Which comes first, the garden or the birds?

[HennaRose]

I may have to wait until May to get my birds anyway. I planned to order through mypetchicken.com because they have all the breeds I'm after, but their minimum order through March 30 is 15 chicks. That's 11 more than I can have.

I do have a friend who plans to get chicks this year too, but she only wants four or five, and that leaves me with six or seven more chicks to fill an order placed before April 6th. If I have to wait that long, then I'll have to wait till May anyway, because I don't have anyone willing to chick-sit for three or four days when I have to go out of town for a family obligation. Coming over twice a day is one thing, but staying here all day and all night for half a week is more than anyone I know is available for.

The only other solution I can think of is to order the four I want, see if Friend is willing to go in on the order with me, and fill the remaining spots with a random breed neither of us already has, grow those chicks till they're ready to move to the coop and then rehome them. But that seems like a risky plan to me. So if I can't find other local people who want chicks, I'll just wait till May.

 

[islandgirl82]

I don't think you'll have a problem rehoming them especially ordering all females and you can charge more per chick because they'd be started already. I spent 16.00/pullet this spring that were 10 weeks old. If it were me, I would fill the minimum order with your friend and still get them in January.

 

[HennaRose]

I double-checked the dates. They don't have ALL the breeds I want till February 2nd, which is still okay. As long as I have chicks before the start of March, I'm good. After March 1st, I've got to wait till mid-May.

My aunt said she and her family want 4 or 5 too, so if everyone's good to order in early February, that leaves us with only a couple that won't be spoken for. (I did ask my sister, who lives in the middle of nowhere, if she and her soon-to-be-husband wanted a couple baby chicks as a wedding present to start their eventual flock with, but they won't have the space for another year. Oh, well.)

 

[islandgirl82]

I'm sure you won't have a problem finding someone to take them off your hands and who knows...if your friend doesn't have the same restrictions that you do, she may be willing to take the extras or help you find someone who wants them.

 

[HennaRose]

We're all under the same restrictions, but they both have bigger yards with more space, more distance between their homes and the neighbors, and neighbors who are content to leave people alone if they're not doing anything to bother them on purpose.

I didn't get so lucky in the neighbor draw, so while I would love to add another hen or two to my collection, I don't want to get slapped with a $500 fine (per chicken) over the extras. Won't be an issue while they're in the house, but as soon as they move out to the coop I'm risking Ned taking an interest and making sure everyone in the neighborhood follows all the rules.

 

[lazy gardener]

Do your homework very carefully before ordering from MPC. My understanding is that they just "drop ship" (I think that's the correct term.) If I understand correctly, they just collate orders and get chicks sent from other hatcheries to complete your order. If I were in your shoes, I'd get started on that garden and coop as soon as possible. You might want to read Lasagna Gardening by "Lanza" and Gardening Without Work by Ruth Stout. Also, research Back to Eden. There is a wonderful video on the net outlining the concept. Other excellent reading is The Small Scale Poultry Flock by Harvey Ussery. Also, I'd advise you to get a coop that allows at least 4 s.f./bird, has hardware cloth instead of chicken wire, and is roomy enough that the birds each have at least 12" of perch space, and those perches are at least 12" away from the walls. The chickens will also need extra room to be able to comfortably jump up and down from the perches. You don't have to build your entire garden all at once. In fact, I'd recommend that you start conservatively. You could put in several beds this fall/winter, and add a few more here and there as time and materials allow. If I were gardening in Fla., I'd not even bother with a tiller. I'd go entirely with the Lasagna concept for building my beds. You mentioned building beds 2' tall to make it easier on your back. I assume you are using wood for framing? When you build those beds, you could incorporate some rebar or PVC tubing in the corners that could be a support system for a PVC hoop frame that could easily be set up over any of the beds. You could cover it with deer netting to make a light wt structure for keeping chickens in or out, and to support shade cloth, exclude garden pests, provide framework without the netting for vining crops to climb. One other thought: Those raised beds will have lots of humus. (I'm assuming) That is a good thing. But raised beds also tend to dry out quicker, and with the Florida sandy soil, I'm wondering if you might actually do better by doing a depression in that sandy soil, and building your bed DOWN instead of UP. If you do a lot of mulching, there will be very few weeds to contend with.

 

[islandgirl82]

Yes, MPC is a "middle man" for other hatcheries which is what allows for such small numbers to fill orders. I just don't remember what hatchery/hatcheries they work with.

You may want to look around for people in your area/state who have chicks of the breeds you want before ordering so you don't have to try to fill a minimum or have the added fees for shipping. You could post an inquiry on your state's thread to see if people have what you're looking for.

 

[HennaRose]

I'm already started on the garden and coop areas, getting materials as I can afford them and transport them home. I'll have everything I need ready to build at least a safe run in February/March, but building the rest of the garden will take a little longer than I had anticipated due to cost of materials. All told, that garden is going to cost me close to $2000 and that's a lot all at once. I figure if I build them a good-sized run (16 sqft in the coop, plus another 30+ sqft inside a hardware-cloth pen), I can "fence off" some of the intended garden area with poultry netting since they'll never be outside the run unattended until the whole thing is built in anyway. They'll still be able to free-range over that for part of the day, supervised and protected, and have plenty of space in the run when I can't be outside with them. I'll get garden boxes built as I can afford them and will put more secure fencing around the perimeter as soon as I can afford that much hardware cloth.

As for garden boxes, yes, I had planned on using wood for those, but rebar and PVC is a good idea. I'll look into that.

Re: MPC, they do ship them express mail through USPS. I've had a few friends order from them with nearly no issues - one person had one chick out of seven arrive very ill and she had to nurse her back to health, but otherwise everyone I've personally known who's used them has been happy with their birds. I will see if any local hatcheries have the breeds I want and I'll ask on the state thread about them too, because otherwise if I can't find someone to go in on the order with me I'll either have to fill it out with a breed I don't want to keep and then resell them once they're started, or I'll have to wait till summer.

 

[HennaRose]

The zoning restrictions and the fact that I can't free-range totally where I'm at has me sighing in regret over a chicken I can't have. I've fallen in love with the look of the Egyptian Fayoumi, but it's totally not suited to my arrangements.

 

[HennaRose]

As it turns out, we did each order enough chicks to meet the minimum order! Between the three of us, we've got four RIRs, four BRs, three Easter Eggers, two Blue Silkies, one White Leghorn, and one Sicilian Buttercup. I'm watching the availability by hatch date and will place the order by Monday. (I'm waiting for one more person to decide if she wants chicks too, but if the hatch date availability changes before Monday I'll have to order right away with or without her chicks.)