thinking of getting chickens - many questions

[black_cat]

The part about having to put them down is probably the hardest part of the whole decision to get them or not.

slightly morbid question, if people are buying unsexed chicks and there's a 50/50 chance of getting male and people mostly want female, do people put down the males?

Most just avoid straight run, but many people will try to rehome before culling males. If you have to buy straight run, buy more than you want to keep and don't name any until they can be sexed.

 

[black_cat]

this is where i'm seeing the lavender olive egger (and the ayan cemanis):
https://featherloverfarms.com/collections/baby-chicks-for-sale/products/lavender-olive-egger-chicks

my plan would be to get mostly silkies and 1 or 2 of another breed or 2. i just like silkies because they're look very cute and they're supposed to be friendly.

thanks everyone for all this info, very helpful!

$40 FOR A SINGLE UNSEXED SILKIE!?!?!???!!? That is ridiculous. That's the price for a well bred FULLY GROWN silkie. That is not worth it.

 

[black_cat]

this is where i'm seeing the lavender olive egger (and the ayan cemanis):
https://featherloverfarms.com/collections/baby-chicks-for-sale/products/lavender-olive-egger-chicks

my plan would be to get mostly silkies and 1 or 2 of another breed or 2. i just like silkies because they're look very cute and they're supposed to be friendly.

thanks everyone for all this info, very helpful!

Silkies really don't match up with your plans for free ranging. If you want silkies, I'd keep them confined, or they'll be picked off by hawks extremely quickly. A similarly cuddly breed is cochins- they're poofy and cute but have much better eyesight, and have flight feathers.

 

[rosemarythyme]

slightly morbid question, if people are buying unsexed chicks and there's a 50/50 chance of getting male and people mostly want female, do people put down the males?

That... is up to the individual. I don't want males and have culled them. You can try to rehome them, but be aware that many of them will likely be taken as dinner. If you want to rehome them as pet-only, then you might be stuck with them for a while until someone is interested, which means housing and feeding and possibly putting up with cock fights.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

That... is up to the individual. I don't want males and have culled them. You can try to rehome them, but be aware that many of them will likely be taken as dinner. If you want to rehome them as pet-only, then you might be stuck with them for a while until someone is interested, which means housing and feeding and possibly putting up with cock fights.

this ^

I've had a lot of roosters and cockerels over the years. technically we live outside city limits but we have neighbors on all sides, and don't want to be a burden. When you make that ad listing it's nearly impossible to know someones purpose, meeting them in person can sometimes help. But theres a reason that theres so many recipes out there for how to properly cook those silly roosters, its cause when its 50/50 and all you want is the ladies, they gotta go somewhere. I'm thankful theres places out there that'll take roosters for soup, so that I don't personally have to. They were all raised to be proper little gentlemen, and whether they go off to have a little rooster life on a farm or to feed a family for a meal or few, I know that they lived a good little life up until that one split second where it may not be super good but over insanely fast.

It's different when it's an old hen or other ailments and you CAN'T just rehome them and fixing them isn't an option. That kind of culling is insanely hard, but I wouldn't trade that for not owning these birds. Similar to what I said before, all of these days of happy lovely moments with these birds help make up for those few hours gearing up for when you've gotta cull someone, that few minutes when it happens, and those guilty days afterwards... but it's worth it for me at least, I love these silly little birds even if they do like to bite my shoes and one of them really likes to try and peck my eye cause it looks shiny. I don't see myself ever not having chickens : D

 

[Bweis13]

The first time we had chickens, we ordered straight run bantam mix chicks, and SEVEN out of the 10 ended up being roosters. It was very distressing. Luckily a friend of mine who had a lot of space had volunteered to take all of the little roos before we even ordered them, so I didn’t have to cull any. On the farm where I lived before, I had a bunch of sex liked hens that could free range, and they LOVED picking over the horse manure pile. They also gave us tons of wonderful eggs, but a few got picked off by hawks.

A few years ago a neighbor had a bunch of straight run chicks that ended up being roos, and my husband kindly taught him and his kids how to cull them. He really doesn’t like doing it though, so when we can, we re-home our roos. I’ve had to cull splay legged chicks when it was clear that they couldn’t survive, and it was hard but necessary. (Why hatcheries would ever send such deformed birds out is a mystery to me... the poor things!)

Right now I have a smaller farm on a busy road, so my chickens are only allowed in a large, covered run. It is very sturdy. The last one wasn’t as well built, and raccoons got a few of my favorite hens. That was pretty tough.

Right now I have some large feeders and two big old crock pot inserts for water which go on heated (electric) bases to keep the water from freezing in winter. I only have to go in the run every other day to clean out the water and refill it and to feed them, but I do collect eggs daily.

You also need to be able to find someone who will care for your chickens if you want to go on vacation. Luckily we know a lot of kids who will do it for some extra cash.

I’m dealing with the “too many roosters“ problem right now, and a few of my hens are really banged up and currently wearing chicken saddles. I may have to re-home (or cull if my husband’s hungry) one or both of my roos. I like them a lot, but they’re hurting my hens. I’ve never had roosters this rough on the hens even though I‘ve had more than one with the same number of hens I have now. I guess I was just lucky. These two are particularly rough on the hens which bums me out.

Every chicken has their own personality, just like other animals. Some of my roos have been so gentle and were my favorite members of the flock. different breeds tend to be more gentle too, just like dog breeds. You can search on here and learn so much, and if you have farm friends like I do, they are a wealth of knowledge!

Also, one of my new roos is from MPC, and he was sexed as a hen. Mistakes are frequently made when sexing, especially little ones like silkies, which is always a disappointment. I suggest figuring out what to do with surplus roosters BEFORE you have to deal with problems of too many. Good luck!

 

[3KillerBs]

slightly morbid question, if people are buying unsexed chicks and there's a 50/50 chance of getting male and people mostly want female, do people put down the males?

To be blunt, yes.

I wrote an article for a local paper on "Are Backyard Chickens for You?" and one of the things I included was the need to have a plan for unwanted cockerels -- including the line "Finding him a forever pet home is rarely realistic."

I grow mine out and eat them. In fact, I put a note on my order from Ideal that "packing peanuts" were welcome.

Sexing chicks is about 90% effective (less on some breeds), so you have a 1 in 10 chance of an "oops rooster".

$40 FOR A SINGLE UNSEXED SILKIE!?!?!???!!? That is ridiculous. That's the price for a well bred FULLY GROWN silkie. That is not worth it.

I agree. That's the price of a show bird with potential for someone who knows what they're doing, not for a first-timer's pet.

A new-hatched silkie chick ordinarily costs $4-8 from an ordinary hatchery or feed store. The going rate for started birds -- old enough to not need a brooder -- on Craigslist in my area is about $10-15.

 

[MissE]

The part about having to put them down is probably the hardest part of the whole decision to get them or not.

slightly morbid question, if people are buying unsexed chicks and there's a 50/50 chance of getting male and people mostly want female, do people put down the males?

Some raise them big enough for freezer camp. Others sell or give away extras. Or build a bachelor pad. Or a combination. For me, extras would be invited for dinner unless it was a really special cockerel in both behavior and looks. Then I might sell him or give him away.

 

[aart]

Taking care of them is quite easy, once you get over the learning curve.
There are a lot of little details that must be attended to.

Building proper housing is not easy, nor is it inexpensive.
The more good planning and design you do up front the easier the care will be.

 

[black_cat]

To be blunt, yes.

I wrote an article for a local paper on "Are Backyard Chickens for You?" and one of the things I included was the need to have a plan for unwanted cockerels -- including the line "Finding him a forever pet home is rarely realistic."

I grow mine out and eat them. In fact, I put a note on my order from Ideal that "packing peanuts" were welcome.

Sexing chicks is about 90% effective (less on some breeds), so you have a 1 in 10 chance of an "oops rooster".



I agree. That's the price of a show bird with potential for someone who knows what they're doing, not for a first-timer's pet.

A new-hatched silkie chick ordinarily costs $4-8 from an ordinary hatchery or feed store. The going rate for started birds -- old enough to not need a brooder -- on Craigslist in my area is about $10-15.

MPC sells them sexed for $20 each, but they are only like $4 straight run.