Starting a flock

[Triple Willow]

What Our Roost said above is true - I have read posts about "teaching chicks to roost", teaching them how to forage for grass and bugs, etc, etc, etc. Get real folks, they are chickens and they already know how to do ALL the chickeny things. YOU can sit back and learn a whole lot from them!

 

[ChickenCurt]

I agree; chickens know how to be chickens the same as geese know how to be geese, ducks know how to be ducks, turkeys know how to be chickens...? Okay, so I raise my 'carveys' with my chicken, it increases their survival chances dramatically.

 

[dwgov]

I started with 4 week old (give or take) chicks and I guess I'm 1 of the lucky ones who have had them all grow to adulthood. They cost me $3.50 a piece at my local feed store. I have 14 hens & rooster, all doing great. Even in this sub zero weather we're having this winter in South Jersey.

 

[TNchickies]

I too would go with chicks. Besides them being totally adorable, you know exactly what they were fed as children, you can enjoy them as they are little, and it's a great learning experience.

 

[MyPaperMoon512]

I guess I am one of the few who started with chickens. I got mine from a friend who I have known forever. They came from Murray McMurray Hatchery, and he had taken care of them their whole short lives and were already laying when I got them. They laid an egg the first day I got them (December 1, 2013), and I've had eggs from them each day since. I miss the not getting to bond with them when they are small part, but they certainly know I'm the food lady and run to the door of the run when I show up after work. They like their warm oatmeal in the mornings, too. I can only have 2 chickens, so I'm set for awhile, but will probably get at least juveniles when these are retired. I'm not sure I have the time to deal with chicks.

 

[TNchickies]

I guess I am one of the few who started with chickens. I got mine from a friend who I have known forever. They came from Murray McMurray Hatchery, and he had taken care of them their whole short lives and were already laying when I got them. They laid an egg the first day I got them (December 1, 2013), and I've had eggs from them each day since. I miss the not getting to bond with them when they are small part, but they certainly know I'm the food lady and run to the door of the run when I show up after work. They like their warm oatmeal in the mornings, too. I can only have 2 chickens, so I'm set for awhile, but will probably get at least juveniles when these are retired. I'm not sure I have the time to deal with chicks.

Yeah, that's a good reason. Chicks did take up a lot of my time. I loved it though.

 

[redhen689]

I started out 13 years ago with a homemade incubator built out of an insulated box I brought home from work, an old thermostat my dad had sitting in his workshop, and a few other odds and ends. I bought freshly laid eggs from a few different friends who had mixed breed flocks. I raised those chicks and several of their offspring for years. This started out as a science experiment for my daughter who was 8 years old at the time. We learned that eggs kept at 101F hatched a day earlier than those kept at 99F.
I never had problems with predators, but suddenly a few years ago started loosing birds. Last summer I started a new flock using that same old incubator. The new coop now has an automatic door which closes at dusk (motorized by a car window motor.) I have't lost any birds to predators since.

Starting with eggs takes more work and vigilance, and can be nerve-racking, but I enjoy the experience.

Good luck with your flock!

 

[TeaChick]

1. IMO, rescue chickens are not for newbs, b/c a newb doesn't know what they're getting into; IMO rescue chickens (dogs, horses, etc) are for those who know what is "normal" and are much better able to make appropriate adjustments for whatever issues a rescued animal is going to need above and beyond "normal".

2. I started out with chicks, and I have gotten adult (or older juvenile) birds. I had much more trouble with the older birds than with the chicks. I think that starting out, it's like getting a puppy: I want an animal that doesn't have any preconceived notions about how things should be done, so that they learn only my way, then neither the owner nor the animal is living with the ghost of owners past.

If you live next door to the breeder you'd be getting the adult chickens from, so that the birds' previous owner can show you what those chickens think "the ropes" are.
The alternative is getting chicks and only having to learn what they instinctively know/do.




Short version: I would say, "Get chicks" b/c you and they "grow up" together.

 

[DavidKerk]

Total newbie question: is it best to start a flock with babies or to get a few docile adult hens to show the chicks the ropes? I've been hesitant about getting adults because a friend had her flock wiped out after getting several rescue chickens. Thanks!

I personally would start out with chicks. I think it is a good experience to raise them from one-day old to adulthood.

 

[alyxl02]

I would go with starting your flock with young chickens (just past chick age really) who are either just laying or almost ready to lay.

alyxl02