The Ordinance in the town i live in. Help Need Solution

[LovemeSomePEEPS]

Ok. My problem is that I believe my ordinance says that only 6 hens max no cocks, but I wish to see a chick hatch and well incubate them. I'm risking getting cocks if I choose to get eggs. What should I do with the cocks if I choose eggs? Is it breaking the law if I choose to raise the cocks and then sell them afterward? If I do choose eggs how many should I choose? If possible does anyone know of the rates of female and male chickens for the Black Sumatra? I just don't know.

 

[itspebbl]

If you want 6 hens, maybe choose around 18 eggs, which will account for shipping problems, infertility, incubation errors, chick deaths and the normal cockerel/pullet split.

Black Sumatras are not the cheapest birds around, and aren't always easy to find. They are also more independent, flighty and may not handle confinement well, based on what I have read. It may be better to order a dozen or so Barred Rocks, Easter Eggers, Buff Orpingtons, Australorps or Marans. These breeds are great for novice chicken keepers, and handle confinement well, are very friendly and are good - great egg layers. A bonus is that they are relatively easy to find. You could hatch some of these, see how you like chicken keeping, and them maybe branch out by hatching a half dozen Sumatra eggs (hopefully resulting in 2-3 pullets).

While some people will not do this, you could butcher the cockerels for meat (all the "easy" breeds I mentioned do get some meat on them, except perhaps the Easter Eggers). Also, you could put ads out for them to sell cheaply, or for free. Please know that they will most likely be butchered, but there is a small chance they could be kept as a flock rooster, possibly in a rural area near your hometown.
Hope this helps! Enjoy your chicken adventure!

 

[sawilliams]

Do you have neighbors that will complain of you have more then 6? My ordinance before moving to a small ranch was also 6 and no rooster... My neighbors didn't care about the number but I didn't want to push the rooster issue... if you plan to hatch you need a plan for the roosters. If you can rehome then early iy won't be an issue but some do start crowing at 10w or sooner others wont crow till 20w or later. So you need to start planning to regime them as soon as your sure if they are male. Depending on your living situation if you have a garage you could possibly house the roosters indoors if they start crowing untill you find homes. Honestly, I know neighbors at my old house had roosters, but i suspect they kept meat birds as each year the crowing ended with in a week to a month of when it started...

 

[aart]

Is it breaking the law if I choose to raise the cocks and then sell them afterward?

Some places have caveats for the ages of birds allowed, sometimes chicks are exempt from the number of birds until a certain age.

 

[X_and_Z]

I want to throw out 2 things:

1) Look into the local chicken owning culture to see what the market looks like. See what pricing is common and if there are popular breeds/mixes/types.

2) Look into auto-sexing breeds/mixes to see if any will work for your needs. You will know as soon as they hatch what you have and can start making plans. It is much harder to wait until 6-12 weeks (or more for some breeds) - less time to get attached to chicks that can't be kept, more time to exercise various options for your boys, more time to come up with a plan for extra girls or for coming up with a plan B if there are no or not enough girls, etc.