SUPER NEWBIE thinking about raising my own chickens for eggs and meat but I'm SO Confused!!!

[Wishing4Wings]

Joe, you've gotten some excellent advice here. One thing I have not seen addressed is your decision to build the coop on your deck. Sounds like it would solve many of your difficulties, but I thought you should know that chickens, even without a rooster, can be quite noisy. Especially in the morning. Some more than others. Also, there is a lot of dirt, dust, poop, feathers, and flies (when it's warm) that come with chickens. Many of these problems can be solved with thoughtful management, but you might find some of these conditions objectionable near your house, especially with windows open in the summer. My coop is about 50 ft from the back of my house, and I would not like it any closer. The "chicken yard" is a 60'x60' fenced off section of the yard adjacent to the house, that is a dog free zone. It was placed there because existing fencing made it convenient, but we will probably move it away from the house in the future.

I raised my hatchery feed store chicks in the house, but will never do it again due to the huge amount of fine dust generated by the little buggers. It goes everywhere. I had to wash the walls! By three weeks, they were moved into the garage until old enough for the coop. Another tip, make sure your coop is ready in time for the 5ish week old chicks to leave that brooder. You will be happy to have them in the coop by then. We had trouble finishing our coop due to rotten weather, and the chicks were getting quite restless (which makes more dust!).

As for breeds for truly backyard chickens, I like barred Rocks, black Australorps, New Hampshires, sexlinks, EEs (usually sold as Ameraucanas), and buff Orpingtons. All are fairly docile, ok with being confined, and good layers. I don't know if white rocks would have the same temperament. All of mine forage quite well. None fly over 5' fences. Sorry, I can't comment on meat quality, they are layer pets.

Starting out with 5 is a good idea, then if you want to expand, adding a few more later will keep you in eggs. Build as big as you comfortably can. Chickens are addictive!

Welcome to the club.

 

[gg706]

I am actually hoping the White Rocks are not very friendly...will be easier for me to butcher. I plan to start my first butchering experience with the meanest rooster in the bunch.

 

[AlienChick]

My reply in green below:

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[JT_KROL]

Joe, you've gotten some excellent advice here. One thing I have not seen addressed is your decision to build the coop on your deck. Sounds like it would solve many of your difficulties, but I thought you should know that chickens, even without a rooster, can be quite noisy. Especially in the morning. Some more than others. Also, there is a lot of dirt, dust, poop, feathers, and flies (when it's warm) that come with chickens. Many of these problems can be solved with thoughtful management, but you might find some of these conditions objectionable near your house, especially with windows open in the summer. My coop is about 50 ft from the back of my house, and I would not like it any closer. The "chicken yard" is a 60'x60' fenced off section of the yard adjacent to the house, that is a dog free zone. It was placed there because existing fencing made it convenient, but we will probably move it away from the house in the future.

Hi and thank you!!! Your post has me reconsidering the location now. Your chicken yard is huge by comparisonto what I am considering. I only have a TOTAL of a half acre which a good chunk sits my house, detached garage circular drive and front yard. 60' X 60' would take up a huge portion of my back yard and having 3 kids that still play back there there is no way. Before I COMPLETELY discount the coop on the deck idea...are the issues you mention made worse by the number of chickens you have? I am looking at 5 birds (they are from the larger breeds) to a maximum of 10 birds. That portion of the deck sits mostly on the side of the house and it is a fairly natural breeze way. Your Thoughts?

I raised my hatchery feed store chicks in the house, but will never do it again due to the huge amount of fine dust generated by the little buggers. It goes everywhere. I had to wash the walls! By three weeks, they were moved into the garage until old enough for the coop. Another tip, make sure your coop is ready in time for the 5ish week old chicks to leave that brooder. You will be happy to have them in the coop by then. We had trouble finishing our coop due to rotten weather, and the chicks were getting quite restless (which makes more dust!).

If I go with chicks I will brood them either in my basement back room (where my wife starts here garden) or possibly in the back room of my garage...but as I have said the outside temps make choice 2 less than desireable.

As for breeds for truly backyard chickens, I like barred Rocks, black Australorps, New Hampshires, sexlinks, EEs (usually sold as Ameraucanas), and buff Orpingtons. All are fairly docile, ok with being confined, and good layers. I don't know if white rocks would have the same temperament. All of mine forage quite well. None fly over 5' fences. Sorry, I can't comment on meat quality, they are layer pets.

I will be going with either Barred Rocks, Black Australorps, or Buff Orpingtons. I am also starting to look and see if I can buy them as Pullets. In doing some reading I am thinking that even though more expensive to purchase, it may be more cost effective. The issue of where to brood the chicks, all the stuff I would need to buy to raise them and the amount of time it takes before they will lay I'm figuring on about 60 to 100 lbs of feed per bird before they start laying, makes buying pullets makes more sense from a financial and ease of start up perspective.

Starting out with 5 is a good idea, then if you want to expand, adding a few more later will keep you in eggs. Build as big as you comfortably can. Chickens are addictive!

From all the help and comments I have received here so far I am seeing that many if not most people started with 3 or so but now have flocks of 20 or more... I am starting with NO MORE than 5, but am planning on a coop for as many as 10.

Welcome to the club.

Still a bit premature my wife

is not completely on board yet, but thank you!

 

[JT_KROL]

The Australorps and Rocks are quite docile. I think the Australorps are the most docile. And because they are such good foragers, it will cut down on your feed bill (they're not the type of birds that will just hang out around the chicken feeder).

After reading your suggestion I have decided to go with either the Australorps or the Rocks (maybe a couple of each and one Buff Orpington because I like the way they look). I have read that they like to eat grass...can I throw a few hand fulls of grass clippings into their run for them to eat? Free ranging is not an option for me.

Once the birds are 6 weeks and older, they will not need any additional heat or light. During the winter you want your birds to grow their thick down feathers, so you will not want to provide any artificial heat.

Thank goodness... I am very strongly considering bypassing the whole chick raising portion and getting the birds as pullets. My thinking (I mentioned this in another post) is that I won't need any of the start up stuff to brood the chicks, my concerns of weather and temperature are no longer as much of an issue, sex of the bird is probably 99% accurate and they will be laying much sooner. Considering all of these things and from what I have read you can go through 60 - 100lbs of feed per bird before they start laying it may actually be more cost effective to spend more on the older bird. Your Thoughts?

 

[gryeyes]

Welllll... You won't get to handle the little fuzzy butt peeps yourself and make 'em friendly! Or watch 'em go through their childhood! And fill up your camera with all the pictures of each one doing the exact same things as all of us have immortalized. And cheer as they reach each new milestone! And your wife might just fall in love with them more quickly because they are SO cute!

Yes, you'll save money in feed and avoid all the panicked moments when you think they've all died in the brooder but they're really just asleep; chicks can fall asleep in the middle of any activity in all sorts of positions. Gave me palpitations the first time I saw it... Tap the side of the brooder and they all wake up. Whew!

And the first egg each lays....

Your decision of course. But you'll be missing a lot! If your flock hatches chicks, it won't be the same - hen raised babies are taught by their mommas to be chicken-centric rather than people-lovers.

 

[AlienChick]

Yeah, it all depends on what is most important to you at this point.
Certainly, watching and caring for the cute little fuzzy butts is extremely rewarding in itself; however, as you've stated, you are feeding them for months with nothing in return (well, no eggs at least).
If saving money is most important, then buy pullets that are at or almost at the point of lay.
You will get eggs within a month in most cases and you haven't spent a whole lot of money.
You can find chickens all day long for sale on CraigsList.
Also, you can always buy baby chicks later when you feel you need a boost of 'cuteness.'

 

[Ridgerunner]

Joe, you've gotten some excellent advice here. One thing I have not seen addressed is your decision to build the coop on your deck. Sounds like it would solve many of your difficulties, but I thought you should know that chickens, even without a rooster, can be quite noisy. Especially in the morning. Some more than others. Also, there is a lot of dirt, dust, poop, feathers, and flies (when it's warm) that come with chickens. Many of these problems can be solved with thoughtful management, but you might find some of these conditions objectionable near your house, especially with windows open in the summer. My coop is about 50 ft from the back of my house, and I would not like it any closer. The "chicken yard" is a 60'x60' fenced off section of the yard adjacent to the house, that is a dog free zone. It was placed there because existing fencing made it convenient, but we will probably move it away from the house in the future.

Hi and thank you!!! Your post has me reconsidering the location now. Your chicken yard is huge by comparisonto what I am considering. I only have a TOTAL of a half acre which a good chunk sits my house, detached garage circular drive and front yard. 60' X 60' would take up a huge portion of my back yard and having 3 kids that still play back there there is no way. Before I COMPLETELY discount the coop on the deck idea...are the issues you mention made worse by the number of chickens you have? I am looking at 5 birds (they are from the larger breeds) to a maximum of 10 birds. That portion of the deck sits mostly on the side of the house and it is a fairly natural breeze way. Your Thoughts?hts?


Wishing makes some really good points. I’d totally missed the porch thing. The number of chickens makes a difference. The more you have the more you have to work to manage them for dust and smell. Hens can be noisier than you’d think. It’s not just when they lay an egg. They have a variety of sounds that go anywhere from groans to croaks to clucks. It may bother you or it may be pleasant. It might drive you batty or it might be like a white noise that you don’t even hear over time. So noise can be an issue.

The smell needs to be managed and that’s the one I think is your biggest concern. A dry coop pretty much won’t smell bad. You may get a bit of a whiff but that’s not necessarily a bad smell. When it gets bad is when poop gets wet. Then it downright stinks. You can set up a droppings board under the roosts to catch most of the poop and clean it out of the coop before it builds up. But some will get in the bedding. When the weather sets in wet, that will smell some. Just not much you can do about that. You have to change the bedding a lot in wet weather to totally stop that smell.

The flies generally come from the poop building up. If you keep the poop down they are usually not a problem. But unless you manage that poop, they can be.

The dust comes from two places. They give off a lot of dander, dry skin and bits of feathers. Some people are allergic to that. But a lot of the dust comes from them scratching in dried poop and shredded bedding in the brooder or coop and dried poop and just dirt in the run. The dust, smell, and noise are all reasons my brooder is in the coop, not in the house.

Something else I’ll mention. Chicken feed attracts rodents, especially mice and maybe rats. You can take up the feed at night and keep it locked in metal containers to keep mice away, but I see mice active in my coop in the middle of the day. And the chickens will spill enough feed in the bedding to attract them. Chickens will eat mice if they can catch them, but mine don’t usually bother. The mice are pretty quick. That’s another reason I would not want the coop on my porch.

Something else that I’m not sure has been addressed. Are you legal? Can you legally keep chickens where you are? Many cities, towns, HOA’s, or other jurisdictions have laws, regulations, or rules about keeping chickens. These rules may address whether you can even have them or even if they are allowed may restrict how close they can be to dwellings or property lines, how many of what sex you can have, maybe even how much space you have to provide. If you haven’t checked the rules you need to. That may make the decision for you.

 

[JT_KROL]

Welllll... You won't get to handle the little fuzzy butt peeps yourself and make 'em friendly! Or watch 'em go through their childhood! And fill up your camera with all the pictures of each one doing the exact same things as all of us have immortalized. And cheer as they reach each new milestone! And your wife might just fall in love with them more quickly because they are SO cute!

Yes, you'll save money in feed and avoid all the panicked moments when you think they've all died in the brooder but they're really just asleep; chicks can fall asleep in the middle of any activity in all sorts of positions. Gave me palpitations the first time I saw it... Tap the side of the brooder and they all wake up. Whew!

And the first egg each lays....

Your decision of course. But you'll be missing a lot! If your flock hatches chicks, it won't be the same - hen raised babies are taught by their mommas to be chicken-centric rather than people-lovers.

True but I'm really going for healthy food for my family...the whole pet thing is less of an issue for me...plus if we don't have them as chicks, then bringing one to the table is less of an issue for the kids.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

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