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Therrm

Therrm

In the Brooder
May 6, 2015
17
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New to this forum and new to having chickens. Got 16 straight run buff orpingtons from the feed store and 10 white leghorns for free from the local 2nd grade classroom. They are in a brooder in the garage while Im turning an old barn into a coop. Planning on letting them free range during the day. Have had them for three weeks and we are hooked. Im looking at incubators and the wife is all mamma bear about her babies. I have a good friend who has been raising, breeding, and hatching chickens, quail, pheasant, and turkey since he was 6 (We are 27 now) and have been getting a lot of info from him but still have come here for some answers to questions. Decided to join so I could interact more and be a part of the group.
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided join our flock. Sounds like you got a real bargain with those White Leghorns. Having a straight run flock, you will likely end up with a lot of cockerels, so I hope you have a good plan for thinning them down. The recommended ration of roosters to hens is 1 rooster for every 10 hens. As they mature, too many roosters will become very hard on your hens; over-breeding them, biting and plucking the feathers from their necks and backs, battering them, and potentially, seriously injuring them. The only reason you really need a rooster is to fertilize eggs for hatching, and 1 rooster can easily handle 10-15 hens in that regard. Of course one option is to butcher and eat the excess cockerels, but some of our members don't butcher and eat chickens. I've raised Buff Orpingtons for years (along with dozens of other breeds) and they are hardy, friendly and gentle (my children and granddaughter made lap pets of them), and good layers of large, brown eggs. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your hatches.
 
Hello and welcome! There are a ton of coop plans and incubator plans on this site. Buff Orpingtons are sweet and lovely chickens and Leghorns are amazing egg layers. If you need any information to get yourself sorted this is the place.
 
Welcome to the crazy chicken club. I mean BYC. Lol. I've gotten most of my info here. My hubby works with a bunch of ppl who have farms big and small so we get lots of advice from there too. It's nice to do it our way with all the info from both places. ( I have informed a few ppl about things I've learned her in the info he received from others.)
Congrats on your chicks and hope the barn work goes smooth as it transitions into a chicken haven.
 
We plan to butcher all but 1 or 2 of the buff cockerels around 18 weeks. As for the leghorns my buddy wants a rooster and we may keep one. The others will be disposed of or given away.
Im going to see if next yr we can work something out with the lady where we can choose the breed if we pay some or all of the cost of the eggs and she can hatch them in her classroom.
The second night we had our buff chicks the wife and I sat in the garage, had a couple beers and laughed as we watched them run around and explore. They are definitely moody little things. Some days they fight over who gets to jump up in your hand and other days they dont want anything to do with you and would rather dig in the pine shavings.
 
Therrm said:
We plan to butcher all but 1 or 2 of the buff cockerels around 18 weeks. As for the leghorns my buddy wants a rooster and we may keep one. The others will be disposed of or given away.
Im going to see if next yr we can work something out with the lady where we can choose the breed if we pay some or all of the cost of the eggs and she can hatch them in her classroom.
The second night we had our buff chicks the wife and I sat in the garage, had a couple beers and laughed as we watched them run around and explore. They are definitely moody little things. Some days they fight over who gets to jump up in your hand and other days they dont want anything to do with you and would rather dig in the pine shavings.
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Lol. I never would have believe how fun chickens can be. When we have a stressful day we go out and watch the animals. It brings us back to earth and makes us laugh. I hope your experience goes well and next yr will be just as enjoyable. We haven't had meat birds yet. We will be trying that next year.
 
Welcome to Backyard chickens. The Learning Center is a great place to start a chicken education. Get your friend to join as well - BYC would certainly benefit from a person of his experience with poultry. He's make a great greeter, whenever he had the time - we get many questions re: poultry other than chickens.
 

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