New with 6 chickens

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BigChickenDinner said:
I am a member here, as of today. We have between 6-9 laying hens, depending on predation. I built a nice-looking, rustic, coop out of scrap wood, which was fun and challenging. We installed a fenced-in run around the coop, and we let them out to free-range for about 30 minutes a day prior to sunset. We have 3 production reds (love the large eggs), 1 Rhode Island red, and 2 silver-laced Wyandottes.

We'd like to learn a lot more about birds, especially how to increase egg production. Aside from the basics, we do not want to spend a lot of money on our flock and hope to provide for as many needs as possible, in-house. We are also exploring breeds to add to our flock. We're currently thinking of buff orpingtons. And for our little girl, we are considering Polish and silkie - no idea if they are practical layers.

We would also like to figure out how to reduce food waste.
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Welcome to BYC!

If you are wanting more eggs look for breeds that are good layers. RIR and Productions are both great layers, and so are the Wyandottes. Feeding good quality feed and increasing the amount of day light will also help them lay more.

Silkies and Polsih are both notorious for being terrible layers and being picked on by other birds. If you want to get some for your little girl, do not expect many eggs from them. You could also get your daughter Easters Eggers or Amereraucanas They are generally sweet birds, and are good layers of blue/green eggs.

Best of luck!
 

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