NY chicken lover!!!!

[aalissa]

I would start with 6 ...8 we had too many eggs with just that amount .
You can always add more later ..when you get used to them
But Make your coop bigger than you need ...you will always want more ..
it is best to get a few new chickens each year ..then you will always have eggs

I will start with 6 or 8 layers however my goal is for meat too. So it might be overwhelming at first but that wont last long once the boys are in my freezer.
Because of my issues with chemical sensitivity, I need to get on an organic diet as quickly as possible because I am paying a fortune to local farmers right now being organic and chemical free.

 

[aalissa]

It's great to see you r doing ur research & planning! It's so easy to lose will power at the sight & sound of those cute little fluffy butts.

One of my favorite chicken books is "Small Scale Poultry Flock" by Harvey Ussery. His approach is one of sustainability and utility of dual purpose birds. He highlights a few breeds he's worked with & ways that he has them helping in the garden. I found it very helpful on planning & updating my own setup. Enjoy the planning process & putting it into action! I find my best laid plans rarely go as I expect, especially when there's chickens involved.

Yes chickens and or any other animal can make the best made plans a pile of waste. lol.
I think I will be using ducks in the garden more so than chickens... same work from a less destructive force. not so much digging. I can't remember the site i was on but I think you can goggle ducks in the garden and get the information. When I first started taking notes I unfortunately did not notate cites... I do now. I think the worst things ducks do is lay on the plants so you have to protect the plants with cages and such. But they will happily follow you through the garden gobbling up the insects they find.and work it over while you are not there. Additionally, i read you let them out there for a couple hours then let the ducks leave the gardening area if your not at home.
I will take a look at that book and thank you for your support.

 

[cheeka]

it's been a while... but I thought I'd stop by and say Happy Sprin-ter - and celebrate with y'all the new season that is the Winter we all have every Spring... got mud? and frozen mud? yeah... and we still have snow... been flurrying every day...

so anyway, hope everyone is well, flocks are thriving... garden designs underway (even if it's only on paper...) cross your fingers that the new brood will let my flower seeds grow!

 

[PhoredaBurds]

I think Ussery only used chickens in the garden to tear up parts of it & scratch compost into it. Certainly free chickens in a tender garden could wreck havoc. I had read about geese being good weeders and got myself a pair. Turns out they only eat certain weeds & really like eating certain veggie plants (ie: squash, eggplant, broccoli, etc). :/. The did eat some of the weeds under the tomatoes, but only so much. They are cute regardless. Obviously my homesteading skills are not so good .

 

[Beer can]

Now that's a winner of a picture, super cute!

 

[Beer can]

I will start with 6 or 8 layers however my goal is for meat too. So it might be overwhelming at first but that wont last long once the boys are in my freezer.
Because of my issues with chemical sensitivity, I need to get on an organic diet as quickly as possible because I am paying a fortune to local farmers right now being organic and chemical free.

We only wanted 6 layers after not having chickens for a few years and knowing 15 just gave us too many eggs for our use, ended up with 8 after putting a bunch in the freezer. Then I watched 'Food Inc.' and now want to do more to get away from buying store bought anything. We did plan on getting Meyers 'fry pan bargain' all roosters and cheap, last year they offered them in smaller quantities, I see now they are only for 100@ .30 cents each. Theirs are heavy breeds, not just white leghorns like other hatcheries.
But after becoming a BYC addict and chicken obsessed after researching other awesome rare and heritage breeds (people here on BYC are 'enablers' Lol!) I have a few new breeds coming to add to the flock. 10 White Jersey Giants, 10 Black and 5 Blue Langshans. Just bought 6 fibro Silkies and have a couple maybe few fibro Ayam Cemani crosses to pick up also (debating getting some pure Cemani hatching eggs but they scare me being I haven't hatched yet) . So I don't think I'll need to buy those 'fry pan bargain' chicks anymore, should have plenty of culls to put in the freezer as soon as I start hatching and building up the flock.
You should research the health benefits of black meat chickens, high levels of the antioxidant amino acid carnosine, supposedly reverses the ageing process and prevents and cures diseases. They have been used by the Chinese for medicine for thousands of years.

 

[aalissa]

We only wanted 6 layers after not having chickens for a few years and knowing 15 just gave us too many eggs for our use, ended up with 8 after putting a bunch in the freezer. Then I watched 'Food Inc.' and now want to do more to get away from buying store bought anything. We did plan on getting Meyers 'fry pan bargain' all roosters and cheap, last year they offered them in smaller quantities, I see now they are only for 100@ .30 cents each. Theirs are heavy breeds, not just white leghorns like other hatcheries.
But after becoming a BYC addict and chicken obsessed after researching other awesome rare and heritage breeds (people here on BYC are 'enablers' Lol!) I have a few new breeds coming to add to the flock. 10 White Jersey Giants, 10 Black and 5 Blue Langshans. Just bought 6 fibro Silkies and have a couple maybe few fibro Ayam Cemani crosses to pick up also (debating getting some pure Cemani hatching eggs but they scare me being I haven't hatched yet) . So I don't think I'll need to buy those 'fry pan bargain' chicks anymore, should have plenty of culls to put in the freezer as soon as I start hatching and building up the flock.
You should research the health benefits of black meat chickens, high levels of the antioxidant amino acid carnosine, supposedly reverses the ageing process and prevents and cures diseases. They have been used by the Chinese for medicine for thousands of years.

WOW, thank you for the information.
My goal is to help myself first and then to help my grown children as well. I think I will end up with a lot more chickens and other farm animals than I initially anticipate. I am starting slow and taking care of myself first. Something I never did when I was younger.
I can be anyone's example of what happens when you eat the food approved by this government.
I was so sick, horribly sick. I had every symptom of fibromyalgia & chronic fatigue Syndrome all balled up together, and I was suffering horribly. Everyday I woke with headaches, muscle and joint pain, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, fever, swollen glands, all of it.

I will and thank you for the information. I will research black meat chickens. I wrote it all down and thanks again for the information and support.

 

[PhoredaBurds]

So this is one (or 12) of the reasons I should not have a bigger incubator:

I put a bunch of eggs into the bator to get it going & tested. The eggs had all gotten fairly cold so I didn't expect more than half if any to hatch. Well 12 of 13 hatched. Not sure why I can't get a hatch rate like that when I really want them to hatch.

 

[PhoredaBurds]

it's been a while... but I thought I'd stop by and say Happy Sprin-ter - and celebrate with y'all the new season that is the Winter we all have every Spring... got mud? and frozen mud? yeah... and we still have snow... been flurrying every day... so anyway, hope everyone is well, flocks are thriving... garden designs underway (even if it's only on paper...) cross your fingers that the new brood will let my flower seeds grow!

Very cute! Almost like that chick needs a quote bubble over it. Not sure what she'd be saying tho. Great shot!

 

[aalissa]

So this is one (or 12) of the reasons I should not have a bigger incubator:



I put a bunch of eggs into the bator to get it going & tested. The eggs had all gotten fairly cold so I didn't expect more than half if any to hatch. Well 12 of 13 hatched. Not sure why I can't get a hatch rate like that when I really want them to hatch.

I think they 12 or so reasons why you should have a bator. They's so fluffy!!! Cute little poops.