Well, last year I got the chicken fever. This year I'm going serious! So we are moving to Vancouver Island in April/May, and I am looking into getting chickens. Last year we got some 4 week old broilers (that ended up being more like Leghorns), 5 1yo Leghorn layers, and 2 ISA brown layers that were 8 mo old. We kept the layers and broilers separate, and ended up eating all but the ISA browns at the end of the summer (had to move back into town, and a friend took the ISAs). This year I have already found a Heritage chicken breeder near our new home, and I am hoping to start up a flock of dual purpose birds. Where would be the best place to get a basic understanding of the best way to start a flock? My personal feeling is to find a couple broody hens, and to get some hatching eggs, and that would be the best and cheapest. Others probably have opinons on the success of this, though, and I wouldl ike to hear the experience of others to help educate me! Thanks!
I love having broody hens raise chicks for me - it is easier, cleaner and there are no integration issues. That said…..finding a couple of broody hens will be your biggest challenge, since broodiness comes and goes and almost never happens at the exact moment you want it to. And, even if the breeder you get the eggs from has hens who are broody that he is willing to sell you, the stress of moving from one home to another will almost certainly "break" them from broodiness, to which they may return within days, weeks or months. If I were you, I'd probably start with chicks, raise them in the brooder, and hope that for subsequent generations, enough hens will be willing to brood for you that you can continue the flock that way. If you really want to hatch, investing in an incubator may not be a bad idea.
