New to BYC and hoping to get some soon but...

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[paintedChix]

Sounds like you are on the right track with studying things here and with looking around/planning ahead of time.

My "Google fu" worked different then yours, once again, and this time I came up with quite a few hatcheries in Canada. I don't know which are closest to you, as I haven't gotten that far into looking yet. Edited to add - looks like there are several in/around Edmonton.

The first three that pop up are Frey's Hatchery House, Rochester Hatchery & Berg's Hatchery. There were more "pins" on the map - I didn't open it up larger to see what/who they were. Most were concentrated near the US North Eastern states. You may have to ship chicks like many in the USA do OR keep right on "googling" and find breeders near you. Joining the Canadian thread forum may help as well (someone already posted a link for you).

Starting out with purebred chicks may work out GREAT if a breeder is local that can mentor you and get you started. There are breeders that have more than one breed and some will/can help with placement if you get a rooster that needs to be rehomed (unless you just want to provide freezer camp for him/them).

Or go with an auto-sexing breed - brown egg layers - Bielefelders (actually lighter brown/pinkish. Birds are VERY friendly, mine aren't "big" crowers, but I have a lot of other breeds who are. Maybe not competing?), Rhodebars (every one of our roosters have turned mean <from 2 different breeders> & granddaughters DO NOT go in coops with them, girls are friendly and like to be held - some lay well & some don't - laid thru the winter here w/ milder temps & lots of daylight but no lights in coops); White egg layers - 55 Flowery Hens (ours are LARGE white eggs; flighty birds, mine don't like much handling even when handled as chicks); blue(green?) layers - Cream Legbars (there are breeders in Candada); white/tinted egg layers - Smaalands. Some of these breeds are now at at least one hatchery in CN, but I'm not finding that hatchery at the moment. There are breeders in CN of some of these birds or go to the source and order from Green Fire Farms.

Chantecler chickens were developed in CN and come in at least two varieties. They would/should do well in CN for you... They have somewhat "fluffy" (loose) feathering and smaller combs.

Edited to add - if you search on YouTube, there are quite a number of permaculture/food forest buffs that have lots of videos on how to integrate chickens into a garden in Canada. Some work with incredibly small amounts of land (portions of an acre). You can also check out ones in various areas of the USA, some of these methods may work well for you and some might not. There is a much larger farm in MT that has set up micro-climates (not green houses) that work with various fruits/veggies/trees that normally wouldn't grow in their growing zone... Another farmer in Nebraska went with geothermic heating, but you may need a larger piece of land?? (they state that optimal size is 96'x16') May not work simply due to $$, but gives "food for thought"... Check out Greenhouse in the Snow.

 

[ocap]

I had an extremely difficult time keeping my birds safe. I do not recommend expensive birds until you have a year of experience.