- Aug 25, 2013
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Hey, all.
I'm Brad. Nice to meet you all. I'm a Canadian, from southern Alberta. If any of you remember the severe flooding stories in High River back in June, that's my neck of the woods. That's not really why I'm here.
I'm here about chickens(obviously). I've been doing some research into starting a small-scale backyard agricultural operation for myself and my family(wife and 5-year-old daughter). Below I've outlined my objectives in this project.
Ideally, I'm looking for a dual-purpose bird. Off the start, I'm looking for something that will supply eggs, but later down the road, as I become comfortable with the care of chickens(I have a great deal of animal husbandry experience, but most of it directly relates to species far removed from birds), I'd like to explore the possibility of raising birds for meat.
Now, the physical restrictions, limitations, and realities of my situation. I have an area, roughly 20'x30', to dedicate to this project. I'm handy enough swinging a hammer and I'm an electrician by trade, so construction projects like a coop and fence and the like hold no fear for me. Now, it gets really cold here in the winter(-30 Celsius, which works out to about -23 Fahrenheit, is not unheard of, or even terribly uncommon, here). I have no problem insulating and heating a coop. It can get warm(around the 90-degree Fahrenheit mark, a little over 30 Celsius) in the summer, and so I can easily orient things to keep some/all of an outdoor run in the shade during the hotter parts of the day.
Now, the first battery of questions.
1) Given the environmental limitations, and the desire to have egg-producing chickens that offer the possibility of becoming/breeding meat birds later down the line, what variety of chicken would you recommend?
2) If I intended to offer 120 square feet of heated indoor coop space, and 200 square feet of fenced outdoor run space, how many chickens of said species does that realistically allow me to keep? I come from the world of snakes, where we have rules of thumb regarding living space allowances in relation to snake length/girth, and I assume there's a similar guide for chickens(I've seen 4 sq. ft. of coop and 10 sq. ft. per bird in a few places).
3) How does a rooster factor in when setting up for chickens(biology class teaches me that I need a rooster for fertilized eggs if I want hatchlings) to raise as meat birds? Again, going back to snakes, I housed males and females separately, and introduced the male to the female after hibernation to encourage breeding, then separated again after the mating. Is it a similar process for chickens, or can/does the rooster typically reside with the hens full-time?
Anyone who can offer any thoughts, and/or anyone familiar with reputable "chicken people"(you know, those feathery people with combs) in the southern Alberta area, would be a great help. Thanks in advance.
Brad
I'm Brad. Nice to meet you all. I'm a Canadian, from southern Alberta. If any of you remember the severe flooding stories in High River back in June, that's my neck of the woods. That's not really why I'm here.
I'm here about chickens(obviously). I've been doing some research into starting a small-scale backyard agricultural operation for myself and my family(wife and 5-year-old daughter). Below I've outlined my objectives in this project.
Ideally, I'm looking for a dual-purpose bird. Off the start, I'm looking for something that will supply eggs, but later down the road, as I become comfortable with the care of chickens(I have a great deal of animal husbandry experience, but most of it directly relates to species far removed from birds), I'd like to explore the possibility of raising birds for meat.
Now, the physical restrictions, limitations, and realities of my situation. I have an area, roughly 20'x30', to dedicate to this project. I'm handy enough swinging a hammer and I'm an electrician by trade, so construction projects like a coop and fence and the like hold no fear for me. Now, it gets really cold here in the winter(-30 Celsius, which works out to about -23 Fahrenheit, is not unheard of, or even terribly uncommon, here). I have no problem insulating and heating a coop. It can get warm(around the 90-degree Fahrenheit mark, a little over 30 Celsius) in the summer, and so I can easily orient things to keep some/all of an outdoor run in the shade during the hotter parts of the day.
Now, the first battery of questions.
1) Given the environmental limitations, and the desire to have egg-producing chickens that offer the possibility of becoming/breeding meat birds later down the line, what variety of chicken would you recommend?
2) If I intended to offer 120 square feet of heated indoor coop space, and 200 square feet of fenced outdoor run space, how many chickens of said species does that realistically allow me to keep? I come from the world of snakes, where we have rules of thumb regarding living space allowances in relation to snake length/girth, and I assume there's a similar guide for chickens(I've seen 4 sq. ft. of coop and 10 sq. ft. per bird in a few places).
3) How does a rooster factor in when setting up for chickens(biology class teaches me that I need a rooster for fertilized eggs if I want hatchlings) to raise as meat birds? Again, going back to snakes, I housed males and females separately, and introduced the male to the female after hibernation to encourage breeding, then separated again after the mating. Is it a similar process for chickens, or can/does the rooster typically reside with the hens full-time?
Anyone who can offer any thoughts, and/or anyone familiar with reputable "chicken people"(you know, those feathery people with combs) in the southern Alberta area, would be a great help. Thanks in advance.
Brad
