New to chicken in Mount clemens Michigan

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shannon313

shannon313

Hatching
6 Years
Sep 29, 2013
3
0
7
Hello everyone,

I would like to know more about raising chickens, people's experiences with the city of mount clemens allowing them, how much does it generally cost a month to keep a chicken, how many eggs does one chicken lay a day, how much space do you need per chicken, best and prettiest breeds, ect...

I enjoy being around animals, gardening, canning, crafts, and do it yourself projects.

I look forward to your responses, ideas and help.

Thank you
 
Welcome to BYC
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Glad you joined us! There is a lot of info here and in time you will find answers to all your questions and more. I've been here 2 years and I'm still learning new things. Some sections I'd recommend to you, for starters is the Learning Center, for articles on a wide range of topics, such as raising chickens, keeping them healthy, flock management, predators and diseases etc. For your local laws I'd suggest posting in the Local Chicken Laws & Ordinances section. You'll get good advice there. Costs of keeping chickens depends on which breed you keep (some eat more than others, for example bantams need less food than large fowl), where you buy feed, how you keep the flock, free range or in a coop and run, in what quantities you buy feed etc. Egg laying depends on the breed. Some breeds are phenomenal layers and some are so-so. The Breeds and Reviews section should help you determine which is which. Space per chicken: 4 sq feet per chicken in the coop and 10 sq feet per chicken in the run. Best and prettiest breeds... That is tricky and depends on what you personally like in a breed. Some breeds are good at laying and for eating, but may not be very attractive to some, others are stunning, but poor layers and slow maturing... Again, read the reviews to help you pick what suits you. There is also 1000's of photo's on site. If you type a breed that you like the look off's name in the search bar above you'll get discussions and photo's on it.

If you're done reading and reviewing or just need a break from chickens and learning about them scroll down to the Gardening, DIY / Self Sufficiency and Hobbies sections. There are some wonderful discussions there that you can join in. Enjoy the site!
 
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Glad you are here.
There is a thread about the cost of keeping chickens. Here is the thing.

Costs vary due to many factors. How thrifty you are? How much are you willing to tdo to care for your chickens, What kind of chickens do you want to keep. Electricity costs in your area, feed. So you will have to make those decisions and factor your own costs.

The chicks in my brooder were not all the same price. I have 6 bantams, 2 Dominiques and 3 Orpingtons. The orps cost me 18.00 each but the Doms were like 3.00 and I think the Bantams were 3.00 each. In the past I ordered a special on Brown layers and got 25 chicks and including shipping it cost $40.00.

I have 4 coops. 2 coops were built from plans and wood I purchased from Lowes each coop cost me $230.00 to build. I think the plans were $12, My husband found a pallet coop plan for $9 and got pallets for free then proceeded to build me 2 more coops and paid Nothing except the cost of the plans. He even re used the nails. We sell our eggs so the cost of our feed is covered by the profit from the egg sales.

Some people feed chickens scraps and let them forage - others purchase feed and feed quality is all different. I used to drive an hour to get a brand of feed the local feed store didn't carry.

Your preferences are going to determine your costs. You can keep chickens very cost efficiently or you can spend a ton o cash. During the great depression people were encouraged to raise chickens even in the suburbs, as a way to supply their families with food that was cost efficient. The government suggested quantity even (1 layer per each house hold member plus 1)

If you are raising meaties and layers then there are other costs to consider.

Decide what you want and go from there, then keep great records regarding your expenditures.

Have fun and glad you joined us.
Caroline
 
:welcome Glad to have you join us! Most breeds of chickens lay 4-6 eggs per week for the first two years.

I have 23 chickens, and we go through about 60-100 pounds of feed per month depending on the time of year. The feed bags we buy are 50 pounds and they cost $13.00. So with feed, shavings, and cracked corn, we spend about $40-$60 per month.

The monthly cost all depends on how many chickens you have, and space depends on if you free range. For the coop space I know it's 5 square feet per bird.
 
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So far silkies are my favorite. I think three would be sufficient. How long do they lay for? What do you do with them when they stop? Do you have them butchered? I plan to fence off a run for them and also let them free range part of the day. Are silkies generally quiet? I don't the neighbors to complain :)

Thank you for all the responses I hope to be able to a few in the spring. I CAN'T WAIT! /-)
 
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silkies are not known to be good layers. They are great eye candy, usually docile. Some people get them because they go broody often and during that time will hatch out their eggs or any fertile eggs you purchase and put under them.
 
But they still lay some correct? Lol so I can't have eye candy egg layers /-( I haven't seen another breeds as pretty as them
 

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