New! Getting ideas & answers!

[Wyandottes7]

Hey there! I recently purchased a house with some land and have been wanting chickens for a while. Now that I have a good space to keep them I thought noes the time.

I'm looking to keep a small flock of hens for egg production. My idea of small is 4-6. So my main questions come from this number.

How big of a coop and run? For 6 birds, you want a coop with at least 24 square feet in it (4 square feet per bird). So, a 6 x 4 coop would suffice. Ideally, each chicken should have 10 square feet of outside space, so 60 square feet total for six birds. More is always better.

Best feed?Like for breeds, there isn't really a "best" feed, at least in terms of brand name. You want to feed them the proper feed for their age, which means chicks get starter feed and layers get layer feed. The majority of the diet should be commmercial chicken feed, though up to 10% can be treats. For layers, you also want to provide crushed oyster shell for calcium.

Edit: After I posted this, I realize that Bantamlover21 has already covered most of the same information quite well.

 

[Michael OShay]

Silkies don't lay many eggs, I don't think so...

Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. X2 on Silkies not laying many eggs, and their eggs are very small as well. For sheer egg production, I would suggest Black Sex Links (Black Stars). I've raised them for years and they are hardy, friendly, egg laying machines. If you prefer a standard breed as BSLs are hybrids and will not breed true, I would suggest Black Australorps. I've had them since 1979 and they are extremely hardy, calm and gentle (my children, and now my granddaughter have made lap pets of ours) and they are the best layers of the standard, brown egg laying breeds. A Black Australorp holds the brown egg laying record with 364 eggs in 365 days, and while none of mine have ever reached that level of productivity (and likely never will), I've still had a few of them lay over 300 eggs in a year. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Whatever breeds you decide to get, good luck with your flock.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC!

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

 

[drumstick diva]

Dave Omak gave you some good advice. Rule of thumb for regular (not bantam) sized breeds is 4 sg.feet per bird in the coop and 10 sg.feet per bird in the outdoor run. Bantams can do with a little less.

People seem to get addicted to chickens easily and then want to keep adding more. It's a good idea to build larger than what you expect you will need. Birds that stay inside during a harsh winter will feather pick, fight, and sometimes cannibalize each other if over crowded.

Silkies are a very popular breed for many reasons but, are not the greatest layers. They can make good pets and children tend to adore them. Chicken folk often keep a silkie or two just because they usually make great broody hens. They can be used rather than an incubator under such conditions.

Due to their big crests and beards their vision is impaired and people tend to think they are dumb. If you aren't going to show them - just clip back the beards and crests and their IQ jumps by quite a bit.

Due to the type of wing feathers they are not good flyers, they tend to get around by jumping and instead of roosting they may just pile up in a corner on the floor of the coop.
This makes them prone to predator attack- so they do best in a secure, fenced & covered run.

There are many dedicated silkie thread on BYC, my favorite is simply "Silky thread," which you can find by putting that name in the search box. You may want to ask around there to see what others say you will be up against with silkies, or adding other breeds as well to the mix.

BTW it was very nice to meet you, hope I didn't throw cold water on your blanket. Every breed has pros and cons but, silkies still prevail.

 

[thenewguy94]

Thanks everyone for all the great info! Im as we speak working on the drawing for my planned coop so I can upload and have you all critique it. I read in one of the replies above that you can mix flocks, is there certain breeds to mix for a well behaved flock? I have read that mixing can cause fighting depending on the type of birds you keep. I like bantams but haven't had time this week to do much research on them. Are they good layers? Thanks again!

 

[Michael OShay]

Thanks everyone for all the great info! Im as we speak working on the drawing for my planned coop so I can upload and have you all critique it. I read in one of the replies above that you can mix flocks, is there certain breeds to mix for a well behaved flock? I have read that mixing can cause fighting depending on the type of birds you keep. I like bantams but haven't had time this week to do much research on them. Are they good layers? Thanks again!

Bantams are all small birds, so even the bantam breeds that lay pretty well all lay very small eggs. Also, I wouldn't mix bantams in with standard breeds (although some owners do) as there is always the danger of the bantams being battered by the larger birds. I would suggest getting very docile standard breeds which will not only keep fighting to a minimum, but will lay lots of nice, large eggs as well. For a mixed flock, I would recommend Australorps, Orpingtons, Sussex, Brahmas, Cochins, and Faverolles. All of these breeds have a well-earned reputation of being very calm, friendly, and gentle, and should mix well together with no problems (other than the usual pecking order which occurs with all breeds). Australorps are the best layers on this list (a Black Australorp holds the brown egg laying record with 364 eggs in 365 days) and Cochins are the poorest layers on this list. Orpingtons, Sussex, Brahmas, and Faverolles all have about the same lay rate, although Brahmas' eggs can tend to be a little smaller than the others.

 

[Frindizzle]

Hello and….

from Washington! BYC is the best fowl website you can find.

I hope you feel glad you signed up! In our flock we have great people and it is always great to have a new member In our flock, we have no pecking order!

By the way, not saying that you will do anything bad, but no fowl play

 

[arkansas55]

hello and welcome

 

[LIChickens]

Welcome to BYC!

Larger is better because it is very likely you will soon have more chickens than you have space for.