Things that make "me" go HMMM!!!

[chickengrl]

Whatever you decide, do not buy adult birds. Start with day old chicks from a good breeder or hatchery who are NPIP. Buying adult or "started" birds is the easiest way to bring a disease into your flock. I learned this the hard way. Wish someone had told me. I do love my Marans for beautiful eggs, nice dispositions, go broody, and they are supposed to be some of the best meat out there. (haven't eaten one of mine yet. may never

) Good luck!

 

[kickenwing]

@ JMidJr: Not a hijack. You just said it better than me. Thanks.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

@ kickenwing & JMidJr...
I add just a couple of new birds a year (under 6)... and ,yes, only add babies UNLESS you find an absolutely EXCEPTIONAL bird! AND then quarantine!
I have mixed breeds and am working on a project bird and add new blood to get closer to what I want and also to keep the flock healthy. Lots of fun!

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Well, for a while, anyway. I've done it for about 4 years, til I bought a few TSC chicks last month. I only have 3 birds who are "purebred, the rest are mutts. At a couple of bucks a chick that's pretty darn close to self sustaining, though. I haven't had any problems with inbreeding, I bought them to break a broody (it didn't work.) I don't even incubate, only use broodies.

After you've been on BYC a while you will know exactly where you want to get new birds/chicks from, and what kind.

We've never come close to meeting our chicken meat needs from the flock, but then we haven't tried, we're really fooling around with it. You can start with hatchery birds as we did, but it might be worth your while to start with breeder birds if there is a good breeder in your area. I emphasize good, which of course is where it gets tricky. Maybe start following the state thread on here for where you are. Breeder birds are generally larger and will do better for you for meat; they often don't lay as well, though some do, but if you eat much chicken you'll probably get all the eggs you want, and maybe even process some females for eating. More than one breed will give you some genetic diversity from the beginning. Many people decide they would rather keep their breeds separate and pure, but that could come later.

You asked whether there is such a thing as too big a coop. Not really. If it is very cold where you live, and you have something like a barn, you may end up stacking some bales of hay to make them a smaller warm spot to sleep. You might even put a partial false ceiling in for the same reason. On the other hand, a very large coop in a cold climate is a tremendous advantage, because too little space is probably the main reason they start pecking and even cannibalizing, particularly with snow on the ground, which they usually won't walk on.

I think you'll find as you spend some time reading on here, that a plan will fall into place for you. Of course, feel free to ask whatever you wish. And welcome to our forum!

 

[chickened]

Someone mentioned vaccinating your birds, if you do consider the fact that any bird you vaccinate for pretty much any reason can become a carrier of that disease. It is not certain but can happen and for a sustainable flock as I think you are wanting, breeding for constitutional vigor is disrupted by vaccinations and will be worthless to the offspring. Natural immunities are better and good husbandry will negate most diseases. You will have to add outside birds to maintain good health eventually I do it by buying eggs and hatching rather than buying birds live. I bought 4 birds at a swap recently and knew better did quarantine and all that and they all died in about a week and they were from a well known BYC breeder and I never thought that would happen in a million years from this person.