Will this work?

[C Dohrer]

Are you going to slaughter all those meat birds yourself?
Do you have a really big freezer?

Think about supplemental lighting for winter laying.....and replacing a group of layers every year. Pullets(first year birds) are more likely to lay all winter.
Make room in your layer coop for storage of feed and bedding and a separate area for raising those replacement chicks.

If I understand correctly I under the impression that in Wisconsin if a chicken is older than a year old they need to be seen by a vet annually. My BIL does get new birds every year. He actually gets his free from the school his wife teaches at. They have a classroom or two that incubates and hatches eggs each year as a classroom project.

 

[aart]

If I understand correctly I under the impression that in Wisconsin if a chicken is older than a year old they need to be seen by a vet annually.

I have never heard that in any state (where and in what context would that be applicable according to whoever told you that), unless maybe you are being certified for some reason like NPIP or are slaughtering for sale to the public.

 

[Doc7]

Austra White are a mix of leghorn and Australorp that are supposedly a docile layer of frequent white eggs.


That’s what Meyer hatchery convinced me of anyway.

 

[Notaneggspurt]

You've got the experience and the knowledge of the initial cost and long term investment. You've also got the desire to do it. I think the only thing I would recommend is having rainy day fund for family and home and a little nest egg money for the worst case scenario with the livestock. Space might be a bit of an issue but you can always scale down to start. Good on you for thinking it through.

And leg horns come in different colors! The trick is finding a good line if you are going with a private breeder.

Good luck with all this!

 

[C Dohrer]

I have never heard that in any state (where and in what context would that be applicable according to whoever told you that), unless maybe you are being certified for some reason like NPIP or are slaughtering for sale to the public.

That is something my BIL had told us. They’ve raised chickens for 10-15 years. I’ll look into it and share what I find out with you in here.

 

[Notaneggspurt]

That is something my BIL had told us. They’ve raised chickens for 10-15 years. I’ll look into it and share what I find out with you in here.

Sounds like the NPIP inspection. It is technically done by a vet. I know in our state with the amount of industrial chicken farming they strongly advise even back yard flock owners to get the testing done. My state also requires it for any poultry or eggs to be transported off property. When I asked the state vet about it he kind of gave me the impression I didn't need to since was not breeding to sell birds or eggs. He did say it wouldn't be a bad thing to do even with a flock of 10 since there was a farm near by that does year round egg sales as well as several batches of the cornish crosses for meat each year.

 

[kwhites634]

The egg layers are pretty important. I want to be able to supply my household of three and my SIL, who owns the farm as well.

We do need the egg layers to be friendly enough so our four year old can help feed, care, and collect eggs from them. It would be awesome if we could have a couple of them hitting pet status. But, maybe it depends hugely on how they are raised and cared for. So far, every one of our animals have hot pet status, except for a batch of four week old piglets. They haven’t left mommas side or stall just yet. She’s an amazing sow, but quite protective of her babies. We don’t dare go into her pen and mess with HER babies. We still don’t know the exact number of girls and boys we have yet. But, having very friendly animals is important to our farm, especially since our little girl is so hands on with their care as we are. It is usually our daughter that manages to turn our less than friendly animals into animals that will follow us around and seek attention. She’s done it to farm cats, baby goats, piglets, and rabbits. She’s a huge asset to our little farm.

So what would be your suggestion for friendly and prolific hens? I’m hoping they are not pure white ones. Egg color doesn’t matter to us. But we would like to have larger eggs. We also plan on trying to sell eggs as well. People in this area usually ask for $3.50-4.00 for a dozen eggs. So if we end up having enough eggs to sell on a regular basis, even if it’s to only 4-6 families on a weekly basis would be ideal. Our goal isn’t necessarily to make a profit. It’s more to provide our family with many different food sources on our own. To not rely on our local grocery store for our meats, eggs, possibly cheeses.

I had Red Sex Link hens that laid large light brown eggs year around when they weren't molting, probably 5 days out of 7. Never tried to hand-tame any, but they were pretty easy-going

 

[wamtazlady]

Skip the cochins if you want a lot of eggs. They tend to go broody. When they are broody they do not lay at all. Broody hens also tend to peck if you try to take the eggs from them. Plus cochins are a large chicken and take extra time to mature. Of the ones I got in March last year, only 1 was laying before winter started. Hoping the others start to lay late this winter. I only need eggs for myself and will share with a neighbor only if I have extras. I am able to get breeds of chickens just because I love the way they look.

Leghorns lay great but the variety that lay best are the white ones. However, the other varieties do lay well. Rhode Island Reds also lay well. If I were going to start a flock for eggs and friendliness I'd probably do Orpingtons and Australorps.

 

[MissChick@dee]

That wouldn’t be as tough as you think. This would be our meat chickens.
View attachment 1648655

And these would be our egg layers.
View attachment 1648651
View attachment 1648653
View attachment 1648654
I just hadn’t figured out which breed or two that I wanted eggs from. While I know this is the stupidest reason ever. But, I hate plain old, boring, white chickens.

Hump! Apologies accepted

 

[MissChick@dee]

Sexlinks also are fantastic layers