Tips for starting a small laying flock?

[BridgetC]

Hi,

My name is Bridget and I am interested in raising chickens for eggs and entertainment in my backyard. I am pretty green at this, so I am coming here for some advice on how to start my flock.

There is already a preexisting coop in my backyard, 5 by 12 feet. I live in Los Angeles, and from what I have read, there is not a limit to the number of chickens one can keep in LA, but they must be at least 20 feet from your own home and 35 feet from any other dwelling. I’m not gonna go crazy with the number chickens or anything, I was thinking maybe 2-3 to start and see how it goes… but again, I would love any and all advice!

My primary questions are in regards to the best places I can find pullets. I absolutely cannot keep a rooster, and from the research that I have done and other advice I have been given, that can be tricky… especially when buying young birds.

Many websites that advertize birds also require that you purchase in bulk, which is a bit problematic for me. Also, some sites advertize that they will send pullets at one day old, but I thought it was very difficult (/impossible) to tell sex in young chickens unless you are breeding certain colors with each other??? Does the color sexing only work for certain breeds?

I have thought about contacting 4-H organizations in surrounding counties, as when I was a kid raising rabbits, there were always lots of young animals for sale at shows, etc. Has anyone here gone to a 4-H show to purchase chickens?

I was also looking into other poultry fanciers organizations, these are the two I found in California: Greater California Society of Poultry Fanciers and Gold Coast Poultry Fanciers. Does anyone know of others that might be useful? I haven’t contacted either organization yet…

I have also thought about adopting unwanted chickens, but I would really like to get some good layers, and I understand that egg production tapers off after a couple of years of age.

Thanks for your responses!!!

-Bridget

 

[Karen_at_LittleBrook]

Hi Bridget,
I'm really new at this too, infact I did my first post just today... but Ive been doing a ton of research. Meyer Hatchery (meyerhatchery.com) claims to offer a min chick order of 3 with guaranteed live delivery. There are a few others out there that offer small orders. Also, I've noticed that many do in-fact offer day-old that are sexed so you should get hens. I did a lot of internet searches and I picked-up a copy of Hobby Farms Magazine which had a lot of hatchery ad's in it.
Good Luck!
Karen

 

[fldiver97]

Some hatcheries offer small orders of 3 -5 one day old chickens. In sexed chickens it is 90% chance that what you buy as females should be females the sexing is about 90 % correct, does not mean your could not get a higher or lower chance in your purchase.

I have a small flock of 5 in my backyard....I did not want my chicks shipped if possible and also am not allowed to have roos. I also was more interested in decent layers, heavier breeds and som of the heritage breeds. Did not want to hatch as a total newbie either plus the risk of boys...

A few suggestions:
Check the site for Buy-Sell-Trade to see if anyone has what you are interested in
Post what you are interested in
Check your local feedstore, farmers market, small farms to see if they will sell a small # of chickens
Check CraigsList
Consider buying sex-link chickens (but educate yourself a bit so that you know what to look for depending on the source of the chicks))
Look for shows/trade/meets in your area
Check your states thread on BYC, maybe you can find a fellow BYC member that hatches chicks


My solution was to find a guy that I found on-line on a CSA site (Community Supported Agriculture). He breeds a small number of heritage livestock and heritage chickens. It was only about 45 minutes drive away from my home. I picked 5 chickens at ages 3-5 weeks that he was fairly sure were females. He was kind enough to offer to exchange any roos for pullets if needed for any of the chicks I purchased there. I lost one of the original 5 and he did not have any for sale at the time. So I found someone on Craigslist that had RIR's and BR's for sale, supposedly pullets, ages 4 - 6 weeks. Again, nearby. I picked up 2 , unfortunatley 1 turned out to be a roo. I re-homed him myself as I was sure he would have become stew if returned. So, I have 5 happy, healthy and laying girls now....



Good luck, hope it works out without trouble

 

[bmelanco]

Quote:
We used Meyer last year and they were at least 19 for 20 - all hens. My only complaint is that shipment took three days and one didn't make the trip. You can also find people on craigslist that sell birds that are about to start laying. They cost more but you know what you are getting and don't have the wait.

 

[BridgetC]

Thanks so much for all of the replies!

I am trying to weigh my options... The ease of ordering online is so tempting, but I would prefer to go local...

Off to do more research...

Thanks again!!

-Bridget

 

[SallyF]

Do check with the extension service in your area about the 4-H poultry project. Every year here, there is a poultry sale by the 4-Hers. They each bring a cage of either three or five birds and they are sold by auction. The breeds will be whatever the extension service has purchased for the project. When I was a kid here, it was Rhode Island Reds,now it seems to be black sex-links.

 

[purplechicky]

HI Bridget!!
It's so cool that you're wanting to get chickens; we need more chicken lovers in the world.
Anyway, I always get my chickens at the local feed store. If you really want to get pullets, I'm not sure if that would be very good if you are wanting your chickens to love you as a mommy later on. If you buy/get full grown chickens, they will not like you very much and it will take a little while for them to get used to you. Chicks are also easier to get from local feed stores and hatcheries which you can get to online. Pullets are also easy-ish to get online. I don't know if you could get them from 4-H, but it is possible, I guess.
I highly suggest the book "Keep Chickens!"
It has everything you need to know from how to pick a chick/pullet to how to build your coop.
I don't think it gets super cold in LA, but if it gets anywhere around 50 degrees, then you need at least three. Other wise 2 is just fine. NEVER get one chicken. If all your other chickens die, then get another. very important.
Also, if you get chicks online, be prepared to find one or two dead in the mail.
It is a little difficult to tell the gender in young birds, but they are about 90%-95% Correct.
It is true that after around two years of laying, the hen slows down, but still does lay. I'm not exactly sure when they stop completely.
If it is egg-layers you want, internet research will help you, but I will list some here.
Also, if it gets very hot, you might want to consider bantam breeds, or just a lighter weight breed.(I will list the weight also)


Ameraucana (5 lb) These can be white silver or brown/red
Araucana (5 lb) These can be colored white, red or black
Austrolorp (5 lb) These are very pretty and are very good in cold weather
Buff Orpington (7 lb) These are good for cold weather pretty friendly
Leghorn (5 lb) White eggs freindly
Black sex link (5 lb) Pretty friendly
Barred Plymouth Rock (6 lb) I had 17 of these and they all did fine in very hot weather awesome layers and super cute and curious
Rhode Island Red (6 lb) Very pretty
Silver Laced Wyandotte (6 lb) These are very pretty




Hope I didn't bore you rambling on about chickens, and that this was somewhat of a help and not just a bunch of stuff you didn't need.
~Ruthie
New chickens coming in April!!!!

 

[Dixiedoodle]

Great advice.

When I started my venture.. It took me two years to decide what breeds I wanted...The first thing we did was build a Fort Knox for my chickens--So, maybe you could do a inspection of your coop, run, fencing and make sure it's really 'tight'--IF you haven't already done it!

look online, for the breeds you decide on and check for any breeders in your area.. That's how I found my Ameraucana breeder.

Decide on how many eggs you want/need/use a day.. I have 9 girls and this winter there were a few days that I got little or no eggs.. New layers/very cold winter weather/ time changes etc.. My average is about 7eggs.. So IF you have a large family 2-3 might not be enough and if you are single 3 might be too many... In other words, You will not get an egg from every girl every day--just something to think about. They are flock animals so I would keep as many as possible--You can do it from the start or you can do like the rest of us addicts and get more along the way..

Decide if you want 'eye-candy' or if you just want eggs.. This will help you with your choices.. Some birds are really beautiful but they don't lay so well... Some are so-so on the looks but lay like machines! And don't forget egg color!! I love my true Ameraucanas and EE...But the others lay such a wide varieties of brown from a nice dark to a pinkish brown-some have speckles..

Good luck with your decisions...and welcome to the 'funny farm'!!! LOL

 

[rhoda_bruce]

The only 4H poultry day I went to was the broiler contest, which was also the BBQ contest. There were no layers there.
A trained sexer can tell the sex of a chick at one day old by examining the vent. I tried to learn the technique, but I kept the chick upside down too long and it wasn't a very good thing at all. There is also something about the shape of the wings, but I don't understand it at all.
If you buy sexed chicks, you will probably get what you pay for. I only had trouble with my americanas. I think that more than likely either the feed store bought pullets and got straight run or that they bought straight run and sold them as pullets, but I ended up with 2 out 5 chicks being roos. Trained sexers make mistakes, but not often.
If you want eggs and only plan on getting 3 birds to start, I would go with leghorns. They are sorta flighty, but that has its positives too. It will make them safer from preditors. Nothing will out lay them either. But there are a lot of good layers.
If you could find a few people in your area that are also interested in getting chicks, you can order one of the specials and maybe get various types to experiment with different breeds. You can get white, brown or rainbow egglayers. But if eggs are what is important.....leghorns. They come in different colors.
It is fortunate that you already have a coop to use. You might want to look it over and determine if any repairs need to be made and decide if it is cat proof. If a cat can get in, so can a coon or possum.
Good luck to you.

 

[BridgetC]

Yes, I definitely need to reevaluate my coop. My housemates who have lived in the house longer than I lost Gary the duck and Goldie the hen to racoons. I do not want that to happen to any chickens that I get!!! One of the faculty members where I work (in the Sociology Department at UCLA) also has backyard chickens and said that he had an extra coop... perhaps I will think about starting fresh if the old coop is too dilapidated...

As for breeds, I am definitely charmed by the variety in feather and egg colors of Ameraucanas. After checking out the Meyer site though, I am absolutely smitten with Golden Campines, Spitzhaubens, and especially Exchequer Leghorns! I will defintely need to go over to the breed board and do some research on personality.

I am still concerned about ending up up with roos (look! I am learning the lingo!). Even if I found someone willing to exchange or take them back, I am thinking that I might be too attached to them and have a hard time letting them go knowing that they would likely end up as food. I suppose that I can always try to rehome one if it came down to it. Back when I was in 4-H, I didn't raise rabbits for meat, and so I never learned to cull.

Thanks again!

-Bridget