self sufficiency?

[charlie_D]

Hopefully this is the right spot to post this; if not, please feel free to move it

It's more of a 'general' forum question, centred around the feed / eating habits.

I recently purchased a house on a 15.5 acre lot. My devious plan has been to adopt some chickens and guineas for general insect control, specifically ticks and mosquitoes. Meat and eggs are a great bonus.

So, here are my questions (I've searched, but perhaps I'm using the wrong keywords):

1) how many chickens would be able to 'day range' on this size of property?
2) Preferably they would be as self sufficient as possible, as my wife wants nothing to do with any more animals, and I work 12 hour shifts... so they'll be unattended except for the dog. At night I'll keep them penned for their own protection.
3) What breed would work for this? It sounds like I'd be looking for a game fowl, or a Chantecler... on the one hand, I'm unsure how the older breeds do with the winters we have around here (it gets down to -45 C, or -49 F for you southern folk

) , and on the other I'm wondering how well a Chantecler can care for itself.
4) Will they get enough on their own, or is supplemental feed a must? My grandparents had chickens that (by the stories) they never fed, is that realistic in the spring / summer months?

The last thing I want are unhealthy / malnourished birds. I'm also not looking for a bunch of 'pets' per se; they have work to do!

Any thoughts are appreciated, and feel free to yell at me if this has all been covered before

Charlie

 

[Akane]

You'll definitely have to give chicken feed if you want consistent egg production. Old time farms had all sorts of goodies for chickens. Good areas of land (8acres isn't even my backyard much less the pastures and fields), crops, spilled grains from other livestock, manure from other livestock, and lots of scraps from butchering animals. Even then the chickens most likely wouldn't lay as well as current breeds on chicken feed. Just free ranging on a few acres with none of those other sources of food will result in few if any eggs at minimum and possibly starved unhealthy chickens. They'll also rely mostly on any feed you buy all winter long while everything is covered in snow and the bugs are frozen. They'll only find minimal dry plant matter in winter. It used to be you would hatch chicks in the spring, raise them all year, butcher all the extras in fall and keep a minimal number of the best young layers for winter so there weren't many to feed. Large numbers weren't maintained year round like many do now and getting eggs during the winter wasn't expected. Keeping chickens in peak condition and laying as much as possible will take lots of chicken feed.

 

[charlie_D]

Thanks for the quick reply. I knew I'd need to keep them in feed over winter, but I'm hoping to emulate that 'older' strategy; I don't expect them to lay eggs all year round, and I certainly don't want an unruly mob of chickens over winter. My hope is that I care for them in the months they can't care for themselves, and in return they help keep the pests down / fertilize the field and yard during the spring / summer months. Meat in the fall and a few eggs whenever they decide to pop some out suit me fine. Maybe I'm not thinking about this in the right way, I'm not sure... but that's why I'm asking

I don't want unhealthy birds, so I'll do what I need to do in order to see that they're happy / healthy until it's time to butcher.

Charlie

 

[fargosmom]

I'm jealous of so much space - 15 acres!! Sounds like paradise to me. My only concern is your comment that your chickens will be alone except for the dog - if you look around this forum you'll find lots of stories about the dire results of chicken-and-dog encounters. You might want to think about a way to keep your birds separate from the dog for their own protection.

 

[charlie_D]

They won't be unsupervised; the wife will be home, she just wants nothing to do with caring for them

The dog is still a puppy, so I'm hoping to get him to recognize them as 'friends' to protect, instead of snacks with feathers.

I'm guessing / hoping she'll come around once we get them, but if not... worst case, I'll fence them off. I was just hoping to give them free reign, that way they can head down to the stream, into the wooded areas for shade, etc. (small stream, it runs straight through the property; it's only 'high flow' in the spring, otherwise it's very slow / shallow).

Charlie

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

There are lots of questions that need to be answered.

What other livestock will you be raising?
What will you be feeding this other livestock?
How often will you be feeding this other livestock?
What kind of shelter will you have for chickens and other livestock?

The reason for these questions are because of you plan on "not" feeding your chickens, you have to be feeding some other kind of livestock and feeding that livestock a feed that chickens can live on.

Because, your chickens will eat with the other animals, hence your "not" feeding them.

No matter what you get, if you get chicks, you will have to house and feed them for about 4 months until you can safely turn them out and them have a chance at survival.
Or if you purchase grown birds, you will have to keep them penned up and feed them for about a month or more, so they know where home is, so you haven't just thrown your money away when you let them out and they leave for good.

In all honesty, if you have chickens, you will have to feed them.
Some breeds take less feed, like Game Fowl.

If you want eggs and meat to butcher, you will have to feed your chickens everyday, and get a heavy breed, that is bred for eggs and meat.

The kind of chickens that will go out and hustle for a lot of their own food will not produce you many, if any eggs to eat. They will hide their nests and raise chicks. You won't get any meat either, unless you intend to butcher 1 chicken for each person at a meal. All that hunting for food makes a very lean and tough chicken.

You can't get something for nothing...not even in the chicken world.
If you want fewer bugs, eggs, and meat to eat, you have to put in your money, love and labor.

IMO, about having chickens, If you don't love doing it, it is not worth the work.

Jean

 

[charlie_D]

The chickens will have their own coop behind the shop; I have a 20' x 8' shed I'm going to move and re-tool for the purpose. I could leave it where it is, but I have a stove in the shop, and if they need heat over the winter I figured I could duct in a small line to open on the coldest days.

At this time I'm not looking at having any other livestock, so it sounds like they'll need feed all year round. That's fine as long as I know what to expect; with travel time I'll be away for 14 hours on the days I work. If they want to run off and lay their own eggs without giving me any I can live with that, as long as they can keep the pests from running amok

The 'no feed' idea was based off my grandparent's stories. Time has a way of changing details, so I can accept that not being a reasonable way to have them live the spring / summer months. I'll probably start with 2 - 4 to see how well 'we' can manage my work schedule.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

most likely the birds will go to where the feed may come from
where they see you and the wife's presence
in hopes of some grain or crumbles
this ought to make the wife happy

the practical option is that the chickens need feeders and waterers in their coop daily so as to satisfy them for most of the food

they can't live on just bugs and grass
the grains will need to be provided
your idea of them is a fairy story and not a ideal viavble story

the guineas may catch the mosquitos but I doubt the chickens will

so give it some thought and let us know if the chickens live around the back door??

and the coons and oposum and fox and coyote's should have a decent dinner for their families

keep us posted please

 

[purr]

if you want your wife to "come around" make sure you buy cute ones.
cochins
or polish or silkies

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

Charlie
here is a post that should answer your questions and make your day

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=185767