE beards and muffs, which are traits that I personally love. They're guaranteed to lay gorgeous blue eggs.
4. Easter Eggers- these are technically mutts, and you'll get a surprise color pattern and egg color. They can lay green, blue, pink, or brown and are wonderful friendly pets.
3. Cochins- these are ADORABLE with wonderful floofy footers! The only reason that they're not higher on the list is their tendency to go broody, which can be tricky to manage.
2. Plymouth rocks- they come in lots of gorgeous colors and are super friendly, easy birds.
1. White leghorns- egg laying machines with wonderful personality!
 
black_cat said:
ONly 4-5 hens!?!?!? Go big or go home!!! Make them huge!!! Give yourself room for 20 hens and start with 5. Then when chicken math hits, you'll be prepared!! And if it doesn't (doubtful) then your girls will have loaaaaaaads of space. The general rules of thumb for space are the run should be at least twice as big as the coop, and each standard sized hen should have 5+ square feet of coop space and 10+ square feet of run space.

If you're going to have roosters, I'd recommend raising your hens to maturity, then finding a calm, mature rooster for sale. I wouldn't recommend adding a rooster to fewer than 10 hens, to prevent overmating. You can totally eat their eggs if they're fertile!! Just beware of broodies. You'd only need to separate a rooster and hens if you want to cross them specifically.

For starting chickens, I'll give you my top ten:
10. Rhode island red- These are so low on the list because I'm just personally not a fan of them, although they have a very nice color to them and they are great layers. The roosters are usually quite aggressive, and the hens tend to have dominant personalities,
9. Orpingtons- I personally hate the color buff, but american orps also commonly come in lavender and jubilee. English orps are far superior, as they are much puffier. @ColtHandorf has great examples. Orps are generally very friendly and come in loads of colors, and they are very popular.
8. Wyandottes- wyandottes also come in lots of colors, most commonly laced- my favorite is blue laced red. These are great pets, and their rose combs make them great for colder climates.
7. Marans- these birds aer gorgeous IMO, and lay stunning eggs of a really dark brown. They're super friendly.
6. Polish- these crested chickens are loads of fun! They come in lots of colors (my favorites are white crested blue and buff laced) and they look super funny with their poofy crests. If you get these, get more than one, because they like to hang out with other crested birds. YOu could also get a houdan or sultan to go with a polish. The downside to these is that their poor vision makes them bad free rangers and very easy for predators to take, as well as easy bullying targets.
5. Ameraucanas- these are the fancy versions of easter eggers, and are much more expensive. They come in standardized colors and have HUGE beards and muffs, which are traits that I personally love. They're guaranteed to lay gorgeous blue eggs.
4. Easter Eggers- these are technically mutts, and you'll get a surprise color pattern and egg color. They can lay green, blue, pink, or brown and are wonderful friendly pets.
3. Cochins- these are ADORABLE with wonderful floofy footers! The only reason that they're not higher on the list is their tendency to go broody, which can be tricky to manage.
2. Plymouth rocks- they come in lots of gorgeous colors and are super friendly, easy birds.
1. White leghorns- egg laying machines with wonderful personality!
Click to expand...
W
 
Cupcake1243 said:
W
Click to expand...
black_cat said:
ONly 4-5 hens!?!?!? Go big or go home!!! Make them huge!!! Give yourself room for 20 hens and start with 5. Then when chicken math hits, you'll be prepared!! And if it doesn't (doubtful) then your girls will have loaaaaaaads of space. The general rules of thumb for space are the run should be at least twice as big as the coop, and each standard sized hen should have 5+ square feet of coop space and 10+ square feet of run space.

If you're going to have roosters, I'd recommend raising your hens to maturity, then finding a calm, mature rooster for sale. I wouldn't recommend adding a rooster to fewer than 10 hens, to prevent overmating. You can totally eat their eggs if they're fertile!! Just beware of broodies. You'd only need to separate a rooster and hens if you want to cross them specifically.

For starting chickens, I'll give you my top ten:
10. Rhode island red- These are so low on the list because I'm just personally not a fan of them, although they have a very nice color to them and they are great layers. The roosters are usually quite aggressive, and the hens tend to have dominant personalities,
9. Orpingtons- I personally hate the color buff, but american orps also commonly come in lavender and jubilee. English orps are far superior, as they are much puffier. @ColtHandorf has great examples. Orps are generally very friendly and come in loads of colors, and they are very popular.
8. Wyandottes- wyandottes also come in lots of colors, most commonly laced- my favorite is blue laced red. These are great pets, and their rose combs make them great for colder climates.
7. Marans- these birds aer gorgeous IMO, and lay stunning eggs of a really dark brown. They're super friendly.
6. Polish- these crested chickens are loads of fun! They come in lots of colors (my favorites are white crested blue and buff laced) and they look super funny with their poofy crests. If you get these, get more than one, because they like to hang out with other crested birds. YOu could also get a houdan or sultan to go with a polish. The downside to these is that their poor vision makes them bad free rangers and very easy for predators to take, as well as easy bullying targets.
5. Ameraucanas- these are the fancy versions of easter eggers, and are much more expensive. They come in standardized colors and have HUGE beards and muffs, which are traits that I personally love. They're guaranteed to lay gorgeous blue eggs.
4. Easter Eggers- these are technically mutts, and you'll get a surprise color pattern and egg color. They can lay green, blue, pink, or brown and are wonderful friendly pets.
3. Cochins- these are ADORABLE with wonderful floofy footers! The only reason that they're not higher on the list is their tendency to go broody, which can be tricky to manage.
2. Plymouth rocks- they come in lots of gorgeous colors and are super friendly, easy birds.
1. White leghorns- egg laying machines with wonderful personality!
Click to expand...
So true lol!!! I will defo go big or go home :gig:gig
Wow! Thank you so much for the chicken breeds! See, if you didn't help then I probably wouldv'e got 4 hens and a rooster. Thanks again for your help!
 
BantammChick said:
@Cupcake1243 that's awesome you're getting a farm! Barred Rocks, white leghorns, rhode island reds, and easter eggers are all good layers. White leghorns aren't as friendly as the others, if you're looking for pet chickens as well.
Click to expand...
I beg to differ:
1613492147868.png

They might not like to be picked up and hugged, but they have the most wonderful unique personalities.
 
Ameraucanas. Get Ameraucanas. They aren’t a egg producing machine but are the best breed by far. If you are buying from a hatchery I recommend Cackle - they are the only one I’ve found that actually sell Ameraucanas. The rest sell Easter Eggers (which are mutts, nothing wrong with that.) as Ameraucanas. Just don’t get buff. Buff is a disgusting color, especially on Orpingtons. :sick

You could also get some Easter Eggers which you can get at any farm store or feed store. They may say ”Easter Egger,” “Americana,” “Ameraucana,” etc...

Orpingtons are okay - but they have to be English. American Orps are gross, and again don’t get buff.

Cochins are far superior to Orps and are much floofier, if you want a good broody breed go for Cochins. They also come in a bantam size and are like little fluff nuggets.
 

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