OHio ~ Come on Buckeyes, let me know your out there!

[blessedchick]

I live kind of between Marengo and Sunbury. How about you?

I'm right on 61, just north of Fulton...Marengo is the other side of the road. Great to have another chicken neighbor!!!

 

[kathychick]

Hello from another Cincinnati chicken-ER!

 

[loveourbirds]

Hello Ohioans,
I am in Toledo, Springfield Township actually. I am just trying to get started with chickens so I am studying on what I need to do. At first it was a little overwhelming but now I am excited about raising them and having fresh eggs, partial to brown. I am also petitioning for any guidance and information I can get because I want to get off to a good start. I have an out building that I need to repair and make it coop worthy before I actually purchase any chicks, which I am not to clear on as to where to get them in my area. I want hens that will produce large brown eggs possibly 4 to 8 a week. My goal is to be able to provide fresh, organic eggs for my church family. I was planning on starting out with 7 to 10 chicks unless I get advice saying differently. I don't want to bite off more than I can handle since I am new at this and don't really know what to expect. I will post pictures of my building as soon as I can get to it with all the snow and frigid temperatures we have been having. With that being said I am open to any words of wisdom .

i wanted to say hi to you and the rest of the newbies, welcome to the thread.

tsc, rural king, meyer hatchery and eagle's nest hatchery arent far from you.

if your looking for quantity of large brown eggs, red sex links are probably the way to go (golden comet, red star, golden buff etc). you cannot breed a male and female from these and create a chicken with the same properties. depending on breeding they also *usually* aren't great for meat purposes. a good bred red sex link will give 5-6 eggs a week.

if you want to breed and hatch (its addicting), i would stay with orpingtons, wyandottes, and plymouth rocks. wyandottes have rose combs and tolerate our winters easier than the other 2 breeds. wyandotte roosters can be ornery (as with any breed). for dual purpose (meat and eggs) plymouth rocks are my personal favorite.


*update on our situation*
this year we are not selling chicks commercially, if we have extra eggs and time we will hatch a few for our friends on this thread/site. we are going to hatch and move only chicks to the new farm, restarting our flock. we are also going to start vaccinating all chicks, so we dont have this issue again. i am cutting back to 10-15 large breeds and going to work on my autosexing breeds. i am going to keep working with cochin bantams. after that its still to be determined.

 

[CourtsCacklers]

Hello Ohioans,
I am in Toledo, Springfield Township actually. I am just trying to get started with chickens so I am studying on what I need to do. At first it was a little overwhelming but now I am excited about raising them and having fresh eggs, partial to brown. I am also petitioning for any guidance and information I can get because I want to get off to a good start. I have an out building that I need to repair and make it coop worthy before I actually purchase any chicks, which I am not to clear on as to where to get them in my area. I want hens that will produce large brown eggs possibly 4 to 8 a week. My goal is to be able to provide fresh, organic eggs for my church family. I was planning on starting out with 7 to 10 chicks unless I get advice saying differently. I don't want to bite off more than I can handle since I am new at this and don't really know what to expect. I will post pictures of my building as soon as I can get to it with all the snow and frigid temperatures we have been having. With that being said I am open to any words of wisdom .

Welcome--- I am in the Fremont Area---not too far from you! Check out the what I wish I would have known before getting chickens"-- I read it in it's entireity before planning/buiding my coop and getting chickens and learned a lot from it-- here is the link!!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...sh-you-had-known-before-you-got-your-chickens

 

[3scout3332]

Sure!

 

[OHfarmerswife]

i wanted to say hi to you and the rest of the newbies, welcome to the thread.

tsc, rural king, meyer hatchery and eagle's nest hatchery arent far from you.

if your looking for quantity of large brown eggs, red sex links are probably the way to go (golden comet, red star, golden buff etc).  you cannot breed a male and female from these and create a chicken with the same properties.  depending on breeding they also *usually* aren't great for meat purposes.  a good bred red sex link will give 5-6 eggs a week.

if you want to breed and hatch (its addicting), i would stay with orpingtons, wyandottes, and plymouth rocks.  wyandottes have rose combs and tolerate our winters easier than the other 2 breeds.  wyandotte roosters can be ornery (as with any breed).  for dual purpose (meat and eggs) plymouth rocks are my personal favorite.


*update on our situation*
this year we are not selling chicks commercially, if we have extra eggs and time we will hatch a few for our friends on this thread/site.  we are going to hatch and move only chicks to the new farm, restarting our flock.  we are also going to start vaccinating all chicks, so we dont have this issue again.  i am cutting back to 10-15 large breeds and going to work on my autosexing breeds.  i am going to keep working with cochin bantams.  after that its still to be determined.

What are you vaccinating for?

What problem are you referring to?

 

[Faerie]

Hello from another Cincinnati chicken-ER!

Hi!! I am also in Cincinnati!!

 

[loveourbirds]

Quote: im going to vaccinate for all illnesses that i can.

we had lyrangotracheitis break out on our farm, it came from a vaccinated show bird i had picked up for a breeder. 2 weeks ago i culled or threw away nearly $7,000 of my breeding stock. that is why i quit advertising the chickens for sale, the ones by the shed, and the ones outside were the only ones that weren't exposed. the disease does not transfer through the egg (unless hatched by mother), so i am going to hatch all the chicks on the new property and cull what is on this property - saving as many of the breeds (and quality) that i can. once a chicken gets this, it cannot be cured and will always be a carrier; mortality is about 30-50%. according to OSU most of Ohio's flocks have had this, but since i am in business of selling chickens, i cannot *knowingly* sell something that may harm another flock.

edited for typo

 

[chicknmania]

im going to vaccinate for all illnesses that i can.

we had lyrangotracheitis break out on our farm, it came from a vaccinated show bird i had picked up for a breeder. 2 weeks ago i culled or threw away nearly $7,000 of my breeding stock. that is why i quit advertising the chickens for sale, the ones by the shed, and the ones outside were the only ones that weren't exposed. the disease does not transfer through the egg (unless hatched by mother), so i am going to hatch all the chicks on the new property and cull what is on this property - saving as many of the breeds (and quality) that i can. once a chicken gets this, it cannot be cured and will always be a carrier; mortality is about 30-50%. according to OSU most of Ohio's flocks have had this, but since i am in business of selling chickens, i cannot *knowingly* sell something that may harm another flock.

edited for typo

Actually, there's a very good vaccine against ILT that is easy to administer and not particularly expensive. Many people think that vaccines make the chickens carriers, but this one does not. I believe it is a dead vaccine. WE had ILT on our farm, several years ago. It was horrible. If you have not reported your case to the State, which it sounds as if you have, you should report it. Glad you are not close to us.

 

[loveourbirds]

ive read about that vaccine, this was a timebomb in the making. until now i never vaccinated my birds, as some vaccines do make them carriers. when you have as many chickens as i do, unvaccinated, contained in breeders cages, under one roof - someone somewhere is going to catch something. i didnt do it because of selling potential carriers when i cull out for my breeders, now i will just have to inform everyone that they are vaccinated chickens.

i am so far from the backyard breeder that i wanted to be, i really do need to cut back on the breeds i have here. it's just so hard to make a choice.