New to Chickens - Meaties and Layers living together in harmony?

[wannabeafarmerKS]

We are going to be starting our flock soon, and we will be getting a variance from the town to have our chickens (and maybe a turkey once or twice a year MAYBE). So I am learning as much as I can ahead of time. We want to have chickens for eggs and meat. I don't know if they will let me have roos or not, I am hoping that I can for breeding more meaties.


How many of each should I have? I would like to stick with one breed so that I don't need to worry about inter-breeding and what not. What breed would be best for both effects?

Should I split my coop for my meaties and layers? We plan on copy-ing working off of this coop design https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7137 as we are going to be growing veggies etc as well - would that be ok for both meaties and layers to live in?

Is it possible to have a flock of meaties several times a year to keep the numbers down, say if we are only allowed 20 chickens total?

Would I need a separate home for the occasional turkey?

Thanks for all your help! Any additional thoughts/ help is appreciated!!!
Sarah

 

[newchicksnducks]

You might want to consider a dual purpose breed, one that will be good at laying and fine for the pot. Meaty breeds mature quickly, and will be ready to eat when they are just a few months old. You would constantly be introducing babies to your older layers. If you want a strickly meat breed and separate breed for laying, I would try to use part or all of the storage area of the lovely coop you are considering duplicating as the meat bird area. .. or build bigger to have two bird areas and the storage Good luck!